lethargicperfectionist

FYI: I have watched the third episode of Heroes- but I will withhold my review of that till tomorrow.

I have watched Heroes since the summer of 2007, right before the second season was to begin anew. I was in school at the time when season 1 was starting, and I could not spare the time to start watching a new show on Monday nights. However, once the summer arrived, I could allocate time to watching the DVD of the show, without commercials and without interruptions to my viewing. And I liked what I saw for the most part, though I detected some slight problems that could get worse as time and neglect went by. And indeed those problems have come to fruition, but more on that later. I entered season two full of hope that it would continue the joy ride that season 1 provided. Instead, what we received were several storylines without clear connections, new characters lacking in interest or meaningful direction, and a weak payoff once the “main” storyline was complete, thanks to the writers strike.

So now season 3 is starting: or the continuation of Volume 3: Villains, which began right at the end of season 2 with Sylar (you know, Gabriel and his scalp removing ways) regaining powers that he had lost at the beginning of the last Volume: Generations. The first two episodes of season 3, The Second Coming (yes, from the Yeats poem), and The Butterfly Effect were shown back to back on NBC, and this was probably a good idea as we had some momentum built up, giving Heroes aficionados out there the action that they have been salivating over for months, many long months: the last episode of season 2 was shown way back in December of 2007. I do not plan on going into a long or indepth review of the episodes, but I will do a brief bullet point overview. Ready? Good.

• Peter Petrelli (from the future- arrgh) is the one who shot Nathan at the end of season 2.
• Nathan doesn’t die, he has some brief spiritual awakening, only to find that his own brother (from the future, with a scar, and slicked back hair) had shot him, and that Lindermen- you remember the old dude who was kind of a major power pusher in season 1, played elegantly by Malcolm McDowell before having his brains punched in by D.L. Hawkins- maybe behind his remarkable resurrection of sorts…though only Nathan can see Linderman- hmm.
• Peter, or Future Peter I suppose, is quite the busy boy- he shoots Nathan, sends Parkman to Africa, and sends Present Peter (slightly slacker Peter?) into the mind of one the titular villains of this particular volume. Not to mention that Future Peter seems not at all concerned with how his actions will alter the timeline or the course of events (hence the title of the second episode).
• Petrelli’s everywhere! Claire is attacked by a revived Sylar, who is successful in finding her power, but cannot kill her. Probably the most intriguing part of the night is this exchange between Sylar and Claire- because Claire apparently cannot die (like Adam Monroe I suppose), but that the abilities of Claire may not be truly known…hmm!
• Sylar goes on to attack the Company’s main holding facility…guess he wants some payback. He kills Bob Bishop (that gold transfiguration power is just super), and tries to kill Elle- but the pain of having your head split open causes her own electric powers to explode- which has the effect of knocking out Sylar, imprisoning Sylar once again, and freeing the dangerous villains being held by the company- including Noah Bennet and Peter Petrelli- trapped in the body of the aforementioned villain.
• Momma Petrelli is also busy- very busy. From taking care of her one son, to arguing with Future Peter, who is still her son…but she tell right away that he is not Present Peter, to taking command of the Company, firing Elle, and revealing a big secret to Sylar about his past….hah.
• Mohinder experiments on Maya- kinda freaks out about what he doesn’t know, and what could be behind Maya’s power- suddenly has an ephiphany—and a quick solution of potential hero juice…that didn’t sound too good, heh? Anyway, Mohinder decides to inject himself with some of this “juice” and while, he has some powers- just strength, the ability to hold himself on the ceiling, and stellar overconfidence…which helps him to bed Maya- but all of this could lead to some unforeseen side effects—THE FLY anyone???
• Hiro and Ando are now in charge of Kaito Nakamura’s company- but apparently bored with his new life, he decides to not follow his father’s orders, and loses one half of a formula (which could have grave consequences to the world) to Speedy Girl, aka Daphne. Following this, Hiro decides to see what will happen if the formula is not retrieved- and the world is looking a lot more messed up- and Ando kills Hiro with some sort of red energy! Hiro is not amused, and they figure out where Daphne is going, and realize she is a thief for hire. Hiro manages to place a tracking device on her, thus they can follow her movements.
• Tracy Strauss is working for the Governor of New York, but has designs to make Nathan Petrelli the junior senator from New York. Problem is, Tracy looks just like Niki/Jessica. And when a reporter finds video of Nikki with Nathan in Vegas, Tracy freezes the reporter, killing him. Hmm…
• Claire’s biological mom returns
• Momma Petrelli also has a nasty dream- which could include the real villains of the present volume: Adam Monroe, Knox (aka fear guy), Daddy Parkman, the Tracy/Niki/Jessica person, and Sylar.

Hmm, that turned a lot more in-depth then I wanted- but a lot happened in the two hours, so there ya go. I was pleased with what I saw, though I am disturbed by a few things. First: Peter Petrelli. This character has not been written in any consistent manner since the beginning of the show. He’s been this suicidal nurse, Mr. Sponge, amnesia guy, tool of Adam Monroe, and now he’s Future Peter, and I suppose locked in the body of some escaped convict. And his abilities are unchecked, meaning he can pretty much do whatever he wants, without repercussions- which is just what Future Peter is doing. I am sure that this allows the writers to come up with whatever they want with Peter, which is great for creativeness. But it also leaves a lot open in the air, without certainty or structure, and in the end, any growth is not based on who Peter is, but on some contrivance created by the writers. I feel I have a much better grounding on who the rest of his family is: Nathan is the politician, trying to go good, Momma Petrelli is the Machiavellian chess player in the background, and Claire is the young hero who wants to understand herself and her powers. I have no idea who Peter is or what he is about at this point.

Second; Sylar. A lot that I just mentioned about Peter can be said about Sylar, except that I feel I understand his character better, so that is not a big problem. He’s a sociopath with an inability to control his cravings, or his desire for more. But like Peter’s ability or “anything goes,” I feel that Sylar is also becoming this too powerful person, I cannot even remember all of the powers that Sylar has accumulated. & I think that’s a problem. But Sylar is interesting where Peter is vague; watching his conversation while brutalizing Claire was fascinating to watch, if horrifying. And that complexity is probably why the problem of Sylar is not as big a deal for me as Peter’s everything to everyone approach is.

Third: Hiro. Arrgh to the supreme max point. His storyline does give him something to do, but geez! This storyline is making Hiro appear to be rather dumb and lacking in foresight- which maybe what the writers are trying to establish as character traits, like his impulsiveness and naivety, but it is a little contrived.

Fourth: Mohinder seemed a little mad scientist in these two episodes. He gives science a bad name, that’s for sure, but perhaps he is tired of being the “normal” one…though this feeling has not been expressed before, or from what I remember. He’s been trying to help people with powers- and he should understand better than anyone the mixed bag of goodies that come with having these powers. The way he throws caution to the wind is very unsettling, and very out of character for him.

Fifth: Claire needs some serious help, though with the unfolding of this current storyline, the whole “Save the Cheerleader, save the world” bit is seeming very distant and untrue. But Claire not only has been viciously attacked by Sylar, but apparently has a new power- no pain. Which is good except that Claire connected her previous pain with her humanity. But in any case, Claire needs to have some sort of offensive abiity, cuz otherwise, she’s just gonna get owned by the Sylar’s of the world. Future Claire seems a promising development!

Sixth: where is Micah and Monica. I liked these two characters because, unlike some other folks, they like their powers and want to use them to help people. They seemed more real to me than the others, and their youth added to their charm and excitement over their powers. I hope that these two are not forgotten.

So what did I feel was cool? While I really liked the scene between Sylar and Claire, because as brutal as it was, it opened up a universe of possibilities for Claire, and added something interesting to Sylar- instead of his old Monster persona. I liked that Tracy/Niki/Jessica is back- but how did she survive the fire, and does all of her personas have amnesia now….and the freezing thing is pretty cool. The release of the villains should be interesting, not to mention seeing how Peter copes being inside the body of one of them. Momma Petrelli has to be the most complex character on the show, and I love her. She’s devious, loving, manipulative, strong-willed, clear-sighted, and cunning all in one. And apparently she’s been a very busy woman in more ways then one- and the connection between her and Sylar should enhance both characters. I am uncertain about Parkman in the desert, but I am hoping that he is led on some path that truly opens his mind to possibilities and growth. Daphne- aka Speedy Girl, is a fun character, and though I am not loving the plot she is involved in, I look forward to future appearances. I am glad that Elle survived Sylar’s attempt at killing her, but she’s been fired! I hope this is leading somewhere to. I am hoping that the reintroduction of Claire’s mom will lead Claire to finding out more about her powers, and should do more than Future Peter’s lame ass attempts at protecting her (there should be a Protecting Claire Bennet Organization or something). And we will have to wait and see what happens with Mohinder…I hope he doesn’t turn into the FLY. He’s so pretty…

I am going to give the two opening episodes of Season 3 a passing grade: say a B. I liked that there were two episodes shown back to back. I liked some of the stories (Nathan’s undeath, Claire and Sylar, Momma Petrelli, the villains, etc), while I wasn’t too happy with some of other stories or out of character developments (Future Peter, Mohinder the mad scientist, Hiro’s wacky adventures). I remain guardedly optimistic about other stories (Tracy Strauss, Parkman’s trek thru the desert, Claire’s similar path to discovery). So I think that the two part opener did the trick of getting Heroes back on track, but I wonder what that track is, and where it will go….or whether the writers have thought that far ahead or not. Hmm.

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