Heroes: Assessing “Generations” Thus Far
Sophomore seasons are almost never what we expect them to be. For some slow-burners, they can bring a watershed of explosive creativity (à la Buffy), but for most buzzworthy shows, the second season almost always marks the sophomore slump (think Desperate Housewives), a source of criticism and disappointment among viewers. I’ve been hesitant to express my boredom and frustration with Heroes, but after five decidedly mediocre episodes, the situation can no longer be ignored. This season kind of sucks.
Most of the fun in the first season of Heroes was the slow crescendo towards our scattered characters discovering the extent of their abilities and each other. By the finale, almost all of their paths had crossed and many had formed relationships. We picked them up, four months later, scattered once again, and now we feel like we’re just retracing our steps to an ultimately similar conclusion - like a Möbius strip of bad plot. It’s almost impossible to dissect all the ways in which I’m annoyed with Heroes, so here’s a list of the top ten things that shouldn’t be happening but are…
10 - The re-ambiguation of HRG
9 - Matt & Mohinder: gay foster parents
8 - Scabby mirror-Nathan
7 - The immediate threat of losing Mama Petrelli
6 - The “Hero Virus”
5 - Sylar & Matt: still alive
4 - Bad British actors with worse Irish accents
3 - Explosion-induced amnesia
2 - Molly Walker
1 - Splitting up Hiro & Ando
In the interest of not dwelling on negativity, it should be mentioned that we’re witnessing a few stellar moves this season. Two storylines in particular have me wiping the drool off of my chin. Oddly enough, they focus on new people. The first is Monica (Dana Davis), Micah’s cousin who can absorb the skills she witnesses. Not only does her power open the door for some non-Ali Larter ass-kicking, her struggle for independence and redemption in post-Katrina New Orleans is the only compelling portrayal of it’s kind since so many started popping up on scripted dramas after 2005. Her charming sibling-like interaction with Micah is also welcome, as the writers tend to underuse him. As child actors go, he is the Gregory Peck to Molly’s Tara Reid.
The second glimmer of hope is most definitely the addition of Elle (Kristen Bell). Her first appearance last week may not have been the most inspired introduction, but my love for the actress means that even when the writing leans a little too heavily towards high-voltage Veronica Mars, I’ll still be captivated. I have faith that they’ll explore the snotty daddy’s girl side to her when she returns in a couple of weeks… and that she’ll fry more people with her electric lazer hands. My vote is for Matt, Molly and Sylar.
Posted: October 29th, 2007 under heroes, nbc.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Garry
Time: October 30, 2007, 3:26 pm
Whenever you blog about heroes I get all riled up. Last night’s was better though - even the cartoonesque Hiro in history bullshit teetered on entertaining.
Comment from kmslat
Time: October 31, 2007, 12:13 am
Alright, this has been a continuing topic of conversation among some friends. I’m with you on a lot of this, but I just don’t get the fascination with Kristen Bell. (?) Clearly you’re not the only one who is a sincere fan, but I can’t be the only one who thinks she tinkers on the edge of completely annoying. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that Heroes has introduced yet another new character or if it is the fact that there is a 7 year old voice coming from a 20 something year old body. Either way, she’s lost on me. As for Monica, I could do without the over the top Southern accent. It’s just a little too contrived. I do completely agree with you on Micah though. I think the writers missed the boat when they opted not to broaden his storyline.
I could go on, but why bother? We’ll just see how the rest of the season unfolds and pray that the ratings start to spark a heartbeat in time for the November sweeps.
ps. I love with your site.
Pingback from Mikey Likes TV » Friday Night Links: The Week in TV Blogs
Time: November 3, 2007, 3:40 am
[…] Friday Night Links: The Week in TV Blogs And so starts a new weekly installment dedicated to bringing you the best in the TV blogosphere. If you’re reading me, these others have probably been on your roster for quite a while, but is an orgy of everybody’s favorite posts this week just in case. Feel free to spend your weekend absorbing every last word. And considering we might not have anything to write about in month’s time, get it while you can. BuzzSugar: We reminisced about My So-Called Life and wondered how well everyone remembers it. We mulled over the current state of Heroes. We thought HBO’s In Treatment sounded more intense than a college course. And we actually liked Blake Lewis’ first single post-American Idol. Yeah, we know. Daemon’s TV: Sandie finds weird couples on TV and shares her new TV addictions (Supernatural, Malcolm in the Middle, and Torchwood). In addition, she gets a first look at Rachel Bilson (Summer in The O.C.) in NBC’s Chuck. Give Me My Remote: The TV Writer’s Strike is on everyone’s minds, but there’s still a lot of TV to talk about in TV land. GMMR is shocked to discover that she misses Karen Filipelli on The Office, but not shocked that she isn’t missing Cameron, House and Foreman on House. Should she be? And her readers are wondering if her love for all things Pushing Daisies is healthy or something they should be worried about. GMMR ended her week as she always does by catching up on all the latest TV news with a cocktail. Glowy Box: Liz answered questions posed by the Googling masses about Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, and Grey’s Anatomy. She also marveled at the extreme improvement in Desperate Housewives’ writing this season, and shook her head and sighed at Brad’s poor decision-making skills on The Bachelor. Mikey Likes TV: Mikey listed the many ways in which he’s disappointed by Heroes: Generations, was surprised by how much he likes the new season of Nip/Tuck and forgot about it all after news of Joss Whedon’s blissful TV partnership with Eliza Dushku. Ramblings of a TV Whore: We recalled about our favorite Halloween episodes from classic Roseanne to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Ugly Betty. Plus, Rae found out about Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse, which proves she’d follow him anywhere… even to Fox. […]
Pingback from TV Blog Weekly Roundup… » Give Me My Remote
Time: November 4, 2007, 9:44 pm
[…] Give Me My Remote The TV Writer’s Strike is on everyone’s minds, but there’s still a lot of TV to talk about in TV land. GMMR is shocked to discover that she misses Karen Filipelli on The Office, but not shocked that she isn’t missing Cameron, House and Foreman on House. Should she be? And her readers are wondering if her love for all things Pushing Daisies is healthy or something they should be worried about. GMMR ended her week as she always does by catching up on all the latest TV news with a cocktail. ———————————————————————————————————– BuzzSugar We reminisced about My So-Called Life and wondered how well everyone remembers it. We mulled over the current state of Heroes. We thought HBO’s In Treatment sounded more intense than a college course. And we actually liked Blake Lewis’ first single post-American Idol. Yeah, we know. ———————————————————————————————————– Daemon’s TV Sandie finds weird couples on TV and shares her new TV addictions (Supernatural, Malcolm in the Middle, and Torchwood). In addition, she gets a first look at Rachel Bilson (Summer in The O.C.) in NBC’s Chuck. ———————————————————————————————————– Glowy Box Liz answered questions posed by the Googling masses about Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, and Grey’s Anatomy. She also marveled at the extreme improvement in Desperate Housewives’ writing this season, and shook her head and sighed at Brad’s poor decision-making skills on The Bachelor. ———————————————————————————————————– Mikey Likes TV Mikey listed the many ways in which he’s disappointed by Heroes: Generations, was surprised by how much he likes the new season of Nip/Tuck and forgot about it all after news of Joss Whedon’s blissful TV partnership with Eliza Dushku. ———————————————————————————————————– Ramblings of a TV Whore We recalled about our favorite Halloween episodes from classic Roseanne to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Ugly Betty. Plus, Rae found out about Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse, which proves she’d follow him anywhere… even to Fox. ———————————————————————————————————– Scooter McGavin Previews the first two episodes of Nip/Tuck. And for those that like to party like it is 1999, he reviews new albums from Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. No word on when the new Lou Bega album is coming. ———————————————————————————————————– Tapeworthy Vance is watching Project Runway Canada until Heidi and Tim return. He defends Chuck over Reaper, and like everyone else, is still all over Pushing Daisies, especially after their Halloween episode. Finally, Vance thinks they sure can dance at the So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour in Toronto! ———————————————————————————————————– Televisionary This week, Jace was overjoyed about Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, dubious about the rumored Office spinoff, disappointed in Chuck, furious about FOX’s US version of Spaced, and enraptured by Pushing Daisies. Also, his blog came in third place in Hey Nielsen’s first annual TV Blog competition. He’d be a really happy boy if Joss actually had those seven scripts written. ———————————————————————————————————– TiFaux Which TV character has the biggest daddy issues — Lost’s John Locke, Dexter or maybe Dirty Sexy Money’s Nick George? The new episode of Reaper reminded Kyle of the new DVD package of Twin Peaks. Also, we suggested some last-minute TV-oriented Halloween costumes inspired by Pushing Daisies and Heroes. ———————————————————————————————————– The TV Addict Wondering how the writer’s strike is going to effect your favorite shows? Check out Our Writer’s Strike for Dummies. Need proof that writer’s are actually worth the money — see our favorite quotes of the week! Curious as to this TV Addict’s take on the strike, click here. Tired of all this strike talk already — take a trip down memory lane with our Scranton Office Convention diary. ———————————————————————————————————– TV Filter We argued about whether Chuck is more like Buffy or Veronica Mars. Raoul interviewed Ebony from America’s Next Top Model and got all the good dirt on why she decided to leave the show. Kate managed to write up this week’s episode of The Next Iron Chef without mentioning Andrew Knowlton’s name even once. ———————————————————————————————————– TV With MeeVee We’re going wOOt crazy on Writer’s Strike Updates. We’re finding Criss Angel something less than phenomenal. We’re mocking NBC’s Green Week, while at the same time kinda respecting it. And we’re all over the new season of Project Runway. addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.givememyremote.com%2Fremote%2Ftv-blog-weekly-roundup%2F’; addthis_title = ‘TV+Blog+Weekly+Roundup…’; addthis_pub = ‘’; […]
Pingback from the TV addict » Blog Archive » Introducing the TV Blog Coalition
Time: November 5, 2007, 1:08 pm
[…] Mikey Likes TV: Mikey listed the many ways in which he’s disappointed by Heroes: Generations, was surprised by how much he likes the new season of Nip/Tuck and forgot about it all after news of Joss Whedon’s blissful TV partnership with Eliza Dushku. […]
Pingback from Mikey Likes TV » The Week in TV Blog Links
Time: November 6, 2007, 3:24 am
[…] Mikey Likes TV: Mikey listed the many ways in which he’s disappointed by Heroes: Generations, was surprised by how much he likes the new season of Nip/Tuck and forgot about it all after news of Joss Whedon’s blissful TV partnership with Eliza Dushku. […]
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