Remember "Save the cheerleader. Save the world"? It was Heroes' first season, and and people loved it. More than 16 million of them. I was one of those people, and Heroes could do no wrong in that first season.
Well, I would have liked a bit more of a battle to save New York in the finale between the heroes and Sylar, but you can't have everything. Edgar (Ray Park) prepares to face off against one of the Heroes regulars. After watching the fourth-season premiere of "Volume Five: Redemption," I realized the roller-coaster ride the Heroes' writers have put me on. I mean, think back where the show first really went wrong, in "Volume Two: Generations" with the long trip from Mexico with the annoying brother-and-sister team, Alejandro and Maya. I have to admit I wanted Sylar to kill them both. And I barely remember Monica, the New Orleans chick who could mimic people's actions perfectly. Hiro got stuck in the past, and Peter forgot who he was. And I didn't really care about the Shanti virus story. A virus is just not as cool as the thought of blowing up New York. I think we all thought it was a good idea to take a break thanks to the writers' strike that year and completely avoid the planned third volume, "Exodus," which would have dealt with the virus. But then I got excited again in season three. I mean, a volume called "Villains" with Sylar back in real form sounded great. Imagine the possibilities. There was a new Bigger Bad, and it was Nathan and Peter's own dad, Arthur. And for a little while I loved it all over again. Although it was a little creepy when future Claire told future Peter that she'd always loved him. She's his niece, for Pete's sake. Somewhere along the way, though, during "Villains," Heroes stopped feeling like it was about real superheroes. It's not that the writers didn't try, but the magic from season one never quite returned. And when Nathan suddenly turned against his own and became the bad guy for "Volume Four: Fugitives," I realized Heroes had completely gone off the rails again. What were they thinking turning Nathan into the bad guy? Seriously! There were moments in "Fugitives" I liked, and I have to admit the ending with Sylar killing Nathan and then being forced to become him by Matt blew me away. Unfortunately, the roller-coaster ride of Heroes has taken its toll. Only 6 million of us watched Monday's two-episode premiere, the kicker on a sad but continuing erosion of ratings through the seasons. I would have loved for "Volume Five: Redemption" to be the true redemption Heroes needs to get some of its viewers back. But that doesn't look like it's going to happen. The first hour of the premiere, "Orientation," moved at an agonizingly slow pace as we caught up again with all the characters, who seem not to be that far from where they were in season one, with Claire struggling to be normal, Nathan battling his nature, HRG being conflicted about work, Matt's worry that his wife is cheating on him, Niki's struggles (which are now Tracy's struggles) with her dark side, and Peter and Hiro's desire to be heroes. The best of things certainly seem to be the cool new villain in carny master Samuel, played by Robert Knepper, and his main henchman, played by Star Wars' Ray Park, who has lightning speed and some really big knives. And thank God Hiro and Ando are back to add some comic relief to the too-serious events. Without them and their plan for Dial a Hero, the premiere wouldn't be much fun at all. And then there's Super Peter, saving lives as a paramedic with his super powers ... Although couldn't Super Peter just stop time and save people that way? I'm just saying. Still, for every cool thing, there's a worrisome turn: * I had thought the whole Nathan/Sylar thing would give writers some juicy material, but it seems the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of it has more to do with Matt/Sylar since Sylar has taken up residence in Matt's brain, forcing him to act like a lunatic. * Tracy comes back for revenge and ends up bonding a little too weirdly with HRG. * Danko, an intriguing villain from last season, was killed off too quickly, without a satisfying end to the character. Creator Tim Kring ... you could have done better. * Claire's in college now and feeling out of place, but could she stop moping already? She's in college and indestructible. And then her irritating roomie jumps, is pushed or falls from their dorm room window, which should be a good thing. Instead there's a mystery to be solved. Most college kids would just ask for another room. But not our Claire. She takes a header out the window, and, what a shock, someone sees her not die. Maybe Claire should go to her classes and get that college education rather than try to solve murders. Being indestructible leads to only so many types of jobs, and not many of them are appealing. * Mohinder is missing. Okay, actually I don't find that worrisome. Since the whole creepy Fly incident in "Villains," the once promising character has been ruined for me, and the thought of him popping up again is worrisome. I find myself in the situation of Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin. "I've invested four bloody years in Heroes, at the very least, I need to see how it ends," he wrote <http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/09/22/heroes-season-premiere/> . "At this point, it's become a matter of pride. I am, however, pretty sure I'll spend much of the show's remaining life shaking my fist at the TV." And so it goes. My love/hate relationship with Heroes continues. I love Hiro and Ando and HRG and Peter (although I wish he was sweet, as he was in season one) and Claire (although I wish she would stop whining and start saving the world again). I'm even fond of Matt and the Haitian. I love some of the wonderful places Tim Kring has taken me with these Heroes. And I love to hate Sylar (although he's beginning to look like Mr. Spock to me). I know there will also be plenty to make me unhappy this season as well, and I imagine, like Mr. Bernardin, my fists will get a workout. However, since I'm sure this will be the last season for Heroes, I'm just hoping Mr. Kring takes us out on a high note so that final episode pays off in a big enough way to make me be glad I stuck by the show that, if nothing else, has given me one hell of a ride. What do you think? Do you still care about Heroes? 'Heroes': The good, the bad, and the meh of the season premiere - http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/09/22/heroes-season-premiere/ by Marc Bernardin <http://popwatch.ew.com/author/mdbernardin/> Categories: About Last Night <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/about-last-night/> , Fall TV 2009 <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/fall-tv-2009/> , Heroes <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/heroes/> , I'm Just a Geek <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/im-just-a-geek/> , Ninjas <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/ninjas/> , Sci-Fi <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/sci-fi/> , Television <http://popwatch.ew.com/category/television/> Heroes is back, boys and girls, for its fourth season, aptly subtitled Redemption. A better name couldn't have been chosen, as that's exactly what this show needs. It needs to redeem itself in the eyes of people like me, once-loyal viewers who've felt betrayed by what's transpired in the superheroic world that executive producer Tim Kring built. And, in case you've forgotten, last season ended with Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) dead and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) brainwashed - by Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman), and Angela Petrelli (Christine Rose) - to believe that he was the dead senator. (And look like him, too, thanks to Sylar's shapeshifting power.) The Bennets have split up. Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) are putzing around Tokyo. And Mohinder's some kind of taxi-driving snake-man. So how'd the season premiere do in picking up those threads? Here's the good and the bad. GOOD: Superpowered carny folk. Robert Knepper tore it up as Samuel, the apparent chieftain of a band of traveling carnival workers. I suppose it was only a matter of time before Heroes stumbled on a circus as a natural place for the "differently abled" to hide in plain sight. It's a little unclear what Samuel's power is - all we see him do is put crazy temporary tattoos on folks that have either divine wisdom or choke ex-Sith Lords (Ray Park, out of make-up for once). New blood is necessary to make Heroes work, and Samuel seems to hold more promise than that south-of-the-border sibling disaster. GOOD: Peter Petrelli. Milo Ventimiglia's always been good as the dutiful, power-absorbent son who wants nothing more that to help people. And by distancing himself from everyone with powers, he's doing just that. He's super-paramedic-man: Leaping over garbage trucks in a single bound, ripping doors off cars, saving damsels pregnant with twins. Plus, Peter might be the only sane person on the show: "The further I stay away from you, and whatever it is you're doing, the happier I'm gonna be.. My life is simple. I understand it. I don't need for things to get complicated." GOOD: Mohinder Suresh. Where was he? I don't know, but I hope he stays there. UNDECIDED: Claire as Veronica Mars. Claire is taking time during her freshman year in college to solve the murder of her roommate. And she's forming her very own Scooby gang, beginning with Gretchen (Madeline Zima), who's rumored to have her sights on Claire - and we saw the first stirrings of that in this episode's awesomely blunt Guitar Hero bonding moment. BAD: Claire's ongoing obsession with everything "normal." I don't get it: Why does Claire Bennet (Hayden Panetierre) harp on living a normal life, having normal experiences? Is Kring trying to say something through Heroes' clear position on powers? Sylar relishes in them, and he's evil. Claire hates them, and she's good. BAD: Hiro Nakamura. When, oh when, can we mercy-kill Hiro Nakamura? Dial a Hero? Literally saving cats from the Tokyo equivalent of trees? Didn't we already have a whole season of these two acting like overgrown kids? For a second, about halfway through the two hours, Hiro was interesting. The idea that all of his space-time slippage has given him brain cancer - or is a result of his brain cancer - would've given him some drive, some purpose, some reason to stop acting like a child. He went on at length about how monkeying with the past was forbidden, that nothing good ever comes from it. And not 30 minutes later, after taking a slushy for Ando, thereby allowing his sister and his best friend to get it on, Hiro decides that going back in time and futzing with the space-time continuum is a capitol idea. BAD: Sylar. I was kind of hoping for more time with Sylar's consciousness buried in Nathan's body. Play the sleeper-cell dynamic, like in Battlestar Galactica when we learned the truth about Boomer - we knew something bad was going to happen, but we didn't know what or when. That's how you build tension. But rather than let that sit, let us get used to the wolf in sheep's clothing, we already get to see "Nathan" bugging out. Plus, Sylar is now a manifestation of Matt Parkman's imagination? Or is he actually buried within Matt? Or do I actually care? Survey says, no, because this was done far, far better on BSG (and underscored by having BSG cylon Rick Worthy in the same scenes). BAD: The pace. It was almost a full hour before anything halfway interesting happened: When Ray Park's carny knifemaster went up against Tracy the ice mistress (Ali Larter). And it was 30 seconds of flash. Boom. Done. Heroes seems to think that what viewers want from it is mood building. People confessing in hushed tones how they feel about stuff they've done. Talk. We've had season after season of the same thing. And the viewership, and the buzz, and the critical praise, have all steadily dropped off. Isn't the definition of madness doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result each time? Why should we care any more about what's happening here, given that it's the same thing we stopped caring about so very long ago? I'm encouraged by the circus storyline, even if I can see where all of this is headed: Everyone gets drawn to Samuel's three-ring nightmare - by hook, crook, or free will - and have to band together and take him down. Oh, and Sylar will do some bad stuff along the way. Heroes isn't subtle enough, or self-aware enough, to vary that formula. The question, for all of us, is will we keep watching? I will. I've invested four bloody years in Heroes, at the very least, I need to see how it ends. At this point, it's become a matter of pride. I am, however, pretty sure I'll spend much of the show's remaining life shaking my fist at the TV. How about you? Are you in? Tracey de Morsella, Managing Producer The Green Economy Post http://greeneconomypost.com tra...@greeneconomypost.com
