Wednesday, October 31, 2007


Heroes: The Line
A wee bit better, but one thing is for certain: in a season that's nowhere near as good as the first, Zachary Quinto's Sylar stands out above everyone else on the show. The scenes with him are terrifying and as good as anything in season 1. It was nice to see HRG all badass again.
Peter: He and his girlo head to Moan-tree-al, as Americans pronounce it, where they find a note from Monroe, the guy Bob has warned Mohinder about. Then they teleport to an apocalyptic NY in June 2008, in one of the most fake uses of a green screen I've ever seen. It was SO clear they were standing on a soundstage with a photoshopped picture of Times Square in the background, right down to the echo of their voices. Now both Peter and Nathan have seen this.
Claire: Last season we were led to believe that when times get tough, certain humans evolve to become heroes. This season we've learned that superpowers have been given to certain people so that they'll either totally rock in double-dutch, or they can play practical jokes on the bitchy cheerleading captains. While the trick was kind of funny, last season it seemed these heroes had a purpose, something their powers were given to them for, and this season they're just horsing around with them. I think that's the main reason why this season just isn't working with fans. Is Tim Kring a one-trick pony? Did he look beyond season 1 at all? Is there a second act?? At least on Lost, CC and DL had a vision. I don't think Kring knows what the heck is going on anymore, because this season doesn't seem to be leading up to anything.
Moronder: He finally grows a pair and refuses to inject Monica with the new virus, and instead storms into the room where Bob is standing and hurls a syringe against the wall, no doubt sending that live virus flying all over the room. Let's hope it wasn't airborne. Where the heck did this guy go to school?!
HRG and Haitian: They go to see Ivan, HRG's old "friend," who knows where the paintings are hidden, and these scenes were particularly compelling. The Haitian removes all traces of the memory of the early years with his wife, including their marriage and honeymoon, and the guy finally spills all when HRG threatens to remove the memories of his deceased daughter. And then he shoots the guy anyway. Wow... These scenes also reminded me of season 1, especially when he nonchalantly stops in the middle of the torture session to answer a phone call from Claire Bear.
Nikki and Paulo The Wonder Twins The Whiny Twins Alejandro and Maya: Alejandro, i.e. the non-stupido, says he doesn't trust good ol' Gabe, and he's right. Sylar sucks up Maya's power, or at least tries to, while she kills several rednecks hanging out on the U.S. border trying to keep those dang Mexicans outta their country. Then, in the best scene in the episode, he tells Alejandro he's going to kill him and his sister as soon as he's done sucking up their powers... but he does so in English, a language Alejandro can't speak.
Hiro: He finally steps on that cockroach in the past and alters the future, kissing the girl and pissing off Kensei, who turns them all over to the dogs. One question: if guns had been outlawed in Japan, how did her father know how to make them?
Monica: Bob leaves her be (yeah, right), with a file of phone numbers to call in case of emergency, and an iPod with every skill she might ever need on it. I'm sure The Company will totally leave her alone now. (Actually, if they do, then this show really HAS lost it.) Cheesiest line: "Look around: it seems this town could really use some amazing."
Nikessica: Says she's Moronder's new partner (great... Dumb and Dumber are reunited). And she's clearly not Niki, despite Doofus thinking she is.
The paintings: Looks like Niki pounding on a door, Hiro and Kensei fighting, a crazed Nathan holding a gun, a hand holding a vial of the virus, presumably... what DOES it mean?
So what do the paintings mean? Who is Adam Monroe and why did he know Peter could get there? Next week's preview shows a bunch of more interesting characters coming back, and Bob saying Peter is the line... ooh. Looks like it might actually be a really good one (and for Canadians, it's at a different time, so just check the PVRs for that).

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couldn't have agreed with your analysis more. They are totally missing the ball with the second season - there is no comparing this show to Lost.

K J Gillenwater said...

I actually thought this was *worse* than last week. Just plain awful.

And, just to let you know, I pronounce it "MOHN-TREE-ALL" with the emphasis on the "ALL" syllable. That is how I have heard it pronounced by everyone I know. I didn't hear a "MOAN" at all.

**Peter & gal go to the warehouse to find nothing really but reference to someone named 'Adam' (same name on the file Mohinder saw).
**They dragged on the story about feudal Japan for no real purpose that I can see. They could have wrapped all of this up in 1 or 2 episodes.
**How could Mohinder be so stupid as to think his little speech changed Bob's mind? Just complete 180 turnaround for no good reason. Please.
**It's taken WAY too long to get the hispanics across the border. This could have happened in 1 episode or 2 max.
**The Claire/flying boy storyline needs to move a little faster as well.

Lord, I'm about ready to dump this show. It is so amazingly bad compared to last season.

P.S. Peter is in the future...a different future than last season. Nathan was only seeing the nuclear destruction scene from last season...as was evidenced by the fact he saw his nuclear-ravaged self.

K J Gillenwater said...

Hmmm, that didn't come out right. MON-TREE-ALL. Like the Jamaican "Hey, Mon."

Anonymous said...

does it amaze anyone that one of the twins knows english and the other one cannot understand a word of it? especially when they seem so damn close!

Anonymous said...

Completely agree with you. Though there were some decent scenes in this one (Finally), a few things bothered me like HRG killing his old friend or Mohinder saying he's taking Molly out of the company's care and the next scene she still there. I am also sorta over the Hiro story...they need to bring him back into the action. And is it me or do the new paitings seem sorta dull and not terrifying like last year. It seems as though there wasn't a lot of direction in the plot so they basically have new paintings now.

If they start calling the shot something similar to the word "Promicin" I will stop watching.

Brian Douglas said...

Heroes has been really disappointing so far this season. That's not to say its not enjoyable, just that compared to last year....

I just want to point out that Alejandro is the first person whose neither trusted nor underestimated Sylar the first time they met.

I don't think even Mohinder trusts Bob.

Crissy Calhoun said...

To paraphrase, Tim Kring says we just need to learn how to watch Heroes properly and it will all pay off in the end. I am definitely doing it wrong.

http://www.tv.com/heroes/show/17552/story/10372.html

Anonymous said...

I suspect Mr. Kring didn't think the show would get past the second or third episode. He forgot it wasn't on FOX.

Why would an Irish girl, seeing a painting with street signs in French, assume it depicted Montreal and not, oh - France?

My Monday nights consist of going - "Yay! Chuck!" then 'oh, I guess I'd better watch Heroes' then "Ooooh, Intelligence timeshift!"

Intelligence is a fantastic show with dark motivations and a great cast. One week I may just decide to watch it on the Toronto feed. If only Moron-hinder wasn't so darn pretty.

Anonymous said...

in a season that's nowhere near as good as the first, Zachary Quinto's Sylar stands out above everyone else on the show. The scenes with him are terrifying and as good as anything in season 1.

absolutely agreed! sylar is creepy. cree-pee. zachary quinto has nailed that totally vacant, dead-yet-psychotic look in his eyes, and when he smiles, it gives me chills down my spine, and NOT in a good way! he's hands-down the standout of the entire season -- nay, series!

Brian Douglas said...

The Irish girl thought Montreal because Peter had the plane ticket to Montreal.

James D said...

I didn't realize it was a green screen with Peter this episode, but last week when the Haitian and HRG were walking in Russia in front of some building, THAT was the most obvious uses of a green screen I've ever seen.

When I look at pictures of Tim Kring, I'm not surprised he wasn't able to pull off a second season of this show.

Sylar is cool, and I like Hiro's story.

Honestly, I was offended by how redneckish those border patrol guys were. Just because we're supposed to sympathize with the Hondurans in that scene doesn't mean you have to portray the Texans as retards with guns. Wanting to keep illegal immigrants out seems like a legitimite concern, especially when two of them (Sylar and Maya) happen to be responsible for many, many deaths.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Brian. Shows how much I was paying attention.

Anonymous said...

I am so disappointed with the green screen effects. This show has a decent budget, they can afford to do decent green screens. I can do better than that.
In all, definitely slightly better than last week, so we're getting there. HRG went total Jack Bauer this week as well. And Sylar is, hands down, the best part of the show. Whats going to happen when he leaves to go shoot Star Trek?
Also, Heroes: Origins got canned due to the writers strike. Lame.

Nikki Stafford said...

Kristin: I think Sylar and HRG saved it this week for me, but I agree with all of your nitpicks. Especially the fact they're drawing out EVERY LITTLE THING rather than just making it as fast-paced as season 1. I'm tired of Hiro in Japan. He was so funny in season 1, and he's so NOT funny now.

Just for the record, Canadians pronounce it "Mun-tre-al." :) The same way we say Mum instead of Mawm. So it's strange to hear Americans pronounce it differently, when usually you only hear Canadians saying it.

Anonymous: Good point about the twins!! If they're so inseparable, why didn't Alejandro learn English?!

Crissy: See, it's that sort of stuff that bugs me... when the finale sucks, Kring says it's because we didn't get it. When we complain about the slow pace of season 2, he says we're not smart enough to watch it. It's a really annoying way to treat the fans.

Hipster: When I was talking to Crissy about the green screen, she said the same thing about Russia, and I actually had to go and check out last week's episode to see it (I'm often feeding my son while watching TV, and tend to listen rather than watch the screen constantly). THAT was HILARIOUS. They were totally walking on a treadmill in front of a moving backdrop. Awful.

Jeff: I heard about Origins getting canned for now because of the writer's strike, but I'm not sure I believe that's the real reason. I wonder if NBC has shelved it because ratings have been poor on Heroes. Eek.

Brian Douglas said...

Btw, I think Adam Monroe is Elle's father.