Heroes

Review.

With Heroes and Heroes Reborn finished it is time to look back.

What did I think of Heroes when it surfaced, back in 2007?

(Comments taken from older installments of Dapper...)


March 2007

Are you on the list?

Oh yes, it's Heroes time, the only supernatural soap on television!

And it is nice.

You haven't seen it? Seriously? I can't believe it! Heroes is NBC's popular show about superheroes. And as every good superhero knows, being super does not always imply you yourself enjoy a 'super' life. Quite the opposite I guess J... The show features many people that appear to be mutations of the human species. (X-men, anyone?) It's a bit unclear if some mutations are spontaneously, or induced.  It's however very clear that someone is trying to keep tabs on them, and goes to great lengths to contain the 'threat' of these mutants and their superpowers.

Of course, there are a few problems. There's a criminal mutant cutting open people's heads. There's a mutant with radioactive talents unhappy with his fate. There's a mutant that copies other mutants abilities. And last but not least, someone is going to go nuclear and blow up New York City. Now that last part may be a good thing from the point of view of city planners, but average Joe might not be that happy with such a fate.

I hate to say it, but I like it. Some episodes may differ in quality (the one where the cheerleader visits her mum makes it pretty much a soap) and some characters are just stupid (dammit, one kills a guy like Sylar when possible, no matter what the consequences) but in general it's good, and raw emotions never hurt a series' success. Looks like I finally found a suitable cure for my Farscape fix...

Come on Hiro! Fix the future!


March 2009


Episodes 14, 15 and 16

So, last time I said _Heroes_ was looking more and more like your average family soap (and still is, har har) but we're getting back on track. Sylar is being his usual serial killer self, mister horn rimmed classes is playing all sides, and our heroes are being hunted by the government.

Mmm.

Come to think of it, that sounds much like a few of the earlier episodes, all mixed into one. Nevertheless, no problem, with a little suspension of disbelief  (and a not too fine look at plot detail) episodes 14, 15 and 16 are quite enjoyable. I just hope they have the guts to spread the arc a little more, as most story arcs in Heroes seem to be a bit on the short side, episode wise.


Episode 18

Seen episode 18? Okay. Here's what we know and may speculate...

It looks like Chandra Suresh expected an 'activation' of the mutant powers, for some reason. As genetics are passed on down the line, so are mutations. Chandra may have carried the gen, thus Mohinder and his sister may be mutants as well. There's some suggestion that Mohinder's sister was a mutant...

In the same vein there are the Petrellis where grandma Angela may be a mutant as well. No matter what, she seems to know... a lot...

Mutants appear to be a somewhat inbred club anyway: both Claire's parents are mutants, so are Micah's.

On we go. It's unlikely that they are all related (that would be the joke of the century) so what causes these powers to manifest? There appear to be several potential triggers:

a. An injection... Mister Bennet may just be injecting his targets with something to trace them, but what if it triggers the manifestation? (Think about the telepathic policeman.)

b. A stress situation... That's how our flying man discovered his powers, drugs could do it, or pain, or a bad hairday.

c. Coming of age... could be, but it's a bit inconsistent. There are many remarks throughout the episodes that the talents show up later, but there are too many contradictions.

d. And finally, what's that 'f' symbol all about? (It's a helix, you dumb-ass!)


May 2010

Heroes. Heroes. No more heroes.

Heroes was great but pretty much took a nose dive. A pity, another show with a great promise and a good start, but it's lost its way it seems. I've got a bunch of episodes on the hard drive, but I'm not in a hurry to watch them, and that is a scary thing by itself.


May 2019

I want my life back...

(To be continued tomorrow.)



Dapper / TellTales! 45 / 49 / 53