Is this the end for our intrepid heroes?!?

Heroes hit the airwaves in 2006 among a tremendous media blitz, soared through a stellar first season, and eventually hit upon the rocky shoals of viewer discontent. Yeah, I realize that sentence mixes three or four metaphors. Deal with it.

Now, the scuttlebutt around the web is that Volume 6 (Brave New World) may not come to pass. As a fan who's stuck with the show for this long, I was of two minds about this news. On one hand, when Heroes was good, it was amazing. On the other, it hasn't been amazing for four seasons. Then it occurred to me - a simple way to save the show in its purest, most awesome form.

Kill every-damn-body.

Peter Petrelli? Gone. I've had enough of his stroke-victim face and his weirdly (even for me) close relationship with his brother. Mohinder Suresh? Outta there. As much as it pains me to say it, this show hasn't needed my darling 'Hinder for a long while now. Noah Bennett? He made the show when we only knew him as HRG, but now he only gets to be bad ass once in a blue moon.

And none of this half-assed dying that's been going on so far. It robs character death of its emotional resonance. Nikki Sanders' death was major, but then the actress shows up again as Tracey Strauss. There's another triplet out there, too - Barbara. God knows when they were planning to bring her in. Same with Nathan Petrelli. Maybe they thought having two death scenes (one where he physically dies, one where Sylar's personality pushes Nathan out of their shared brain) would make us twice as emotional. Actually, it just made sure that when Nathan was gone, I was glad to be done with him.

What I envision is a spin-off show focusing on Claire Bennett. Maybe 1,000 years in the future, when everyone around her has either been blown to bits, eaten by sharks or just died in their sleep. Is she a hero - or a villain? Does she have a sidekick? An arch nemesis? I want all the usual comic book tropes, but turned on their heads. That was the promise of Heroes - that it would bring something new to television.

Well, Tim Kring? I'm waiting...

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Maggie Cats, I feel like you've proposed this solution before. Anyway, it bears repeating. Kill! Kill!