Although a TV Show, Heroes has a massive following amongst movie fans, and I have been one of the biggest fans. The first season of Heroes was one of the most well told, most brilliantly paced and compelling pieces of television that was only rivaled by Battlestar Galactica to me… and last night’s episode of the show was truly worth of recognition.
However, this second seas has been far from perfect. I looked around at some other sites today also talking about this season of Heroes which only has 2 shows left, and thought I would throw in my thoughts about what went wrong with Season 2. Don’t get me wrong, Heroes season 2 has been pretty good… but a FAR cry from the type of television we’ve grown accustomed to getting from Heroes. So here is where I think season 2 has gone wrong:
1) Unclear Plot from the start
In the very first episode of Season one, we are giving the MAIN PLOT LINE that the entirety of season one would follow. There is an explosion coming that is going to destroy New York, and the Heroes are running out of time to stop it. That’s the main plot. The episode set it all up for us so we could follow along with all the sub-plots and side stories in the light of the overall purpose. Not all shows need to, or even should, do it that way, but it is part of what made Heroes so addictive.
Season 2 on the other hands opened up as a bust. We see all the characters again… we clearly see there are some things going on… but we’re given nothing to KNOW. We just have lots of questions and no sense of direction like Season 1 established for us. The Season one premiere gave the show purpose… the Season two premiere just showed us everyone was still alive (except DL that is). We EVENTUALLY get the plot of the virus introduced to us… but not until well into the second season.
2) Hyper Annoying Kid Actors
Nikki and DL’s technology manipulating son (Micah) was a strong point in the first season. That kid was perfect. Understated, and just gave enough that kept him believable and likable. However, this season we got Micah’s annoying bratty cousin, and the unbearably irritating Molly. I understand that you can’t expect Oscar winning performances out of children… but good grief she was horrible. Whenever she was in a scene it actually took EFFORT to keep watching.
3) Boogieman Let Down
Near the end of season one Molly reveals to us that there is another person out there who is “much worse” than Sylar. We get into Season 2 and it seems like we have a new great villain on our hands surrounded by mystery. Turns out he was nothing but a drunk, pathetic loser who also happens to be Parkman’s dad. Such great promise ended up being a pathetic little side character who went even more quickly than he came. No great villain this season, which leads us to…
4) Where the Fuck Is Sylar?!?!?!
As in any great action movie, the key to Heroes was one of the most interesting and compelling villains in television. A simple man tortured by his own ordinariness who becomes consumed… not with power… but with the notion of having significance, purchased with power. Sylar was played BRILLIANTLY my Zach Quinto and has been PAINFULLY absent from this season almost entirely. Such a bloody waste. All they’ve had Sylar doing all season is sitting in a stupid car with a stupid set of twins… which leads us to….
5) Totally Useless Twins
YES WE FRIGGING GET IT! She gets emotional, black tar comes out of her eyes and people start dying. WE GET IT! You’ve only run us through this exact same scenario a dozen bloody times already. Not only are their powers lame and stupid, the characters have absolutely no significance, and yet they insist on giving them precious screen time while other much more important characters are invisible. Which leads us to….
6) Where the Fuck is Hiro?!?!?!
One of the two most important characters in Heroes. If Peter drove the show, then Hiro was the heart. Hiro is beloved by the fans, was one of the pivotal forces of all of season 1, and yet in season 2 he’s not seen every other episode. They had him loligagging around in the past for too long all just to introduce a character that could have been done in 1 episode.
7) Where the Fuck is Peter?!?!?
The other most important character of the show. Peter is the most powerful being on the planet, and he’s also the heartthrob of the show. Yet, they decided to use the “One episode on, one episode off” formula with him too. There have even been episodes where both Hiro and Peter were not present at all this season. Very frustrating. We needed more of Peter and Hiro and less of Micah’s “I can do anything I see” useless cousin.
Anyway, the show is still one of my favorites on TV right now, and I look forward to seeing how they wrap the season up (yet another casualty of the writers strike right now), but if there is going to be a Heroes season #3, I really hope they learn a few lessons from the failures (not that the season as a whole was a failure) of season 2.
