We made it.
Final episode of the year and of this current volume.
An end to one of the most up and down seasons for not only this series, but in probably all of tv-dom in recent memory. Has any series really had a season that combined some of it's lowest points with some memorable scenes? Any season in recent memory where one character has gone from bad, to good, back to evil again? Mind you, this was done over the course of only 13 episodes.
I'm going to go light on the criticism this time. I think by now everyone knows the cat is out of the bag, the show has writing and consistency problems and it isn't new or shocking to be the one to try to reveal "hey, this show isn't gold, it does have it's weak point". Besides, I'm not one to pull out a magnifying glass to look for anything to make fun of. No show is perfect. Let's review this last episode for what it was - the tv show equivalent of a basketball team that was down for most of the game hitting a key 3 pointer to tie the game up right as the buzzer sounded. Now we're at half-time, all tied up, all the mistakes and whatnot have been erased (but not forgotten) and you leave the crowd eager and excited for the 2nd half. That was episode 13. The preview for the upcoming volume couldn't have been any better. I literally said out loud "wow".
Can you not imagine the voiceover for the upcoming season:
"Heroes - they've saved the world....now they must...save...themselves. "
I look forward for a Heroes volume that doesn't involve the end of the world and/or mankind. There are some certainties that ruin the suspense of a show like Heroes. We know the world isn't going to end. There's no tension in that. Mankind is not going to be wiped out. A show like Heroes is like watching a Mission Impossible episode - you know the good guys are going to win, it's just a matter of how. We also like to see who is going to die (and stay dead). So for a season to be about Heroes being hunted like Jedi - who knows where that's going to go? This is unchartered territory. I like it.
Back to episode 13. We had some people die, to put it bluntly. Arthur we already knew was dead, but we weren't sure if he'd stay dead. It certainly seems that way, unless the writers want to completely remove any credibility and have the show become a parody of itself by constantly killing off characters and bringing them back. Arthur was odd - what was his ultimate vision? What was he ultimately trying to do? We only know he was a villain because he stopped at nothing to accomplish his goal, but that in and of itself doesn't a villain make. How exactly was he a threat to humanity, if anything he wanted to improve humanity by giving everyone a power. The writers didn't flesh that out too much. How was he anymore a villain than Angela, who was also manipulative. And the whole Arthur and Angela are Sylar's parents was handled so poorly, that was a pretty big revelation and the payoff was near nil.
Speaking of Sylar, it sure looks as if he's dead. Of course, this will be the 3rd time he's been down this road. This is the problem with not keeping characters dead - when you cry wolf so many times people tune you out that one time a wolf is actual at your door. Sylar "dying" just didn't hold that much weight. No one is convinced he's actually dead. It's not conceivable how he could be alive, but I think everyone won't bat an eyelash when the writers bring him back using some hokey nonsense excuse. But he certainly made a good villain in this last episode. I sort of wished he would have mindfucked everyone further, maybe had a major battle between 3 of the escaped convict villains at one time. His fight with the Puppet Master could've had more chutzpah.
That Fear Guy died out of nowhere. That's one guy I think we all agree will actually stay dead. I'm not convinced Arthur is completely out of the picture and certainly am not buying Sylar is dead, so that leaves one out of three. Classic sacrificial lamb scenario - someone has to die and stay definitely dead.
Funny thing happened at the end of the episode. Suresh got into a car being driven by Tracey. The only thought in my mind was "now that the two characters that annoy me the most are in the same car - couldn't the writers just have it blow up right now and kill two birds with one stone??". Further proof to back up my claim that NBC just wants to keep Ali Larter employed. I simply don't know what future hijinks they're going to put her in for the upcoming volume, and apparently she has a partner for whatever it's going to be. With Suresh's sly grin as he got into the car I'm going to assume he's going to play up his evil scientist role. And apparently the recipe for surviving exploding labs is to get covered in oodles of power-goo. Certainly seems like he's become just a tad more powerful.
Speaking of becoming just a tad more powerful, looks like Peter finally got his groove back. Only question remains is did he get his original power back - and was able to fly since he absorbed Nathan's ability - or did he just aquire the same weak flying ability as Nathan by coincidence. I'm going to bet he got his original power back, I'm sure the writers feel Milo V. suffered enough all season. Not cool enough to pull off being powerless like HRG can do. And was I the only one who put his head in his hands as Peter made a weak attempt to point the gun at Nathan trying to stop him? Did anyone think Peter was going to pull the trigger? I didn't think so. No tension at all there. Flint had the fastest flip-flopping in the series, btw. He went from going to beat up Peter/Suresh to teaming up with Peter to trash the lab to turning on Peter again in the end. In the same episode. Again, I'm not here to nitpick and criticize in this entry, just pointing things out.
This episode was too big to be contained to just one entry, I'm going to stop now and continue in a new entry to be released shortly or else my thoughts will be all over the place. We still have Hiro/Ando and a little bit of Claire to talk about.
December 18, 2008
December 10, 2008
Crystal Ball (Part 2)
I just wanted to take this opportunity to look back on a prediction I made in a previous entry that wound up coming true. It's uncanny how spot on I was:
Ummmm...wow? Kinda scary I also nailed how Arthur would be the one to give Peter that scar. Hey, some theories are easy to predict - like Elle not lasting too much longer since Kristen Bell was still being mentioned as a "special guest star" and not one of the main cast - others take guts and a keen sense of insight to make. Too bad I wasn't able to predict the Haitian's power could be overcome by a more powerful person (in this case, Arthur). I also couldn't have predicted that the Haitian's power would stop working altogether as a result of being overcome by Arthur, thus allowing Sylar to use his own powers. So, the Haitian's ability just stopped working just like that? Sure, he was mentally spent but I already pointed out he doesn't need to be concentrating for his ability to work, as evidenced by Parkman's power not working in Primatech and when Hiro was trying to steal the formula back and the Haitian was in the in the movie theater; it took Hiro and Ando combined to beat him by ambushing him since Hiro's power wasn't working around the Haitian.
One thing that sucks about Peter being scarred is now for the rest of the series Milo V. will have to wear that scar on his face. And how the hell are we gonna tell the difference between Future Peter and Present Peter now! OMG!
My bigger overall point is this (and I'm glad the reader who made the comment allowed me to flesh out my thoughts) - how many more times is Peter going to be without his powers? How many more times in this series future will Peter not have the ability to regenerate himself? As soon as he gets his power back (even if it's just his power absorbtion ability) he's going to run into someone who can regenerate (most likely Claire) so it's safe to say Peter will always have the regen ability in one form or another. How many more times can the writers go to that plot device where Peter is powerless? The answer to this question is "not likely to happen many more times, if at all". I think this will be the only time Peter is without his powers, thus making this the only time he could be scarred and not heal himself. Furthermore I think this will be the scar that Future Peter displays. Again, thanks to the person who commented on this to begin with. I look forward to the people who point out things I may have overlooked and I look forward to seeing if I was ultimately right or wrong.
Peter's scar that Future Peter has on his face is going to be related to Peter
fighting his dad. Think about it - he had Claire's regeneration ability, so
the only way that Peter could get scarred facially is if he didn't have that
power. It just so happens he's in that very predicament right now, so look
for the battle that brings about that wicked scar to happen sometime
soon.
Ummmm...wow? Kinda scary I also nailed how Arthur would be the one to give Peter that scar. Hey, some theories are easy to predict - like Elle not lasting too much longer since Kristen Bell was still being mentioned as a "special guest star" and not one of the main cast - others take guts and a keen sense of insight to make. Too bad I wasn't able to predict the Haitian's power could be overcome by a more powerful person (in this case, Arthur). I also couldn't have predicted that the Haitian's power would stop working altogether as a result of being overcome by Arthur, thus allowing Sylar to use his own powers. So, the Haitian's ability just stopped working just like that? Sure, he was mentally spent but I already pointed out he doesn't need to be concentrating for his ability to work, as evidenced by Parkman's power not working in Primatech and when Hiro was trying to steal the formula back and the Haitian was in the in the movie theater; it took Hiro and Ando combined to beat him by ambushing him since Hiro's power wasn't working around the Haitian.
One thing that sucks about Peter being scarred is now for the rest of the series Milo V. will have to wear that scar on his face. And how the hell are we gonna tell the difference between Future Peter and Present Peter now! OMG!
Note (updated 12/11): A reader of the site keenly pointed out that the scar that Peter aquired in this latest episode is not the same scar that Future Peter has. For reference, check out the massive Future Peter scar:
My bigger overall point is this (and I'm glad the reader who made the comment allowed me to flesh out my thoughts) - how many more times is Peter going to be without his powers? How many more times in this series future will Peter not have the ability to regenerate himself? As soon as he gets his power back (even if it's just his power absorbtion ability) he's going to run into someone who can regenerate (most likely Claire) so it's safe to say Peter will always have the regen ability in one form or another. How many more times can the writers go to that plot device where Peter is powerless? The answer to this question is "not likely to happen many more times, if at all". I think this will be the only time Peter is without his powers, thus making this the only time he could be scarred and not heal himself. Furthermore I think this will be the scar that Future Peter displays. Again, thanks to the person who commented on this to begin with. I look forward to the people who point out things I may have overlooked and I look forward to seeing if I was ultimately right or wrong.
December 9, 2008
Episode 12: "Our Father"
I have to say one thing about this latest episode - finally.
Finally the show delivered. Sure, I have some nitpicky items to complain about but overall it was a supremely done episode. If I was scoring at home I think there was about 5 minutes total of people using powers - the rest was all good dialogue and brisk pacing of the plot. Great scenes, the two that stick out mostly were present-day Claire pleading with HRG-from-the-past and Hiro's scene with his mother. Both Past-HRG and Hiro's mom took huge leaps of faith (Hiro's mom encounters a stranger who claims to be her son from the future and she believes him just like that), but with only one more episode for this volume to go we really didn't have a lot of time to nuture those storylines so it's understandable. Hey, I'm firm but fair.
I applaud the writers for throwing us the curveball of Hiro losing his powers and getting stuck in the past so soon after having his memory restored. No one saw that coming at all and this is what the series needs - unpredictability. It doesn't make sense that The Company had 2 healers in the group - Linderman and now Hiro's mom. Rather redundant, wouldn't you say? But that's for another debate. It was a gripping scene that went beyond people simply using powers. And again, the same applied to the Claire/HRG scene. This latest episode also showed us how Ando winds up getting that power that Future Ando displayed against Future Hiro. So obviously Ando goes to Pinehearst soon, attempts to get a time travelling power and winds up with that ability to shoot blasts of energy/fire/laser/whatever. Also after the Marine was injected with a power and got that super strength he seemed to exhibit some aggressiveness - possible side effect perhaps? Is that what causes Future Ando to turn on Hiro? Suresh surely became overly aggressive after injecting himself with his failed prototype serum. Kinda all would make sense.
Ok, you don't come here for rave reviews and for glowing praise, you want nitpicking. Here we go:
Sylar, pick a damn side! So what are you now - a villain again but you kill only bad guys (like Showtime's Dexter)? A rogue villain, so to speak? Don't get me wrong, Sylar stepping in and being the one to kill Arthur instead of the completely useless and inept Peter makes complete sense here, it's just what is his motive now? Kill the people on that phone list who have powers? So basically Sylar has come full circle, I see. So we've spent an entire season jumping through hoops just to come back to the same point - Sylar is a villain and hungers for other people's powers. Much of the early season plot regarding Sylar was made moot and irrevelent - his brief relationship with Elle (glad to see she's really dead, that's 2 dead people, zero people coming back to life for those scoring at home); the whole Sylar is a Petrelli farce; Sylar wanting to redeem himself and let's not forget the most important: Sylar not having to kill people to get their powers. What what the point of Arthur showing Sylar that he could use empathy to take other people's powers? And I want to add I'm really tired of the show inventing these temporary characters who have abilities to serve as a way for Sylar to get a power to complete a certain task. So the girl with the retarded human lie detector ability was created SOLELY for the purpose to serve as a sacrificial lamb to Sylar so he could ask Arthur one question. Quite a reach there, eh?
Tracey - completely useless. Her whole thing recently was to plot behind Nathan's back to manipulate him into joining his dad. Which he did.....ON HIS OWN. What did she accomplish! I am aggravated at this character. And was it just my tv or was Ali Larter wearing the most unnecessarily *bright* red dress you've ever scene? That dress' red was so loud my ears are still ringing. Talk about popping right off the screen. Anyway, she is utterly useless and has always been, whether her name is Niki, Jessica, Tracey or Hilda The One Eyed Sea Hag. She's part of the my triumverate of hated characters - Peter, Tracey and Suresh. Ugh.
I spent the entire scene where Peter was struggling to pull the trigger on his dad with my head in my hand, peeking out through my fingers. That is, I was completely annoyed and flabbergasted in the lunacy that is the Peter Petrelli character, but I didn't want to miss the scene. It's official - I hate Peter Petrelli. I'm also not liking how they put a limitation on the Haitian's ability. Listen - either he shuts off your powers or he doesn't. Yes, Arthur was immensely powerful (one power he apparently had was the nifty ability to always know where Hiro was), but if the Haitian shut off his powers then there shouldn't have been anything Arthur could do. The Haitian doesn't even need to be concentrating for his power to be used - in season 1 when Parkman followed HRG to Primatech he was spying on HRG and couldn't read HRG's mind, unbeknownst to him it was because the Haitian was somewhere in the vicinity, even though Parkman was hiding. So if the Haitian can affect your powers without even knowing you're there then one can only assume what happens when he has his full concentration on you. Writers - you created this universe on Heroes...stick to the rules you create. Don't change things as you see fit.
But yeah, this is just minor stuff. Great episode overall. Apparently the next episode is going to be chock full o' action, with it being the last episode of this year and volume. I saw the preview and Hiro has his samurai sword. Looks like you can take the power out of a man - but you can't take away his ABILITY TO REGULATE, SON.
Finally the show delivered. Sure, I have some nitpicky items to complain about but overall it was a supremely done episode. If I was scoring at home I think there was about 5 minutes total of people using powers - the rest was all good dialogue and brisk pacing of the plot. Great scenes, the two that stick out mostly were present-day Claire pleading with HRG-from-the-past and Hiro's scene with his mother. Both Past-HRG and Hiro's mom took huge leaps of faith (Hiro's mom encounters a stranger who claims to be her son from the future and she believes him just like that), but with only one more episode for this volume to go we really didn't have a lot of time to nuture those storylines so it's understandable. Hey, I'm firm but fair.
I applaud the writers for throwing us the curveball of Hiro losing his powers and getting stuck in the past so soon after having his memory restored. No one saw that coming at all and this is what the series needs - unpredictability. It doesn't make sense that The Company had 2 healers in the group - Linderman and now Hiro's mom. Rather redundant, wouldn't you say? But that's for another debate. It was a gripping scene that went beyond people simply using powers. And again, the same applied to the Claire/HRG scene. This latest episode also showed us how Ando winds up getting that power that Future Ando displayed against Future Hiro. So obviously Ando goes to Pinehearst soon, attempts to get a time travelling power and winds up with that ability to shoot blasts of energy/fire/laser/whatever. Also after the Marine was injected with a power and got that super strength he seemed to exhibit some aggressiveness - possible side effect perhaps? Is that what causes Future Ando to turn on Hiro? Suresh surely became overly aggressive after injecting himself with his failed prototype serum. Kinda all would make sense.
Ok, you don't come here for rave reviews and for glowing praise, you want nitpicking. Here we go:
Sylar, pick a damn side! So what are you now - a villain again but you kill only bad guys (like Showtime's Dexter)? A rogue villain, so to speak? Don't get me wrong, Sylar stepping in and being the one to kill Arthur instead of the completely useless and inept Peter makes complete sense here, it's just what is his motive now? Kill the people on that phone list who have powers? So basically Sylar has come full circle, I see. So we've spent an entire season jumping through hoops just to come back to the same point - Sylar is a villain and hungers for other people's powers. Much of the early season plot regarding Sylar was made moot and irrevelent - his brief relationship with Elle (glad to see she's really dead, that's 2 dead people, zero people coming back to life for those scoring at home); the whole Sylar is a Petrelli farce; Sylar wanting to redeem himself and let's not forget the most important: Sylar not having to kill people to get their powers. What what the point of Arthur showing Sylar that he could use empathy to take other people's powers? And I want to add I'm really tired of the show inventing these temporary characters who have abilities to serve as a way for Sylar to get a power to complete a certain task. So the girl with the retarded human lie detector ability was created SOLELY for the purpose to serve as a sacrificial lamb to Sylar so he could ask Arthur one question. Quite a reach there, eh?
Tracey - completely useless. Her whole thing recently was to plot behind Nathan's back to manipulate him into joining his dad. Which he did.....ON HIS OWN. What did she accomplish! I am aggravated at this character. And was it just my tv or was Ali Larter wearing the most unnecessarily *bright* red dress you've ever scene? That dress' red was so loud my ears are still ringing. Talk about popping right off the screen. Anyway, she is utterly useless and has always been, whether her name is Niki, Jessica, Tracey or Hilda The One Eyed Sea Hag. She's part of the my triumverate of hated characters - Peter, Tracey and Suresh. Ugh.
I spent the entire scene where Peter was struggling to pull the trigger on his dad with my head in my hand, peeking out through my fingers. That is, I was completely annoyed and flabbergasted in the lunacy that is the Peter Petrelli character, but I didn't want to miss the scene. It's official - I hate Peter Petrelli. I'm also not liking how they put a limitation on the Haitian's ability. Listen - either he shuts off your powers or he doesn't. Yes, Arthur was immensely powerful (one power he apparently had was the nifty ability to always know where Hiro was), but if the Haitian shut off his powers then there shouldn't have been anything Arthur could do. The Haitian doesn't even need to be concentrating for his power to be used - in season 1 when Parkman followed HRG to Primatech he was spying on HRG and couldn't read HRG's mind, unbeknownst to him it was because the Haitian was somewhere in the vicinity, even though Parkman was hiding. So if the Haitian can affect your powers without even knowing you're there then one can only assume what happens when he has his full concentration on you. Writers - you created this universe on Heroes...stick to the rules you create. Don't change things as you see fit.
But yeah, this is just minor stuff. Great episode overall. Apparently the next episode is going to be chock full o' action, with it being the last episode of this year and volume. I saw the preview and Hiro has his samurai sword. Looks like you can take the power out of a man - but you can't take away his ABILITY TO REGULATE, SON.
December 8, 2008
The Eclipse: Part Two (Part 2)
I love how the writers have been reading this blog, or at the very least heading the growing sentiment on the internet - and had Claire proclaim on this episode [to paraphrase] "I have no business trying to fight bad guys...I'm just a stupid cheerleader".
Thank you, Claire, for your honesty.
That was a very feelgood moment for me. I felt vindicated. Like when you've been trying to tell a friend they don't look good in the color brown and one day, as if they figured it out all by themself, they state "ya know, I'm gonna stop wearing brown, I just don't look good in this color". Now I'm vaguely excited about where her storyline goes as it now appears she's gonna put the whole "fighting villains" thing down for a bit. Does she go back to school? Goes into hiding since every bad guy on Pineherst's payroll is out for her? I say with Sylar thisclose to killing her dad she goes back to trying to take down villains, in other words business as usual. Whatever happens I just hope this is the last season of this whole "save the cheerleader" theme. We get it. She's important. If she's that important she should be locked up in Level 5 where it's safe.
I'm still miffed at how easily Sylar has gone back to the old Sylar. That didn't last long. I already talked about this so I won't go there again. What a shame.
Let the records show Part Two of The Eclipse had the coolest moment in Nathan's Heroes career. Did anyone think a guy who could fly could really be a threat to anyone, let alone someone else with powers? But the way Nathan took out the Haitian's brother - flying at him and ultimately crashing him into a truck - displayed the awesome potential of Nathan and his abilities. Why haven't we seen this before? It really took 3 seasons to get this character to do something awesome with his power? Wth this latest episode it's hinted Nathan is going back to his old self - colluding with someone with bad intentions for some epic plan that will affect mankind. Only difference this time is Nathan has come to think this way of his own accord and not because someone higher up was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Sure seems like Nathan will be joining his dad's side as he thinks everyone should have a power. I applaud the writers for at least making it very plausible as to how Nathan would come to that conclusion (witnessing innocent people get abused in the village).
And let me just be the first to admit that now that Peter doesn't have any powers - and this has gone on longer than I thought it would - I actually don't find him to be as annoying these days. He doesn't have the ability to get in the way, can't shape things as he sees fit. Just as shame the writers have decided that they only way they can solve the problem of Peter being too powerful is to remove his powers. That's lazy. Tim Kring (creator of the show) mentioned that since he originally wanted new characters every season he didn't anticipate having to deal with this issue of an uber-power person walking among lesser-powered people - and I can understand that conundrum - but it just feels a little too "easy" to just remove all of his abilities. Listen, writers, at some point you're going to have to deal with Peter. Either you remove him from the show or you give him his powers back and let him run amok. Now is the perfect time. If I had to bet I'm going to say Peter will get his original power back (ability to absorb other powers) but will have lost all the powers he aquired. Kinda like a reset. Just like how Sylar doesn't use all of the powers he aquired since season 1. Right now all he uses is just his telekinesis and regenerating ability he stole from Claire. But I do think that's how the writers will give themselves a temporary out, simply letting Peter gradually build his powers back up again. Of course, that's basically how our government is solving our financial crisis - temporary wiping out current mistakes and delaying having to deal with the root of the problem. The root of the Heroes problem is the show doesn't want to have a bunch of Peter's and Sylar's running amok. I don't think everyone on this show was supposed to have these insane powers. I think it was supposed to be a bunch of Nathan's and Claire's, you know, people with simple abilities. It's costly to have mega special effects all the time to do all these powers. I don't think this was a road the show really wanted to go down. Don't get me wrong - it's exciting to have people with powers duking it out - but eventually it'll always come down to Peter and Sylar being too powerful for everyone else and the writer's having to think of new zany ways to limit the damage that Peter and Sylar can do. Look at what they've done to Hiro, to prove my point. Writers felt the best way to reduce the influence that Hiro can have on outcomes is to make him think he's a kid.
Thank you, Claire, for your honesty.
That was a very feelgood moment for me. I felt vindicated. Like when you've been trying to tell a friend they don't look good in the color brown and one day, as if they figured it out all by themself, they state "ya know, I'm gonna stop wearing brown, I just don't look good in this color". Now I'm vaguely excited about where her storyline goes as it now appears she's gonna put the whole "fighting villains" thing down for a bit. Does she go back to school? Goes into hiding since every bad guy on Pineherst's payroll is out for her? I say with Sylar thisclose to killing her dad she goes back to trying to take down villains, in other words business as usual. Whatever happens I just hope this is the last season of this whole "save the cheerleader" theme. We get it. She's important. If she's that important she should be locked up in Level 5 where it's safe.
I'm still miffed at how easily Sylar has gone back to the old Sylar. That didn't last long. I already talked about this so I won't go there again. What a shame.
Let the records show Part Two of The Eclipse had the coolest moment in Nathan's Heroes career. Did anyone think a guy who could fly could really be a threat to anyone, let alone someone else with powers? But the way Nathan took out the Haitian's brother - flying at him and ultimately crashing him into a truck - displayed the awesome potential of Nathan and his abilities. Why haven't we seen this before? It really took 3 seasons to get this character to do something awesome with his power? Wth this latest episode it's hinted Nathan is going back to his old self - colluding with someone with bad intentions for some epic plan that will affect mankind. Only difference this time is Nathan has come to think this way of his own accord and not because someone higher up was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Sure seems like Nathan will be joining his dad's side as he thinks everyone should have a power. I applaud the writers for at least making it very plausible as to how Nathan would come to that conclusion (witnessing innocent people get abused in the village).
And let me just be the first to admit that now that Peter doesn't have any powers - and this has gone on longer than I thought it would - I actually don't find him to be as annoying these days. He doesn't have the ability to get in the way, can't shape things as he sees fit. Just as shame the writers have decided that they only way they can solve the problem of Peter being too powerful is to remove his powers. That's lazy. Tim Kring (creator of the show) mentioned that since he originally wanted new characters every season he didn't anticipate having to deal with this issue of an uber-power person walking among lesser-powered people - and I can understand that conundrum - but it just feels a little too "easy" to just remove all of his abilities. Listen, writers, at some point you're going to have to deal with Peter. Either you remove him from the show or you give him his powers back and let him run amok. Now is the perfect time. If I had to bet I'm going to say Peter will get his original power back (ability to absorb other powers) but will have lost all the powers he aquired. Kinda like a reset. Just like how Sylar doesn't use all of the powers he aquired since season 1. Right now all he uses is just his telekinesis and regenerating ability he stole from Claire. But I do think that's how the writers will give themselves a temporary out, simply letting Peter gradually build his powers back up again. Of course, that's basically how our government is solving our financial crisis - temporary wiping out current mistakes and delaying having to deal with the root of the problem. The root of the Heroes problem is the show doesn't want to have a bunch of Peter's and Sylar's running amok. I don't think everyone on this show was supposed to have these insane powers. I think it was supposed to be a bunch of Nathan's and Claire's, you know, people with simple abilities. It's costly to have mega special effects all the time to do all these powers. I don't think this was a road the show really wanted to go down. Don't get me wrong - it's exciting to have people with powers duking it out - but eventually it'll always come down to Peter and Sylar being too powerful for everyone else and the writer's having to think of new zany ways to limit the damage that Peter and Sylar can do. Look at what they've done to Hiro, to prove my point. Writers felt the best way to reduce the influence that Hiro can have on outcomes is to make him think he's a kid.
December 4, 2008
Episode 10 - Eclipse, Part Two (Part 1)
Do it.
Just do it already.
This is what I said to the tv - to HRG specifically - as he held a boxcutter to Sylar's throat. Do it - just kill Sylar. Telling the writers to finally grow a scrotum and revolutionize this series with a jawdropping turn of events. And yes, HRG did kill Sylar. For a short while it seemed this show was throwing out all conventional wisdom and doing something out of left field. But alas, the writers lacked the balls to stick to their guns and as the eclipse faded away and Sylar reemereged, it was all back to the same old, same old. Old friends coming and going, and coming back again. The Heroes way of doing things. Imagine all the internet buzz had Sylar was really killed off? All the positive chatter and hype and hoopla returning to this series that hasn't seen positive chatter, hype and hoopla since season 1. Don't get me wrong - Sylar is my favorite character on the show. Absolutely love him. But I love the show more than I love Sylar and killing him off would've pumped new blood and electricity into this series that's in rapid viewership decline. Let's face it, by all standards Heroes is still a hit series but a show can only bleed viewers for so long until it gets the axe. It won't happen this season, nor next. But suddenly a world without Heroes isn't so hard to imagine these days. Sure looks like Elle is done for, but that's not really shocking all that much and if she really has died (and at this point you can't assume people are dead for long anymore) it was a cheap consolation. The show needed Sylar to be dead. They indeed pulled the trigger and shot him, but once more the gun was loaded with blanks.
Ok, with that out of the way let's continue.
HRG, welcome back. I can hardly think of a better episode you've been in than this past episode. Manipulating people. Hunting suckers down. Killing. All in a day's work for a badass. I also want to thank him for finally laying down to rest the whole "Sylar is a Petrelli" farce. I've already pointed out why that didn't make any sense. Seemed kinda anti-climatic to reveal it that way, though, I was expecting Arthur to doublecross Sylar at an opportune time and with Arthur stating the truth, almost like a reverse Empire Strikes Back moment ("Luke, I am *not* your father"). One thing that is growing increasingly annoying is the fact that Sylar - tv's best villain - is so easy to manipulate. Evil Sylar becomes Good Gabriel because Angela Petrelli tells him she's his mother. Now because a person thisclose to dying reveals to him that he isn't a Petrelli and all of a sudden Sylar is a villain again? Really? Just like that? I understand a season can't go on forever, so unlike a novel the writers don't have an awful lot of time to gradually build things up, but this is lunacy. Sylar has gone from villain to a good guy looking to redeem himself to back to a villain in - get this - half of a season. We're still in the same volume that started back in September. Just 10 episodes in. How can you have a character flipflop like that, willy nilly? I shake my head in disappointment, writers, tisk tisk.
*sigh*
Anyway, one other thing this episode brought was possibly the best Hiro moment thus far. The whole Hiro arriving just in time to save HRG from Sylar by teleporting "Bad man" out of the house - awesome. That's one thing I didn't see coming and it's nice to be surprised. I don't know why Hiro brought Elle to the same place Sylar was, but we'll chalk that up to the mistake of a 10 year old mind. Also, I'm glad we've reached the end of the line with the 9th Wonders comic book (save for Isaac Mendez's unpublished final copy that apparently is going to come into play very soon). The show has several tools, or tricks, in their arsenal they've utilized one too many times - people dying then coming back to life through miracle blood; time travellers altering past/present/future; trotting out HRG at opportune times as the answer to a particular problem, etc - but one recurring trick has been the use of the 9th Wonders comic books as a way to move the story along. Characters in a bind had this apparent book of knowledge that would reveal the future and help explain what their next move should be. It's nice that the writers have answered a question that was growing in internet message board - how many comic books did Isaac Mendez write that a character killed off in season 1 can still be affecting events 2 seasons later by way of his comic books??. The answer is he wrote 2 seasons worth of comic books and now the well has run dry at last (finally!). You mean people will have to figure out things by themselves ? Yes! I'm happy the writers decided to do away with that crutch. The problem with a show about heroes is it gives the writers all these fictional avenues to help write themselves out of jams when they reach a dead end.
Time to see what other tricks the writers have up their sleeves. And if one of those tricks involve a person with the ability to cause eclipses, thereby flicking a switch and turning people's powers on and off - then I will simply end this blog and watch something educational.
Just do it already.
This is what I said to the tv - to HRG specifically - as he held a boxcutter to Sylar's throat. Do it - just kill Sylar. Telling the writers to finally grow a scrotum and revolutionize this series with a jawdropping turn of events. And yes, HRG did kill Sylar. For a short while it seemed this show was throwing out all conventional wisdom and doing something out of left field. But alas, the writers lacked the balls to stick to their guns and as the eclipse faded away and Sylar reemereged, it was all back to the same old, same old. Old friends coming and going, and coming back again. The Heroes way of doing things. Imagine all the internet buzz had Sylar was really killed off? All the positive chatter and hype and hoopla returning to this series that hasn't seen positive chatter, hype and hoopla since season 1. Don't get me wrong - Sylar is my favorite character on the show. Absolutely love him. But I love the show more than I love Sylar and killing him off would've pumped new blood and electricity into this series that's in rapid viewership decline. Let's face it, by all standards Heroes is still a hit series but a show can only bleed viewers for so long until it gets the axe. It won't happen this season, nor next. But suddenly a world without Heroes isn't so hard to imagine these days. Sure looks like Elle is done for, but that's not really shocking all that much and if she really has died (and at this point you can't assume people are dead for long anymore) it was a cheap consolation. The show needed Sylar to be dead. They indeed pulled the trigger and shot him, but once more the gun was loaded with blanks.
Ok, with that out of the way let's continue.
HRG, welcome back. I can hardly think of a better episode you've been in than this past episode. Manipulating people. Hunting suckers down. Killing. All in a day's work for a badass. I also want to thank him for finally laying down to rest the whole "Sylar is a Petrelli" farce. I've already pointed out why that didn't make any sense. Seemed kinda anti-climatic to reveal it that way, though, I was expecting Arthur to doublecross Sylar at an opportune time and with Arthur stating the truth, almost like a reverse Empire Strikes Back moment ("Luke, I am *not* your father"). One thing that is growing increasingly annoying is the fact that Sylar - tv's best villain - is so easy to manipulate. Evil Sylar becomes Good Gabriel because Angela Petrelli tells him she's his mother. Now because a person thisclose to dying reveals to him that he isn't a Petrelli and all of a sudden Sylar is a villain again? Really? Just like that? I understand a season can't go on forever, so unlike a novel the writers don't have an awful lot of time to gradually build things up, but this is lunacy. Sylar has gone from villain to a good guy looking to redeem himself to back to a villain in - get this - half of a season. We're still in the same volume that started back in September. Just 10 episodes in. How can you have a character flipflop like that, willy nilly? I shake my head in disappointment, writers, tisk tisk.
*sigh*
Anyway, one other thing this episode brought was possibly the best Hiro moment thus far. The whole Hiro arriving just in time to save HRG from Sylar by teleporting "Bad man" out of the house - awesome. That's one thing I didn't see coming and it's nice to be surprised. I don't know why Hiro brought Elle to the same place Sylar was, but we'll chalk that up to the mistake of a 10 year old mind. Also, I'm glad we've reached the end of the line with the 9th Wonders comic book (save for Isaac Mendez's unpublished final copy that apparently is going to come into play very soon). The show has several tools, or tricks, in their arsenal they've utilized one too many times - people dying then coming back to life through miracle blood; time travellers altering past/present/future; trotting out HRG at opportune times as the answer to a particular problem, etc - but one recurring trick has been the use of the 9th Wonders comic books as a way to move the story along. Characters in a bind had this apparent book of knowledge that would reveal the future and help explain what their next move should be. It's nice that the writers have answered a question that was growing in internet message board - how many comic books did Isaac Mendez write that a character killed off in season 1 can still be affecting events 2 seasons later by way of his comic books??. The answer is he wrote 2 seasons worth of comic books and now the well has run dry at last (finally!). You mean people will have to figure out things by themselves ? Yes! I'm happy the writers decided to do away with that crutch. The problem with a show about heroes is it gives the writers all these fictional avenues to help write themselves out of jams when they reach a dead end.
Time to see what other tricks the writers have up their sleeves. And if one of those tricks involve a person with the ability to cause eclipses, thereby flicking a switch and turning people's powers on and off - then I will simply end this blog and watch something educational.
December 2, 2008
Correction (ie, I was wrong)
A reader of the blog submitted the following comment with regards to my criticism of Elle knowing where to locate Claire, you know, the whole scene where HRG kicked Sylar's ass.
I recently viewed the episode again to clear this up, and yes - I was incorrect. Sylar distinctly pointed out he knew how HRG thinks and was able to deduce where HRG would hide Claire. Ok, with that out of the way, let me reiterate - how? Sylar did aquire the ability to touch an object and know it's history but that's about it. He only had a minimal amount of encounters with HRG, they were only a team for one mission. There just wasn't enough of a history between the two where it could be obvious that they both knew how the other operated. The show didn't suggest Sylar knew HRG's whereabouts due to a power - he was just using his noggin'. Whether Sylar said it or Claire said it is mostly irrelevant, the point is it was cheap and lazy writing. I'd rather Arthur had used his future seeing ability to draw a picture of where Claire and HRG were hiding and THEN Sylar saying "hey, I know where that is - I've been there before!". Now THAT would've made more sense.
But anyway, I write this to point out readers of this blog can sometimes know more than I. I know, it's scary to think, but I give credit where it's due. Good job, whoever posted that comment.
Anonymous
It was Sylar, not Elle, who knew Noah would take Claire to
Stephen Canfield's house. While he worked with Noah earlier in the season,
Sylar's ability allowed him to understand very quickly the way Mr. Bennet thinks
and acts. With this knowledge and their previous run in at the same place, Sylar
deduced Claire and Noah's location.
I recently viewed the episode again to clear this up, and yes - I was incorrect. Sylar distinctly pointed out he knew how HRG thinks and was able to deduce where HRG would hide Claire. Ok, with that out of the way, let me reiterate - how? Sylar did aquire the ability to touch an object and know it's history but that's about it. He only had a minimal amount of encounters with HRG, they were only a team for one mission. There just wasn't enough of a history between the two where it could be obvious that they both knew how the other operated. The show didn't suggest Sylar knew HRG's whereabouts due to a power - he was just using his noggin'. Whether Sylar said it or Claire said it is mostly irrelevant, the point is it was cheap and lazy writing. I'd rather Arthur had used his future seeing ability to draw a picture of where Claire and HRG were hiding and THEN Sylar saying "hey, I know where that is - I've been there before!". Now THAT would've made more sense.
But anyway, I write this to point out readers of this blog can sometimes know more than I. I know, it's scary to think, but I give credit where it's due. Good job, whoever posted that comment.
November 25, 2008
Episode 10: "The Eclipse, Part 1"
My, the little kitten's got claws.
Peter Petrelli really gave it to Nathan in this episode. I'll admit I figured Milo V. had the acting ability of Natalie Portman in "Star Wars: A Phantom Menace", but that heated exchange between the Petrelli brothers in the jungle was just what Peter needed to get right back into this. When Peter proclaimed Nathan had been "a puppet your whole life, doing whatever Dad wanted you to do", you gotta admit Milo said that with some chutzpah. I approve. You get the sense that when Peter mentioned Nathan did whatever their Dad had wanted that Arthur did some mind manipulation on his own son to get him to follow the same path. Nathan alluded to the same thing in the previous episode when he encountered his dad and said (to paraphrase) "my whole life I've done whatever you wanted me to do...I went to law school. I married the girl you approved. I ran for office". Hey, anything can be said once, but when it's alluded to twice then there's gotta be more to it there. That's why I'm here, to get you to read between the lines.
Before I continue, I really just want to kick myself for not putting my initial suspicions about Daphne out there. I just knew it deep inside she used to be a cripple. The writers practically begged us to read the writing on the wall. But...I didn't say it so I don't get credit for it. I saw some silly internet Heroes website had a theory that Daphne used to be a turtle, I saw some poetic justice there but c'mon, I understand this is a live-action comic book show but let's operate with some semblence of logic here. You won't find any of those zany theories here, just so you know.
Ok, we got a nice serving of HRG. The greatest thing about him in this episode was how they showed you that with all things being equal (ie, no one having powers) HRG truly is a straight up badass. At least we know why the Primatech motto is "One of Us, One of Them", cuz when One of Them loses their powers you need someone who knows how to kick ass with his bare fucking hands. This blog must really be read by the writers, cuz HRG said to Claire the same things I've been saying: "You don't have any ability to fight bad guys". I still don't see how being able to swing a stick is going to help her in a fight with, say, Flint, but at least HRG echoed my sentiment. He could've helped her more by teaching her how to handle a gun. And before I continue, just how exactly did Elle know that Claire would be at the Vortex Guy's house? That is just zany and lazy on the part of the writers. Pure laziness.
Writer A: Ok, we got a doozy here. How are we gonna get Elle and Sylar to capture Claire? How would they know where to find her?
Writer B: That's easy...since Elle has met Claire about 4 times total and with only one of those times on friendly terms, naturally she'll know how Claire thinks and will be able to find Claire in one of the most random of places - the house of the Vortex Guy.
Writer A: But that's just stupid. Elle was never in the Vortex Guy's house. Unless she memorized the address of every Level 5 villain when she was an Agent how would she know where to find it? And even if she knew where it was, why would she think that place out of everywhere else would have any significance to Claire and how would Elle know about that significance since she wasn't aware of Claire's encounter with the Vortex Guy?
Writer B: Point taken, but since we're working on a deadline and since this is basically a comic book show we'll go with the Vortex Guy's house.
The shear lunacy of that encounter bothered my brain. It should never have even happened.
And speaking of lunacy, let's take a look at the Haitian. Bear in mind he's on of my top 5 favorite characters on this show, so I say this with love. Faced with a dilemna of stopping his brother in some remote, out of the way jungle/village OR some catastrophic calamity to all of mankind (that still hasn't been fully explained yet) the Haitian opts to....stop his brother. Essentially he said "mankind can wait, I gotta take care of some family bullshit". His priorities are impeccable.
Episode 10. It had it's moments of tension (Peter/Nathan arguement in the jungle). It had it's moments of comedy (Parkman doing the Parkman face on Daphne's doorstep). It had action (HRG kicking Sylar's ass). It had Breckin Meyer. No matter what happens someone will be able to answer the question "that Breckin Meyer, whatever happened to him? What has he done lately?"
Heroes: keeping out-of-work ex-teen movie actors employed since 2006.
Peter Petrelli really gave it to Nathan in this episode. I'll admit I figured Milo V. had the acting ability of Natalie Portman in "Star Wars: A Phantom Menace", but that heated exchange between the Petrelli brothers in the jungle was just what Peter needed to get right back into this. When Peter proclaimed Nathan had been "a puppet your whole life, doing whatever Dad wanted you to do", you gotta admit Milo said that with some chutzpah. I approve. You get the sense that when Peter mentioned Nathan did whatever their Dad had wanted that Arthur did some mind manipulation on his own son to get him to follow the same path. Nathan alluded to the same thing in the previous episode when he encountered his dad and said (to paraphrase) "my whole life I've done whatever you wanted me to do...I went to law school. I married the girl you approved. I ran for office". Hey, anything can be said once, but when it's alluded to twice then there's gotta be more to it there. That's why I'm here, to get you to read between the lines.
Before I continue, I really just want to kick myself for not putting my initial suspicions about Daphne out there. I just knew it deep inside she used to be a cripple. The writers practically begged us to read the writing on the wall. But...I didn't say it so I don't get credit for it. I saw some silly internet Heroes website had a theory that Daphne used to be a turtle, I saw some poetic justice there but c'mon, I understand this is a live-action comic book show but let's operate with some semblence of logic here. You won't find any of those zany theories here, just so you know.
Ok, we got a nice serving of HRG. The greatest thing about him in this episode was how they showed you that with all things being equal (ie, no one having powers) HRG truly is a straight up badass. At least we know why the Primatech motto is "One of Us, One of Them", cuz when One of Them loses their powers you need someone who knows how to kick ass with his bare fucking hands. This blog must really be read by the writers, cuz HRG said to Claire the same things I've been saying: "You don't have any ability to fight bad guys". I still don't see how being able to swing a stick is going to help her in a fight with, say, Flint, but at least HRG echoed my sentiment. He could've helped her more by teaching her how to handle a gun. And before I continue, just how exactly did Elle know that Claire would be at the Vortex Guy's house? That is just zany and lazy on the part of the writers. Pure laziness.
Writer A: Ok, we got a doozy here. How are we gonna get Elle and Sylar to capture Claire? How would they know where to find her?
Writer B: That's easy...since Elle has met Claire about 4 times total and with only one of those times on friendly terms, naturally she'll know how Claire thinks and will be able to find Claire in one of the most random of places - the house of the Vortex Guy.
Writer A: But that's just stupid. Elle was never in the Vortex Guy's house. Unless she memorized the address of every Level 5 villain when she was an Agent how would she know where to find it? And even if she knew where it was, why would she think that place out of everywhere else would have any significance to Claire and how would Elle know about that significance since she wasn't aware of Claire's encounter with the Vortex Guy?
Writer B: Point taken, but since we're working on a deadline and since this is basically a comic book show we'll go with the Vortex Guy's house.
The shear lunacy of that encounter bothered my brain. It should never have even happened.
And speaking of lunacy, let's take a look at the Haitian. Bear in mind he's on of my top 5 favorite characters on this show, so I say this with love. Faced with a dilemna of stopping his brother in some remote, out of the way jungle/village OR some catastrophic calamity to all of mankind (that still hasn't been fully explained yet) the Haitian opts to....stop his brother. Essentially he said "mankind can wait, I gotta take care of some family bullshit". His priorities are impeccable.
Episode 10. It had it's moments of tension (Peter/Nathan arguement in the jungle). It had it's moments of comedy (Parkman doing the Parkman face on Daphne's doorstep). It had action (HRG kicking Sylar's ass). It had Breckin Meyer. No matter what happens someone will be able to answer the question "that Breckin Meyer, whatever happened to him? What has he done lately?"
Heroes: keeping out-of-work ex-teen movie actors employed since 2006.
November 24, 2008
Crystal Ball
Before episode 9 is aired tonight I thought it'd be nice to take a look at some of my theories/predictions to see how they've panned out. Note - I routinely edit past posts to clear up typographical errors or to clarify a sentence that was poorly worded - but I don't touch predictions. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, if I'm right I don't win any prizes anyway. But it's always fun to take a look at the past and review how correct you were in your theories or how off-base you turned out to be.
1. "If I had to wager some poker chips I'm going to say something interupts Papa Petrelli from fully taking Hiro's power. First bet is Ando does something."
Ando did indeed interrupt Arthur's stealing of Hiro's power. Some conversation with a reader of the blog drew into question as to what exactly was going on with Arthur and Hiro in that scene. Past scenes where Arthur has put his hands on someone shown he was stealing their power. I was correct that Hiro wouldn't lose his power due to someone knocking Arthur off him, but since Hiro now has the mind of a 10 year old it's questionable as to what Arthur was doing to him. Arthur doesn't need to touch you to put thoughts in your mind. Common internet chatter suggests Arthur didn't need Hiro's power since he already has it thanks to Peter Petrelli, so Arthur just wanted to erase Hiro's mind. The writer's did a poor job of explaining what was going on. Obviously Arthur has some other power he aquired that allows him to steal abilities, it hasn't been revealed yet how he got that ability - his main power is mind manipulation. Considering he was the defense attorney for Linderman that actually was a *very* useful ability to have in a courtroom. But anyway, this was a correct prediction on my part.
2. "If I had to bet on this I would say [Daphne's] playing Pinehurst, afterall if she was truly going to doublecross Parkman he could've read her mind."
Daphne turned out to doublecross Pinehurst afterall. I still like how the writer's cast just enough doubt in that one scene. Again, as I pointed out, the future in which Daphne dies while trying to capture Sylar/Peter doesn't seem likely to pan out because there's been several Butterfly Effect instances in our present timeline, so it's not like we have to follow that path anymore. But when you think about it, that future is starting to come into fruition more and more. We have Sylar quicking morphing into the Gabriel the peace-loving father. Certainly seems Parkman and Daphne are gonna be an item. That future isn't entirely out of the question.
3. "Also - why did [Adam] whither into dust when Papa Petrelli took his power - but Peter didn't?"
Duh, genious, isn't it obvious! I should've known, as found out in various Heroes message board discussions, that Adam's power was what was keeping him alive all those centuries. Without that power he would've turned into dust a loooong time ago. Peter, while naive and gullible, is still a healthy under-30 year old, powers or no powers.
It remains to be seen how Peter/Nathan don't remember having Sylar as a brother and if the Haitian erased anyone's memories, but I'm sure we'll find out soon cuz sweeps are coming up.
Before I end this I want to put this next theory of mine out there:
Peter's scar that Future Peter has on his face is going to be related to Peter fighting his dad. Think about it - he had Claire's regeneration ability, so the only way that Peter could get scarred facially is if he didn't have that power. It just so happens he's in that very predicament right now, so look for the battle that brings about that wicked scar to happen sometime soon. If I were to be so bold and look for bonus points, I'm going to say when Arthur dies in this future battle is when Peter gets his abilities back. But I'm not feeling adventerous today, it's a Monday afterall.
1. "If I had to wager some poker chips I'm going to say something interupts Papa Petrelli from fully taking Hiro's power. First bet is Ando does something."
Ando did indeed interrupt Arthur's stealing of Hiro's power. Some conversation with a reader of the blog drew into question as to what exactly was going on with Arthur and Hiro in that scene. Past scenes where Arthur has put his hands on someone shown he was stealing their power. I was correct that Hiro wouldn't lose his power due to someone knocking Arthur off him, but since Hiro now has the mind of a 10 year old it's questionable as to what Arthur was doing to him. Arthur doesn't need to touch you to put thoughts in your mind. Common internet chatter suggests Arthur didn't need Hiro's power since he already has it thanks to Peter Petrelli, so Arthur just wanted to erase Hiro's mind. The writer's did a poor job of explaining what was going on. Obviously Arthur has some other power he aquired that allows him to steal abilities, it hasn't been revealed yet how he got that ability - his main power is mind manipulation. Considering he was the defense attorney for Linderman that actually was a *very* useful ability to have in a courtroom. But anyway, this was a correct prediction on my part.
2. "If I had to bet on this I would say [Daphne's] playing Pinehurst, afterall if she was truly going to doublecross Parkman he could've read her mind."
Daphne turned out to doublecross Pinehurst afterall. I still like how the writer's cast just enough doubt in that one scene. Again, as I pointed out, the future in which Daphne dies while trying to capture Sylar/Peter doesn't seem likely to pan out because there's been several Butterfly Effect instances in our present timeline, so it's not like we have to follow that path anymore. But when you think about it, that future is starting to come into fruition more and more. We have Sylar quicking morphing into the Gabriel the peace-loving father. Certainly seems Parkman and Daphne are gonna be an item. That future isn't entirely out of the question.
3. "Also - why did [Adam] whither into dust when Papa Petrelli took his power - but Peter didn't?"
Duh, genious, isn't it obvious! I should've known, as found out in various Heroes message board discussions, that Adam's power was what was keeping him alive all those centuries. Without that power he would've turned into dust a loooong time ago. Peter, while naive and gullible, is still a healthy under-30 year old, powers or no powers.
It remains to be seen how Peter/Nathan don't remember having Sylar as a brother and if the Haitian erased anyone's memories, but I'm sure we'll find out soon cuz sweeps are coming up.
Before I end this I want to put this next theory of mine out there:
Peter's scar that Future Peter has on his face is going to be related to Peter fighting his dad. Think about it - he had Claire's regeneration ability, so the only way that Peter could get scarred facially is if he didn't have that power. It just so happens he's in that very predicament right now, so look for the battle that brings about that wicked scar to happen sometime soon. If I were to be so bold and look for bonus points, I'm going to say when Arthur dies in this future battle is when Peter gets his abilities back. But I'm not feeling adventerous today, it's a Monday afterall.
November 19, 2008
Episode 9 - "It's Coming"
I got the feeling of being a hamster in a wheel while watching this episode. You know, you're a hamster, you're running, you're thinking this is the greatest thing ever and you're really going places - but actually not much is happening. That was episode 9.
Let's look at the major developments that happened (trust me, it borders on "more of the same" and "not much"):
1. Ok, Sylar doesn't have to kill anymore to get people's powers. The only way the writer's could have hammered home the fact that "Sylar is not a monster anymore" is if they personally emailed all the viewers of the show. I'll give this to you - this is somewhat big. What the show gains in a real powerful hero that everyone can root for, performed by a really talented actor, the show loses in one of the best television villains of our generation. The gods giveth, and they taketh away. I personally have liked Gabriel more than Sylar so I have no probs with this development.
2. The two sides have been chosen. Good vs. Evil. Ma Petrelli vs. Arthur (Papa Petrelli). Son vs. Father. We all know wherever this is leading the good side (Ma Petrelli side) is going to prevail, but on paper the Arthur side should wipe their dirty assholes on the Ma Petrelli side. Look who's on the Arthur side - Arthur himself. Apparently Sylar (so far). As they say: "'nuff said". You got Elle. You got your Flint and Fear Guy. Tracey. Let's take a look at who's in Ma's posse: a person who can see into the future (Ma); a powerless Peter Petrelli. A teenager who can feel no pain and regenerate herself when she inevitably gets dominated. Someone who can fly. A powerful hero who thinks he's 10 years old. Ok, Parkman and the speedy Daphne obviously have some good offensive powers. The only thing that saves the Ma Petrelli side is the inevitable defection of Sylar (and his new friggin caliente piece of ass - Elle) to their side. That's it. Unless the writers can create a hero who is the opposite of Arthur/the Haitian and has the power to restore people's abilities, thereby swinging the advantage considerably to the Ma Petrelli side (Peter with his powers back+Sylar=win).
Let's switch gears quickly and point out what was wrong:
3. Hiro didn't lose his powers. Unfortunately he now thinks he's 10. This is poor writing only in the sense of what the hell did Papa Petrelli do, or more importantly "how did he do it"? What does making someone think they're 10 years old have to do with the power to take people's powers away? Obviously Ando interrupting the power stealing of Arthur affected the outcome, but you would think the end result would be Hiro having only limited powers since the power stealing started but was never completed. If you illegally download music files (what, like you don't?) and the transfer gets interrupted - yeah, you can't play the music file but if you look in your hard drive somewhere you'll find the music file (albeit an unplayable music file). You don't find a Word doc or something completely unrelated. I pride myself on being able to see all the angles but I'm helpless against poorly thought out writing. Also poorly thought out was Ando being able to activate Hiro's power for him while in Africa with Arthur coming after them by closing Hiro's eyes, but in the bowling alley Hiro showed he had to *really* concentrate to get his power to work. But that's the little things, and we try not to break out the angry townfolk with their pitchforks and torches for the little things. I just want the writers to know I'm watching and they need to sharpen up a little bit.
4. Tracey (Ali Larter) has an evil agenda. This is a very natural and logical plot development. I mean, it was only 2 or 3 episodes ago that she was ready to kill herself, now she's running on all pistons and is looking to get in on the ground floor of an evil plot by manipulating the very person who saved her life. Very logical. Nevermind the fact that the person who saved her life flat out stated he doesn't trust his father, no, it's better to assume you know the score and can start brokering deals. This show tries very hard to keep Ali Larter relevant and employed. They were grasping at straws the 1st two seasons with those awful DL/Micah storylines that had minimal (and I'm being polite here) impact on the overall plot. Now they "resurrect" Nikki/Jessica by renaming the character "Tracey" and hatching up some hooey about her getting her powers in a science lab. Oh yeah, remember that? That's the supposedly huge plot development from a few weeks ago where it was revealed she wasn't born with powers, rather Tracey and her sisters were tested on and injected with powers. She hunts down the doctor that did it, kills him, finds out the truth and....Yeah, that's all that happened. This was supposed to be a great (or at least interesting) turn of events. You mean not everyone on the show was born with abilities? You mean there could be others who were tested on? I'm sure the writers will go back to that before season's end but I just don't agree with this sudden getting off track. Finding out more info on the whole "creating powers in a lab and injecting them into babies" was supposed to be Tracey's story arc this season. Now she's done with that and is moving on to evil plots to take over the world. Naturally.
5. Claire, its ok for you to refer to Ma Petrelli and Arthur as "Grandma" and "Grandpa". They're the parents of your biological father, making them, yes, you're correct - your grandparents. Btw, as soon as Arthur was told the catalyst was "someone" and not "something", who really didn't know the catalyst was going to be Claire? We all saw that coming a mile away as soon as that catalyst info was revealed. If you're scoring at home, this episode marks the 1,000th time that Claire has decided to stand up to/fight villains only to be (quickly) beat. This is bordering on lunacy. She is so inept as a hero that a powerless Peter was able to stop Flint/Fear Guy. And listen writers - we know Milo V. and Hayden P. are a couple in real life, please don't dilute the show with unnecessary air-time with them in scenes together.
6. One last flub (or maybe I'm reading too much into this). Arthur mentioned to Sylar essentially "you were always the strongest of my sons". Really? After Sylar mentioned in the same episode his mother - the one he killed, not Ma Petrelli - messed him up for always making him think he had to be special when he was a kid. So how is this possible? Something's off with the timeline here. Did Arthur mean when Sylar was an infant he showed himself to be the strongest (a time that maybe Sylar can't remember)? How could Sylar have been raised by both his fake mom and have a long lost dad that he not only doesn't remember, but a long lost dad that apparently was around him enough to be able to ascertain that Sylar was the strongest? We know Nathan is older than Peter. It doesn't seem likely he's younger than Sylar, which would mean Nathan *should* remember Sylar. Why hasn't this been discussed more? Why hasn't Peter asked Nathan or his mom yet about this? I will give you the answer to the mystery - I can see this coming over the horizon. And, yes, you heard it here first because I can add 2 + 2. The Haitian erased Sylar's memory.
Bam.
I just said it. Watch, by the end of the season we're going to see a flashback like in episode 8 with the Haitian erasing Sylar's mind, and the mind's of Peter and Nathan to make them forget having known Sylar.
This makes so much sense I have nothing more to say about episode 9. I'm going to rest my feet up and declare today a win for me.
Let's look at the major developments that happened (trust me, it borders on "more of the same" and "not much"):
1. Ok, Sylar doesn't have to kill anymore to get people's powers. The only way the writer's could have hammered home the fact that "Sylar is not a monster anymore" is if they personally emailed all the viewers of the show. I'll give this to you - this is somewhat big. What the show gains in a real powerful hero that everyone can root for, performed by a really talented actor, the show loses in one of the best television villains of our generation. The gods giveth, and they taketh away. I personally have liked Gabriel more than Sylar so I have no probs with this development.
2. The two sides have been chosen. Good vs. Evil. Ma Petrelli vs. Arthur (Papa Petrelli). Son vs. Father. We all know wherever this is leading the good side (Ma Petrelli side) is going to prevail, but on paper the Arthur side should wipe their dirty assholes on the Ma Petrelli side. Look who's on the Arthur side - Arthur himself. Apparently Sylar (so far). As they say: "'nuff said". You got Elle. You got your Flint and Fear Guy. Tracey. Let's take a look at who's in Ma's posse: a person who can see into the future (Ma); a powerless Peter Petrelli. A teenager who can feel no pain and regenerate herself when she inevitably gets dominated. Someone who can fly. A powerful hero who thinks he's 10 years old. Ok, Parkman and the speedy Daphne obviously have some good offensive powers. The only thing that saves the Ma Petrelli side is the inevitable defection of Sylar (and his new friggin caliente piece of ass - Elle) to their side. That's it. Unless the writers can create a hero who is the opposite of Arthur/the Haitian and has the power to restore people's abilities, thereby swinging the advantage considerably to the Ma Petrelli side (Peter with his powers back+Sylar=win).
Let's switch gears quickly and point out what was wrong:
3. Hiro didn't lose his powers. Unfortunately he now thinks he's 10. This is poor writing only in the sense of what the hell did Papa Petrelli do, or more importantly "how did he do it"? What does making someone think they're 10 years old have to do with the power to take people's powers away? Obviously Ando interrupting the power stealing of Arthur affected the outcome, but you would think the end result would be Hiro having only limited powers since the power stealing started but was never completed. If you illegally download music files (what, like you don't?) and the transfer gets interrupted - yeah, you can't play the music file but if you look in your hard drive somewhere you'll find the music file (albeit an unplayable music file). You don't find a Word doc or something completely unrelated. I pride myself on being able to see all the angles but I'm helpless against poorly thought out writing. Also poorly thought out was Ando being able to activate Hiro's power for him while in Africa with Arthur coming after them by closing Hiro's eyes, but in the bowling alley Hiro showed he had to *really* concentrate to get his power to work. But that's the little things, and we try not to break out the angry townfolk with their pitchforks and torches for the little things. I just want the writers to know I'm watching and they need to sharpen up a little bit.
4. Tracey (Ali Larter) has an evil agenda. This is a very natural and logical plot development. I mean, it was only 2 or 3 episodes ago that she was ready to kill herself, now she's running on all pistons and is looking to get in on the ground floor of an evil plot by manipulating the very person who saved her life. Very logical. Nevermind the fact that the person who saved her life flat out stated he doesn't trust his father, no, it's better to assume you know the score and can start brokering deals. This show tries very hard to keep Ali Larter relevant and employed. They were grasping at straws the 1st two seasons with those awful DL/Micah storylines that had minimal (and I'm being polite here) impact on the overall plot. Now they "resurrect" Nikki/Jessica by renaming the character "Tracey" and hatching up some hooey about her getting her powers in a science lab. Oh yeah, remember that? That's the supposedly huge plot development from a few weeks ago where it was revealed she wasn't born with powers, rather Tracey and her sisters were tested on and injected with powers. She hunts down the doctor that did it, kills him, finds out the truth and....Yeah, that's all that happened. This was supposed to be a great (or at least interesting) turn of events. You mean not everyone on the show was born with abilities? You mean there could be others who were tested on? I'm sure the writers will go back to that before season's end but I just don't agree with this sudden getting off track. Finding out more info on the whole "creating powers in a lab and injecting them into babies" was supposed to be Tracey's story arc this season. Now she's done with that and is moving on to evil plots to take over the world. Naturally.
5. Claire, its ok for you to refer to Ma Petrelli and Arthur as "Grandma" and "Grandpa". They're the parents of your biological father, making them, yes, you're correct - your grandparents. Btw, as soon as Arthur was told the catalyst was "someone" and not "something", who really didn't know the catalyst was going to be Claire? We all saw that coming a mile away as soon as that catalyst info was revealed. If you're scoring at home, this episode marks the 1,000th time that Claire has decided to stand up to/fight villains only to be (quickly) beat. This is bordering on lunacy. She is so inept as a hero that a powerless Peter was able to stop Flint/Fear Guy. And listen writers - we know Milo V. and Hayden P. are a couple in real life, please don't dilute the show with unnecessary air-time with them in scenes together.
6. One last flub (or maybe I'm reading too much into this). Arthur mentioned to Sylar essentially "you were always the strongest of my sons". Really? After Sylar mentioned in the same episode his mother - the one he killed, not Ma Petrelli - messed him up for always making him think he had to be special when he was a kid. So how is this possible? Something's off with the timeline here. Did Arthur mean when Sylar was an infant he showed himself to be the strongest (a time that maybe Sylar can't remember)? How could Sylar have been raised by both his fake mom and have a long lost dad that he not only doesn't remember, but a long lost dad that apparently was around him enough to be able to ascertain that Sylar was the strongest? We know Nathan is older than Peter. It doesn't seem likely he's younger than Sylar, which would mean Nathan *should* remember Sylar. Why hasn't this been discussed more? Why hasn't Peter asked Nathan or his mom yet about this? I will give you the answer to the mystery - I can see this coming over the horizon. And, yes, you heard it here first because I can add 2 + 2. The Haitian erased Sylar's memory.
Bam.
I just said it. Watch, by the end of the season we're going to see a flashback like in episode 8 with the Haitian erasing Sylar's mind, and the mind's of Peter and Nathan to make them forget having known Sylar.
This makes so much sense I have nothing more to say about episode 9. I'm going to rest my feet up and declare today a win for me.
November 13, 2008
Episode 8 - "Villains"
Ok, now it seems things are back to normal.
There's been a shakeup with the writing staff, but I'm pretty sure this episode isn't part of the new regime. Episode 8 revealed what the backbone of this show is - the people who can actually act. It featured the people on the show with actual talent. We had Nathan. We had Papa Petrelli. Zach Quinto. Malcolm McDowell (Linderman). Ma Petrelli at her finest moment to date. I'm interested and I want more. What it didn't have was the constantly brooding, one-dimensional Milo V. or the two-man comic act known as "Hiro and Ando". Don't get me wrong, I love my Hiro (who doesn't), but this show was quickly morphing into the Peter & Hiro Show. Also getting minimal screentime was Suresh, I think the writers have been reading my blog.
The only bad note about this latest episode is how the writer's seem to want to have everything fit together in a nice gift-wrapped box. It wasn't enough to have Flint (the blue flame power guy) on the show - now he has to be related to one of the central characters as well (apparently he's Claire's uncle). Necessary? Not at all. Also, this episode revealed that Sylar and Elle have a previous history together (Elle as HRG's partner trying to manipulate a mentally fragile Gabriel into resuming his hero-killing). I have to go back and rewatch the episode where the Villains escape Level 5. They escaped because Sylar was trying to take Elle's power and she short circuited the entire complex. Did Sylar give any indication that he knew Elle? Did he acknowledge her in anyway that would suggest he knew her from a previous time? Based off of memory I'm thinking no, at least I would've recalled such an exchange between the two former lovebirds. If this is the case - that's really bad, writers. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I think we all know where this is going anyway - Elle is going to be the one he impregnates and that's the mother of Future Sylar's son. They'll probably keep her around long enough to give birth to Sylar's son. It doesn't seem the show has long term plans for Kristen Bell because she's still listed as "guest starring" on the show, as in she's not considered a main character.
So, apparently Hiro loses his powers. I don't know where I stand on this. On one hand it just goes to show just how badass Papa Petrelli is. On the other hand that would leave Sylar as the only person strong enough to take him down. On the other hand (if you were a three armed person) next week's episode throws in the wild card of another eclipse happening which will be a mystery as to how that plays a role on everyone's powers. Nevermind that another lunar eclipse so soon after season 1's eclipse is scientifically impossible. The things that the show doesn't show you are as important as the things that are shown. We didn't see Hiro lose his powers. We saw him in the process of losing his powers. If I had to wager some poker chips I'm going to say something interupts Papa Petrelli from fully taking Hiro's power. First bet is Ando does something. Second bet is the Speedster saving Hiro. Of course this is all contingent on Hiro not losing his powers. One thing that certainly makes no sense is how the African Future Seeing Guy could predict Hiro sneaking up on him several times (which he thwarted by knocking Hiro out with a shovel) but he didn't see in any of his visions of the future...oh...someone cutting his fucking head off! I also would like to know (and this is going back several episodes) how African Future Seeing Guy had a copy of "9th Wonders" - Isaac Mendez's comic book - in his hut. I guess it's another example of the writers trying to get too cute in showing how everyone in the show is somehow connected.
Anyway, enough of my nitpicking. The show delivered and seems headed back in the right direction. I just hope that direction involves more of the actors who have actual acting skill and less of Peter Petrelli/Claire/Suresh.
There's been a shakeup with the writing staff, but I'm pretty sure this episode isn't part of the new regime. Episode 8 revealed what the backbone of this show is - the people who can actually act. It featured the people on the show with actual talent. We had Nathan. We had Papa Petrelli. Zach Quinto. Malcolm McDowell (Linderman). Ma Petrelli at her finest moment to date. I'm interested and I want more. What it didn't have was the constantly brooding, one-dimensional Milo V. or the two-man comic act known as "Hiro and Ando". Don't get me wrong, I love my Hiro (who doesn't), but this show was quickly morphing into the Peter & Hiro Show. Also getting minimal screentime was Suresh, I think the writers have been reading my blog.
The only bad note about this latest episode is how the writer's seem to want to have everything fit together in a nice gift-wrapped box. It wasn't enough to have Flint (the blue flame power guy) on the show - now he has to be related to one of the central characters as well (apparently he's Claire's uncle). Necessary? Not at all. Also, this episode revealed that Sylar and Elle have a previous history together (Elle as HRG's partner trying to manipulate a mentally fragile Gabriel into resuming his hero-killing). I have to go back and rewatch the episode where the Villains escape Level 5. They escaped because Sylar was trying to take Elle's power and she short circuited the entire complex. Did Sylar give any indication that he knew Elle? Did he acknowledge her in anyway that would suggest he knew her from a previous time? Based off of memory I'm thinking no, at least I would've recalled such an exchange between the two former lovebirds. If this is the case - that's really bad, writers. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I think we all know where this is going anyway - Elle is going to be the one he impregnates and that's the mother of Future Sylar's son. They'll probably keep her around long enough to give birth to Sylar's son. It doesn't seem the show has long term plans for Kristen Bell because she's still listed as "guest starring" on the show, as in she's not considered a main character.
So, apparently Hiro loses his powers. I don't know where I stand on this. On one hand it just goes to show just how badass Papa Petrelli is. On the other hand that would leave Sylar as the only person strong enough to take him down. On the other hand (if you were a three armed person) next week's episode throws in the wild card of another eclipse happening which will be a mystery as to how that plays a role on everyone's powers. Nevermind that another lunar eclipse so soon after season 1's eclipse is scientifically impossible. The things that the show doesn't show you are as important as the things that are shown. We didn't see Hiro lose his powers. We saw him in the process of losing his powers. If I had to wager some poker chips I'm going to say something interupts Papa Petrelli from fully taking Hiro's power. First bet is Ando does something. Second bet is the Speedster saving Hiro. Of course this is all contingent on Hiro not losing his powers. One thing that certainly makes no sense is how the African Future Seeing Guy could predict Hiro sneaking up on him several times (which he thwarted by knocking Hiro out with a shovel) but he didn't see in any of his visions of the future...oh...someone cutting his fucking head off! I also would like to know (and this is going back several episodes) how African Future Seeing Guy had a copy of "9th Wonders" - Isaac Mendez's comic book - in his hut. I guess it's another example of the writers trying to get too cute in showing how everyone in the show is somehow connected.
Anyway, enough of my nitpicking. The show delivered and seems headed back in the right direction. I just hope that direction involves more of the actors who have actual acting skill and less of Peter Petrelli/Claire/Suresh.
November 5, 2008
Episode 7
Let me ask you something.
So, you're a hero - or at least someone who has powers and abilities. You exist in a world where other people have powers. People who can fly or absorb powers of others or create illusions are not shocking to you.
So when you walk into the offices of a mysterious, shadowy company and you see what appears to be your father - even though he's been dead for a bit - standing in a room full of villains why is your first reaction to embrace this individual?
Let me introduce you to Peter Petrelli, folks.
Rather than saying "hold up - let me digest all this for a second, maybe read this guy's mind to see if it truly is my dad" he walks over with open arms and gets his powers stolen in the process. The only thing I find more laughable than that is him being powerless in his holding cell trying to attack his dad and other captors with a tray.
What else did episode 7 tell us?
1. Suresh is a villain now. He's officially crossed over into "Evil Scientist" territory. I'm wondering why it took a show that's essentially a live-action comic book so long to have the stereotypical villainous scientist/doctor. At least Suresh now has a decent reason to be on the show other than to antagonize me with his long-time uselessness.
2. C'est la vie, Maya. Or should that be "Adios, Maya"? The last link to all that made season 2 such a crappy season has now left the building. She never caught on with the audience (despite being so caliente) and has set the record for most consecutive episodes with a crying scene. Seriously, I think every episode she appeared involved her crying at some point.
3. The Elle/Claire tag-team duo. It makes so much sense. With Elle walking through the doors of Pinehurst to have her powers removed one doesn't know how long this duo is going to last but it worked on a lot of levels. Which brings me to this - what's up with all these people looking to remove their powers? First Maya, now Elle (and it also seemed Claire was headed down that path for a bit). I guess we're supposed to contrast Sylar's need to feel special and superior with Claire's need to be normal. I'm not certain people would actually want to have a power removed (unless you're that guy from the Skittle s commercial who turned everything he touches into Skittles). But Elle/Claire has a lot of potential as a crime fighting unit - Claire wants to fight villains but lacks the power to take them down and Elle has a very nifty ability to stop people in their tracks. Would be a shame if they dismantled that duo before exploring the possibilies of a tag-team first.
4. There was an unnecessary Hiro sighting. Ok, we understand he's a fan fave, but his 1.5 minute scene didn't accomplish anything other than to feed the audience's Hiro-addiction. Couldn't they have just saved that scene for the next episode where they could've had a better flow to the storyline? It just felt so obligatory, like "oh snap, we almost forgot to put Hiro in this episode!". It's ok, writers, we know Hiro isn't going anywhere, you can leave him out in an episode and we won't panic.
5. HRG/Noah. You feel that? Yes, slowly but surely you're becoming a background character. What a shame. As Claire breaks further away from him his whole "whatever it takes to keep my family safe" approach becomes more and more pointless. What made this character resonate so well was his motivation to protect his family and to shelter his Claire-bear from the prodding scientists of The Company. Writers need to find another role or purpose for this great character. He consistently was one of the bright spots on the show. You never knew if he was just doing what was best for his family or if he was still an operative of The Company and just playing the role. He always had that sly grin that could've gone either way.
6. Sylar delivers, yet again. As soon as Peter didn't die from the fall as he was launched through the window of Pinehurst I knew Sylar had a hand in it. Excellent turn of events. Is there anyone who wants to argue this show isn't focused on Sylar? Seasons 1 and 2 were all Peter, but season 3 has been the breakout of Sylar. I applaud the writers for this decision.
7. Finally, marvelous plot development in the Parkman/Speedster storyline. Her conversation with Pinehurst cast serious doubts as to whether she was still aligned with them or with Parkman. If I had to bet on this I would say she's playing Pinehurst, afterall if she was truly going to doublecross Parkman he could've read her mind (unless that's a serious gaffe on the part of the writers). You can't make it that Parkman needs to do his "Parkman reading your mind" face every time he uses his power, it should be assumed that this character continuously scans the minds of people he speaks with, thus making it hard to dupe him.
With the election of the president unfortunately getting in the way of our normal Heroes festivities we have to endure a whole week without an episode, thus spend a whole week with me talking about how I wish when Elle's electricity was on the brink of bringing the plane down and Claire decided to absorb Elle's electrical current she had proposed they transferred the electricity by touching lips rather than taking her hand.
So, you're a hero - or at least someone who has powers and abilities. You exist in a world where other people have powers. People who can fly or absorb powers of others or create illusions are not shocking to you.
So when you walk into the offices of a mysterious, shadowy company and you see what appears to be your father - even though he's been dead for a bit - standing in a room full of villains why is your first reaction to embrace this individual?
Let me introduce you to Peter Petrelli, folks.
Rather than saying "hold up - let me digest all this for a second, maybe read this guy's mind to see if it truly is my dad" he walks over with open arms and gets his powers stolen in the process. The only thing I find more laughable than that is him being powerless in his holding cell trying to attack his dad and other captors with a tray.
What else did episode 7 tell us?
1. Suresh is a villain now. He's officially crossed over into "Evil Scientist" territory. I'm wondering why it took a show that's essentially a live-action comic book so long to have the stereotypical villainous scientist/doctor. At least Suresh now has a decent reason to be on the show other than to antagonize me with his long-time uselessness.
2. C'est la vie, Maya. Or should that be "Adios, Maya"? The last link to all that made season 2 such a crappy season has now left the building. She never caught on with the audience (despite being so caliente) and has set the record for most consecutive episodes with a crying scene. Seriously, I think every episode she appeared involved her crying at some point.
3. The Elle/Claire tag-team duo. It makes so much sense. With Elle walking through the doors of Pinehurst to have her powers removed one doesn't know how long this duo is going to last but it worked on a lot of levels. Which brings me to this - what's up with all these people looking to remove their powers? First Maya, now Elle (and it also seemed Claire was headed down that path for a bit). I guess we're supposed to contrast Sylar's need to feel special and superior with Claire's need to be normal. I'm not certain people would actually want to have a power removed (unless you're that guy from the Skittle s commercial who turned everything he touches into Skittles). But Elle/Claire has a lot of potential as a crime fighting unit - Claire wants to fight villains but lacks the power to take them down and Elle has a very nifty ability to stop people in their tracks. Would be a shame if they dismantled that duo before exploring the possibilies of a tag-team first.
4. There was an unnecessary Hiro sighting. Ok, we understand he's a fan fave, but his 1.5 minute scene didn't accomplish anything other than to feed the audience's Hiro-addiction. Couldn't they have just saved that scene for the next episode where they could've had a better flow to the storyline? It just felt so obligatory, like "oh snap, we almost forgot to put Hiro in this episode!". It's ok, writers, we know Hiro isn't going anywhere, you can leave him out in an episode and we won't panic.
5. HRG/Noah. You feel that? Yes, slowly but surely you're becoming a background character. What a shame. As Claire breaks further away from him his whole "whatever it takes to keep my family safe" approach becomes more and more pointless. What made this character resonate so well was his motivation to protect his family and to shelter his Claire-bear from the prodding scientists of The Company. Writers need to find another role or purpose for this great character. He consistently was one of the bright spots on the show. You never knew if he was just doing what was best for his family or if he was still an operative of The Company and just playing the role. He always had that sly grin that could've gone either way.
6. Sylar delivers, yet again. As soon as Peter didn't die from the fall as he was launched through the window of Pinehurst I knew Sylar had a hand in it. Excellent turn of events. Is there anyone who wants to argue this show isn't focused on Sylar? Seasons 1 and 2 were all Peter, but season 3 has been the breakout of Sylar. I applaud the writers for this decision.
7. Finally, marvelous plot development in the Parkman/Speedster storyline. Her conversation with Pinehurst cast serious doubts as to whether she was still aligned with them or with Parkman. If I had to bet on this I would say she's playing Pinehurst, afterall if she was truly going to doublecross Parkman he could've read her mind (unless that's a serious gaffe on the part of the writers). You can't make it that Parkman needs to do his "Parkman reading your mind" face every time he uses his power, it should be assumed that this character continuously scans the minds of people he speaks with, thus making it hard to dupe him.
With the election of the president unfortunately getting in the way of our normal Heroes festivities we have to endure a whole week without an episode, thus spend a whole week with me talking about how I wish when Elle's electricity was on the brink of bringing the plane down and Claire decided to absorb Elle's electrical current she had proposed they transferred the electricity by touching lips rather than taking her hand.
November 2, 2008
Musings On Season 2
I came across a promo pic for what was then the upcoming 2nd season. Anyone who follows the show knows that originally the creators of the show meant to have new heroes every season (instead of the focus on the same cast from season 1).
Labelled as a "first look at the five new kids on the block" you can really see the direction the show wanted to go in. I mean, just look at these people - good looking, toned, oozing sex appeal. Just as NBC's "Friday Night Lights" turned into "Friday Night 90210" as they abandoned the focus on high school football life in a small Texas town to good looking young people and their sexy lives and, oh yeah, who happen to play football - if I were a betting man I could see Heroes trying to take on more of that also. Can't you picture a Heroes producer at the photoshoot just barking orders..."Maya, arch your back some more, curves equals ratings and we really need your breasts to be heeving." and "Alejandro - why don't you take your shirt off? We're trying to steal some of the female demographic from 'Dancing With The Stars' and 'One Tree Hill'."
Interesting that of all the characters from this photoshoot, only Elle remains. And considering she just walked through the door of Pinehurst to have her powers removed one can only think how much longer Kristen Bell's contract is gonna last. You can still see the tire tracks on the floor where the writers screeched to a halt, putting the brakes on several of these bad storylines from season 2. A famous Heroes article admitted their mistake in some of these characters - namely the Maya/Alejandro plot (whose whole "one needs the other to keep their powers under control" seems rather familiar to the comic book "Cloak and Dagger"). Monica - Micah's cousin with the copycat ability - never was really dealt with at all, they just swept her under a rug and quite frankly we've all been happy to forget her. Not even a death or having her powers removed. The only other time this has happened - in recent times - was in the ABC show "Family Matters" when the writers decided it wasn't worth writing off Judy Winslow (the youngest child) since they didn't think viewers would notice her gone. I'm sure the show reserves the right to bring her back in future episodes whenever they deem convenient but judging from the tiny appearance by Micah at his mom's wake I don't think the show is gonna go there too often.
Funny thing about Alejandro - going back to my post on the useless powers of the characters from The Company, how awkward would conversations be for Alejandro at a get together with legendary heroes from comic books? Like I could totally see this happening:
Superman: "I have superhuman strength, the ability to fly and have no earthly weakness that can threaten me."
Wolverine: "I have a mutated ability to heal myself and have an unbreakable skeletal frame, and let's not forget these nifty claws that can cut through steel."
Superman: "You there - Latino - what can you do?"
Alejandro: "I have the ability to calm my sister down so that she can control her power."
Superman/Wolverine: HAHAHAHAHA
Wolverine: "LOL, even powerless Batman has a fucking utility belt".
Labelled as a "first look at the five new kids on the block" you can really see the direction the show wanted to go in. I mean, just look at these people - good looking, toned, oozing sex appeal. Just as NBC's "Friday Night Lights" turned into "Friday Night 90210" as they abandoned the focus on high school football life in a small Texas town to good looking young people and their sexy lives and, oh yeah, who happen to play football - if I were a betting man I could see Heroes trying to take on more of that also. Can't you picture a Heroes producer at the photoshoot just barking orders..."Maya, arch your back some more, curves equals ratings and we really need your breasts to be heeving." and "Alejandro - why don't you take your shirt off? We're trying to steal some of the female demographic from 'Dancing With The Stars' and 'One Tree Hill'."Interesting that of all the characters from this photoshoot, only Elle remains. And considering she just walked through the door of Pinehurst to have her powers removed one can only think how much longer Kristen Bell's contract is gonna last. You can still see the tire tracks on the floor where the writers screeched to a halt, putting the brakes on several of these bad storylines from season 2. A famous Heroes article admitted their mistake in some of these characters - namely the Maya/Alejandro plot (whose whole "one needs the other to keep their powers under control" seems rather familiar to the comic book "Cloak and Dagger"). Monica - Micah's cousin with the copycat ability - never was really dealt with at all, they just swept her under a rug and quite frankly we've all been happy to forget her. Not even a death or having her powers removed. The only other time this has happened - in recent times - was in the ABC show "Family Matters" when the writers decided it wasn't worth writing off Judy Winslow (the youngest child) since they didn't think viewers would notice her gone. I'm sure the show reserves the right to bring her back in future episodes whenever they deem convenient but judging from the tiny appearance by Micah at his mom's wake I don't think the show is gonna go there too often.
Funny thing about Alejandro - going back to my post on the useless powers of the characters from The Company, how awkward would conversations be for Alejandro at a get together with legendary heroes from comic books? Like I could totally see this happening:
Superman: "I have superhuman strength, the ability to fly and have no earthly weakness that can threaten me."
Wolverine: "I have a mutated ability to heal myself and have an unbreakable skeletal frame, and let's not forget these nifty claws that can cut through steel."
Superman: "You there - Latino - what can you do?"
Alejandro: "I have the ability to calm my sister down so that she can control her power."
Superman/Wolverine: HAHAHAHAHA
Wolverine: "LOL, even powerless Batman has a fucking utility belt".
November 1, 2008
The Company
Before we go any further I just wanted to get this out in the open. Has a League of heroes - in this case the older generation that made up The Company (Hiro's Dad, Ma and Papa Petrelli, Parkman's Dad Maury, etc) - ever had a bunch of people with the most useless powers? What kind of crime/villain did they fight anyway? Most of them are dead which goes to show how inept and powerless they were. No one yet knows what Hiro's dad could do, but I don't think it was anything of value since he got taken down (in his case down several stories off the edge of a building) so easily.
And Bob Bishop (Elle's dad), that guy who had the Midas Touch as his power. If you had that ability would fighting evil be the first thing on your agenda? How exactly did he battle villains - offer them gold to go away? I could just picture the following exchange:
Bob Bishop: Hey guys, I was thinking for this next mission I could tag along with you and help battle that nasty group of bad guys we've been having problems with.
[Group looks down at their feet]
Ma Patrelli: Yeah, we're gonna need you to hand in those TPS reports soon, and then after that there's the trash dumpster outside that we need you to convert into gold so we can finance the repairs to the rec room so we don't think you'll have enough time.
What a waste of abilities.
Speaking of waste of abilities, this has nothing to do with the Company, but ponder this:
Papa Petrelli and Peter Petrelli both have the ability to take the powers of other people. But suppose they were the only two people on the planet to have any powers at all - would that not be an epic waste of a power?? That's like someone coming up to you and saying "my power is if I ever were to hold the horn of a golden unicorn - if such a mythical creature were to ever exist - in my hand I would have unlimited abilities and end all suffering for man forever."
And Bob Bishop (Elle's dad), that guy who had the Midas Touch as his power. If you had that ability would fighting evil be the first thing on your agenda? How exactly did he battle villains - offer them gold to go away? I could just picture the following exchange:
Bob Bishop: Hey guys, I was thinking for this next mission I could tag along with you and help battle that nasty group of bad guys we've been having problems with.
[Group looks down at their feet]
Ma Patrelli: Yeah, we're gonna need you to hand in those TPS reports soon, and then after that there's the trash dumpster outside that we need you to convert into gold so we can finance the repairs to the rec room so we don't think you'll have enough time.
What a waste of abilities.
Speaking of waste of abilities, this has nothing to do with the Company, but ponder this:
Papa Petrelli and Peter Petrelli both have the ability to take the powers of other people. But suppose they were the only two people on the planet to have any powers at all - would that not be an epic waste of a power?? That's like someone coming up to you and saying "my power is if I ever were to hold the horn of a golden unicorn - if such a mythical creature were to ever exist - in my hand I would have unlimited abilities and end all suffering for man forever."
October 31, 2008
What's Happened So Far (up to episode 6)
For those of you just stumbling in to the season, let's take a moment to talk about what's transpired thus far in Season 3. I'll make a separate entry for the most recent episode and update more frequently as new episodes premiere.
Has a series ever waited until like 5 or 6 episodes in to the season to really announce what the point is? Yeah, we've known since episode 1 that a bored Hiro was charged with the responsiblity of safeguarding half of a potentially devastating formula, but as the season has worn on that's really fallen to the background, near forgotten, if you will. Rather, the main point behind the season is the (re)emergence of Papa Petrelli as an uber-bad guy who is assembling a Legion Of Doom Super Villain Group, who plans on using both halves of the doomsday formula to ply his evil trade. I'm waiting for the inevitable NBC voiceover for an upcoming trailer: "In next week's episode - Sides..will...be...drawn...Heroes vs. Villains." Yes, the season is shaping up to be what everyone has been aching for since the series began - a real showdown between good and bad. We're still waiting to see who goes on what side, it all depends on how long the writers want to draw this out. Anyway, let's catch up with some old friends and see what their status has been:
Adam: Brought back from the grave, literally, just to serve as a sacrificial lamb to Papa Petrelli. I mean, we all knew Adam wasn't going to stay buried underground forever. It's almost as if the writer's wanted to tuck him away for just this very reason. "Let's tuck Adam away for a while, he seemed to have resonated well with our test group and internet message boards. He's likeable enough that him dying would really mean something, but not important enough that we need to keep him around forever". Still, with 2 time travellers on the payroll, I wouldn't completely count him out. Also - why did he whither into dust when Papa P. took his power - but Peter didn't?
Nathan Petrelli: Ok, he's already met his quota for using his ability once this season, glad to see he's got that out of the way. Seriously - has any other person with a power used their ability less than Nathan has. I can only count three times off the top of my head (first episode, when he caught Peter who jumped off a building; season 1 finale when he flew Nuclear Peter into the atmosphere; season 3 when he saved a suicidal Tracey). Yeah, I know he's flown more than 3 times, I'm just saying he's only used his ability in terms of being a Hero roughly 3 times. Shit, even the Vortex/Black Hole guy used his ability 3 times...in one episode! I know flying is a pretty useless ability, but try to work it in the show more, guys.
Claire: I didn't think it was possible for this hottie to become a nottie (as in not interesting). What a 2-dimensional character. She hit her development sometime around season 2. Writers completely have given up on the whole "cheerleader struggling to maintain her popularity at school and keep her abilities a secret" storyline. Does she even still go to school?!? How does one go from just wanting to be a normal girl at school and keeping her powers under wraps to being a villain bounty hunter (an ineffective one, at that)? She doesn't have the powers to really overcome level 5 villains, a gun or a taser isn't going to cut it. Please, Claire, go back to school.
Hiro: Has basically become comic-relief. I love this character and his potential (remember Future Ninja Hiro that gave Peter the infamous "save the cheerleader, save the world" talk in the subway?) and he was a big hit with viewers cuz he alone embraced the whole comic-book mythos. But lately it seems that comic book mythos comes more from Archie and Jughead than XMen. Writers, what do you say we get Hiro back on track?
Suresh: He went from being completely useless & annoying at the start of the season (as he was since the beginning) to just mildly annoying. Kudos to the writers for ripping off the premise of The Fly and giving that storyline to Suresh and giving him a purpose other than to take Maya's shirt off and reveal the best tv side-boob action since Dennis Franz in NYPD Blue. One of the show's strength's is for a few characters they keep you guessing whether they're a hero or villain. People still don't know which HRG/Noah is. Speaking of which...
HRG/Noah: Man, how underutilized has this character been lately? For a show about people with abilities and powers - the one cool character who doesn't have any at all was still able to captivate fans of the show. This show easily could've morphed into a thing where audiences would moan "enough of these normal people - more Peter vs. Sylar battles!!", but for a normal person HRG delivers. His role this season has been to alternate between babysitting Sylar and saving Claire from her latest failure to capture a villain. Get this guy his Haitain sidekick again and let them do what they do.
Tracey: Hey, at least the writer's have figured out a new way to bring characters back from the dead, I'll give 'em that much. Unfortunately they ripped this plot device straight out of a cheesy soap opera. "I'm not Nikki...I'm her long lost sister. (dun dun DUNNNN)".
Parkman: So far this season he's been a very neutral character, in the sense that he isn't (nor really has ever been) an ultra integral factor in the storyline. Sure, he's a likeable enough character, especially now with a turtle as his sidekick, but the world isn't going to be saved or lost by Parkman alone. He doesn't hold that much sway, and the writers are taking a long time getting to the point of his purpose, unless the entire point this season is for Parkman to save the Speedster from a future death that won't happen since Peter and Hiro keep altering events. Still, his best quality is he doesn't make you go "ugh, not another Parkman scene again". Sometimes you can't ask for more than that. But anyway, Writers - please get to the point already.
Peter: As season 3 has shown thus far - has anyone with so much accomplished so little? The one person with immense power (or, as episode 7 will show, the one person who had immense power) yet his weakness - his kryponite if you will - is common sense. He's gone from the reluctant hero to the guy who, along with his future self, alters events as he sees fit and most often makes things worse for his meddling. Speaking of Peter's powers, it seems the writers once again have decided to try to take Peter out of the picture. Season 2 an already mega powerful Peter was shipped off - literally - to Ireland where he spent almost half the season with anmesia. Earlier this season the writers put Peter in the body of a villain for an episode or three. Now they've taken away his abilities altogether. I think they realize he's become too powerful for anyone outside of Sylar so they devise ways to kinda keep him out of the loop so you don't have this one giant walking among ants, squashing lesser powerful beings as he sees fit.
Sylar: The crown jewel of season 3 so far. What started off as a one-dimensional character who existed only to feed his "hunger" has morphed into the most dynamic person on the show. Is he playing the good guy role just to get closer to all the goodies (people with abilities) or is he really turning over a new leaf and leaving behind his villain past? We don't know so far, what we do know is Zachary Quinto has played the part perfectly all season. The single most driving force on this show is Sylar's storyline, it's the only one that makes sense and it doesn't involve the same "save the world" theme Heroes has every season. It's on a more personal level - a guy battling his inner demons to walk the line. We all know the world isn't going to end on this show, the good guys will find a way to win (comic book 101), so the guy whose storyline involves whether or not he can redeem himself is a great wildcard since no one knows how that's going to play out.
So there you have it so far, season 3. From this point on I'll comment on the episodes as they come out and throw in any other tidbit of insight as they arise.
Has a series ever waited until like 5 or 6 episodes in to the season to really announce what the point is? Yeah, we've known since episode 1 that a bored Hiro was charged with the responsiblity of safeguarding half of a potentially devastating formula, but as the season has worn on that's really fallen to the background, near forgotten, if you will. Rather, the main point behind the season is the (re)emergence of Papa Petrelli as an uber-bad guy who is assembling a Legion Of Doom Super Villain Group, who plans on using both halves of the doomsday formula to ply his evil trade. I'm waiting for the inevitable NBC voiceover for an upcoming trailer: "In next week's episode - Sides..will...be...drawn...Heroes vs. Villains." Yes, the season is shaping up to be what everyone has been aching for since the series began - a real showdown between good and bad. We're still waiting to see who goes on what side, it all depends on how long the writers want to draw this out. Anyway, let's catch up with some old friends and see what their status has been:
Adam: Brought back from the grave, literally, just to serve as a sacrificial lamb to Papa Petrelli. I mean, we all knew Adam wasn't going to stay buried underground forever. It's almost as if the writer's wanted to tuck him away for just this very reason. "Let's tuck Adam away for a while, he seemed to have resonated well with our test group and internet message boards. He's likeable enough that him dying would really mean something, but not important enough that we need to keep him around forever". Still, with 2 time travellers on the payroll, I wouldn't completely count him out. Also - why did he whither into dust when Papa P. took his power - but Peter didn't?
Nathan Petrelli: Ok, he's already met his quota for using his ability once this season, glad to see he's got that out of the way. Seriously - has any other person with a power used their ability less than Nathan has. I can only count three times off the top of my head (first episode, when he caught Peter who jumped off a building; season 1 finale when he flew Nuclear Peter into the atmosphere; season 3 when he saved a suicidal Tracey). Yeah, I know he's flown more than 3 times, I'm just saying he's only used his ability in terms of being a Hero roughly 3 times. Shit, even the Vortex/Black Hole guy used his ability 3 times...in one episode! I know flying is a pretty useless ability, but try to work it in the show more, guys.
Claire: I didn't think it was possible for this hottie to become a nottie (as in not interesting). What a 2-dimensional character. She hit her development sometime around season 2. Writers completely have given up on the whole "cheerleader struggling to maintain her popularity at school and keep her abilities a secret" storyline. Does she even still go to school?!? How does one go from just wanting to be a normal girl at school and keeping her powers under wraps to being a villain bounty hunter (an ineffective one, at that)? She doesn't have the powers to really overcome level 5 villains, a gun or a taser isn't going to cut it. Please, Claire, go back to school.
Hiro: Has basically become comic-relief. I love this character and his potential (remember Future Ninja Hiro that gave Peter the infamous "save the cheerleader, save the world" talk in the subway?) and he was a big hit with viewers cuz he alone embraced the whole comic-book mythos. But lately it seems that comic book mythos comes more from Archie and Jughead than XMen. Writers, what do you say we get Hiro back on track?
Suresh: He went from being completely useless & annoying at the start of the season (as he was since the beginning) to just mildly annoying. Kudos to the writers for ripping off the premise of The Fly and giving that storyline to Suresh and giving him a purpose other than to take Maya's shirt off and reveal the best tv side-boob action since Dennis Franz in NYPD Blue. One of the show's strength's is for a few characters they keep you guessing whether they're a hero or villain. People still don't know which HRG/Noah is. Speaking of which...
HRG/Noah: Man, how underutilized has this character been lately? For a show about people with abilities and powers - the one cool character who doesn't have any at all was still able to captivate fans of the show. This show easily could've morphed into a thing where audiences would moan "enough of these normal people - more Peter vs. Sylar battles!!", but for a normal person HRG delivers. His role this season has been to alternate between babysitting Sylar and saving Claire from her latest failure to capture a villain. Get this guy his Haitain sidekick again and let them do what they do.
Tracey: Hey, at least the writer's have figured out a new way to bring characters back from the dead, I'll give 'em that much. Unfortunately they ripped this plot device straight out of a cheesy soap opera. "I'm not Nikki...I'm her long lost sister. (dun dun DUNNNN)".
Parkman: So far this season he's been a very neutral character, in the sense that he isn't (nor really has ever been) an ultra integral factor in the storyline. Sure, he's a likeable enough character, especially now with a turtle as his sidekick, but the world isn't going to be saved or lost by Parkman alone. He doesn't hold that much sway, and the writers are taking a long time getting to the point of his purpose, unless the entire point this season is for Parkman to save the Speedster from a future death that won't happen since Peter and Hiro keep altering events. Still, his best quality is he doesn't make you go "ugh, not another Parkman scene again". Sometimes you can't ask for more than that. But anyway, Writers - please get to the point already.
Peter: As season 3 has shown thus far - has anyone with so much accomplished so little? The one person with immense power (or, as episode 7 will show, the one person who had immense power) yet his weakness - his kryponite if you will - is common sense. He's gone from the reluctant hero to the guy who, along with his future self, alters events as he sees fit and most often makes things worse for his meddling. Speaking of Peter's powers, it seems the writers once again have decided to try to take Peter out of the picture. Season 2 an already mega powerful Peter was shipped off - literally - to Ireland where he spent almost half the season with anmesia. Earlier this season the writers put Peter in the body of a villain for an episode or three. Now they've taken away his abilities altogether. I think they realize he's become too powerful for anyone outside of Sylar so they devise ways to kinda keep him out of the loop so you don't have this one giant walking among ants, squashing lesser powerful beings as he sees fit.
Sylar: The crown jewel of season 3 so far. What started off as a one-dimensional character who existed only to feed his "hunger" has morphed into the most dynamic person on the show. Is he playing the good guy role just to get closer to all the goodies (people with abilities) or is he really turning over a new leaf and leaving behind his villain past? We don't know so far, what we do know is Zachary Quinto has played the part perfectly all season. The single most driving force on this show is Sylar's storyline, it's the only one that makes sense and it doesn't involve the same "save the world" theme Heroes has every season. It's on a more personal level - a guy battling his inner demons to walk the line. We all know the world isn't going to end on this show, the good guys will find a way to win (comic book 101), so the guy whose storyline involves whether or not he can redeem himself is a great wildcard since no one knows how that's going to play out.
So there you have it so far, season 3. From this point on I'll comment on the episodes as they come out and throw in any other tidbit of insight as they arise.
Hero-shima
Heroes.
They've saved the cheerleader.
They've saved the world.
Who's going to save the show?
What started out as a gripping graphic novel-come-to-the-small-screen bonanza of a 1st season has devolved into what is at times a blatant soap opera. The writers have gone to the well one too many times with certain plot devices, leading to the following exchange at the weekly writer's meeting:
Writer A: Damn it! We need to have [insert dead character here] in this episode to move the plot along.
Writer B: How are we gonna write ourselves out of this jam? We're stuck unless [insert dead character here] can somehow not be dead.
Writer A and Writer B: (in unison) PETER PETRELLI'S TIME TRAVELLING ABILITY!!!
Writer A: Oh snap, we used that in last week's episode!
Writer B: Ah Ha! But we haven't used Hiro's time travelling ability yet this season!
Ok, we get it. Peter and Hiro can go back in time and erase bad writing ideas and resurrect anyone they wish. And God could've ended the world on the 8th day, or page 2 of the Bible, but that wouldn't have been fun, now would it? We understand they're all powerful characters, but let's move on and develop them more. The writers should inject themselves with Suresh's formula and give themselves the ability to know when to say goodbye to good characters.
But all is not lost. The emergence of Gabriel/Sylar as *the* single biggest force on the show is going to be this show's saving grace. Zachary Quinto is an amazing actor, which wasn't entirely evident in the 1st two seasons where his acting ability was limited to the "Sylar Face", you know, the one that said "I'm going to eat your brains and gain your knowledge" (sorry, shameless quote from Quentin Tarrantino's "Planet Terror" - we all know Sylar doesn't eat anyone's brains cuz, quite frankly Claire - that's disgusting). The series has spent enough time on Sylar The Hero Killer that this now emergence of "The Redemption Of Gabriel Petrelli" storyline is extremely fresh and nearly edge-of-your-seat-ish. Acting-wise Quinto is superior to Milo V., and the character of Gabriel is more dynamic and engaging than Peter, the guy with all the power in the world and whose only weakness was he lacks the common sense to use any of it.
There will be spoilers on this site, though only in the sense of past episodes. I'm not interested in finding out what happens in the next episode and I can't think anyone else is. This blog will assume anyone reading the latest entry has already viewed the previous episode.
Hero-shima. Ha, I'm fucking witty.
They've saved the cheerleader.
They've saved the world.
Who's going to save the show?
What started out as a gripping graphic novel-come-to-the-small-screen bonanza of a 1st season has devolved into what is at times a blatant soap opera. The writers have gone to the well one too many times with certain plot devices, leading to the following exchange at the weekly writer's meeting:
Writer A: Damn it! We need to have [insert dead character here] in this episode to move the plot along.
Writer B: How are we gonna write ourselves out of this jam? We're stuck unless [insert dead character here] can somehow not be dead.
Writer A and Writer B: (in unison) PETER PETRELLI'S TIME TRAVELLING ABILITY!!!
Writer A: Oh snap, we used that in last week's episode!
Writer B: Ah Ha! But we haven't used Hiro's time travelling ability yet this season!
Ok, we get it. Peter and Hiro can go back in time and erase bad writing ideas and resurrect anyone they wish. And God could've ended the world on the 8th day, or page 2 of the Bible, but that wouldn't have been fun, now would it? We understand they're all powerful characters, but let's move on and develop them more. The writers should inject themselves with Suresh's formula and give themselves the ability to know when to say goodbye to good characters.
But all is not lost. The emergence of Gabriel/Sylar as *the* single biggest force on the show is going to be this show's saving grace. Zachary Quinto is an amazing actor, which wasn't entirely evident in the 1st two seasons where his acting ability was limited to the "Sylar Face", you know, the one that said "I'm going to eat your brains and gain your knowledge" (sorry, shameless quote from Quentin Tarrantino's "Planet Terror" - we all know Sylar doesn't eat anyone's brains cuz, quite frankly Claire - that's disgusting). The series has spent enough time on Sylar The Hero Killer that this now emergence of "The Redemption Of Gabriel Petrelli" storyline is extremely fresh and nearly edge-of-your-seat-ish. Acting-wise Quinto is superior to Milo V., and the character of Gabriel is more dynamic and engaging than Peter, the guy with all the power in the world and whose only weakness was he lacks the common sense to use any of it.
There will be spoilers on this site, though only in the sense of past episodes. I'm not interested in finding out what happens in the next episode and I can't think anyone else is. This blog will assume anyone reading the latest entry has already viewed the previous episode.
Hero-shima. Ha, I'm fucking witty.
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