QUOTE
Nov 03, 2007 04:30 AM
Raju Mudhar
Entertainment Reporter
If we want to use the university metaphor, Heroes, in its second season, is showing obvious signs of the "Freshman 15" – i.e., dreaded weight gain: an overcrowded cast and bloated, slow-paced storytelling topped with really bad dialogue that sees the characters go nowhere.
Ratings are in decline and, in his defence, series creator Tim Kring recently told the L.A. Times, "People tend to look at last season and see things in it that were not in it ... we haven't really deviated that much (from last year)."
We respectfully disagree. Here are 10 things that need to be done to save this show right now:
1
Be logical: As Entertainment Weekly recently noted, the show is repeating itself. One of the biggest sins is that Heroes isn't obeying its own internal logic.
Here are three quick examples:
Remember the lines of text at the very beginning of the series, about heroes coming together to save the world? Where's the coming together?
Parkman needs Molly to find his dad, Nightmare Man. She does, and gets put into a coma for her troubles. The next episode, Parkman is (initially) too chicken to even go see him. Very heroic, indeed.
Molly gets sick, and where does Mohinder take her? Right back to the big, bad company they rescued her from in the first place. Huh? This is a fine first place to start. You guys created this universe, stick to your own rules.
2
Do the right thing: Folks, it's called character motivation. Why is anyone doing anything right now? The dialogue has been pretty bad so far this season – it's as if the writers are feeding people lines
just to keep them static and not actually, you know, doing anything. Niki seeking help for her illness is the most logical thing any character has done this season. You know you're in trouble when the girl with the psychopathic multiple personality disorder is the only one making sense.
3
Stop adding to the cast: What's with the useless guest stars? The show is already too crowded, so what is the point of adding characters and then giving them nothing to do? Nichelle Nichols (Nana) and Kristen Bell (Elle) are the two latest and, really, what's the point of either? And does everybody need to have powers? Normal people can be in the cast too, you know.
4
Quit pandering to fan boys:
Do we really need another Star Trek cast-off? And yeah, I caught Bell's Veronica Mars shout-outs, but all that made me think was how good that show was (just like Heroes) in its first season. Stunts won't get you anywhere, moving the story along just might. Two weeks ago, the ratings were the lowest ever.
You're losing all kinds of fans – geeks and otherwise.
5
Give it a point: Speaking of the story, last year was about saving the world, or at least New York. This year, what's it about other than super-powered navel gazing?
6
Can the clichés: Peter: amnesia and instant love with a waitress? Oh, come on. Mohinder as the world's worst double agent? As if he'd fool anybody. And how much do you want to bet that one of these days Hiro is just going to use his time-travel power to undo six episodes of crap?
7
Kill someone we actually care about: At the beginning of last year, writers promised a bunch of characters were going to die by the end of the season. With the show's popularity, they obviously lost their nerve. Right now, it's the older generation that's being targeted, but these characters have basically been window dressing, so killing them
off ain't nothing.
8
Kill two people we absolutely don't care about: Seriously, the annoying black goo-spewing Wonder twins, Maya and Alejandro, have got to go. Remember when Lost answered fan backlash by burying alive con artists Nikki and Paulo? Do the same thing. Everybody hates those two new characters – and, really, what utterly useless powers.
9
Fill villain void: Heroes are defined by villains. Basically, the equation goes that a hero's goodness is
in direct ratio to the bad guy's evilness. Last season, Sylar was a great brain-eating baddie, and the most defined character. Right now, there is a villain void: who exactly
is the bad guy and why should
we fear him?
10
Dammit, just kick some ass:
Can a brother actually get a real super fight up in here? We'll
even forgive the cheap, cheeseball special effects if it leads to some showboaty ass-kicking.
To sum up, the show is obviously dealing with a sophomore slump. Off-screen factors to blame are ancillary concerns, like the website, the graphic novels and the in-the-works spinoff. The core show is suffering and everyone involved needs to focus squarely on improving it.
Raju Mudhar
Entertainment Reporter
If we want to use the university metaphor, Heroes, in its second season, is showing obvious signs of the "Freshman 15" – i.e., dreaded weight gain: an overcrowded cast and bloated, slow-paced storytelling topped with really bad dialogue that sees the characters go nowhere.
Ratings are in decline and, in his defence, series creator Tim Kring recently told the L.A. Times, "People tend to look at last season and see things in it that were not in it ... we haven't really deviated that much (from last year)."
We respectfully disagree. Here are 10 things that need to be done to save this show right now:
1
Be logical: As Entertainment Weekly recently noted, the show is repeating itself. One of the biggest sins is that Heroes isn't obeying its own internal logic.
Here are three quick examples:
Remember the lines of text at the very beginning of the series, about heroes coming together to save the world? Where's the coming together?
Parkman needs Molly to find his dad, Nightmare Man. She does, and gets put into a coma for her troubles. The next episode, Parkman is (initially) too chicken to even go see him. Very heroic, indeed.
Molly gets sick, and where does Mohinder take her? Right back to the big, bad company they rescued her from in the first place. Huh? This is a fine first place to start. You guys created this universe, stick to your own rules.
2
Do the right thing: Folks, it's called character motivation. Why is anyone doing anything right now? The dialogue has been pretty bad so far this season – it's as if the writers are feeding people lines
just to keep them static and not actually, you know, doing anything. Niki seeking help for her illness is the most logical thing any character has done this season. You know you're in trouble when the girl with the psychopathic multiple personality disorder is the only one making sense.
3
Stop adding to the cast: What's with the useless guest stars? The show is already too crowded, so what is the point of adding characters and then giving them nothing to do? Nichelle Nichols (Nana) and Kristen Bell (Elle) are the two latest and, really, what's the point of either? And does everybody need to have powers? Normal people can be in the cast too, you know.
4
Quit pandering to fan boys:
Do we really need another Star Trek cast-off? And yeah, I caught Bell's Veronica Mars shout-outs, but all that made me think was how good that show was (just like Heroes) in its first season. Stunts won't get you anywhere, moving the story along just might. Two weeks ago, the ratings were the lowest ever.
You're losing all kinds of fans – geeks and otherwise.
5
Give it a point: Speaking of the story, last year was about saving the world, or at least New York. This year, what's it about other than super-powered navel gazing?
6
Can the clichés: Peter: amnesia and instant love with a waitress? Oh, come on. Mohinder as the world's worst double agent? As if he'd fool anybody. And how much do you want to bet that one of these days Hiro is just going to use his time-travel power to undo six episodes of crap?
7
Kill someone we actually care about: At the beginning of last year, writers promised a bunch of characters were going to die by the end of the season. With the show's popularity, they obviously lost their nerve. Right now, it's the older generation that's being targeted, but these characters have basically been window dressing, so killing them
off ain't nothing.
8
Kill two people we absolutely don't care about: Seriously, the annoying black goo-spewing Wonder twins, Maya and Alejandro, have got to go. Remember when Lost answered fan backlash by burying alive con artists Nikki and Paulo? Do the same thing. Everybody hates those two new characters – and, really, what utterly useless powers.
9
Fill villain void: Heroes are defined by villains. Basically, the equation goes that a hero's goodness is
in direct ratio to the bad guy's evilness. Last season, Sylar was a great brain-eating baddie, and the most defined character. Right now, there is a villain void: who exactly
is the bad guy and why should
we fear him?
10
Dammit, just kick some ass:
Can a brother actually get a real super fight up in here? We'll
even forgive the cheap, cheeseball special effects if it leads to some showboaty ass-kicking.
To sum up, the show is obviously dealing with a sophomore slump. Off-screen factors to blame are ancillary concerns, like the website, the graphic novels and the in-the-works spinoff. The core show is suffering and everyone involved needs to focus squarely on improving it.