Circus of Heroes

In the beginning of this season of Heroes – the show that I used to love, started to hate, came to enjoy again and am now ambivalent about – the writers did what they needed to do by immediately injecting new characters and twists to the saga that was turning a little to telenovella-esque. The characters we had known and loved were able to evolve forward(-ish) and react to these new elements. Unfortunately at times even this new line feels stretched, stale, or overly tangled. And even with all that, there always seem to be some loose ends that threatent to unravel the tenuous hold the show seems to have on my patience. But tonight this chapter finals comes to an end. The big question is will the end tie a nice bow on the season or be the noose by which the series draws its own demise.

[me watching the Heroes season finale]

Okay. I will start with the positive. Most of the mainstays ended up either where I hoped/expected or in a place I can accept. Some got there with more hoopla than generally necessary, but they got there none the less. The writers were also good to avoid huge cliffhangers for next season (well, perhaps one). In general, with exception to some of the Sylar in Parkman’s head moments from earlier in the season, I’ve enjoyed his character arc this season and it’s correlation with Peter’s; the finale did well in completing that arc. All in all, this close was very reminiscent of the season one capper.

As for negatives, there actually are fewer than I expected. Samuel was a sociopath to the bitter end, but i’d anticipate no less. It is odd how full of himself he can be and how much if a manipulator he is, and yet he does so through coersion and omission and almost never seems to blatantly lie.  But really the negatives in my mind are more with the season than with the finale.  Where the season occasionally suffered from convoluted story arcs that didn’t always circle back as expected, the season closer did not suffer as such.

So to sum up:

Heroes Chapter 4:  C-
Heroes Chapter 4 Finale:  B+
Heroes Chatper 5 Outlook:  B?

Mid-season Status Report

Ok, I guess it isn’t really the middle of the television season, per se.  But really with how things seem to run these days, how could one truly pin down a mid-point?  Some shows started their season as early as September while others started in January – still others seem to be coming back in March.  So who knows.  The bottom line is that I feel like reviewing the shows that I watch in summary.  So here I go: Read more “Mid-season Status Report”

The Shadow Has Passed

So Heroes … I’m still not happy about this eclipse mini-arc.  It doesn’t really make sense that their powers turned off during the eclipse.  It doesn’t really make sense that the eclipse lasted as long as it did.  It doesn’t really make sense that some things could happen as quickly as they did in the context of this timeframe.  It was not a bad conclusion to the arc – there were some scenes that I really enjoyed – but I hope in the long run this mini-arc will end up glossed over for a return to better drama. Read more “The Shadow Has Passed”

I Need a Hero

Two years ago Heroes was my new favorite show even before I saw it air.  Once it did, I was not disappointed.  The first season rocked!  The second season was only lacking in length due to the writers’ strike (which I totally supported, but also ruined my year of entertainment).  This season started on an interesting note, but has felt a little sour at times and doesn’t measure up to what I expect from it. Read more “I Need a Hero”