"Heroes" Suffers The Sophomore Slump

[renegade_killerbee]

I don't watch "Heroes" on NBC.

I'm one of those die-hard "Lost" fans that have been with the show for the past (almost) four seasons and decided not to jump ship and move to the (at-the-time) more comfortable side ("Heroes"). Well it seems the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the dial. Entertainment Weekly has given the show a "C-" in the October 26 issue.

And in the November 2 issue they go as far as to declare it as "the No. 1 show in 'Most Need Of A Fix.'

This week on Heroes: Claire (Hayden Panettiere) continues to marvel at the same powers of regeneration she's always had! Hiro (Masi Oka) does cute things in feudal Japan! And after a journey of approximately 42 million miles from one vague part of Central America to another vague part of Central America, our new, haplessly murderous hero Maya (The Sopranos' Dania Ramirez) is still blubbering for her twin brother (Shalim Ortiz) and bleeding black goo from her eyes! Wait, which week is this? Every week.

NBC's once-inventive series is in a creative sinkhole. Frenetic but bizarrely repetitive, the drama bores from myriad worldwide locales that all look like the backlot of M*A*S*H. Season 2 sees previous standout heroes — unkillable Claire, time-freezing Hiro — gone solo in their own painful, stagnant story lines. Claire is living undercover in California, her now saintlike dad (Jack Coleman) repeatedly warning her not to be interesting. Mission accomplished! Claire's been saddled with a laser-eyed beau (Rocket Science's Nicholas D'Agosto) who also has powers — he can fly, with the aid of mediocre special effects. (The writers think we should be dazzled by this ''flying'' business, forgetting that people took to the air repeatedly last season.) In an even more labored plot, Hiro has landed in 17th-century Japan, where he finds his idol, the samurai Kensei (Alias' David Anders), and falls in love with an anachronistically spunky heroine (a must in the time-travel genre). That's right, Hiro — the most neutered TV character since Screech — is remaining in feudal Japan to ogle a babe. Stripped of any genuine mission, he now has little to do but smile like an adorable, gassy baby. It's increasingly unbearable.

Which is a good phrase to describe Heroes itself. With its larger mythology shunted to the side (no, a mysterious recurring symbol doth not a uniting backstory make), Heroes feels less like Heroes than a horrid combination of T.J. Hooker and Charlie's Angels: Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) commits holdups in Ireland; another extraneous new hero, New Orleanian Monica (The Nine's Dana Davis) is roundhouse-kicking robbers; serial-killing Sylar (Zachary Quinto) has gone fugitive with the weeping twins. What happened to...saving the planet? Like the endangered Earth that's oft alluded to, Heroes is degrading at a remarkable pace: The dialogue has gone from comic-book cool to Dick-and-Jane obvious, the stylistic angles have turned flat, entire scenes are devoted to Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and Parkman (Greg Grunberg) bickering around their shared apartment like maiden aunts. It's a sad day for superheroes when you find yourself actually rooting for the end of the world. C-

 

[Fire]

The show is a bloated mess, and always was. There were too many characters from the beginning to properly explore them all without sacrificing coherence and momentum. I had to slog through the first half of the first season, because it felt like nothing happened. Everyone in New York bitched endlessly about the same crap ("Isaac, you gotta get clean!"--"Ok! Ok! But first let me paint the future!" / "Peter, don't screw up this election for me!" --"But Nathan, we can FLY!") Nikki and Micah ran around a lot, the Haitian erased some memories, and Sylar ate some brains, all with Hiro in the background, dancing and spouting off lines about destiny and saving the world to become number one! YATTA! HELLO, NEW YOOOOKU!

This new season has really helped me pinpoint what disappointed me about the first. The writers only ever had one trick to disguise the weakness of their plotting--flinging new characters at the audience like handfuls of Halloween candy--but they've done that way too many times now and the flaws are growing more and more visible.

God help me if I still don't love the show, though. I'm practically obsessed with it (well, with Sylar <3 <3 <3) clinging to it's leg like it's trying to abandon me. I don't know why, but I keep watching every Monday like a battered wife who's convinced her husband will change, waiting for one rainy evening when he'll come back from the bowling alley stinking of scotch and floor wax, throw a lamp at my head, and I'll come to my senses.

 

[Soilwork]

Geez.. why don't they cure the show like the "cured" the gay guy.. wipe his memory and voila.. he's straight.. if they wiped everyone's memory, mabye they could get away with re-hashing the first season.

 

[aijalon18]

heroes is has gone to shit mostly but Lost is 100 times worse. they havent solved a single mystery since the show began. but heroes got way too ahead of itself. the stars and everyone involved were showboating around the world during the hiatus like they were curing cancer but forgot to make a quality show.

 

[Eeyore]

I really like the show, and still watch it, but have to admit that this season is rather boring.


I'm rooting for Sylar to get his powers back, so there will be a real villain and maybe something will happen. So far this season we've got "The Company" which I can't really tell if good or evil, they're doing something that could save the world, but going about it in the wrong ways. Then there's the mystery killer who's going around killing people who appear to be some sort of "hero club," and all appear to be parents of the top heroes on the show. Of course, we don't know why the hell whoever it is would be killing the people, or even much about them to begin with, so I can't help but want more of them to die, so maybe we'll get some glimpse of why.


Of course, I'm the same way with LOST, been watching since the beginning, and there's only been like 3 mysteries solved that didn't end up creating a dozen more. Only reason I'm continuing to watch is that they've stated they have a definite end of the series, so maybe things will eventually get wrapped up.

 

[Spellbound]

the stars and everyone involved were showboating around the world during the hiatus like they were curing cancer but forgot to make a quality show.

That happens so much nowadays. Its getting ridiculous.

As for Heroes, I always thought the show sucked.

 

[Ontariobear]

I enjoyed last night's epi and generally disagree with most of what Entertainment Weekly has to say. Most shows are getting lower ratings this year simply because fewer people are watching network primetime.

 

[miatajeff]

I missed last night's episode and even though I count myself as a fan-wasn't too upset about missing an episode.

Unless someone tells me that Peter (Milo) was half naked in bondage again?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Ontariobear]

Sorry no.
You should be able to see it online at nbc.com - regrettably you have to be in a blue or red state to view that feed.

 

[falconfan]

That's just what happens with this new serialized-drama format that's all the rage. It's just not sustainable. When you stick what would be seven or eight years of storyline by conventional standards into one year do you do you really think you're going to get longevity? Nope. You get a mess with loose ends. Lost, Heroes, it's all the same. People need to realize every week can't be sweeps and just enjoy the ride through the season. The best Lost episode all of last season was the one about the paralysis bug that didn't relate to a god damn thing. I miss episodic drama... well I don't because I watch Supernatural and that's a genuine character driven drama with both episodic episodes and key plot episodes throughout the season but I mean in general I miss it.

 

[glorificus]

I watch Heroes, only to pass the time, even though sometime I enjoy I do agree it doesn't have much creativity and originality behind it and it just goes on and on and well the first season final was a disappointment, I can't even watch an episode twice, but I still watch it every week : P

 

[KURT10677]

Last nights episode was ok, Im just really sick of those twins always crying and shit and please bring Hiro back home that storyline is one of the reasons the show sucks nobody wants to read sub tiltes everyweek.

 

[Paznos]

I don't like Hiro in 1671 Japan, it seems like he will be there the rest of the season, I Agree that they are introducing to many characters and now it looks like they will have to save the world again.... but it is nowhere near as messed up as Lost is.

 

[Danugh]

In season one Ali Larter was such a good actress that i was always albe to tell when she was Nikki and when she was Jessica.

Last night that was not Nikki, it was Jessica pretending to be Nikki.


Where did Claires blood go? LOL

Monica is made of awesome but it seems like we wont see her for a while because the way Bob talked to her its was as if she would do her good deeds in New Orleans off camera.

I would like to see her again though.

 

[doctorsun]

They said all along that season 1 was about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and that season 2 is about extraordinary people doing ordinary things. They're trying to focus on the main characters adapting to their new lives after the events at Kirby Plaza. Now, they're introducing this virus plot and the evacuation of New York that takes place next year. Plus, you have the senior heroes being knocked off by the mystery killer. I think this season will take off, but they're doing it at a different pace than season 1.

It looks like Ali Larter is going to be back now. That was clearly Jessica last night and it's going to be interesting to see what she has planned while working for the Company.

The Hiro in Japan plot needs to end. It's always been clear that the favorites on the show are Hiro, Claire, and Niki/Jessica. So far this year, Niki/Jessica has been practically nowhere to be seen, Claire has done nothing but whine about high school life, and Hiro's stuck in this tedious, uninteresting feudal Japan storyline. The three most endearing characters haven't done anything endearing this year and I think that's why people are drifting away. Once the action starts happening and they bring Hiro back into the present, people should start coming back.

 

[nihilis]

It's sad, because the show was interesting at first. The problem is that they're trying too hard to have a ton of mystery to the point that everything's drawn out and confusing. There are so many storylines that they can't fit them all in each episode, so we have to wait three weeks just to see certain people's stories move forward. This makes rememering the plots and maintaining interest in them damn near impossible.
The new people I can take or leave. I like Monica, the idea's cool. The twin thing is annoying. What the hell is she doing when she cries, and what the hell is he doing when he fixes it? Six episodes in, and still no explanation. Then there's the Kristin Bell thing. They hyped her up so much for weeks and we never even saw her this week.

I hate amnesiac Peter, I hate scruffy Nathan, I hate the Suresh/Parkman/Molly "arrangement". Claire is rehashing her story from season 1, and the "old heroes" are taking too long to be fleshed out. Hiro's thing should have been over three episodes ago, and they never should have let Sylar survive. The only redeeming part of this season so far was the HOT Irish dude (Peter's slampiece's brother) and now he's friggin dead. Nothing is hotter than a dark haired, blue eyed guy with an Irish accent.

The show needs some help, but it seems like last season started off just as slow and wound up towards the end. I hope to God this season picks up soon, because if they don't answer some questions soon, I'm using that hour for guitar time from now on.

 

[The_Reaper]

As the resident major Heroes fan (Anyone who questions that, has to beat me in a picture with my horn-rimmed glasses) I feel it's my job to come to the defense of my show.

Heroes is a character drama, always has been and will always be. Yes the powers are cool, but they aren't the only driving force behind the show. People complain about the convolution of new characters with the old ones, but we have to remember that we need new characters to introduce new story arcs and expand the character drama further. Once we know the nuances of every character, then we need new ones so we can have the same interaction and curiosity while watching the show.

That being said; yes season two started slowly as they introduced new characters and established the type of person they are or could become.

The trek of Maya and Alejandro, for example, is important because we see overtime how Maya is becoming more controlled with her ability and no longer worries about using it to get what she wants. She no longer cares about killing those around her when she loses control, so long as it furthers her own goals. This is an important development.

Also, in the same story arc, we see the dissolution of family bonds, as Maya grows closer to Sylar and takes his word at a higher value than her brother's. This suggests very much so that she won't be seeking a cure when they reach New York, but rather accept her ability and use it for evil...Which will be counterbalanced by Alejandro fighting for the side of good; we're seeing a fundamental degradation of family based on values, a very much brother vs brother scenario, although Maya's chance for redemption seems lower than Nathan's last season.

Also, keep in mind that this season is divided into three parts, unlike last season which was only one.

The "Generations" Volume is expected to end somewhere around episode 10; so the story arc of the Twelve Founders of the Company, the Eight Paintings by Isaac, and Hiro in Feudal Japan are expected to be wrapped up by this time. After episode 10, "Origins" is expected to take over for a few episodes, and is likely to focus on completely new characters with little or no interaction from established characters.

The unnamed chapter three, will take over after origins, and we don't know what it will revolve around.

Heroes is interesting because it tries to mirror parts of real life; the connections between people who may or may not have met, the stresses of real life and the mundane path on which life trudges along. Like life, there are going to be parts that seem to last too long or take up too much time on the show, but that's one of the things that adds to it and makes it one of the best shows on television.

 

[Just_Believe18]

I enjoyed watching the 1st season but I must admit the 2nd season is dragging so badly (worse than the original) that I just catch up via wikipedia

 

[zingerz]

Too many intricate stories they have not intertwined yet ( on a character level), too many characters, too many differences in the characters, nothing to relate to, and still a 'dark horse' antagonist that has really not been defined yet or could it be several? do not know wish they would resolve one of these issues; kill off some people or actually bring the stories together that have been lurking around since season 1. The show has not started off promising for me atleast this season so it just might lose my view soon.

 

[drake69]

It's too slow....plus where are the hot guys and girls?