Do you want to hear something frightening? At the end of last night’s episode of Heroes, I said to my viewing partner, “Maybe I just don’t like television anymore. I didn’t derive any enjoyment from this episode; maybe I just find tv boring.” I said that! The Media Maven! Of course, then I watched Journeyman and Weeds and forgot all about that nonsense, but what does that tell you about Heroes. Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come.
Heroes, you are officially on The Shit List! That’s right. 3 lackluster episodes in a row (including last season’s finale) has landed you on notice, and now you are facing the brink of elimination! If Heroes can’t get it together in the next few weeks, it will be, in the eyes of this blogger, Unofficially Cancelled, a.k.a. dead to me. Let’s take a look at what made this episode so, well, lame:
1. Hiro– good god, could this storyline be any worse? Why would anyone in their right mind think this was an interesting plot? Hiro wasting time in the past, in a way that has nothing at all to do with the future? I don’t care that Kensei can heal. The only implications this has is that we now know there are a finite number of abilities because we’ve now seen 2 repeat abilities (West/Nathan – flight, Claire/Sark – healing). Yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn.
2. Notice how all the commercial breaks came after big scary sound effects and dramatic moments…only the dramatic moments were all things we already knew?! Like when the Irish guy was like “Everything about you is in this box…Peter!” Oh really, his name is Peter? How shocking! Or like when they busted out the picture of Angela Petrelli with the red logo on it, as if we hadn’t seen it before. Just because a discovery might be dramatic for a character, doesn’t mean it’s dramatic for us. It’s writing 101 here folks– don’t repeat information the audience already knows. Why? BECAUSE WE ALREADY KNOW! Sheesh.
3. Nikki/Micah/D.L. — ….
4. Maya/Alejandro — I’m intrigued, but I’m not going to be anymore if I get another crossing-the-border storyline. We’ve been introduced, we know their powers– get on with it.
5. Does no one else think its incredibly creepy that South was found stalking Claire outside her house for the second week in a row? This guy is supposed to be a cute, boyfriend-type character for us to like, but I think he’s been directed and written poorly. He comes off as incredibly creepy, unrealistic, and not at all charming or charismatic. I hope he gets killed.
6. Parkman will always be my least favorite character. Greg Grunberg is a sweet guy and all, but he’s a minor, supporting kind of guy. For my money, he doesn’t have that “it” factor that makes him a compelling actor. He bores me, which is sad because he would be terrific in a more minor role. There’s a reason he’s never been a leading man before and I think he’s more than proved why.
I did happen to like 4 things: a) Peter using a bunch of sweet powers to beat those dudes up (healing, D.L.’s ability to go through stuff, telekinesis, super-strength, and cool blue pulse shooty thing), b) Claire chopping off her toe and watching it grow back was sick. Can’t wait to see how this comes back into play in the future. c) When Mama Petrelli knew Parkman was reading her mind and thought “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Sick. d) The Haitian is back! Count it!
Less than stellar, though I did like it more than last week craptastic offering. The basic problem is that the show has no real emotion. It doesn’t excite me, it doesn’t create tension, I don’t feel for the characters, nada. Very bland.
Enjoy The Shit List, Heroes. Cause either way, you won’t be on it very long.
Grade: C+
Dear heroes,
you fared better than last week’s episode. Sadly, you still weren’t good enough. Where is DL/Nikki/Micah? Why are you reusing powers? As a side note, as badass as Claire is for cutting off her toe (very badass), I felt like I was watching Hostel, not Heroes.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen this show since halfway through the first season, but I’ve been enjoying Heroes so far. Last time I was watching it was all like “what’s happening to my body?” and now everyone is like “who can I give the beat down too?”
Unfortunately I have to agree that the plotlines aren’t very original. I mean, Peter has amnesia? C’mon.
Um, you might have missed an episode or two in there! The first half of season one was BY FAR the best stretch of episodes the show has had, so you definitely getting only the good and none of the bad.
And ya, cliche storylines is Tim Kring’s MO. Get used to it, pal.
Thanks for the comment!
West is so a creep. I’m not sure if they’re trying to write him that way, but the fact that he clearly is one, makes it all the more interesting to see Claire possibly falling for him.
I do agree with you that this episode was nowhere near the quality of the first half of season 1. I was certainly majorly disappointed with the season premiere, but hopefully we’re seeing an upward slope that will rescue the show from your Shit List!
A pleasure to hear from you, Kristin. I’m a fan of your blog (I came upon it today in fact.) so glad to have a comment from you here.
I suppose West being a creep would be interesting if it were on purpose. But Claire’s reactions towards him are not going to indicate that she is supposed to view him as a creep–I’m sure she’ll think he’s a cool dude and want to go fly on his back or something.
Hey, as much as I have fun slamming Heroes, I like it even more when I have good things to say, so let’s hope that slope keeps movin!
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