For one, the dialogue is better. There were some truly touching scenes between several of the characters - notably Peter and Claire - and the sex scene was about as hot as a primetime serial featuring (basically four-color) superheroes can be without losing its target audience. I can easily give Heroes that much: the dialogue is smooth and natural. It doesn't have a problem with character interaction when the characters get along, the problem is that almost none of them do!
There was finally some action! And it was enjoyable, to boot. Peter and Matt started to get into one of those ridiculous head nodding fights, but it was subtler and over quickly (thankfully). Still, there is a tedious, frustrating restraint to most everything violent. I know this is a close to all-ages show - I get that, I applaud that, and I think Heroes actually does the teen thing very well - they manage to get the adult audience involved and keep us engaged without going too far with it, but... you really can't have a show featuring superheroes and villains where there is no violence. I'd almost rather see the old G.I. Joe routine, where the cats jump out of the planes as they explode - I mean, at least the vehicles blew up!
Things are actually happening! Granted, we have absolutely no idea what, but at least the story is going somewhere. The first two seasons, Heroes all but spun in place.
[SPOILERS]
Coolest shit:
When Peter saved Claire from the train.
Even cooler:
The bad guys are bad and Matt can hear animals' thoughts.
Even cooler:
Turtles are really nice.
Of course, now there's the bad...
Within the first half-hour, we were introduced to Claire's storyline: she was facing Sylar alone in her own home. A tense game of cat-and-mouse began and we swapped-out to begin Hiro's storyline. At a dramatic point, we switched to Dr. Surresh and his research. Then we came back to Matt's story as it intersected with Peter's, who then went on to continue the previous storyline involving Nathan. Then we came back to Hiro and Ando, when the speedster was introduced. She leaves and it's back to Surresh as he discovers what his father could not. We came back to Peter and Nathan and watched as it played-out into the church, where Nathan professed his newfound religious convictions.
Then we came back to Sylar and Claire. There was something like 15-20 minutes between when their story began and when it continued. By the time we got back to them, I had forgotten they were fighting!
Three years - three years - I have been complaining about this! And I only wish I were the only one! Yes, they dropped the storyline in the middle of a confrontation, so there wasn't much of a "bump" coming back into it, but all the tension was gone. They didn't even cut at a cliffhanging moment! If you can't juggle storylines effectively, stop trying!
In title runs (usually monthly), you can drop stories and pick them back up this way - it's done all the time - sometimes, the entire comic will be put on-hold for a single "filler" issue (usually with a guest artist). It works in comic books because the reader can simply pick up the last issue and reread it; it doesn't work on TV. Even with TiVo, it's far more a hassle to rewind, playback, and resume just to figure out what was happening in this storyline the last time it was on!
Also three years running for the impossible closed-captioning between Hiro and Ando. It's white... white! I hate that because Hiro's is consistently one of the better stories, but I had gotten into the habit of doing something else whenever they came on. By the second hour, I was back in that habit.
On an entirely different note, William Katt has not aged well.
What are Nikki's powers? How does she have different powers for each personality? I mean, she does, doesn't she? What are Peter's powers? Didn't he used to leech others' abilities by being in their general vicinity? What happened to that? Does just everybody have at least one power? Most of them seem to have an entire arsenal, but I would be remiss if I didn't note that everyone who becomes anything more than a bit-player winds up being a mega-powerhouse with indefatigable and undefined abilities that seem to change without a moment's notice. And they all time-travel or at least see the future.
Ah well... I guess it just wouldn't be Heroes if it made sense and we had any idea what was going on, huh? The show that takes the bold move of excluding the audience...
All told, I was somewhat disappointed because the storytelling is still so poor, but I have to admit, I couldn't look away. I was enrapt throughout, if for no other reason than that I had no idea what the hell was going on. But - like every episode in the second season - by the last thirty minutes, I was so lost, my mind was wandering. What did it matter? I had no clue who I was watching, what they were doing, or why! However, like the first season, the third shows enough promise that I have to see at least the next episode. I just hope they pull it together before I give up for good.
Heroes is at least consistent: it's the show on television I most want to love.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
4 comments:
There is the sycophantic (though it's E!, I mean they're a paid shill) and the downright ugly (and no, I did not just include that because he agrees that Supernatural is the best thing around - though I did leave a comment there because I agree that Supernatural is the best thing around). But far and wide, the consensus is in:
Heroes better pick it up before the fans pack it in.
I'll quote one anonymous blogger (to whom I will not link simply because it is on a hivesite and he is completely anonymous - no offense, guy!):
Seriously -- it was two straight hours of "What the FUCK?!"
'Nuff said.
I meant to include this one as well - this is actually my favorite review of them all.
There were a couple of moments that I found really intesting. #1) Sylar told Claire he doesn't eat brains (although as I recall they are always missing from his victims, so what does he do with them after the examination). #2) Claire said she always loved Peter. Now exactly what kind of love are we talking about here; he's her uncle!
Honestly, I don't think they know wtf they're doing.
I know it's kind of done to death, but there are good and bad things about the Web and Heroes exemplifies that: I think they are paying too much attention to what the fans are saying and trying too hard to cater to us.
Yes, I think they should pay attention to what I am saying, but my criticisms are more structure-related, more technique; I am not saying, "I want this character to develop this way and that one to do that." But, of course, I always think people should listen to what I am saying...
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