HEROES / VILIANS (Spoilers Welcome)

Just watched last nights episode. This series is being removed from the DVR. Its really clear the writers have no idea how to write in the world they created. The entire episode was full of absurdities.

How exactly did future Peter die? He got shot. In the chest. Really? REALLY? So you have an uber guy that absorbs the powers of everyone around him and has had Claire's ability to heal (and now be invincible) and he gets taken down by a couple of gunshots? Yea I think not. Even with the Haitian guy around...he can't be around forever. He leaves, future Peter would just wake up. Weak plot device to get "rid" of the future Peter character.

Then...after he got Sylars ability in the future...why DIDNT he just leave? "No, I'm going to stay. I brought this into your house" OMFG, just time travel back to the past and you change everything and the entire house scene never happens. (Again, this is really what they get for having so much time travel. Its like when Trek started going bad)

And I'm sorry, but it was laugh out loud embarrassing seeing Parkman with that fucking whisker face paint on. Are you kidding me with that shit? How lame is that entire part of the story. Now he is following a turtle out of the desert?

Speaking of tacky, Sylar (sorry, I meant Gabriel) being Mr Mom with his "Hail to the Chief" apron on.

And then we wrap it all of with.......unburying the other invincible guy from Season 2. Yes, thats what we need, more things to add to the plot!

This show has jumped the shark, ran off the rails, circled the drain, and gone down the toilet. No more for me.

This show can only be enjoyed ironically now.

The reason I'm not also wiping it from the DVR is for scenes like the dialogue between two Peters before one got shot. That acting, that "intense" tone that he has, which has always been grating... now x2! It's almost as good as when the Enterprise transporter made two Kirks. Great stuff.

Gunshots in tv and movies is always particularly funny to me. Here Claire is a good enough shot to hit FuturePeter with a couple bullets no misses and then suddenly Claire shoots dozens of bullets at RegularPeter and can't hit the broad side of a barn.

As for FuturePeter being killed, I feel like I remember Claire at one point telling her cohorts that FuturePeter wasn't dead yet as he layed on the slab in that room. Did I just imagine that or did it actually happen; I honestly can't remember for sure.

They've been planning on bringing that guy that was buried back -- what's his name, Adam? He was one of the group that was in Mother Patrelli's precognative dream in that one episode. I always felt he was a lame piece of story for something that had been set up to be cool: Kensei the Kickass Samurai. Turns out he's a drunk British dude with a power already used in the show. How repetitive and lame! And he turns into a bad guy because Hiro and the girl he likes like each other? [eyeroll]

I still don't like the whole battle near the end of the episode. So, we have a girl who can move super fast and we have a dude who gets super strength provided he's in the presence of someone who is at that moment feeling fear. Versus! A dude who absorbs other people's powers just by being next to them and a guy who learns other people's powers by poking their brain; both of whom have a large number of powers to use now -- and they are the ones who get their butts kicked? It's completely ludicrous.

vacantlook said:

As for FuturePeter being killed, I feel like I remember Claire at one point telling her cohorts that Future Peter wasn't dead yet as he layed on the slab in that room. Did I just imagine that or did it actually happen; I honestly can't remember for sure.

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What she said was that Peter wasn't dead because there was another one wandering around (Past Peter, heh)

I agree with your comments about how it can be entertaining in that fashion...but I guess I've seen too much bad/questionable TV in my time to do it voluntarily anymore, even for a show that used to be good.

You could still find a way to enjoy the show: Do two shots ten minutes prior to the show, then sit back, watch, and point and laugh.

That's what Mystery Science Theater 3000 is for.

Watch live action Spider-Man of the 70's for that kind of thing.... it's hilariously bad and and all the more magnificent for it!

vacantlook said:

I still don't like the whole battle near the end of the episode. So, we have a girl who can move super fast and we have a dude who gets super strength provided he's in the presence of someone who is at that moment feeling fear. Versus! A dude who absorbs other people's powers just by being next to them and a guy who learns other people's powers by poking their brain; both of whom have a large number of powers to use now -- and they are the ones who get their butts kicked? It's completely ludicrous.

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Especially when you consider Sylar single handed took on this Fear Power dude and the Voice Box Dude by himself in the previous episode at the Bank ... I was seriously ... wtf?

Peter against speed girl ... "I can stop time ... I think instead I shall get bitch slapped for a little while ..."

Btw, what is with Future Peter's scare still being there? That has me just as confused, as it the first season it was because Hiro did it right? I guess that still happens?

With Future Peter and not regenerating ... could be explained that Clair put a small jaunt or something in the base of his skull to stop it from happening ... still, pretty weak sequencing.

Does anyone else have a feeling of deja vu? Peter is now carrying a power that will consume him, likely resulting in some of the future events? Sounds familiar to S1? I think that is one thing that frustrates me the worst of this season ... lots of non-character development arching ... minus Sylar who at least appears to be growing as a character.

Oh well, network television, I swear, the more popular a show gets, the worse it gets ... it is those times when the writers should be having fun with it that they go to the mainstream...

I've wondered about the scar myself. Peter having the ability to regenerate should null and void it.

I think the writers are patronising the viewing public. They assume we aren't smart enough to tell the difference between the two Peters, so they have to give future Peter something that helps us differentiate the two of them.... and the way they've chosen to do it is extremely sloppy.

I'm on episode 2 and I spotted a massive howler. Bennett knows that a bullet in the right spot will disable the ability for Claire to regenerate... so he must know that the same principle will work with Sylar. Knowing what Sylar is already capable of and knowing his motivation... the character of HRG wouldn't hesitate for a second to put a bullet in Sylar's head right where X marks the spot.

So why didn't he?

Simple guys. The scar was there so the viewers could tell the difference between Present Peter and Future Peter. Do you really think they had some super awesome reason other than that?

I enjoyed the episode--best this season, imho. I'm willing to suspend disbelief at this point (with continuity errors.)

Only thing that continues to really annoy me is Claire. Maybe it will come together better later. We'll see.

Am I the only one who thinks that Peter vs Peter dialogue before one got shot was comedy gold? Seriously, I wish I hadn't deleted the ep from my DVR after watching it so I can review it in detail.


KKHHAAAAAANNNN!

You can tell I'm extra serious because my voice is so raspy!

I agree with all of you, this show is hilarious at best and very very sad at worst. After a great first season we were given a very weak and shortened second season and the third season is turning out to be worst of all. This is what happens when the writers don't have a plan from the beginning. Before Heroes was aired I remember reading somewhere that each season would tell one story and they would get rid of most of the characters and start with fresh ones. Too bad they didn't stick with that.

Another thing that's bothered me that no one has mentioned yet, how does Parkman get the guys power from eating something and wearing the headphones. That makes absolutely no sense.

My guess on what's going on is that Adam was the first of his kind and spent many years trying to figure out why he is how he is. He found some scientists who were able to find the formula and tested it out on the original group from the photo. With their knew powers they tried to help mankind. One group decided it would be good to give everyone powers but the others opposed thus splitting the formula and hiding it.

Watching this bad show makes me miss the 4400 even more.

After sleeping on it, I'm actually not ok with all the plot holes and inconsistencies.

Nathan. Hi, doesn't he have a wife? A wife in a wheelchair that was healed by Linderman and could walk again? Now, he's a man of God who apparently doesn't believe in the sanctity of marriage.

I wasn't sure what happened when future Peter bit the dust. I will buy that the Haitian was there and he lost his powers, sure, but remove the bullet and he'd come right back, no? Like Claire in season 1.

I actually liked the Sylar part in the future. It was creepy Martha Steward Sylar. That's almost more scary to me than sociopath Sylar. It felt sardonic to me. I think that was its purpose. It was sad about his son, though, but that plot device is way overused in fiction. So, the only thing keeping him in check this whole time was his son? Loses that, he's back to psycho? Didn't translate well "to the page" so to say.

I like Adam. But, I loved the actor as Sark on Alias, so I'm cool with him coming back.

Hiro and Ando still feel too slapstick to me.

What happened to flying kid from last season? I forgot.

Mohinder is what? Turning into a roach?

Alluveal said:

Nathan. Hi, doesn't he have a wife? A wife in a wheelchair that was healed by Linderman and could walk again? Now, he's a man of God who apparently doesn't believe in the sanctity of marriage.

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She and Nathan divorced in season two. I don't know if the actor just wanted out of the show or if the writers decided that they were just too stupid to write anything involving the potentially fertile storytelling ground that her being healed provided them.

I actually liked the Sylar part in the future. It was creepy Martha Steward Sylar. That's almost more scary to me than sociopath Sylar. It felt sardonic to me. I think that was its purpose. It was sad about his son, though, but that plot device is way overused in fiction. So, the only thing keeping him in check this whole time was his son? Loses that, he's back to psycho? Didn't translate well "to the page" so to say.

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Of course, Sylar didn't have to go all psycho if he hadn't been written to just stand there like a stick acting stupid. He still had all the powers he had absorbed, so instead of telling the fear absorbing man that he wasn't afraid of him, why didn't Sylar just telekinetically hold the guy in place so he couldn't move -- it's not like he hasn't done that on plenty of other people before.

What happened to flying kid from last season? I forgot.

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He was one of the characters the creator of the show felt embarrassed by by the end of the season, I guess. And thus he, like Monica (whom I actually really liked) get to be pretended to not have ever existed. Meanwhile Maya's whining self is still running around.

Oh, here's something: did anything ever get done to find that Irish woman who Peter lost in the future during the future plague outbreak? As far as I can remember, she was just another character that the writers decided to forget about.

Mohinder is what? Turning into a roach?

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I'm thinking spider, but I guess a roach would fit given that the writers have occasionally enjoyed using a roach as some stupid symbol for genetic perfection or something equally yawn-worthy.

Who is Monica?

jnk5y said:

Before Heroes was aired I remember reading somewhere that each season would tell one story and they would get rid of most of the characters and start with fresh ones. Too bad they didn't stick with that.

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See, I kind of agree with this, because I think I would partly like that concept, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, its a concept that would FLAT OUT FAIL with today's viewing audience. People would spend a season getting invested in characters just to start all over again with new ones? They wouldn't tune in next year and that would be the end of it. People need some sort of continuity.

However, I would be in favor of meeting somewhere in between --- and I think the show's creator was TRYING for this, but has missed the mark. So have each season be its own self contained story (This, they are doing so far...its just that after season 1 the stories have sucked). What they also need to do, however, is keep maybe 2-3 of the best characters, and bring in new ones for the different story. This is where they failed. They had no reason to carry forward MANY of the Season 1 characters into Season 2, but they did anyway. What is even WORSE in my opinion, if when they did kill off characters, such as Isaac Mendez, they bring in a new character a season or so later that can do the EXACT SAME THING (the dude in the desert with Parkman). Boring and repetitive. Or, they bring in the same actress who looks like a dead character but isn't and she turns out to be some sort of *yawn* clone or some shit. Again, boring and a waste of time.

The side effect of all of this is you have like 20 characters running around (or exact copies of dead characters) doing like 7 different threads and everything unravels.

jnk5y said:

Another thing that's bothered me that no one has mentioned yet, how does Parkman get the guys power from eating something and wearing the headphones. That makes absolutely no sense.

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This entire part of this seasons story IMO is at the absolute bottom. The worst. Ever. It was laugh out loud BAD when Parkman put on that whisker makeup and the headphones. What the hell are the writers thinking? Go back on strike already, you suck!

jnk5y said:

Watching this bad show makes me miss the 4400 even more.

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This.

vacantlook said:

Oh, here's something: did anything ever get done to find that Irish woman who Peter lost in the future during the future plague outbreak? As far as I can remember, she was just another character that the writers decided to forget about.

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Yeah I hadn't forgotten Caitlin. I think the writers had though... because in the rush to end the second season, they raced to find a conclusion for the main plot (the pandemic plague) and didn't think it through properly.... and they probably aren't intelligent enough to think of a way to bring a character back from a timeline that has been erased... but you are right they should deal with it. I believe in one of two ways:

1) Acceptance and guilt on the part of Peter for causing her "death" (by placing her in a timeline that according to some versions of branch theory probably no longer exists). At the very least this should be addressed because even if the writers want to forget Caitlin... no human being who had formed such an attachment, especially not a person like Peter... would just forget about someone they cared about like that.

and/or

2) Introducing a new powered character or developing Hiro's power to time travel. The new or developed power would enable the "traveller" to cross dimensions and different realities as well travel back and forth in time and geographical space. This would enable newbie/Hiro/Peter to be able to to transport themselves in a place or time to do that. However you couldn't do this overnight, you'd have to do some serious character building and expoisition first.

I think ideally they should have explored both ideas. If I were handling it.... I'd have it start with Peter having "nightmares" abou Caitlin calling out to him from the apocalyptic future. However these wouldn't just be nightmares, they'd be Peter's subconscious tapping into both his mother's power and the new character's dimensional power/Hiro's evolved power (once we'd discovered that Hiro's power could develop). In some ways it works better if you have a separate character because then you have two or three characters who have to work together - Hiro can get you back and forth in time and the other guy can cross realities... but you need both working together to access an alternate future or past.

GKarsEye said:

Who is Monica?

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Micah's cousin who had super muscle memory -- she could do any physical motion that she saw someone else do. She was given an ipod full of videos to learn from by Bob (Mr Midas). Last was seen of her was at the end of last season when she had been captured trying to get something of Micah's back from some thugs; it was in that building that Niki died saving Monica.