Tuesday, October 28, 2008

New Villain Robert Forster Can't Save "Heroes"

With the way things have been going this season, and after the stunning lameness of last season, it had to happen. I didn’t want it to. I really tried to hold on. But I’ve failed. Sigh. I’ve finally given up on “Heroes”.

I was hoping that the addition of Robert Forster as the seemingly-back-from-the-dead Mr. Petrelli might add enough to the show to make it worth staying on. I’m a fan of Forster’s work from back in the days of “The Black Hole” (I’ll openly admit to the guilty pleasure of owning the 25th Anniversary of that flick and to watching it once a year or so). Here’s an actor who knows how to project a solid, believable presence to whatever character he’s playing in whatever situation. Sadly, even Forster’s capable addition to the cast wasn’t enough.

I’ve been losing interest in the show for a while, but the soap-opera quality of season 3 has just been too much – it’s dragged me down past the event horizon of watchability into a place where I just can’t convince myself to watch anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater. I’m just really disappointed because “Heroes” showed a lot of potential in its first season, but fell in season two and just hasn’t been able to pick itself up. Sure, there are still entertaining moments with Hiro and Ando, and Parkman’s a likeable character who you want to succeed, but Suresh pulling a Cronenberg Fly, many of the characters getting progressively stupider, most of them forgetting about aspects of their powers or failing to develop or take advantage of their powers, Ali Larter’s unending series of super-powered siblings keeping her on the show (as much as she’s easy on the eyes), and the afore-mentioned soap-opera illogical plot twists are just too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, cue the Tina Turner music: “We don’t need another Heroes!”

1 comment:

harrysaxon said...

Very much in agreement, though I haven't given up entirely; with its guaranteed-to-have-me-on-the-couch lead-in, which gave me the joys of a Missle Command/Rush montage this week, I'm going to try to stick with it through the end of the season.

Heroes is clearly suffering from the problem of aimlessness. Kring came up with a cool idea and a first season, and once that was done, he had no idea what to do with them. So he's throwing character after character and soap-opera twists up against the wall to see what sticks, then trying to form a plot around them. Mohinder's plagaristic plot arc is one of the worst this season, though like you I'm still fond of Hiro, Ando, Parkman, and even a new character or two like Daphne.

As we've both championed before, with shows like Buffy, B5, BsG, and Lost, you need to have the full arc of your series always in mind. Though side-paths and diversions may crop up organically, you need to know how it's going to end before you begin.