Heroes, A Retrospective

With all the heat Heroes has been getting as of late, you gotta wonder: 'Why are people still watching?' For me, the easiest answer is to look back at why I started watching in the first place.

I know for a fact it wasn't the commercials for the show. I actually didn't watch an episode on t.v. until the season 3 premier. I can remember seeing the season one commercials of Claire running around in her cheerleading outfit with the tagline "save the cheerleader, save the world" .... and thinking 'hmm, the girl from Ice Princess? Big whoop.'
It wasn't until a friend of mine got the box set and went on and on about this show where two brothers can fly (he was still on the early episodes) and some nut running around eating brains to gain abilities that I gave the show a chance. Once Claire did her nosedive off of the water tower I was hooked. The show had a style all it's own; the music, the fact it was 'real' people struggling with these amazing gifts. I watched one episode after the other. In three days I had devoured the first season, up to the climatic finale which saw Hiro warp back to Feudal Japan and Nathan eventually doing the right thing.

Season One highlights for me were:

• Peter's disappointment when Nathan could fly and he couldn't. I actually felt bad for the guy. When it turned out he did have an ability I was psyched. >Insert asterisk here<

• Isaac Mendez. The idea of a heroin addict who could paint the future was INSANE. Isaac was one of my favorites, and his ability was such a cool concept.
  
• Hiro was a blast to watch. Watching him and Ando trek across the country to help save the day made for some of the best material in the first season. R.I.P. Charlie
• Sylar gave the season direction. He was such a force to be reckoned with. He killed people and split their heads open, terrorized Claire, he became President in an alternate future ... he was the ultimate villain.
  

That being said, season one did have it's flaws. Although fun to watch, Ali Larter's character did get tiresome. Most of the stuff with Nicki, DL and Micah was a little too soap opera for my taste. Also, it seemed like every week someone else would be like 'tada, i'm special too' .... I remember rolling my eyes when Linderman revealed his ability lol.


Season 2:
Cut short by the writer's strike, the second season did have a few high points.

• Adam Munroe. Adam was such likable sleaze bag. A drunken mercenary-for-hire in Feudal Japan. The fact that he was Takezo Kensei, Hiro's boyhood hero was classic. Knowing what we know now, I wish he didn't turn out to be a regenerator. This story angle could have ended with Hiro being the brave warrior he read about as a child. With Adam's anti-climatic death in season 3, it now seems pointless to have had him live for 400 years.
• Isaac's series of 8 paintings that mapped out the death of HRG. Although it didn't stick, it made for some real drama ... and it was nice to have the impact of Isaac's work felt into the second season.
• The Nightmare Man. Matt confronting and eventually trapping his father in his own mind was basically the best storyline Matt has done on the show thus far.
• The Future Outbreak of the Shanti Virus was the 'Exploding Man' of season 2. Had Season 2 run it's course, we would have seen Peter save the human race from near-annihilation ... and Caitlin wouldn't be M.I.A.

It may not be fair to critique Season 2 too much, as they did not get to tell the full story. Non-the-less, Peter's reboot must be addressed as it has been rehashed in Season 3. It just comes across as lazy to overload him with powers, take them away and we watch him squirm until he gets them back. The writer's went to the well one time too many there.




Besides the obvious problems plaguing Season 3 (too many supercharged people, all the non-deaths, no clearly defined villains, slow build up to a showdown, and all the pitfalls that come with writing about time travel) ... I think what Season 3 has lost is a sense of it's own reality. Rarely do the 'special' people interact with 'normals' anymore. Besides Ando, HRG and his wife there are hardly any regular people on the show. The first 2 seasons featured more supporting players, and was better for it. None of the main characters seem to have lives anymore. They are all focused on a battle that makes little sense, 11 episodes in. Why doesn't Nathan mention his kids anymore? Why has Peter forgotten about Caitlin?
Another issue is Sylar's bizarre behavior. He's bad, he's good, he's a Petrelli ... WTF?! Season One Sylar is history, he will never be the same pyscho killer we knew and loved.
Season 3 has alot to live up to. The fact is Tim Kring and the gang shot themselves in the foot. They delivered such a quality product in the past that the fans will not stand for anything less than intriguing stories and genuine plot twists. Here's hoping they can pull it off.

-Z