Heroes *2.1*: Four Months Later

[ShannonA]

The new season of Heroes starts tonight. Here's somewhere to talk about it.

I'm quite looking forward to the show, though I do have some concerns. Hiro's wacky samurai adventures don't strike me as that interesting, and I'm annoyed that they didn't get rid of Sylar, though it's totally in the comic book tradition.

However, these guys did great in season one, producing one of my top five examples of episodic TV ever (with Babylon 5 and season 1 of Veronica Mars also on that list), so I'll have faith in them.

[wiseblood]

See I'm the exact opposite wrt Hiro. I can't wait for his wacky hijinx in time and space.

I'm with ya on Syler though.

[ShannonA]

See I'm the exact opposite wrt Hiro. I can't wait for his wacky hijinx in time and space.


I love Hiro, no mistake there. However I thought that one of the show's strengths was its slow weaving together of different plots and characters, and Hiro being off on his own in the past feels like he's really cut off from everything.

But, if the writers are on the game, we'll be getting interesting backstory that will illuminate the present.

[ShannonA]

Well I'll admit to being quickly won over by Hiro's story. The unexpected character of his hero is so delightful, as is the idea of him trying to put things right. I just hope it doesn't go on too long, as it could get old. I also wonder if Hiro is going on to a literal Hero's Journey--down into the Underworld (as it were) to recover some prize.

Maya and Alejandro haven't won me over yet, though the outline of their story is obvious. I'd bet Alejandro is a power dampener from what we've seen thus far.

Claire, Nathan, and Peter are among my favorites, but only the first got much attention here. I like the story of isolation and leaving everything behind that we're seeing, and Alien-or-Robot Boy is an interesting new addition to the show. I wonder if he's really an alien, though it seems a little early for that in our little Heroes-verse.

Everything about the story of Parkman, Suresh, and Molly was great. I love that the first two have taken Molly on as a ward, I love the continued foreshadowing of the next big bad, and Suresh's plan (with HRG) to take down The Company is great.

And that doesn't even discuss the really gem in tonight's episode: the threat against the previous generation of heroes, and the idea that there was originally some council of 12. That's something I definitely wanted to see more of this season, and I'm happy to see such a quick followup.

If I had one complaint, it's how much of the supporting cast we've lost: Parkman's wife, Nathan's family, the FBI agent, Claire's friend, etc. I can understand what they're doing, which is taking the season break to push people into different circumstances so that they can tell different stories, but I thought the normal people helped make part of the show.

[Fritzef]

If I had one complaint, it's how much of the supporting cast we've lost: Parkman's wife, Nathan's family, the FBI agent, Claire's friend, etc. I can understand what they're doing, which is taking the season break to push people into different circumstances so that they can tell different stories, but I thought the normal people helped make part of the show.

Yes. I also suspect it's an attempt to reduce the cost of the show by cutting the cast--or perhaps to hold costs constant while adding new characters.

The one false note of the show for me was the voice-over introduction. I tended to find these intensely annoying in season 1; they reminded me of the portentious and pretentious equivalents in the miniseries Taken. Last night's, though, began with something about how the mutants had saved us from ourselves. That's just bollocks. The overall dramatic contradiction of the series is that, though we are supposed to sympathize with the mutants and see them as saviors, the plot lines actually show the opposite--they do more harm than good. The genius of the show is that it makes us forget this. This was clearest in the over-arching plot for last year.

[Spoiler Space]















As it turned out, the bomb was Peter. The whole threat to New York could have been avoided by his death early in the year, or by his going into hiding in the desert. Further, the plot to have him explode was a creation of the older generation of mutants.

Basically, the show isn't about the heroes saving normal humanity from itself, but from them.

[wiseblood]

Yeah, I'm definitely in my happy place.