I already feel like a bad fan. I should have had this written last night within an hour after the premier was over. Instead I didn’t even start watching it until it was mostly over (of course I DVRed it and watched from the beginning, I’m not that crazy). It has been a hectic week (month, actually) at work. I didn’t get home from the office last night until around 10. And after watching the 2 hours of Heroes – I opted for the moment to skip the opening red-carpet hour (who needs appetizers with entrees like these?) and I went to bed right after because I had to be at work this morning early for more insanity. I digress. I can probably write a whole post on this topic, but that isn’t really my intent at the moment.
Anyway, my wife and I settled in with a bowl of popcorn and some iced tea to watch the Heroes premier episodes (I got her hooked last season). From the first moment, I’m happy to have TV shows back again. I almost forgot what it was like to have shows to follow. They start off answering the biggest lingering question from last season – who shot Nathan. I loved the answer, all my suspicions had pointed to people close to him, but I would not have arrived at that conclusion for anything. From that point forward, every arc was compelling and fastinating. It felt like a reunion of old friends … only they were putting on a play for me with super-powers.
As I watched the events unfold, I was often reminded of how I should probably have rewatched the finale again to remind myself where things left off. But as I recalled things, I think that if I did, I would have had to keep going back through episodes all the way to the first to completely reground myself – they really have been doing a pretty good job at keeping the storyline consistent and well thought out. This isn’t just a show that answers “what if there were people with super powers living among us?” but rather “what if there were people with super powers living among us for longer than we might even realize?” We already knew that Adam had been around longer than many suspected, but now we find that the Company may have been doing a lot more than we know and the ragtag heroes we’ve grown to love may not be so disparate and random as we were led to believe.
Not only did these episodes answer a lot of questions and put a lot of things to bed (I guess Sylar won’t need to chase Clare anymore), they also raised a lot of new ones. Like what is the formula that Hiro manages to lose within seconds of being charged with protecting it? Why did Sylar lose all of his powers except his own and telekinesis? How is Peter trapped inside of Jesse? What the hell can Jesse do? How is Linderman back (or is he even back)? How are Nicki and Tracy connected? Why did they have to kill off the Greatest American Hero so quickly (sure his tabloid reporter character was an ass, but what a waste of an interesting guest spot – of course few probably even recognized him)?
I’ve been hearing the buzz that this is the season of villains and seeing what we did last night I understand their meaning. I initially took that to mean that they were going to introduce a lot of new characters that were not all good (which they probably will). But I think the real meaning is that we will see the lines blurred and we will see some of those we considered heroes to become villains (and possibly vice versa), and that who is which will not always be clear (interesting subtext in an election year).
I am greatly looking forward to what is to come. I want to see how Suresh’s new abilities evolve. I want to see how Sylar’s path changes now that he has the power he had been seeking. I want to see how the Company might shift under new management. I want to see whether the Petrelli family will manage to come together or to fall apart. I want to know what happened to Nicky and how she and Tracy are connected (they are obviously connected somehow). I want to know who really goes bad in the future – Hiro or Ando? I want to know if there is an uncut version of the romantic encounter between Suresh and Maya.
I started this post intending to give a level review of the Heroes premier, but I couldn’t help but gush over it. Sure there are flaws – Why doesn’t Peter use more of his abilities? Where is Adam? Why does there always have to be an impending apocalypse? And seriously, that makeout scene with the shirt-tearing – there have got to be other angles. But the good is too good for there to be much criticism. Flaws and all it is better than many shows on TV today. I will be watching for some more compelling hours of television, but if I find any it would be a pleasant surprise.
Agree? Disagree? Have info on that footage? Feel free to add your commentary – I’m open to discussion on this one (well I always am, but especially so for this issue).