Commentary News

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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You can probably tell by the tone of our recent Heroes episode guides, but we're as displeased with this season as many critics of the show.

Every week, tiny steps are taken in the advancement of story lines, but countless minutes are wasted to get us there. Take last night: By the end, we were intrigued by a deserted New York City and an evil, pissed off Kensei.

But we almot fell asleep during the build up to those pay offs, as the two main Heroes on the show - Hiro and Peter - have been anything but heroic for a solid six episodes now. Simply put, it's been incredibly boring.

Instead of just bashing the series and praying for a return to Season One glory, however, let's review various characters, their problems so far this season and the ways we'd amp up their story lines in order to make Heroes, you know, interesting and exciting again...

Mohinder: Wasn't the plan for the doctor to help take down The Company from the inside? Has he done anything along those lines yet? Even last night, when he finally stood up to Bob and refused to inject Monica with a strain of the virus, it was rather overt. No real suspense there.

Mohinder needs to start taking action. Instead of merely showing the Adam Monroe file last night, why not have Suresh sneak in and steal it later in the episode? Cue the dramatic music, show Bob walking down the hall, Mohinder scrambling to swipe the file before he's caught... anything that reeks of intrigue in an angle that, so far, has shown us nothing but Mohinder following orders and making faces.

Claire/West: Many in our Heroes forum are guessing that West will turn on Claire eventually, and we agree. But can we please get there already? Do we really need an entire episode focused around some inane plot to get Claire onto the cheerleading team?

And do we really need her and her father distrustful of one another again? Been there, done that, seen these two make up in the first season. We know Claire can regenerate body parts, but we have no interest in watching her regenerate story lines.

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Heroes is huge.

After just one season on the air, the show is sending its cast around the world, while also spawning trading cards, video games and even an already-planned spin-off, Heroes: Origins.

Matthew Gilbert the Boston Globe, therefore, couldn't help but ask: is this way too much, far too soon, for a series just getting off the ground? Here are excerpts from the article:

To me, it's as if NBC is pressing Heroes into child labor. The network is working the show like a mature blockbuster - on the order of CSI or Lost - too soon. Underneath all the great expectations, there is just a wee sci-fi TV series whose unformed back is carrying too much weight.

Heroes has great potential, based on much of its first season, to be special and enduring. But, like many new series, it still needs refining and tender loving care before it deserves to be turned into a synergistic linchpin. Its Emmy nomination this summer for outstanding drama series came too soon.

Every week, it seems, NBC releases yet another tidbit of obviously targeted casting news, to reach the cult- and comic-book-minded. The latest name is Kristen Bell (from Veronica Mars), who follows David Anders (from Alias), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from Star Trek), Dominic Keating (from Enterprise), and many others onto the show.

Viewers who've watched the series loyally know that if there's one thing Heroes emphatically does not need, it's more characters. By May's abysmal season finale, the plot had sprawled too far and too wide to fit together satisfactorily, and the rules governing the many characters' magical abilities had become convoluted and random.

The hour was busy, crowded, and empty all at the same time.

Lost tried the same trick in its second season, trying to open up the story to new viewers by adding new characters, and it failed miserably. Older fans wanted to see more of the original ensemble, and most of the newer faces did not entice.

Now, Lost has wisely returned its focus back to its core group. With too many come-and-go characters such as Claude the invisible man, Heroes will only become more chaotic, and more diffuse.

Follow our link to read the full Heroes article.

And let us know if you agree with any of its points.