Heroes Season Two Backlash
It has disturbed me of late to read the fairly staunch criticisms of the second season of Heroes.
Having watched just over half the Generations, eleven-episode, mini-arc, I have to say that I'm impressed.
Inevitably, there's going to be some 'second album syndrome', with such a landmark excellent sci-fi series but go easy folks and put the knives way, okay?
It's fair to say that season two doesn't quite have the sheer engrossing characteristics of its predecessor but it's compelling viewing in spite of that. It's worth remembering that season one of Heroes was just that - it's first outing. No one knew what to expect (let's face it, shows like Mutant X and Birds of Prey didn't exactly colour the superhero sci-fi sub genre in glory - bring back Condorman is what I say...) and the thrill of the new and exciting should not be overlooked.
What made the first season of Heroes so good was the fact that the 'heroes' were characters first and powers second. The gritty, real-world milieu and exotic international flavour made it like nothing else on the market. It was just good old fashioned drama with a wonderfully fantastical plot line running through it (kind of like what made BSG so popular, albeit in a pure sci-fi context). I'm sure the nods and winks to the graphic novel formula were appreciated too.
My question is, what's changed? It's still gritty, the characters are still great and the international flavour is as pleasantly pungent as ever. I also really like the fact that the characters are developing within their arcs, even as new protagonists are introduced (Sylar with no powers is great and Peter's storyline is equally compelling). The muscle memory girl is great, as is West's growing relationship with Clare and HRG's slow descent into damnation. Okay, so I'm not so keen on the Mexicans, there's some pretty ropey Irish accents and Hiro's stay in feudal Japan was overlong to say the least, but these are tiny ticks on the coat of an otherwise shiny beast.
Lay off Heroes or otherwise (Writer's Strike not withstanding - still no end in sight, by the way...) it might not come back at all. Then who's going to be crying into their Lucky Charms?
Having watched just over half the Generations, eleven-episode, mini-arc, I have to say that I'm impressed.
Inevitably, there's going to be some 'second album syndrome', with such a landmark excellent sci-fi series but go easy folks and put the knives way, okay?
It's fair to say that season two doesn't quite have the sheer engrossing characteristics of its predecessor but it's compelling viewing in spite of that. It's worth remembering that season one of Heroes was just that - it's first outing. No one knew what to expect (let's face it, shows like Mutant X and Birds of Prey didn't exactly colour the superhero sci-fi sub genre in glory - bring back Condorman is what I say...) and the thrill of the new and exciting should not be overlooked.
What made the first season of Heroes so good was the fact that the 'heroes' were characters first and powers second. The gritty, real-world milieu and exotic international flavour made it like nothing else on the market. It was just good old fashioned drama with a wonderfully fantastical plot line running through it (kind of like what made BSG so popular, albeit in a pure sci-fi context). I'm sure the nods and winks to the graphic novel formula were appreciated too.
My question is, what's changed? It's still gritty, the characters are still great and the international flavour is as pleasantly pungent as ever. I also really like the fact that the characters are developing within their arcs, even as new protagonists are introduced (Sylar with no powers is great and Peter's storyline is equally compelling). The muscle memory girl is great, as is West's growing relationship with Clare and HRG's slow descent into damnation. Okay, so I'm not so keen on the Mexicans, there's some pretty ropey Irish accents and Hiro's stay in feudal Japan was overlong to say the least, but these are tiny ticks on the coat of an otherwise shiny beast.
Lay off Heroes or otherwise (Writer's Strike not withstanding - still no end in sight, by the way...) it might not come back at all. Then who's going to be crying into their Lucky Charms?
posted by Nick Kyme at
15:58
1 Comments:
i don't feel that heroes has losts its way i think it is as good as it was but one thing trobles me these programs they just seem to go on forever eg lost its where up to season 3 and we still know nothing about the plot it makes me anger prison break is on a season let the programs die when there still good don't milk them
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