Save the Cheerleader, Save New York City!

Although I love this show, I am starting to get a little irritated about the big concept that has been referenced so many times. Everyone remembers when the future version of Hiro came back in time to Peter and said “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” So what does Peter do? He goes and saves the cheerleader. Hiro, in his past version, is all about saving the world and all the heroes themselves are trying to save a bomb from exploding in New York and thus, the world will be saved. Um, I don’t think so. I am sitting her scratching my head and wondering what they are talking about. The whole series, up to this point, is attempting to stop Sylar and to stop a bomb from going off in New York. NEW YORK!!! Even if they fail to stop the bomb from going off, New York is blown up, not the entire world. I fail to see how the world is in peril from the bomb going off nor do I see how saving the cheerleader saves the world. Sylar might get powers to regenerate his wounds if he kills Claire, but it has been proven that Claire can still die. Sylar, in the future, is pretending to be Nathan and therefore is the President of the United States. He still had not killed Claire and yet, he still had the capacity to cause the world problems. Claire is very minor when it comes to the world being in jeapordy and the bomb going off does not cause the world to suddenly be in danger.

So unless, Hiro has seen something happen in the future that has never been revealed to us, I fail to see how saving Claire saved the world from disaster. I think they should be trying to stop the bomb to prevent New York City from exploding, granted, but even that is not going to put the world in danger. It’s confusing, also, how Hiro has to be the one who kills Sylar and that by doing so, the bomb does not go off and New York is saved. Um..once again, that is not true as we have learned from flash back, and Peter admitting it himself, and the pictures painted that foretell the future, that is is actually Peter who explodes. Therefore, killing Sylar is not going to stop the bomb from going off. Also, the pictures have always come true exactly as they are shown and it has been painted that New York is going to explode leaving me to believe there is no way to stop it. If they do, there will be yet another inconsistency in the show. As tight as they are trying to make everything seem and how important they are attempting to make the heroes themselves, they need to be realistic. Even Linderman wants the bomb to go off so apparently Sylar is not the only villain attempting to make sure these disastrous events occur. So once they can manage to save the bomb from going off, if they can, they need to take out Linderman as much as Sylar. Sylar, on the other hand, should be dealt with before he gets Claire or even afterwards as the world is not going to change as a result of either event happening. Instead of saying, “Save the cheerleader, save the world” it really should say “Save the cheerleader, save New York City!”

Heroes needs to stop taking time off!

I am getting really tired of this new idea that NBC is trying with Heroes where they show eight episodes and then stop for a few months to show eight more episodes or so before stopping again. Then we have to continue to wait for the next set of episodes before it starts over again. Tonight, Heroes returned with an awesome episode but at the end of the show it talks about the final four episodes. Final four episodes for the end of season one! I am not happy to find out that there is going to be even less episodes played this time before the “official” end of season one which I was under the impression had already occured. Talking to others online, people all have different opinions on whether we are really in season two now already or still, as the commercial led me to believe, still at the end of season one. I have never seen a television show do this ever but instead am treated to multiple episodes of a series before having to take a long hiatus before seeing the next season. During that time of waiting, the television station is more than happy to play re-runs of the show during that shows time slot. Not with Heroes! Instead, NBC plays every other thing possible during that time period. Recently, for two weeks they played the new television comedy show “Thank God You’re Here” before moving it to wednesday nights to make room for Heroes to return. One week they even played something else during the Heroes time only once as if they were desperate finding something to play. Why not re-run the episodes so those who have not seen the show can catch up at the very least without having to go to the NBC website to view them on their computer screen. Oh, I forgot, that in the age of technology that a company like NBC would need more hits on their website! Give me a break! Part of the reason I love Heroes so much is it is truly an exciting show and every episode ending seems to leave me hanging, especially the last one before the hiatus, until the next one. That does not mean, however, that I want to be kept hanging on a cliff hanger ever eight episodes. At least when there is a full season, there is usually one big giant “oh my god! What’s going to happen?” moment that we have to wait until next season to see.  Heroes, however, does it all the time and with the constant having to wait that NBC keeps doing it is becoming frustrating when I, like so many others, need their Heroes fix! So listen up NBC…stop making us wait and do a full season like everyone else! Heroes may be a big budget television show but shoot more of the episodes together to air back to back and do all your filming for the next season during the hiatus like everyone else does it. It has been a tried and true method for decades now on television so why change the formula? Why mess with something that already works so well? I do not like the change and I do not like having to wait and if you are going to make me wait, at least give me re-runs of Heroes to satiate my appetite until the new episodes are ready to air!

What is Sylar’s goal?

It is now the third set of Heroes and the big villain of the series is the psychopath Sylar. Sylar was introduced in the first few episodes as being a super bad guy in that his powers far surpassed the remaining heroes. We didn’t really get to see Sylar until the end of the first part of the episodes as he attempted to kill Claire at her high school but we did get to see the result of his attacks in that the heroes would be found with their head cut open and their brains removed. We still don’t know if Sylar eats the brain or what he does with them but it can be proven that whatever he does, he gains the powers of whomever he kills. What I can’t figure out is what exactly his intent is. Every time there has been a villain in a story, it is obvious what he or she wants. Whether the bad guy wants a lot of money, wants to blow something up in an act of terror, wants to conquer the world, it is always obvious and stated relatively early on what they want. Sylar, on the other hand, does not ever clarify exactly what it is he wants. Granted, he wants more power than he currently has and a lot of it has to do with the fact that all his life he was considered ordinary and unimportant but what does he intend to do with all of his power once he gets it? Sylar has not attacked regular and ordinary people but instead always targets the heroes himself. If he is intending to conquer the world with his powers, he should let us know. Part of the reason why we all liked Claire’s father as a villain is because we were never sure what his intent was but they finally did tell us. Sylar, on the other hand, was obviously the bad guy from the beginning so I, for one, would like to see a clear cut reason for doing what he has been doing. I would also like to see his character developed more as he is very cut and dry in what I like to call the “typical villain.” I know he was a major “loser” before he gained his super powers but I would like to know more about his past than we were given. Did his father absolutely mistreat him? It was talked about briefly but not enough, in my opinion, to drive him to be the way he is. Also, where is his mother and what did she do to him? Does he have any siblings? Some of these questions may have been answered in the beginning but if they were, they did not stick in my mind like a lot of other things have so they need to be explored more. Also, how in the hell did Sylar figure out that by “eating brains” or whatever else he does that he would gain the powers of others. I know that he found out that the source of the power is in the brain but that still does not explain how he figured out how to steal others powers. Sylar, after all, was not a scientist but repaired watches. Repairing watches is a mechanical thing and so I don’t know how he figured out the things he did. All in all, I like the character of Sylar but I want to know his intent, how he gets the power through others brains, and how he even figured it all out in the first place!

The Uncanny Heroes…?

With all of this time off Heroesis taking, I have taken it upon myself to get better acquainted with the part of the season living on my iPod.  While the show has characteristics that are unique to itself, multiple viewings will reveal that the entire storyline is basically lifted right out of the X-Men legend.  The story remains original and the storytelling is flawless, but the idea is rather worn. 

If you look close enough and fill in a few gaps, you begin to connect the dots between Heroes and X-Men.  Both have names for the genetic changes that happens to these people, (Mutants on X-Men, Heroes on Heroes). Both have leaders that are working to not only help these people that have become different, but to understand what is happening to humans as a race (Professor Charles Xavier and Mohinder Seresh, respectively).  Both also have the general feeling of uncertainty and concern that comes along with any drastic change in humanity as we know it.  Both of these stories take a very real look at how people would respond if the world were to all of a sudden exist with people who have extraordinary powers.  In superhero stories like Superman and Batman, the general public accepted these people as saviors; people looking out for the better good of that particular city, or even the world.  But in the X-Men and Heroesstoryline, the “freaks” have to fight to stop a power that could destroy humanity while fighting the humanity that rejects them. 

However, there are certain distinct differences between the storylines as well.  For instance, the issues between humans and “freaks” in X-Men is far more racially driven than on Heroes.  Mutants are outcasts; they are largely feared generally looked upon negatively.  Not enough people in the world know about the Heroes for there to be a general concern, but there still is some fear, but it is primarily between the Heroes themselves; fear of what they can do and fear that they will hurt others. 

 With Heroes returning in two weeks, we can only wait and see if this trend continues.  Even if it does, the storyline is still fantastic and the structure is so captivating that it really doesn’t matter.  All I care about is that the show continues to be good.

Save the cheerleader… Save the world…

So I want to go on record saying that this whole month and a half break that Heroes is taking is probably the smartest idea the producers of the show have ever had. Naturally, as a die hard fan of the show, I was quite perturbed when I saw that the show would not be returning until April 23^rd, but once I looked at the big picture I saw that they pretty much had no other choice.

The series has pretty much been in high gear since the premiere back in August, with the last three to four episodes climaxing the season and answering many questions that have been plaguing viewers since the beginning (the mystery behind Mr. Bennett, who Linderman actually is (which was highly anti-climactic)). While many questions still remain, the break in the season came at a very appropriate time. I began to question how the writers were going to flesh out the story (assuming that the finale of the show will have something to do with the Exploding Man theory), but taking such a long break right before the final 4-5 episodes of the season really saves the series from boring fluff that just doesn’t fit with the show. It can now keep the high energy that has been flowing all season and end with just as big of a bang as it came in on, without any pointless lulls in the plot.

Of course, this is all speculation, and I could be completely wrong. The show could return and enter a five or six episode lull, running well into June and then building back up into the finale, but the timing of this break just seems a little too perfect for it to just be some crazy crackpot idea.

Okay. Now for the show itself. We haven’t heard much from Sanders/Hawkins family; and other than Nikki/Jessica sleeping with Nathan, the tatoo, and the whole Linderman thing, I’m not entirely sure how their plot line fits in with the rest of the characters, so that will be something interesting to watch for as the season comes to a close. Also, the transition Peter made from being the character with the lamest power on the show when he couldn’t hold onto powers, to being the most important character as he learns to keep his powers was pure greatness. Maybe I’m a bit thick, but that came out of left field and just clicked everything into place, pushing the story closer to the inevitability that New York will explode.

As the season comes to a conclusion the connection between the characters gets closer and closer, Hiro’s father, Mr. Bennett, The Patrelli’s, the Hatian, Linderman, Claire, they’re all connected, but by what? Is it some scheme that Linderman or another higher up has created? Or is it more; is something supernatural? And what the hell does that ancient Japanese tatoo have to do with any of this?

Basically, as the show stands now, the first part of the season was wrapped up into a nice, neat little package, while new questions were asked that set up the story for a spectacular bang upon its return. In even shorter terms, I cant freakin wait!