Heroes: The Line
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Things haven't gotten a whole lot better since 2x05 "The Kindness of Strangers" like I thought it would, and yet I'm left with the same impression of next weeks episode which looks and feels a lot more like what we're used to from "Origins" (volume 1, not the spin-off.) We're still spending too much time with the Hondurans with precisely no advancement in either the overall story, or their own arc.The same can be said for virtually everything in this episode, zero forward movement. One Off Series - If you're familiar with Prison Break (Fox) then you'll know what I'm thinking. The first season was fantastic, so far beyond any expectations that we all thought we were watching the next Lost, or House. No critic thought this series was going to be a hit and I yet I still find myself raving about how incredible it was.
Everything that has come after, the second season and what we've seen of the third have been horrible disappointments. While I wouldn't call volume two of Heroes a disappointment, much less a horrible one, it still reminds me of Prison Break.
Both series caught lightening in a bottle and both seemingly let it out after the first season. Sometimes you come across a fabulous story that needs an entire season to play out, and sometimes that's all you can squeeze out of it. If you consider the first season of Heroes as one story, and the second season as another, then it's not all that surprising that only one would be *really good* while the others would struggle.
If you scale it up, then you could look at one successful exec-producer creating three or four shows over the years, and maybe one is really successful while the others don't find an audience. It's not the producers fault, or anyones fault, sometimes a story just doesn't resonate with people.
On a smaller scale, you can say the same during the course of a single season. You might have three or four really spectacular episodes in a season while the others pale in comparison.
Perhaps Heroes has already done their very best work by telling that one, really compelling story during the first season, and maybe the lightening is out of the bottle.
Kensei - is the best new Hero of the lot. I find the actor more interesting and talented and his ancient-Japan arc sets himself apart, gives him an edge that the others don't. They all seem mundane while he's out there making a legend real, even if he is a bit of a putz. You don't have to agree, this is subjective, but I think of all the newbies, he's the one that seems like he fits in the best. I'm looking forward to seeing him outside of the Japan arc.
Sins of the Father - where all the biological fathers in Heroes have abilities just as their offspring do. The only father in the show who doesn't is Bennet, since he isn't Claire's real father (Nathan is.) But remember that Claude was special, Linderman was special, there's still room for Bennet to have something hidden that he's keeping from everybody else. It's hard to believe that with such a tight knit group of special people (even Bob can turn things to gold) that Bennet would find his way to the center of things without being special in some way or another.
Claire - has gone from "I want a normal life" to a downright creep that mentally tortures other innocent people at her school for her own amusement. Looking less like a hero and more like her and West are cruel bullies using their gifts for kicks. Sure, the other cheerleader girl was a bit of a douche, but that hardly warrants the horror show she was put through.
Nitpick - neither the police nor the school can compel a person to take a Breathalyzer test.
The Hondurans - are still murdering innocent people I see. They may not be in the same class as Sylar, but the trail of dead bodies from Honduras to Texas is staggering. How are we supposed to feel any amount of sympathy for those two when they've murdered nearly a dozen people? I don't particularly care how other people feel about the citizen border patrols, they are still innocents that were slaughtered en masse.
They weren't the first, and won't be the last. I'm more than ready for Sylar to eat them and get it over with.
Sylar - is one evil bastard. God I love that guy.
Peter - showed up for his five seconds of screen time while we're stuck watching burger girl pretend to be a gymnast while progressing the story not at all. You know, we've seen him do some amazingly cool stuff with the powers he's absorbed both in the first season and second, but now he's cracked open a fresh can of Hiro's powers, and I'm absolutely loving it.
His scene near the end very much reminded me of his nightmares from the first season where he would find himself in New York, right before he was set to go nuclear. I want more!
Tim Susco - the episode was dedicated to Tim, who was listed as an "assistant location manager" for the first episode of season two. This guy was just a month away from his 26th birthday. I don't have any other information, and I'm very sorry for his families loss.
**I'm too tired to proof read this so you'll just have to live it, sorry.
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