It's official: "Heroes" has lost its way
Sarah Palin: Lie, Lie, Lie, Drill Drill Drill!
Can someone please just answer this question for me: Why can’t the
characters on “Heroes” fight an enemy in the present day?
Let me say that again, because I'm not sure you heard me: WHY CAN’T
THEY FIGHT AN ENEMY IN THE PRESENT DAY?
Once again, “Heroes” is inducing headaches instead of entertaining us.
Why? Why does the show have to make things 10 times more complicated
than they have to be?
Once again, this show is presenting us with a story line that has
characters traveling back and forth in time and trying to prevent all
sorts of bad things that will happen in a few years.
Here’s a radical idea, and it’s one that the heroes on the show have
never pursued for long: What if they just fought bad guys – or those
among the superpower-enhanced who turn evil – right now? Enough with
the time silliness already!
Perhaps “Heroes” is just trying to appear cool – hip shows such as
“How I Met Your Mother,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “Lost” have played
around with the notion of time and gotten kudos for it.
But here’s what those shows have taught us: It’s hard to do those
sorts of time-tweaking stories well. If they’re not tied to a vivid
emotional story arc for the characters, well, who cares what time it
is?
Remember “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” a great episode of “Star Trek: The
Next Generation”? How about “The Constant” on “Lost”? “Blink” on
“Doctor Who”? Those were time-oriented storylines that were done
excessively well.
“Heroes” is not doing a time-jumping story well. Again.
In Monday’s episode of the show, we got a glimpse at where various
characters are four years in the future. (Sylar as a waffle-making
suburban dad? Whaaat?) I guess we’re supposed to wonder what happens
to make the characters lives turn out so differently.
But why should I bother getting invested in who the characters are, in
the present or the future? Whenever it’s convenient, the writers will
just change whatever they feel like changing. In any case, there isn’t
much suspense building in any timeline. It’s all too much of a muddle
for that.
I don’t mind it if a show occasionally opens with a wild action scene,
then puts the words “Three Days Earlier” on the screen. That gambit
can be overused and become a crutch, but most TV shows rely on it only
occasionally. “Heroes,” on the other hand, expects to use time
manipulation to provide dramatic punch – but at this point, it’s
having the opposite effect. My brain hurts.
If “Heroes” has anything going for it, it’s the show’s more
compelling characters (and there are precious few of those left). Why
keep putting them – especially less interesting characters like Peter
Petrelli -- in situations that appear designed to induce a migraine?
At this point, I am so confused about what Future Peter did, what
Present Peter wants to do, whether anything in Monday’s episode really
happened or whether various bits were just part of Matt Parkman’s
“spirit journey” that I just want out.
So, yeah, I’m done with “Heroes.” I’m done waiting for the timelines
and the stories to become more linear and logical. I’m done waiting
for the dumb characters to get smart and for the good characters to
get fun showcases. I’m done waiting for the here and now to matter
most.
It’s my bad for not knowing when to walk away. I’ve stuck around for
Hiro and Ando, for the good Sylar scenes, for anything involving
H.R.G. or Angela Petrelli. I’ve waited for an episode as good as
“Company Man” – a “Heroes” story that tied time manipulation to a
terrific character journey. But as I’ve waited, I’ve endured ever more
mediocrity, derivative stories and confusion.
If you’re still into “Heroes” and you can keep track of what is
happening to whom and when, that’s fantastic for you.
For me, at this point, the good is outweighed by the bad. I can’t
justify spending an hour on a show that gives me five to 10 minutes of
enjoyment.
Goodbye, Hiro.
Time’s up.
FDR
Heck, Seinfeld did a show where events went backwards.
Bluuuue Rajah
wrote in
news:9803514c-f13b-429b...@s20g2000prd.googlegroups.com:
Heroes has definitely lost its way, but I'm goig to stick with it, just
for old time's sake. I don't expect it to last much longer, and when
it's gone, the good ol' days will never come back.
I expect the more prominent actors, like Hayden Panettiere, to land on
their feet. But even though its glory days are officially behind it,
there will never be another show like Heroes.
Michael
Long diatribe I somewhat agree with snipped.
I'm still wondeing what happened to Caitlin after she was stuck in a
plague-ravaged future that never came to pass. Is she still stck in
whatever future it is now?
Michael
jewahe
Word is that that particular story line is going to be conveniently
forgotten. It's probably best just to believe she died and let it go.
--
JWH
Michael
That'd be sloppier writing than I expect.
Michael
jewahe
They are pretty much ignoring what happened in S2. Just pretend it
didn't happen.
--
JWH
elz...@aol.com
> justify spending an hour on a show that gives me five to 10 minutes of
> enjoyment.
DVR it and only waste about 42 or so minutes!!!
So what will you watch/do instread?
Bill Steele
<9803514c-f13b-429b...@s20g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
"Sarah Palin: Lie, Lie, Lie, Drill Drill Drill!" <Mike...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Can someone please just answer this question for me: Why canąt the
> characters on łHeroes˛ fight an enemy in the present day?
Because a future disaster sets up a much bigger wienie. We *know*
there's going to be a disaster unless something is done about it. And
changing the future is a lot more complicated than just tracking down a
villain, and we need something complicated with so many characters
running around.
My only gripe is that we have two seasons in which at least part of the
goal is to stop Sylar from exploding.
Pete B
j.ha...@comcast.net says...
Good, because I generally don't remember anything.
Hornet Prime
news:MPG.235cb7f4f...@nntp.usenetserver.com...
All I remembered was that Nathan got shot and Sylar got his powers back.