USA TV: Heroes

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've just watched the first two episodes of this and it's a bit of a curate's egg at the minute. It's built up enough of a mystery to get me interested, and the sick side of me likes the fact that they don't skimp on the gruesome violence where appropriate, but I don't think the characters are that well written.

The nurse bloke is the biggest pillock I've seen in a show since Locke in Lost, "I have recurring dreams about flying. I must really be special." Why does nobody remind him of the fact that everyone has dreams about flying all the time.
Same thing goes for Hiro with his, "Wow! My clock went funny for one second! Clearly I can control time! Also, I reckon can teleport for some reason!"

And the thing with the bloke working out who they all are is utterly ludicrous.
And now that I think of it, why on earth did the quarterback tackle the cheerleader, let alone do it with enough force to break her neck?

[Jack Shaftoe]

The main irritation in Heroes for me is the stuff about DNA - an alteration to someone's DNA to give them the power of flight would mean... they have wings. They seem to be using DNA as a code for 'destiny' or something, that ghastly American obsession with how, like, we all have such amazing potential if we only believed....

But they keep moving it along at such a cracking pace, and giving you little treats along the way, like all the geeky references to Bradbury and so on, that I found I could forgive it this kind of thing. Also Future Hiro is such a geek's concept of what a bad-ass future version of themself would look like ('what could a katana cut through' is a major thread on most RPG boards), that I found it enormously endearing. I think I see all the same problems as you Claude, but because they're trying to make the world consistent, and there's such affection for the characters, I'm happy not to worry about it too much.

And the painting of Hiro with his sword facing off against a (spoiler) made me LOL.

[Mister Six]

The nurse bloke is the biggest pillock I've seen in a show since Locke in Lost, "I have recurring dreams about flying. I must really be special." Why does nobody remind him of the fact that everyone has dreams about flying all the time.
Same thing goes for Hiro with his, "Wow! My clock went funny for one second! Clearly I can control time! Also, I reckon can teleport for some reason!"

Presumably the dream is more vivid than real dreams (I think he says something like that somewhere down the line) and Hiro can 'feel' time moving backwards. It doesn't take a massive suspension of disbelief if you're already willing to buy into a world where a man can fly without wings.

And now that I think of it, why on earth did the quarterback tackle the cheerleader, let alone do it with enough force to break her neck?

It was an accident. He didn't tackle her, he ran into and stumbled over her

[Mister Six]

Erm.... well, that's true to an extent. However, Hiro's reaction to the things he can do can hardly be called realistic,

How so?

and Nathan just landing conveniently at the same diner that Hiros was in, along with various other conveniently coincidental joining-up of characters is also a bit hard to swallow.

Have you not noticed everyone using the word 'destiny' about fifty times an episode?

[Artemis]

Erm.... well, that's true to an extent. However, Hiro's reaction to the things he can do can hardly be called realistic,

How so?

Because he seems to be without any worry or concern for his well-being. I'm guessing they've made him the way he is, basically a seven year old child in a man's body, to provide the contrast to the bad-ass future version of himself that the comic book geeks can all masturbate over. I do find him endearing but it's another layer of disbelief I have to shed.

Have you not noticed everyone using the word 'destiny' about fifty times an episode?

I was responding to what you said about the writers keeping all the characters apart - it just doesn't tally with what I've seen.

[Slaaaaabs]

I'm pretty satisfied with the character progression that Hiro has gone through, he's a massive nerd at heart, but is gradually realising that he has to be careful with his abilities.

[MojoJojo]

The characters have very seperate plots, though, don't they? Mostly, anyway. They meet up briefly then goes off on its seperate ways.

I'm curious about where they are going with the Clare thinking nurse guy can heal too bit - they made a point of him not getting to correct her, but I can't see how they are going to work that out.

Heroes is walking a very fine line between stretching the plot out as long as possible and pissing me off. It's generally caught me by surprise enough to be interesting though.

SPOILER - speculation, might be considered spoiler-

After Rogue's (Nurse guy) dream I think the nuke is going to be caused by him getting too close to too many other Heroes and reaching critical mass. So by everyone rushing there to try and stop it, they cause it, Terminator style. The irony.

Also, nurse and flying guy's mum is going to reveal some power at some point. It runs in families, doesn't it.

[Slaaaaabs]

Personally I think he unwittingly gets too close to Radioactive Man (him what killed his wife with cancer) and the power just explodes out of him.

[SetToStun]

Bloody hell - I don;t know who the character on the extreme right-hand side of mothman's picture is, but I'm beginning to believe it's The Blue Raja from Mystery Men. Does fork-flinging feature notably in this series?

[Marv Orange]

that was in the third episode

[MojoJojo]

Personally I think he unwittingly gets too close to Radioactive Man (him what killed his wife with cancer) and the power just explodes out of him.

Maybe - seems a bit obvious though. Definate red herring material - radiation, big explosion - there isn't really much tying them together.

and radioactive man wasn't in his dream (although he may have seen him a bit before). Also radioactive man goes all radioactive when he's angry/emotional, which doesn't seem to be something Peter was doing in his dream.

[Marv Orange]

Well Heros doesn't chuck many about many red herrings and most the plot twists have been pretty straight forward and easy to see coming.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Oh god damn it! I get all caught up in this show and then it goes off air just like Lost.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

And now it's back. Hooray.

[Marv Orange]

Yup, and i'm thankful there was no pony cgi dinosaur sword fighting.

[alex]

Ep 12 didn't really reveal much, nor progress the story much so I was kind of dissapointed although I'm still going to carry on watching. The Peter Petrelli flashbacks were quite annoying too - showing things we'd seen before. Hope this doesn't dissapear up it's own arse.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Who needs story progression when you've got Ecclestone?

It worked for Dr Who.

[Marv Orange]

Ep 12 didn't really reveal much, nor progress the story much so I was kind of dissapointed although I'm still going to carry on watching. The Peter Petrelli flashbacks were quite annoying too - showing things we'd seen before. Hope this doesn't dissapear up it's own arse.

I know what you mean, but this show is like crack for my geek neurons.Glad they've got most the paths crossing Skitzo bitch is still boring though. Bet the paper factory is owned by Linderman as it is looking like he is mr big. The Peter Petrelli flashbacks were probably repeated just to introduce Ecclescakes as he wasn't onboard until after the mid season break i think.

[alex]

I watched the show yesterday and up until Claude's post didn't realise Eccelstone was in it. To my credit he looks nothing like the gurning Doctor;

[Artemis]

I want Hiros to change and I want to see much, much more of Jessica/Nikki.

The main story arc definitely needs to progress soon - they've been knocking around the general direction of where they're going for slightly too long now and simply introducing new Heroes won't cut it - let's see something happen.

I was depressed to read that they've got a six season story arc planned or something - why can't we get a one or two season killer show for once?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

His ears are obscured so the other heroes don't learn of his power of upside down ears!

[Marv Orange]

I was depressed to read that they've got a six season story arc planned or something - why can't we get a one or two season killer show for once?

Prison Break

[Artemis]

I was depressed to read that they've got a six season story arc planned or something - why can't we get a one or two season killer show for once?

Prison Break

Very true. Although rumour has it season three will shortly be commissioned. Having said that, all the current main story lines are concluding this season so they say.

[Jemble Fred]

What episode was Eccleston's debut in this show? I started watching this from episode one, but couldn't find a single character worth following, it seemed incredibly bland, almost painful to try and stick with.

But CE is the world's greatest living actor, IMO, so I don't want to miss any of his episodes. I'm sure I can pick up the rest of the plot as I go along...

[Artemis]

What episode was Eccleston's debut in this show?

The one that's just aired, episode twelve.

[Slaaaaabs]

Ecclestone was great, they really have to keep him away from Sylar.

Oh and Mr. Bennet and his horn rimmed glasses must have either teleportation or multiple bodies as a power, it seemed strange before but he definitely seems to get from Texas  to New York and back in the blink of an eye.

[Monkeyman1138]

What episode was Eccleston's debut in this show? I started watching this from episode one, but couldn't find a single character worth following, it seemed incredibly bland, almost painful to try and stick with.

But CE is the world's greatest living actor, IMO, so I don't want to miss any of his episodes. I'm sure I can pick up the rest of the plot as I go along...

The first couple of episodes are a bit duff, writing-wise, but the writing gets progressively much better for the next bunch of episodes after that. The narration from the indian bloke (Mohinder) is always duff however.

[Mister Six]

Seconding the "stick with it" vote. The pilot is nothing special but after four or five episodes I'm sure you'll find yourself getting dragged into it. And it's definitely worth the effort.

Have you not noticed everyone using the word 'destiny' about fifty times an episode?

I was responding to what you said about the writers keeping all the characters apart - it just doesn't tally with what I've seen.

Whoops, over a month late but fuck it.

Until the last episodes before the Christmas break, the writers kept splitting the characters back up every time they met - Ando/Nikki, Nikki/Nathan, Peter/VisionsDude, Matt/Mr Bennet, Hiro/Nathan, Claire/Peter, Nikki/PhasingGuy, Suresh/Peter etc. etc. etc.

Obviously we've got something of a team forming with Nathan, Hiro, Ando, VisionsDude and the hot black woman but I wouldn't put it past them to split them all up again.

I'm curious about where they are going with the Clare thinking nurse guy can heal too bit - they made a point of him not getting to correct her, but I can't see how they are going to work that out.

I think that's just to keep her in the dark about the nature of the other heroes. She knows that people like her are out there, she just doesn't know that their powers are different from her own.

Yup, and i'm thankful there was no pony cgi dinosaur sword fighting.

Ah, but the painting showed Hiro with his sword unsheathed, so I think that was a red herring.

[Neil]

Spoilery stuff on page 1

Uh, can people please mark stuff like this as spoilers?  I've just watched the show upto the latest episode, but I still think you've possibly poilt a bit for me.  

I guess I'd better finally install some spoiler tag thingy.  I've been meaning to anyway, but was worried that cocks like Surferghost would abuse it in terribly unamusing and tedious ways.

Anyway, good show, bit slow to start with, but finally starts to get going after the frist few episodes.  Hiro is a genuinely great character, brilliantly acted.  Provides some excellent comic relief.

[Alberon]

Spoilery stuff on page 1

Uh, can people please mark stuff like this as spoilers?  I've just watched the show upto the latest episode, but I still think you've possibly poilt a bit for me.  

Whoops, sorry!

If it's any consolation, some other stuff I've read more recently suggests I'm completely wrong about what I said back on the first page.

Minor SPOILER warning here! I won't quote it as I'll only bugger it up trying to hide it.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01222007/tv/new_heroes_guy_revealed__tv_don_kaplan.htm

Some form of spoiler tag would be very welcome. Yeah, it'll be abused to buggery, but it will get used for the right reason.