Killing off characters is a risky business at best, especially if those deaths are telegraphed as Very Special Events. Kill off too minor a character and it's anti-climactic (see: "Lost", Nicki and Paolo); kill off one too major and it's potentially viewed as a ratings stunt (see: "Lost", Ana-Lucia and Libby).
So when I first heard "Two Heroes will Fall", part of me approached the teaser very cautiously. Like everyone else I had characters I wouldn't mind dead (Mohinder, if only to make sure the voiceovers are gone, or Parkman), characters I preferred dead (Hi, Maya!), and characters I'd kill Tim Kring for killing (Elle, Noah Bennett, Peter, Angela Petrelli).
The two actual deaths therefore threw me for a loop, to say the least, if for different reasons. Niki / Jessica's death was obvious in retrospect, and the fact that I'd totally left her out of my Death-Watch means as a character she was done. So in this case I have to give kudos to the writers, for letting her go in a way that highlights the true heroes of our world: people who do noble things even without the benefit of superpowers. Niki / Jessica has always felt to me one of the less empathetic Heroes, but damn if dying while saving a child from a burning building - without her superpowers to boot - didn't make me feel for her in a hurry.
The assassination of Nathan Petrelli, on the other hand, shocked me for entirely different reasons. If Niki / Jessica I didn't expect because she was that superfluous, Nathan I didn't expect because there was just no reason to. Adrian Pasdar didn't get himself pregnant, the character had just reunited with his wayward brother, and, goddamnit, we were so close to a Petrelli-Adam-Petrelli manwich!
Okay. Deep breath.
To be honest I'm still not sure about Pasdar's stunning send-off. On one hand, Bra. Vo. to the writers. For a storyline that began with Claire's impetuous decision to 'out' herself, ending it with her father's death in service of that goal is unexpected and completely delicious. Already I can imagine the dramatic repercussions, and Angela Petrelli's chilling conversation with the assassin surely ranks among the Top Television Moments This Season. Cristine Rose is a fantastic actress; that Angela Petrelli is slowly evolving into a major character can only be good for everyone.
On the other hand - Petrelli-Adam-Petrelli. I'm just saying.
Regardless of my personal obsessions, however, I can say objectively that the two deaths only capped what has been an impressive "Heroes" resurgence. It's impossible to guess whether Volume Three: "Villains" can continue the trajectory, but, even if not, the tail-end of Volume Two has certainly built up a lot of credit with this fan.
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