Re: Heroes - Season Three
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Originally Posted by Stephen_L
My specific complaints about season three are:
Nikki now has a twin; this is one of the lamest plot devices ever (refer to Denise Crosby in TNG as a footnote)
Silar's schtick has gotten old. Its shock value has worn off. The writers should have let him die in the season one climax and introduced fresh villains. Oh and if he need only see or touch the brains of heroes to steal their powers, why are their brains always missing after he's done?
No one stays dead in this show! Nikki reappears (to be fair as a new character), Linderman is back, Nathan is back, Claire's mom is back. It seems there is no action that some deus ex machina cannot reset.
Plot devices that were once fresh are endlessly recycled. The clairvoyant artist, the future man returning to the past to set things right, the superhero killer, the dark future to be averted (we're on our third reiteration of that).
Some of the more interesting story elements have been dropped. I wanted to know more about the Odessa Paper Company operation and the league of superhero elders that raised and seek to guide this generation.
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I don't want to appear as though I am singling you out, but since you summed up some common issues, I figured I would post my thoughts by quoting you.
- Niki Sanders has always had a twin. This was a big storyline in s1, as it revealed why her Father was so distant (he killed Jessica, or did he?), as well as explaining why Niki had multiple personality disorder (it was a defense mechanism) and why her name was Jessica. Also, there exists the possibility that the new character is simply another of Niki's personalities, but with a new power and even stronger will (she has zero knowledge of Niki, whereas Jessica did, even interacting with her).
- While I can definately see how people are bored with Sylar, you have to understand that shows, like books, have themes, and one of the themes of Heroes is clearly the duality of humanity. To this end, we are given two characters, Peter and Sylar, who share so much - multiple powers, a mother (!), the willingness to use their powers to change the world. However, they differ greatly, as well - Peter gets his powers through empathic means, while Sylar essentially steals them. They are two sides to the same coin, and if Sylar were eliminated, Peter would have to leave too, otherwise the theme is shattered.
- Of course nobody stays dead in the show! The underlying concept of the show is comic books, but in television form. Everything from the themes, to the dialogue, to the way they construct the first few minutes of the episodes (often repeating events, but with slightly different angles, dialogue, etc) is ripped right from comics. It's simply a given that in comics, nobody stays dead. In fact, there is even a rule about this: nobody is dead, except Bucky and Uncle Ben (this rule has even itself, been broken). That has been carried over to Heroes. Rather than a flaw, this actually supports another theme/eternal question of the show:is there any point to our actions? If villains keep returning, why bother to stop them? More mature explorations of this question, I'll save for another time.
- I will agree with you that powers are being recycled. However, the time travel/future prediction angle ties directly in with the futility of human action theme, not to mention a ubiquitous device in comics. Moreover, like it or not (and a lot do not), time travel is an interesting way to explore this theme. With multiple characters with the ability to travel through time and/or see the future, this device will probably never go away.
- You are definately correct about interesting plot threads being cast aside. Let's hope they are picked up again at a later time. With reference to the seperate stoylines coming together at the end of s1, that was obviously an intended, limited-use thing. The show even began with a voice-over stating that all stories have beginnings, and s1 would be it, showing how the heroes (and villains) found their powers, and came together. I suspect we'll see limited screentime dedicated to new characters exploring their new-found powers, and instead will see people who have had them for a while, and are ready and willing to use them. Personally, while the show is somewhat of a character-study, I would find the formula of "introduce a new hero, see them horrified to discover their power, then grow to love/use it" as tired a device as some see time travel.
I guess ultimately, I find it curious that many complaints (and again, I'm not trying to single you or anyone out, just speaking in general) about Heroes deal with devices and elements which are virtually synonomous with comic books. The show is supposed to be a comic series writ large, for the television screen. It's sort of silly to watch a comic book television show, and find issue with standard comic book stuff.
cheers!
Josh
