The pauses at the very start of Fury, then Silence when him and Vachon are talking interest me a lot. 1. V: "Why do we have to carry this sack of shit? He's heavy as hell!" 4-5 second pause 2. V: "Did you hear what happened to Leclerc?" 3-4 second pause 3. V: "Something's hunting us out here. And it ain't just wolves." 3 second pause 4. V: "What the hell are we even doing out here?" 4 second pause Yet when Vachon notes 'wolves aren't shooting arrows', there's only a 1 second ''pause'' before Heller makes his remark. [Which is also why I think this spacing might be intentional.]

Whenever Vachon brings up a concern about Mathis' plan and their involvement here, Heller just tries to reassure Vachon's faith in Mathis. [1 "Mathis says carry the asshole, we carry him." 3 "Mathis will figure it out." 4 "Remember the plan."]. But the pauses before Heller reassures trust in Mathis are severely interesting. Does he really believe it? If someone really believed in a plan, would they need to think about what they're going to say? And the emphasis on 'Mathis' on line 3.

The pause after Vachon mentions Leclerc's death is interesting to me. And the response "don't believe everything you hear, dumbass." I wonder if Heller and Leclerc were ever close, maybe even friends? Heller did say he went back for Leclerc when he went missing, despite clearly not wanting to face the wolves alone.

Heller's ever-present fear of Mathis is also something I find interesting. How he shuts up Vachon whenever he says something that could anger him. V: "Donner, that crazy fucker. This is bullshit-" H: "shh! He's coming back here." V: "Shit, Mathis! How long do we have to carry this heavy bastard for?" H: "shut up, man." ^^ all in a rather quieter tone as well.

"Let's go find this guy, before Mathis loses his temper again. You know what he's like when he's angry." "This shit with Donner has him... half crazy." <- important bit of this is the shaky breath he takes in the middle of the sentence. And how he tells the story of the Montreal breakout, especially how Mathis beat up the driver. "If he dies-... It'll be worse for us 'cause we'll take the heat."

And, pulling from deleted/unused voicelines, Heller at some point says "Mathis does what Mathis does, it doesn't really matter what our input is. We just gotta stay alive, and get the fuck outta here."

I think this mixed with how he's most likely just below Mathis in the convict pecking order is intriguing to me. During the dam encounter, the background convict blocking Heller's way moves out of his way rather quickly. And between him and Vachon - both Mathis' right-hand men - Mathis seems to favor Heller. Mathis to Vachon, 'the man' being Heller -> "That heavy bastard may be our ticket off this rock. And like the man says, shut the fuck up."

I'm honestly thinking Heller having a 'redemption arc' in episode 5 seems pretty likely. Okay maybe less redemption, and more like betraying Mathis. Or at least abandoning his plans. It's pretty clear Heller wants to get off the island and get back to the Mainland, so with Mathis' sudden change of plans to 'rule' Great Bear instead I'm thinking that could cause a shift.

H: "Nevermind the wolves, we gotta find him fast." V: "What the hell, let him run! He won't get far with those wolves hunting him." H: "Look you dumbass! Mathis says the pilot is our ticket off this damn island. Don't you want to get back to the Mainland?" ^^ How we see Heller turn back around at Vachon's "What the hell", and steps back during his line. And his aggressive arm movement for emphasis. I need to study him like a bug. the desperation and stress in his voice here oughh 👀👀👀👀

And the seemingly 'silent conversation' ive seen people point out between Heller and Vachon before Mathis tries killing Mackenzie when he actually reveals the change of plan to stay, too.

And from another unused voiceline, "What uhh.. what are we thinkin? Back home, two, three days?"

I wonder why Heller is running with Mathis, back before Great Bear. If i remember correctly it's suspected he shared a cell with Mathis, but I don't believe it's ever confirmed. I'd imagine to get on his good side - you'd want to be considered an ally by a man like him, especially if you two share a cell. Then the prison break probably came after. Once the bus crashed on Great Bear, it's a lot better to run with a group on an aggressive wildlife-infested island than alone, no? And then with the capture of Mackenzie not too long after the crash, so as long as they have a plane that works there's a sure way to get off the island like Heller wants. Yeah this makes sense once I type it out LOL.

I will note that one deleted voiceline that goes "Mathis has a mind of his own. He's one twisted, bad bad man. Like his style though, doesn't mess around-"

Also his concern for people sometimes as well?? When Mathis beats up the Warden/Franklin he sounds genuinely concerned in his expression and head shaking, and his tone when he says "Mathis... he..he doesn't look good. You're going too far." ^^ Dipping back into his subtle fear of Mathis, he does pause before telling Mathis he's going too far. I mean, to Mathis this guy is withholding information about how to get his son out of solitary, it's a pretty big risk to tell him he's going too far / in the wrong here. I might be reaching, but when Mackenzie says "I won't find the dam if i freeze before I get there." There's a short moment where it looks like Heller might be considering getting him more layers, before telling Mac he doesn't give a shit. Also he's the first to get up and run to solitary after the explosion. He's turned and going before Mathis even fully gets to his feet. "Donner. The explosion. He's hurt bad." "MATHIS! He's dying. Donner is- dying." <- this is the most visible concern I've seen him have all game. And verbally too. With how he yells, then gets quiet. The tone the sentence is dripping with. I'm actually kinda shocked looking back at this scene with more focus.

It's kinda hard to discern if the "are we really gonna let him do this?" looks he gives Vachon right before Mathis attacks Mackenzie are from a place of concern or not, but I'll note that here. Maybe concern about Mathis deciding to beat up some guy that had nothing to do Donner's injuries instead of actually going to see his son. Or concern about Mathis killing the only direct source of freedom off the island they have.

It's stated pretty frequently that Hinterland's writing is kinda mediocre so i don't know if i'm basically making shit up or what LMAO.

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IM SOBBBINGGG AT HOW HE'S TALKING TO HIMSELF IN THE DELETED VOICELINES WHERE HELLER AND VACHON CHASE AFTER MACKENZIE OH MY GOD 😭😭😭😭 <3<3<3<3 and the '''''talking'''''' to mackenzie; "c'mon pilot, somebody clip your wings?" you know he thought that line was cool. "*grunts* WHAT'S UP PILOT YOU LIKE THAT???" dear fucking god what is he doing.

im putting this here Hinterland please i need to know what this guy's first name is. it compels me. Heller, S. ive been thinking about this for years. same with Vachon and Mathis. i've been joking it's something like Sebastian but a friend said it's Spingle so who knows

Why does Heller avoid any kind of eye contact in some of these cutscenes bruv he's like a dog 💔💔💔💔