Commentary News

The third volume of Heroes came to an end this week.

And while we've been openly critical of most story lines this season, the concluding episode did leave our staff with a few reasons to hope for an improved fourth volume.

Therefore, as viewers wait until February 2 for new installments of Heroes, here's our take on what was promising and what was problematic about the conclusion to volume three...

PROMISING: Nathan's evil turn. Arthur was never a believable villain. He was too sarcastic, we had no background for his motives and his powers were never fully explained (or logical; he just showed up in the past and took the catalyst from Hiro? That was easy!).

But we bore witness to Nathan's conversion, as he saw the possibilities of powers first-hand during he and Peter's trip to Haiti. Sure, he turned to the full dark side rather quickly, but we can accept such an immediate conversion in exchange for a morally complex villain going up against his brother and former friends. Juicy stuff, indeed.

Fans are seeing a new side to Nathan Petrelli.

PROBLEMATIC: The lack of build-up for the third volume finale. It's Television 101: events throughout the season of a show are slowly built up, with momentum and suspense leading to an emotional and/or action-packed climax in the finale. Perhaps no show in history did this better than the first season of Heroes, as story lines converged for a world-altering battle in Kirby Plaza, remember?

For weeks, viewers were enthralled by the mantra of "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World," as well as by the deadline of an exploding NYC.

But what did we have in "Dual," the finale to Heroes' volume three? The main focus was on Sylar trapping HRG, Meredith, Angela and Claire inside Primatech. This came totally out of nowhere; heck, Meredith had literally not been seen for four episodes and now she was being thrust into the finale of the volume.

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The fourth volume of Heroes, titled "Fugitives," was set up nicely last night:

Nathan has received permission from the President of the United States to round up everyone with abilities. We haven't been given Nathan's full set of motives yet, but he made it clear that the goal is to lock up all powerful characters.

The elder Petrelli brother is being set up as the main bad guy, of course, but this raises a vital question: Does he have the right idea?

Hiro can time travel. In volume three, he used that ability solely to solve a problem he created in the first place!

Throughout two and a half seasons, have the Heroes actually helped anyone outside of their own sub-culture? Let's review the ways in which the Heroes have used their powers so far:

• In season one, the goal was to stop New York City from blowing up, a plan concocted by those with abilities;
• Season two was focused on the outbreak of a virus, one that was created by The Company;
• As we all just witnessed, the third volume of the show centered on a formula that, again, was created by those with abilities and would have a detrimental effect on everyone if ever released.

Therefore, with what we've seen to this point, it's impossible not to wonder: Wouldn't the world be a better place if there were no Heroes? What has Peter ever done, for example, that's focused on anything or anyone not associated within the universe of extraordinary abilities?

His goals may have always been to save mankind... but wouldn't mankind be better off if no one with abilities ever existed? Consequently, wouldn't this mean that Nathan is absolutely correct that all Heroes should be locked up?

While we're excited for volume four, and look forward to a contained/simple story line that hopefully doesn't involve the use of time travel, a problem is raised when the supposed arch villain (Nathan) appears to have the right idea:

Rid the world of Heroes and let everyone else live in peace.

Until the show gives viewers a reason to think that Claire regenerating, or Parkman reading minds, will have positive consequences for anyone outside the ability-laden universe, then why should we root for these characters to remain in the real world?

Write in. Let us know your thoughts!

In lieu of a Round Table this week, allow us the opportunity to focus on a significant issue we have with the third volume of Heroes.

As always, a disclaimer: consider this an example of tough love. We look forward to the show every week, but can't sit idly by while such lazy, illogical story telling takes place. We also invite all readers to respond to this critique in our Comments section. Now, on with it...

Heroes is a show about regular people that acquire special abilities.

The third volume of the series, however, has focused on these individuals going to great lengths to prevent others from acquiring abilities; in other words: Claire, Hiro and company are using their powers to act HEROICALLY... in order to cease the spread of similar abilities because that would supposedly lead to the end of mankind.

But aren't these same abilities exactly what enable our Heroes to act for the greater good?

It's a good thing Hiro can use his abilities to help save the world.

Isn't there a major continuity problem in having someone with abilities use those abilities to prevent others from acquiring abilities. Follow all that? It can't be any more confusing that the story line itself.

We know that Peter saw a vision of the future in which everyone possessed a power and this led to an uncontrollable, dangerous society. Okay, we can buy that. Here's a novel idea to counter that future:

Why not give the abilities solely to a select few? Perhaps those that are well-trained in combat, those committed to protecting America and its interests, those like... the Marines?

Granted, we stole this idea from someone else: Arthur Petrelli.

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Thank you to everyone that posted a response to this week's critical take on Heroes.

We wish the article never had to be written, but it's nice to see that so many of us at least share similar complaints regarding the utter lack in logic for most of the show's current episodes.

With that in mind, we've made a list - and checked in twice, in order to see who's been naughty (Tim Kring) and who's been nice - that compiles reader responses to the show, along with a few specific complaints our staff had over the latest episode.

Feel free to agree or disagree with the following issues (we always welcome feedback/comments), but here are a few complaints Heroes fans have over the state of story lines:

• As described in the aforementioned article from earlier this week: Why the inconsistency between episodes? Two weeks ago, HRG had Elle/Sylar in his sights to end "The Eclipse Part 1." A week later, he waits to fire until after they've had sex? Just lazy writing.

• What happened to Mohinder's dangerous aggression? Didn't he murder some random guy in the park a few weeks ago? Now, the only consequence of his abilities is bad skin.

• How in the world did Parkman know where to find Ando/Hiro? They teleported themselves to that comic book store a couple weeks back, right? Then, this past Monday, Parkman just walked in after leaving Daphne's farm house.

Wait, am I good or evil in this scene?

• The volume is titled "Villains." But, ummm, who are the villains? Flint and Knox? We've barely met them. Sylar? He changes every week (see following bullet point). The series had a nice set up going, with the idea of Team Primatech vs. Team Pinehearst. But it's not clear who is even on the latter team, nor is it even clear what its specific, supposedly evil plan is.

• And, by far the biggest complaint from readers and from our staff: the constant, changing state of Sylar. He's been HRG's partner, Peter's friend, Elle's lover and then Elle's killer so far this season. He also seems to believe anything people tell him. I'm your son, Angela? Cool! Oh, my mom hated me? Thanks, Arthur! Wait, they are not my parents? Interesting, HRG!

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We're not alone.

For a few weeks now, we've shown our tough love for Heroes by aiming critical commentary at the show's illogical, frustrating story lines. A few readers have taken our staff to task for dissing their favorite show, even though we're big fans and just wanna see it return to its first season greatness.

As you can tell from the excerpts below, other columnists are annoyed by the series these days, as well. Here are highlights - or lowlights, really - from recaps of this week's episode around the Web:

• TVGuide.com: "These same stories by and large could have been told without the loss of powers, so why even go there. We've still yet to get any real explanation as to why the eclipse triggers these powers (and why these eclipses are happening so often), and the whole things reeks of a plot device meant to drum up drama that the stories themselves are not."

• EW.com: "If you're not going to put your characters [such as Claire and Sylar, who obviously weren't dead] in real jeopardy, don't even head down that road. Because it's cheap and a waste of time."

• Zap2It.com: "It's come to the point where I just feel kind of bad for Greg Grunberg and Brea Grant, saddled as they are with a supposed love story that's based on Parkman's spirit walk and nothing else."

Again, we love Heroes. But, as you can see, we're not alone in our critical view of the show these days.

FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE'S JUMP TO READ A MAJOR CRITICISM OF THIS WEEK'S EPISODE AND CHIME IN WITH YOUR VIEW...

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Elle returned to Heroes this week.

And while we're fans of Kristen Bell and of the character, our immediate reaction was an audible groan. After all, does the show really need more characters?

In our latest critique of the show, we focus on some seriously tough love: it's time to kill off a few Heroes.

Please, kill someone, Arthur. Make viewers actually afraid of you.

Long-running dramas such as Lost and 24 survive for numerous reasons; but a major appeal of these shows is that they are unafraid to do away with significant characters. The killing off of major players has a double appeal:

1. It ensures that the show doesn't get caught up in too many confusing story lines;
2. It raises the stakes.

Let's focus on the second point first: Heroes is a show about the fate of the world... yet not a single major character (no offense, D.L.) has been subject to that fate yet. Sure, Niki died last season in a noble act, but the show still felt obligated to bring Ali Larter back. For what purpose? Wouldn't it have been more effective to prove that these characters might perish in their efforts to save the universe?

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Welcome to our weekly critique of Heroes.

It's a show we love - as we often must remind readers that misinterpret our analysis - yet it's one that can be awfully aggravating in its lack of logic and/or misuse of characters.

The focus is on the latter issue this week, as the death of Adam Monroe at the hands of Arthur Petrelli has our staff lamenting what might have been... and what used to be.

Monroe was the main villain last season. With Sylar sidetracked, the man formerly known as Takezo Kensei seemed like the perfect focus for the show. He and Hiro had great chemistry, that's for sure.

It may have taken too long for him to escape feudal Japan, but eventually Monroe was established as a former member of The Company, a man imprisoned by Mr. Nakamura for his desire to destroy the world through a virus.

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Over the past couple weeks, we've written commentaries on the state of Heroes that have received some criticism from readers. Many wonder why we insult a show we supposedly love.

In response, we say: we insult the show because we love it!

For over a year now, Heroes has failed to live up to the expectations it set for itself in its first season. We're yearning for the series to reach its potential again. So consider these critiques tough love, ok? After all, the greatness of America lies in our freedom - nay, our responsibility! - to openly question the state of affairs.

With that in mind, this week's commentary focuses on a main character: Hiro.

Remember when Mohinder started the first season by rattling on about evolution? It was the basis for he and his father's research, as our Heroes were meant to symbolize mankind's constantly evolving state. "Evolution is an imperfect and often violent process. A battle between what exists and what is yet to be born..." Mohinder said back then.

When it comes to Hiro, therefore, we can't help but wonder what happened to the evolution of his mind.

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Last week, we suggested that Heroes take a page from Lost; i.e. focus more on individual character development each episode and really give fans a chance to watch these characters in action, as opposed to dizzying our heads with non-stop twists and turns.

This week, we have an even simpler recommendation:

Heroes needs to act more like... every other show on TV!

Why can't the writers carve out a season that simply involves these individuals fighting a problem in the present day? We hoped that would be this chapter's set-up, as its dubbed "Villains" and it opened with a handful of bad guys being released from Level 5. Perfect. Let's go after them!

Instead, only one of those villains (Knox) remains on the loose. But more importantly, the focus of the season has shifted to stopping a dangerous future from occurring... again. Didn't we see this already in season one?

The trouble with constantly jumping into the future, and the back again in order to change it, is two-fold:

1. It's pretty darn confusing;
2. It gives the writers unlimited freedom to make stuff up.

The first point speaks for itself. So let's focus on the second.

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We love Heroes. We wouldn't dedicate so much time to this fan site if we didn't.

Still, there are improvements we'd make to the show, especially as it zooms through season three (in an attempt, which we're grateful for, to make up for a lackluster second season). In a nutshell, Heroes must get Lost.

The series must follow the lead of another serialized show, one with an abundance of characters and back stories. Lost focuses on one character each episode, still adding to the overall story lines, yet allowing itself to set a reasonable pace for the show, while also giving various actors and characters a chance to shine.

Just consider the rate at which viewers were sped through character developments this week, all in a single episode:

Claire went from victim... to tortured daughter... to vengeful hero on the verge of evil. We loved the idea of Sylar's attack on Claire having a profound affect on this troubled teenager. It was a mind rape, after all. But wouldn't it have been nice to focus on just what she was going through for a full hour?

Don't just toss her into a cargo box with her birth mom (who viewers barely know, yet are led to believe is a disciple of Mr. Miyagi all of a sudden?!?) and then set her on a revenge trip to Primatech Paper. Let us feel Claire's pain in-depth.

Heroes could learn a few lessons about how Lost treats John Locke and company.

Sylar learned he was Angela's son... then was teamed with HRG... then regressed to his old ways. We've known Sylar as the ultimate bad guy, an evil killing machine. But within five minutes, his mother convinced him that his destiny was actually to help The Company. And both Sylar and HRG bought into it on the spot!

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