Scots Taffer on 2/5/2007 at 00:11
I can't believe it's taken this long for a thread to show up regarding this amazing show. This is the new Lost for people who hate the cocktease and filler. Nearly every episode has a punch and furthers the storyline significantly, as well as set up cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Sure the premise isn't exactly original, it's a low-grade X-Men, plus the writing can be a little cliched, and the actors a little hammy at times - but when this story finds its feet and starts to run, you can't help but be pulled along.
It's just went up a level with the most recent episode which
showed an alternate (?) future timeline where the bomb still detonated (however, I did get mildly confused as they were insinuating that
Sylar killed Claire even though we later saw her alive), but goddamn it was fucking awesome watching
a Neo-like Petrelli stir shit up against the disguised Sylar.
I can't wait to see where they take this in the last 3 episodes for the big finale. For those that haven't heard of this, seek out the show immediately, you'll be rewarded with a fast paced show with a decent plot and lots of cliffhangers/intrigue without the bullshit filler. For those that are watching it, what do you think? Also, be sure to check out cool little flashback synapse-firers like (
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels) the graphic novels which offer the sort of stuff that Lost crams into 60% of its running time.
I'm relieved that this season will conclude the current story arc, though it is part of a wider arc (the
future timeline episodes imply a much deeper backstory to nearly everthing, especially now with Linderman and Sylar?) that they intend to explore over more than one season - with different seasons focusing on different characters.
D'Juhn Keep on 2/5/2007 at 00:36
I almost made a thread about this but somehow didn't think enough people watched it to justify it, maybe everyone thought that? ;)
Heroes is an awesome show for many reasons and features the best flying man effects I've seen anywhere. How cool did Nathan look as he took off that time :cool:
I've kind of been getting the vibe from the start, but especially in episode 19, that the future that Hiro sees or Isaac/Sylar/Peter paints is unchangable and anything they do merely helps bring about the future they see.
Spoilers from e19 and comic #30. It looks quite interesting how it's going, with mutants (yes) a persecuted minority (yes) - so far so X-Men but without creating some kind of crazy team that wears spandex - and Lindermen hoping that this will somehow help humanity? I got mixed feelings about him, yes evil mafia crimelord but he doesn't seem all bad and might be his heart's in the right place? Nathan seems to want to do the right thing but maybe Lindermen will persuade him that killing 0.07% of the world's population IS the right thing. It seems future-Hiro's plans have failed but surely he'd remember his past self visiting him in the future so maybe something has changed and my head hurts D:
It seems Hiro thinks Sylar is the bomb-man though Peter still thinks he is himself. If it IS Peter, it'd make sense as he'd regenerate after Hiro stabs him, whereas Sylar currently wouldn't. At least not right away. He has recovered from a few bullets to the chest afterall.
Sylar vs Peter should be an obvious Peter win, considering he can absorb all Sylar's powers, surely? However, if he's too dumb to use his power of VISION and see when Sylar's gonna throw huge shards of glass at him, he's probably dumb enough to lose. Why didn't he just move or fly up to the ceiling or duck or something o9 Also chalk another "invisible man so how can he not be blind" :D
In conclusion then, watch the show, it's all kinds of awesome.
Scots Taffer on 2/5/2007 at 00:46
Yes, I felt like the glass-in-back-of-head moment was especially lame seeing as he'd just done the whole badass HAHA I'VE GONE INVISIBLE TO FUCK YOU UP.
Seriously awesome show. However, the comics do support that Linderman was at some stage some kind of humanitarian... Also, from episode 20, it seems that the "Linderman" act is to detain and arrest all "special" people, so Sylar and Linderman have some world domination scheme? Does Linderman know that Petrelli is dead and Sylar is pretending to be him? All very confusing, but all very interesting to speculate about!
Couple of plot holes though-
As you say, Sylar regenerated SOMEHOW as he got shot a couple of times by Bennet previously, what gives?
Also, no one notices Petrelli reaching through the door and grabbing Peter? He's only supposed to be flying! Is Parkman of the future in on it?
And yes, fucking awesome flying man effect.
Abysmal on 2/5/2007 at 01:00
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
Sure the premise isn't exactly original, it's a low-grade X-Men, plus the writing can be a little cliched, and the actors a little hammy at times
That's certainly a lot of up-front apologizing. I tried watching a few episodes of this show once and couldn't get beyond the all-glitz-and-no-depth feeling that generally accompanies most third-rate television. Perhaps I'm overlooking something, or it's just not my cup of tea.
Scots Taffer on 2/5/2007 at 01:05
If it makes you feel better, I posted this elsewhere when I started watching Heroes:
Quote:
I know everyone's going on about how awesome Heroes is, but I'm having one of those huge barriers to entertainment at the moment whereby I cannot enjoy glossy Hollywoodish TV shows. I watched the first two and despite it having that 24/Lost-ish instant hook to it, I stopped immediately.
I'm totally digging Rome again right now and missing Deadwood terribly. There's something so gritty and distinctly non-bullshitty about them that I find watching these other shows an exercise in painful tedium. It's like everything is so hammed up and melodramatic, all terrible camera pans and string music MY GOD ISNT IT TENSE. No, fuck off, learn to act, stop parading a sea of pretty talentless fucks on screen, I want people who look and act like the characters really would, not some blonde bimbo pretending to have an evil doppelganger or whatever. Urgh, what's wrong with me?
I persevered:
Quote:
Oh man, just reached the "Homecoming" episode of Heroes. This is easily one of the coolest shows around at the moment.
Sure, the acting is mixed (you know it's bad when they can't even hire decent ethnic actors - Mohinder, jesus fuck, he's terrible -
MY FATHER'S RESEARCH), that said Hiro and Ando are by far the best actors in the whole show, but this is more about the solid progression towards a climax without needless filler (hello lost!) with interesting characters in a very tense and exciting situation. Plus there are layers of mysteries and recurring details (the s-symbol thingo) that are actually going to mean something!
This episode just nailed that on so many levels, perfect build-up and execution, now your mind is left reeling they have Sylar - what will they do with him? Claire is going to reveal her powers to her father - will he reveal his secret? Peter 'annoying lip' Petrelli is going to jail - will his asshole brother step in or will the shadowy government agency? What exactly are the government up to - good or bad?So yes, it does have a poor start but by God does it make up for it. It's one of my favourite shows at the moment, it's not a Six Feet Under or Deadwood and it'll never be, but it's easily holding its own at the top of the TV leaderboard with shows like 24 and Lost.
There's definitely a place for glossy Hollywood entertainment mixed in with your brilliantly acted, gritty drama, and Heroes fulfils that quota and then some.
Fafhrd on 2/5/2007 at 01:40
It's got a distinct "Smallville Season 1" vibe for me. It seems cool, but deep down I know it's shit, and yet I keep watching. It also doesn't allow the mysteries any time to percolate before dropping the reveal on you. The one exception to that was Linderman, but then his whole backstory/scheme is a fairly blatant rip-off of Watchmen, so they lose extra points for that.
It is also apparently possible to get in a limo to the airport in New York, and get out of a limo in front of a casino in Vegas in about 10 minutes. Or go from Small Town Near Odessa, Texas, to the nearest city with a good sized airport, Texas, to New York, to Isaac Mendez's apartment in the same amount of time. OR, to see an eclipse of the sun in New York, Texas, Vegas, Los Angeles, and fucking TOKYO at THE SAME FUCKING TIME.
I hate this show. I kind of like this show.
Kyote on 2/5/2007 at 06:20
Best. Show. IN YEARS.
I was going to say ever but it's actually not better than Deadwood so.
THIS SHOW ROCKS EVERYTHING IN FACT IT ROCKS SO HARD MY NUTS FELL OFF AND GREW BACK AGAIN AND...it's just that awesome.
But I don't much care for 'what if' eps because in the long run they mean nothing. Was still a cool ep tho.
Scots Taffer on 2/5/2007 at 06:51
Quote Posted by Kyote
But I don't much care for 'what if' eps because in the long run they mean nothing. Was still a cool ep tho.
Well, as D'Juhn Keep pointed out, it may not be that the future we see in the "alternate reality" is at all alternate and may be a future they are being compelled to avoid but their actions are in fact determining that fate.
It could be possible that is the case, but I'm not sure - my confusion arises over the Claire Bennet character; do they only believe Sylar was the bomb because he regenerated afterwards (if they know this, why wasn't he stopped/found/destroyed?) and the cheerleader was (supposedly) dead? Also, it doesn't make 100% sense that they know about Claire's power if no one was around to "save" her... urgh, my head hurts trying to puzzle this time travel part of it out.
I'm definitely not so sure that this recent foray is just all red herrings though, it doesn't seem fitting with the rest of the show thus far.
D'Juhn Keep on 2/5/2007 at 11:02
Oooooohhhhh SHIT
Just watched episode 20, good god it was swell.
The Sylar reveal, Neo Petrelli taking him on - just being hell of cool throughout, Sylar's whole Order 66 to round up everyone and, presumably, eat all their brains.
I'd guess that Micah's in New York so that he can talk to the voting machines and get Nathan in to power. Hence Micah dying in New York. I need to know where Lindermen fits in to all of this, he can't have planned Sylar becoming Nathan so I'd guess Sylar's killed Lindermen sometime.
At the start of the episode, I thought they might have a chance because Hiro hadn't killed Sylar because he hadn't blown up yet in the past, if you see, so the future had yet to be changed. But now we know it's Peter, Hiro seems destined to stab him and repeat history... or future ;psyduck:
It seemed telegraphed to me when Hiro and Ando tried to 'save' the girl from the bus (car?) but their actions just caused the accident to happen. She didn't die so they thought they saved her, apparently not realising that if they hadn't done what they were fore-ordained to do, it never would have happened.
So another case of destiny vs free will in time travel. From all I can see, they can't stop the bomb/change the future, but I'd love to see them prove me wrong and how they do it :)
