A Recap of Volume Three
Wednesday, den 17. December 2008pThe third volume of emHeroes/em came to an end this week./p
pAnd while we’ve been openly critical of most story lines this season, the a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/episodes/season_3/dual/”concluding episode/a did leave our staff with a few reasons to hope for an improved fourth volume./p
pTherefore, as viewers wait until February 2 for new installments of emHeroes/em, here’s our take on what was promising and what was problematic about the conclusion to volume three…/p
pstrongPROMISING/strong: Nathan’s evil turn. Arthur was never a believable villain. He was too sarcastic, we had no background for his motives and his powers were never fully explained (or logical; he just showed up in the past and took the catalyst from Hiro? That was easy!)./p
pBut we bore witness to Nathan’s conversion, as he saw the possibilities of powers first-hand during he and Peter’s trip to Haiti. Sure, he turned to the full dark side rather quickly, but we can accept such an immediate conversion in exchange for a morally complex villain going up against his brother and former friends. Juicy stuff, indeed./p
p style=”text-align: center;”a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/gallery/nathan-in-black-and-white/”img src=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/images/gallery/nathan-in-black-and-white.jpg” alt=”Nathan, in Black and White” //a/p
p style=”text-align: center;”emFans are seeing a new side to Nathan Petrelli./em/p
pstrongPROBLEMATIC/strong: The lack of build-up for the third volume finale. It’s Television 101: events throughout the season of a show are slowly built up, with momentum and suspense leading to an emotional and/or action-packed climax in the finale. Perhaps no show in history did this better than the first season of emHeroes/em, as story lines converged for a world-altering a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/episodes/season_1/how-to-stop-an-exploding-man/”battle in Kirby Plaza/a, remember?/p
pFor weeks, viewers were enthralled by the mantra of “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World,” as well as by the deadline of an exploding NYC./p
pBut what did we have in “Dual,” the finale to emHeroes/em’ volume three? The main focus was on Sylar trapping HRG, Meredith, Angela and Claire inside Primatech. This came totally out of nowhere; heck, Meredith had literally not been seen for four episodes and now she was being thrust into the finale of the volume./p
pa name=”more”/aRemember a few weeks ago, when the show seemed to set the sides of Team Primatech vs. Team Pineheart? We were excited for a showdown between good and evil, but one never came about. The entire chapter was titled “Villains,” yet new characters such as Knox and Flint were scarcely used. It all reeked of lazy, constantly-changing writing./p
pstrongPROBLEMATIC/strong:strong /strongAnything involving Knox. First off, this character was played by Jamie Hector, well-known for his portrayal of Marlo on HBO’s emThe Wire/em. Yet Knox/Hector was barely utilized.strong /strongSecondly, wasn’t Knox working for Arthur this entire time? Why would he have done so if he was against the use of the formula?/p
pLastly, the second-to-last episode of volume three ended - supposedly ominously - with a super-powerful Marine… who then had his neck snapped by Knox in about half a second in the finale. Weren’t we supposed to be afraid of how the formula would affect those it was injected into?/p
pstrongPROMISING/strong: The initial set up for “a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/2008/10/greg-grunberg-spills-spoilers-for-fugitives/”Fugivites/a.” We have an established villain, Nathan. We have a simple story line: capture everyone with abilities. And we hopefully have a straightforward set up that won’t require jumping from the past, to the present, to the future. Keep it contained. Keep it exciting./p
pstrongPROBLEMATIC/strong: Mohinder and Tracy are still alive. We don’t wish unemployment on anyone, especially in this economy, but come on. What purposes do Mohinder and/or Tracy serve at this point? What connection do they have to anyone else on the show? Many of emHeroes/em’ problems are due to its ever-growing number of characters./p
pNo offense, Sendhil Ramamurthy and a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/stars/ali-larter/”Ali Larter/a, but we’ll be happy if the car you’re now sharing drives off a cliff./p
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Is Nathan Right?
Tuesday, den 16. December 2008pThe fourth volume of emHeroes/em, titled “Fugitives,” was set up nicely last night:/p
pNathan has received permission from the President of the United States to round up everyone with abilities. We haven’t been given Nathan’s full set of motives yet, but he made it clear that the goal is to lock up all powerful characters./p
pThe elder Petrelli brother is being set up as the main bad guy, of course, but this raises a vital question: strongDoes he have the right idea?/strong/p
p style=”text-align: center;”stronga href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/gallery/two-hiros/”img src=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/images/gallery/two-hiros_458×279.jpg” width=”458″ alt=”Two Hiros” height=”279″ //a/strong/p
p style=”text-align: center;”emHiro can time travel. In volume three, he used that ability solely to solve a problem he created in the first place!/emstrongbr //strong/p
pThroughout two and a half seasons, have the emHeroes/em actually helped anyone outside of their own sub-culture? Let’s review the ways in which the emHeroes/em have used their powers so far:/p
ul
liIn season one, the goal was to stop New York City from blowing up, a plan concocted by those with abilities;/li
liSeason two was focused on the outbreak of a virus, one that was created by The Company;/li
liAs we all just witnessed, the third volume of the show centered on a formula that, again, was created by those with abilities and would have a detrimental effect on everyone if ever released./li
/ul
pTherefore, with what we’ve seen to this point, it’s impossible not to wonder: Wouldn’t the world be a better place if there were no emHeroes/em? What has Peter ever done, for example, that’s focused on anything or anyone not associated within the universe of extraordinary abilities?/p
pHis goals may have always been to save mankind… but wouldn’t mankind be better off if no one with abilities ever existed? Consequently, wouldn’t this mean that Nathan is absolutely correct that all emHeroes/em should be locked up?/p
pWhile we’re excited for volume four, and look forward to a contained/simple story line that hopefully doesn’t involve the use of time travel, a problem is raised when the supposed arch villain (Nathan) appears to have the right idea:/p
pemRid the world of Heroes and let everyone else live in peace/em./p
pUntil the show gives viewers a reason to think that Claire regenerating, or Parkman reading minds, will have positive consequences for anyone outside the ability-laden universe, then why should we root for these characters to remain in the real world?/p
pstrongWrite in. Let us know your thoughts!/strong/p
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Heroes Commentary: Let Them Die!
Wednesday, den 29. October 2008pElle returned to emHeroes/em this week./p
pAnd while we’re fans of Kristen Bell and of the character, our immediate reaction was an audible groan. After all, does the show really need more characters?/p
pIn our latest a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/2008/10/heroes-commentary-a-waste-of-adam-monroe/”critique of the show/a, we focus on some seriously tough love: it’s time to kill off a few emHeroes/em./p
p style=”text-align: center;”a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/gallery/arthur-petrelli-photo/”img src=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/images/gallery/arthur-petrelli-photo_226×338.jpg” width=”226″ alt=”Arthur Petrelli Photo” height=”338″ //a/p
p style=”text-align: center;”emPlease, kill someone, Arthur. Make viewers actually afraid of you./em/p
pLong-running dramas such as emLost/em and em24/em survive for numerous reasons; but a major appeal of these shows is that they are unafraid to do away with significant characters. The killing off of major players has a double appeal:/p
ol
liIt ensures that the show doesn’t get caught up in too many confusing story lines;/li
liIt raises the stakes./li
/ol
pLet’s focus on the second point first: emHeroes/em is a show about the fate of the world… yet not a single major character (no offense, D.L.) has been subject to that fate yet. Sure, Niki died last season in a noble act, but the show still felt obligated to bring a href=”http://www.heroesfanatic.com/stars/ali-larter/”Ali Larter/a back. For what purpose? Wouldn’t it have been more effective to prove that these characters might perish in their efforts to save the universe?/p
pa name=”more”/aThere’s no drama remaining. Did anyone think Hiro really killed Ando last week? Or that Parkman or Peter had met their demise in the latest episode?/p
pThis lack of intrigue ties into the problem that most critics agree plagues the series as a whole: there are far too many characters. This chapter is shaping up as a battle between Arthur Petrelli’s villains and Angela Petrelli’s heroes. And that’s promising. But do Mohinder and Parkman really serve a purpose in the grand scheme of the show at this point?/p
pMohinder, once again, is working for the enemy (seriously, for a scientist, the guy is a moron); and Parkman was relegated to Africa for a few episodes. Since then, he’s befriended a turtle and formed a fragile alliance with Daphne, a woman he’s intent on saving… because he saw some vision of a future we all know will never exist./p
pIf the show wants us to be remotely afraid of Knox, it would be nice to see him actually accomplish something sinister. So far, he’s been fooled to think that Hiro killed Ando; and that he took the life of Parkman. If either of those events had actually come to fruition, wouldn’t the stakes this season be instantly raised? Wouldn’t a volume titled “villains” actually resonate more?/p
pAs it stands now, I yawned at the notion that Daphne might turn on Parkman. After all, the series has given is no reason to think any of its characters’ lives are actually in danger./p
pstrongAgree? Disagree? We’d love to hear feedback!/strong/p
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Heroes Commentary: Give the Fans a Present!
Wednesday, den 8. October 2008Last week, we suggested that Heroes take a page from Lost; i.e. focus more on individual character development each episode and really give fans a chance to watch these characters in action, as opposed to dizzying our heads with non-stop twists and turns.
This week, we have an even simpler recommendation:
Heroes needs to act more like… every other show on TV!
Why can’t the writers carve out a season that simply involves these individuals fighting a problem in the present day? We hoped that would be this chapter’s set-up, as its dubbed “Villains” and it opened with a handful of bad guys being released from Level 5. Perfect. Let’s go after them!
Instead, only one of those villains (Knox) remains on the loose. But more importantly, the focus of the season has shifted to stopping a dangerous future from occurring… again. Didn’t we see this already in season one?
The trouble with constantly jumping into the future, and the back again in order to change it, is two-fold:
- It’s pretty darn confusing;
- It gives the writers unlimited freedom to make stuff up.
The first point speaks for itself. So let’s focus on the second.
Does anyone think we’ll learn how Daphne and Parkman got together? Or how Sylar had a son? Or how Nathan became President?
Of course not. These were just convenient plot devices the writers made up in order to work backwards and give our present day Heroes something to fight for. We can imagine the writers’ room prior to the season:
Let’s put Parkman and Daphne together! Let’s give them a daughter! That’ll inspire Parkman to act after we also randomly send him to Africa and make him see the future!
At this rate, the show can essentially start over again every season. If the Heroes are successful in preventing the sort of fateful future we witnessed Monday night, what’s to say the writers won’t just make up an entirely new one next year and have at it again?
Look, if a logical path is laid out in the coming weeks for how Sylar, for example, will eventually see the error of his evil ways and settle down with a son, we’ll be the first to admit that we’re wrong.
But if we never again see any glimpses of the future the show laid out for this week - with the exception of individuals fighting to change it - then the series simply can’t be trusted to deliver a coherent story line that viewers can rely on to follow with each new chapter.
What do you think of our thesis and our concerns? Do you share them? We’d love to hear feedback!
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