Heroes

Heroes is back. Season 2 premiered last night and most of America couldn't wait. But unlike most of the TV world, I'm not a big fan of this show. As a fan of television in general, I watched it. But I didn't need to see it right away. Last season, I could wait to watch it on DVR or catch it online a few days after it aired. After watching the Season 2 premiere, I think I'm going to revise my plan. I'm going to wait until season 2 comes out on DVD and watch it then.

It's a good show, but not great. It's a hit, but just because everyone appears to like it doesn't mean it is one of the best shows on television. In fact, it's not even the most imaginative show about ordinary people with superpowers. That would go to USA's cult hit "The 4400", a show where people that were abducted by aliens come back to earth all at the same time, and they come back with powers. Some can heal the sick or dying, one seems to rival Skylar's abilities, some can make people do what they want, etc. The list goes on and on. It's the same thing, but "The 4400" was first. And many other books, television shows, movies and comic books explore everything that is in Heroes. I watch lots of crap TV, and this show isn't crap. It's well written, well executed, superbly acted and directed, but it lacks substance. It's not original enough to be interesting and the storylines never seem to lead anywhere.

I watch the show and I want to know what happens to Peter and Nathan Petrelli because the actors are so good. I think Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura deserved the Emmy, but I think his friend Ando Masahashi (played by James Kyson Lee) is even better. Jack Coleman as Mr. Bennet the bad guy who we learn halfway through last year is really good (probably a little too soon if you ask me) is the best part of the show for me. His love for his daughter, Hayden Panettiere playing Claire Bennet (who secretly has the power to heal herself), is the best part of the show. Every time he is on screen, I'm into the show. But without storylines that lead to anything great, the characters can't hold the show together. This show is an ensemble show, and throughout each episode we follow multiple storylines involving many characters. But I don't think people care about most of these people. There are too many things going on in my opinion.

Tim Kring, the creator of the show and the hit crime/mystery show Crossing Jordan, had an amazing first season. He said he wanted to avoid the "LOST" trap of not answering things for the audience, and make each episode as revealing as possible. He did reveal a lot last year, but the major event, the end of season 1, was quite possible the biggest let down in television history. Season 1 was building to something great, but all we got was a lame fight with Skylar (Zachary Quinto), the bad guy of season 1. He was so powerful, so unstoppable. All the Heroes were brought together to stop him. This was supposed to be like the final scenes in any comic book movie. This was supposed to be X-Men or Spiderman. But it felt more like You Tube. Literally, the big fight, lasted no time at all. Even though Peter Petrelli told Hayden to shoot him in case he got out of control, which he did, she didn't for some reason. The solution to stop Peter from blowing up the city, was for his brother Nathan to fly him into the sky to explode. I know it was supposed to be about Nathan doing the right thing, but it made no sense. All you had to do was shoot him, as he wouldn't die, he has Claire's power to regenerate him. But what happened was a mess. The biggest answer to Season 1, went out with a small fart, than a BANG! Even for the die hard fan, you have to admit that the ending was pretty lame.

And of course, we are left with cliff hangers. Are the Petrelli's dead? Will Greg Grunberg as the cop Matt Parkman survive his wounds. Is Sylar really dead? So season 2 starts, and it is four months later. And from what I saw and the previews of next week, all the aforementioned characters are back. I'm sure we will learn more, but the big sacrifice, like all hit shows, wasn't real. It appears that Peter might be trapped in hell or heaven or whatever, but his character is alive. Nathan is fine too, back in NYC. How? Didn't he blow up. At least Peter has the ability to heal himself. How are they going to explain Nathan? Did he just let go and fly away. I'm pretty sure we saw they explode together in the sky. The cop with deadly wounds, fine. And after only four months, he lost his wife, but adopted a daughter who has a power just like him.

Heroes kills off characters, but only the minor ones. It hasn't had the balls yet to kill one of the leads. They don't have to kill characters, but if they are a show where people die, how about at least killing someone we care about. Not the side characters. I don't think Tim Kring understands why "The Sopranos", "24" and "LOST" deaths are so talked about. Because they wack, kill, and lose characters we care about. No one cares that Sulu dies in the premiere episode. I love George Takei (especially on Howard Stern), but we barely know his character yet, and he is dead. Gone. Same with Linderman. Hi and bye. The Waitress Hiro falls in love with. Later. Guy number two. Okay I made that person up. Point is, these deaths don't make a great show. It's a cheap trick.

Season 2 was more of the same. If you liked last season, you'll probably love this one. They are setting up some big showdown with "The company" the good/bad guys trying to stop people with abilities from themselves or us from them. They appear to be the bad guys, but I'm sure they will be a mixed bag when they get to the end of this season. Not that it matters. I'm quite positive we won't get any real showdown with the company. If we do, it will be lame like Steven Seagal's last five movies that went straight to DVD.

I'm a TV junkie. I understand why this show is popular. I do. It hits the right marks. People love super heroes. They love stories about ordinary people becoming special. It's great escapist television. And it's one of the good shows. It is. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying, it is a GOOD show, a 7 out of 10 show, not a GREAT show. It lacks depth and overall importance. It's not close to a show like "LOST" in terms of serial drama. Or close to characters like "The Sopranos". Or as must see as "24" is. And worst of all, you don't have to think as much watching this show. It's not a high minded of some of the other great dramas even though it's trying hard to be. It's a hit. But never confuse popular for greatness.

Season 1 - Save the cheerleader. Save the world.

Well someone has to explain to me how that ever played out. Seriously. It didn't. She didn't do anything to save the world. She looked hot and didn't die. And when she was supposed to stop Peter, she didn't. Nathan did. So how did that prediction come through? It was a fun tagline, but it didn't matter to the writers that it made sense. It sounded cool. And that's my problem. No follow through. They thought of cool ideas, characters, etc. Then they got stuck and just made stuff up as they figured it out. By answering so many things to please the fans, they wrote themselves into a corner and just ignored half the things they set up previously. No big deal. It's TV, not surgery. But you have to admire any show that can stay consistent. "Rescue Me" comes to mind as a great show that really knows how to build to something and everything feels real. Heroes feels like a guilty pleasure when the creators want it to be more important or deeper than that. But they failed.

Hopefully for season 2, Tim Kring and his writers had time to plan where they were going. Any first season is tough because you never know if your show is going to be picked up and you don't have enough time to plan when your show is a hit. You just have to react. Even thought Heroes was a hit pretty earlier, it's still tough to get it together the first go around. Only great shows have been able to pull off killer Season 1's. "LOST" comes to mind as a great season. "The Sopranos". "24" was great, but just like Heroes suffered from answering too many questions too early and having to make things up as they went. But season 2 of "24" was the best in my opinion. They got it right. That's my hope for season 2 of Heroes. Now that they have all the ingredients, let's see if they can make it sizzle. I hope they do, but why watch every week and be disappointed when there are so many other shows to watch.

Let me give you my tagline for Season 2:

Save yourself. Rent the DVDs from Netflix a year from now.