This bodes ill for Heroes
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Nov 032008
Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb aren’t on the show anymore.
Jesse’s blog: AT HEROES NO MORE!. Variety article.
Jesse was a key mover behind the very “transmedia” approach the show took to things like webcomics, etc. We’ll have to see how much of this sort of thing continues in the mix. He also wrote several of my fave episodes…
10 Responses to “This bodes ill for Heroes”
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What makes you think he’s really not working there anymore? This is Heroes, he’ll be back in 2 episodes.
Exactly. Someone dies? Invent a hero with rejuvination powers. Someone’s too powerful? Introduce a powers-sucking character. Popular character loses his powers? Invent some BS way to bring them back. A certain actress is popular but her character isn’t? Kill her off and re-introduce her as the second in a trio of triplets.
Fantasy and sci-fi are fun when their worlds are well-defined using some sort of rules set. If any crazy thing can happen at any given moment, how can you possibly invest yourself? Why care when something bad happens, when every single conflict – even death – is immediately reversible?
The only thing that bodes ill for Heroes is Heroes.
Yech, Heroes has been touch and go for me for a while, but even the worst episodes have been better than most stuff on TV. Any time there’s a changing of the guard, especially when people are fired, there’s rocky times ahead.
I actually thought they were taking the right steps so far this season — writing out excess characters, moving people back to outright heroes or villians, and taking powers away from some overpowered folks. The first parts of the season felt wonky, but the last few have really felt more on track.
Back to outright heroes or villains? The whole theme of the season is changing loyalties. Claire’s descent into villainy. Sylar becoming a family man. Mrs. Patrelli’s dual nature. Suresh devolving into a badass. Elle teaming up with Claire. Daphne’s conversion from the dark side. There’s enough ambiguity there that it’s impossible to root for anyone.
And speaking of “dark side” … nearly 30 years since “Luke, i am your father” got everyone riled up, Heroes keeps springing the “i’m your father!” “She’s your mother!” “These two are first cousins!” nonsense until i’m well beyond caring.
Hack. Writing. Plain and simple.
Heh, what season is it in now? I lost track of it after I lost regular access to a TV. Is Season 2 at least worth watching, by general consensus?
The writing this season has been terrible. I’m not talking about the plotting and the characterization shifts, but the actual dialog. I know these people can act, but they are mouthing the lamest pablum, to the degree that I actually cringe when they’re speaking.
Someone deserved to be fired. Not saying they fired the right people, but ouch. First draft material is not for public consumption!
Season One was magical. The stuff that all TV series writers wish could happen to their new TV show. Then again, the audience didn’t know enough to know enough so the mysterious remained that way until the somewhat unfulfilling ending to the season. Season One was Tuesday morning discussion in the office type stuff. It even had the slogan. “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World”. Truly Must-See TV.
Season Two would have been the same. They had a good story building until the damn Writers Guild(unions suck) chopped the story line off at the knees with their strike. In the end Season Two had to be abbreviated and it showed. I’ve always felt cheated out of something better when I think about Season Two.
The problem in Season Three stems from the residual effects of Season Two. Too many questions were left unanswered and not enough characters bit the dust in Season Two leaving us with an over abundance of characters in Season Three. I too suffer from two flaws in the series. The every hero is either syntetic or born of one couple issue or the there’s no way to kill a hero issue are both huge problems that the writing has yet to show any real reason or rhyme to. That passed in Season One where almost 20 weeks went by before we knew what was happening. Now the audience is more educated about the content and character so they see through the illusion more readily. Sadly what made Season One so great, couldn’t be replicated going forward.
Now, the promising stuff here is the medical research stuff, the common ancestry and the political struggles over the synthetic formula. I’m still holding out hope that things will turn around before the end of the season and with that hope, I’m still enjoying the episodes for what they are.
Couple parting questions:
When will Hiro realize he has a huge corporation at his disposal?
Now that Parker’s dad is dead, who maintains the illusion for Speedy, Flyboy and Ms. Freeze?
Where the hell does the puppet master fit into anything besides a fun interlude into the moral decisions a couple episodes ago?
If everyone could have powers added to them, why doesn’t Bennet have powers or is that the best kept secret on the planet?
Other than time travel. How does Peter get his powers back?
When will Parker realize he’s way more powerful than many of the others simply because he can bend reality to anything?
While Heroes loses my interest, I’m thankful I stuck with The Sarah Conner Chronicles which has provided a more entertaining experience than I originally expected.
While I enjoyed the first episode, I fell off the bandwagon half way through the next.
I don’t watch much TV, and if I do it’s whatever my wife wants to watch (mostly crime dramas). She liked heroes at the start, but didn’t see the first series through either.
Seemed like a cool idea for a movie to me, that was dragged out into (muliple) TV series.