Back in 2006, one of my favorite things on TV was this little number called Heroes. It was a superhero show about these people who had powers—they just didn't know it yet. And they were mysteriously drawn together—though they weren't sure why, or how. All they knew was that there was an atomic bomb set to explode in New York City, and they had to stop it. It was pretty awesome. Which brings me to four TV seasons later, and this show that I hate. It's about these people—all of whom have worn out their welcome—who don't understand their own motivations or even remember what they said 10, maybe 15 minutes in the past. They talk about doing something for a long time, then do it, then talk about how they just did it and what it all "means." It's completely unrealistic. Oh, and they also have powers or something, sometimes. That show is called Heroes; and if you figured that out pretty easily, you're way smarter than the viewing audience Heroes is striving to engage. Yet the show trucks on, wrapping up its fourth season on Monday; and though it hasn't been renewed yet for a fifth season, given Heroes' track record of weaseling its way into line-ups at the last minute (not to mention NBC's decision to pick up another superhero show that could complement it), I'd be cautious of ruling it out. If the show's going to return, I've got a few suggestions to fix this horrible mess.
Kill Sylar
Do it. Don't find a way to get rid of his powers, don't simply make him disappear for a bit, don't put him in anyone's head (again. Ugh). Just kill him already. Kill him dead. In Season 1, Sylar was this untouchable badass with an unquenchable lust for power(s) and zero remorse—the depths of his evil knew no bounds. In short, he was the perfect villain to kick things off. Those eyebrows were so menacing! But then the show decided to keep him around, so they stripped him of his abilities and followed him in hot pursuit. Then he tried to be good, that failed, he was bad again, then good, then who knows, then sharing a brain with Nathan Petrelli, and now he's decided to ally himself with Peter and Do. Something. It's not quite clear, though it's most certainly "good" and due to that remorse he never would feel ever. The writers can flip-flop all they want, it just shines an even brighter light on the fact that they clearly have no clue what to do with the guy anymore. I get that Zachary Quinto is a popular actor, but his dramatic piano score and uncomfortably linger-y speech pattern have become tiresome. He's like that guy who graduated college a few years ago who hangs around forcing his face on underage ladies (read: Claire—oh, it happened).
While I'm at it, get rid of half the other heroes, "specials," people with abilities, or whatever the descriptor-of-the-moment is.
I know the show struggled with introducing new characters while keeping old favorites around. But at this point, Heroes can only support roughly three major storylines an episode, and there are enough people at play where multiple weeks go by between cliffhanger resolutions. If those "Previously on Heroes" openers are necessary for both newbies and long-time "fans", then it's time to cut, cut, cut—or, at the very least, relegate a few to the guest-star level of The Haitian (ahem, Renee). Thankfully, Ali Larter's animatronic Tracy Strauss seems to have all but voluntarily withdrawn, but might I suggest also significantly reducing Matt Parkman, Mohinder Suresh, Angela Petrelli, half the new characters the show plans to introduce, and Sylar. You know, cause he's gonna die, remember?
Figure out what's up with Hiro's time traveling, and stick with it.
My guess is that the writers thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if one of the people could travel through time?" Then they realized, "Oh crap, he can just go back to when [insert villain]'s in the womb and push [insert gender-specific pronoun] mother down the stairs." So they went about creating elaborate scenarios in which Hiro's time traveling ability is effectively neutralized. They sent him into the past to "learn how to be a hero"; they had him generically "break"; they even gave him a freakin' brain tumor. (No one puts Heroes writers in a corner, except themselves.) And all the while, they made it perfectly clear that Hiro couldn't go back in time to mess with the past. Until he did. To stop a guy from photocopying his butt. 47 times. Not 46, or 48, or any other integer, but 47. Oh, and then the show explained that the awesome, fluent English-speaking, samurai sword-wielding, soul patch-owning future Hiro I saw in Season 1 didn't exist, because it was a future that was stopped in the season finale. But the future from a few seasons ago, where Ando and Hiro duke it out, is totally going to still happen. If Hiro's going to be a game changer, at least figure out what game he's playing.
Make Noah Bennet less obvious about his motivations.
Sort of the counterpart to Sylar in Season 1 was Noah Bennet (or, as he'll forever be known, Horn-Rimmed Glasses guy, aka HRG). He did what he had to do to protect his family in spite of the fact that it usually included questionable deeds. As our liaison to the mysterious "Company," he remains a staple in the storytelling. His moral shadiness loses all power, though, if he tells me every two seconds what his motivation is. Yes, I understand that your "Claire Bear" might not understand that you had to let that guy go, and that you only did what you had to do to keep your family safe. I've been watching—yes, the whole run of the show, but certainly for the last 10 minutes when you said it before. It's fun to try and figure out why TV characters do the things they do; the least you can do is give me a running start.
Plan out an entire season. Not just a few episodes. This is very important.
Most comic books (this show is still supposed to mirror those, right?) make sure their readers understand the stakes right from the get-go. It gives the action a sense of purpose if you know what's in store for the heroes if they fail. We almost got that this previous go-round, when the show introduced Samuel Sullivan and the carnival of creepy wanderers/slow walkers. He was gathering heroes for a sinister purpose. It was going to be sinister and purposeful. But about halfway through, it turned out he was simply using people's abilities to woo the love of his life—whom we found out about one episode prior. Then, when that failed, he got angry and destroyed a diner with his earth-moving power—purportedly because he was sick of playing by society's rules. Even though he was gathering heroes under the guise of living amongst themselves. It was only in the next episode when someone said, "The more specials that are around, the more powerful Samuel becomes." That episode was the second-to-last of the season. If you're going to introduce this type of qualifier for his deadly ability (it rings awfully similar to that Fear-Punch guy from last season—anyone remember him?), it's, you know, good to know up front.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, stop insulting my intelligence.
I'm a savvy TV viewer. I watch my favorite shows every week, and remember roughly what happened and why it is that I'm continuing to tune in. I've seen enough drama to understand what kinds of characters I find compelling, and enough comedy to recognize when "jokes" occur. I don't know for sure, but I'm gonna venture to say if you're reading this site, you're like that too. Yet Heroes plays to the lowest common denominator—and we all know what happens when you try to divide by zero. Hey Heroes: If an idea has set sail, let it go. The more you keep the show at bay, the more I come back to the immortal words of 30 Rock's Tracy Jordan, "I'm gettin' too old for this ship."
Help save with out petitions and FB Pages!Show your support, this site is on our page to help everyone and to come together to save heroes!http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107696892607752
I agree overall (though Steve is technically wrong about the Samuel/specials relationship, which has been mentioned in at least two episodes, mid-season- including one with the dreaded Mohinder). You save Heroes by not resorting to publicity stunts like turning Claire gay You save heroes by killing characters and making them stay dead. (Drawing out the Nathan plot was ridiculous) You save Heroes by giving the audience worth-while finales, and not building to pathetic 6-second fights
Totally agree with the author. I used to be crazy about the show but after the whole WTF season 3 I didn't find the strength to watch season 4.
kill Sylar or Peter and i'm done with the show. they're my favorite characters. Kill claire and tracy and hiro and ando, they're pointless.
KILL THE CHEERLEADER; SAVE HEROES!!!!
You forgot the most important move heroes has to make: please, please, KILL THE CHEERLEADER!! I can't stand her. Can anyone?
Heroes is dead. Let it rest in peace. Too many mistakes.
But claire? I won't continue following heroes as long as she is part of it.
Eh. The show totally needs fixing, but some of the suggestions seem a bit off. I wrote my own version over on this short film site, so if anyone wants to see an alternate... and snarkier... way to fix the show, head over to here: http://www.stinkyburgerproductions.com/reviews/how-to-fix-heroes/In some ways, the ending of the season finale kinda functions as a series finale. I'm not sure how much I'd mind leaving the show as is and NOT continuing it...
The major mistake that Heroes made (and had a butterlfy effect to the rest of the series) was to end the second season abruptly thanks to the Writers Strike... from that point, the show has been a mess.If only they would've ended the second season with a cliffhanger, then resume the story at the end of the writers strike, Heroes would've been a totally different show.
Pretty much nailed this one on the head. "Heroes" S1 was great, had a great plot, characters, and overall tension that had me on edge...the season finale was spot on but come S2 something vanished and never came back.The writers/creator went dumb with the characters, especially the new ones they brought in only to waste completely (the bro/sis border journey w/ Sylar was the dumbest plot & use of characters ever), the plots got stupid, the went from having one of the best villians ever dreamed up to making his character an useless circus act. Last but not least the inner circle drama just became silly beyond even the junior high level. Heroes is a show that could've but didn't!
So damn right! I used to be a big fan when the show first came out, but really couldn't find the strength to carry on watching it once it hits season 3, the plot just isn't getting more intriguing nor addictive
You know, the show is still very enjoyable as long as you accept these are comic book stories, and not a Mad Men with powers.Only gripe I have is the constant nerfing.
I meant to say just not forever. Some of the characters have stuck around for too long as it is.
Great article. Heroes is trying to do Buffy with the teen angst and secret circle of core super powered heroes. The difference is Buffy actually had good storylines in between the angst. You knew who the big bad was early on and looked forward to the season finale showdown. <br><br>Hereos shouldn't waste it's time on angst. It doesn't do it well. Claire is begining to sound like Lana Lang and I hated the Lana Lang can't trust Clarke BS in Smallvile. What they need, as many have said is to get rid of Claire, Syler, Parkman and Mohinder. Keep HRG and have him rebuild the company without Angela. Keep Peter and give him back his powers, have Hiro and Ando as Peter's side kicks and have them fighting a big bad of the season. Get good writers so that there is a proper build up.<br><br>Maybe they will encounter other super powered people who can help them in their fight, maybe even old characters (just for forever) but no more talking about your feelings! I don't watch soaps 'cos I don't want to hear people moaning about how their life sucks. <br><br>Keep it sci-fi or can it!moreless
"It was only in the next episode when someone said, 'The more specials that are around, the more powerful Samuel becomes.'"Papa Suresh said so halfway through this season in the research film, and actually this was painfully obvious from the earliest episodes, being a former comic book guy. I mean, to complain about everything that's telegraphed, and then NOT pick this one up is pretty silly.
I couldn't agree more. Heroes is a show I want to watch, but I just can't bring myself to do it anymore. It's failed so miserably at having any kind of direction or consistency. Simplifying things and putting people clearly on one side or the other would go a long way in winning me back.
I agree with all of this. LOST, for example, is a programme where the writers had an ending in mind and actually always wanted to know when they would show it (hence the season 3 blast-off). U.S. Heroes viewers want it to continue like a soap opera and the only way in which that could work would be if they used a revolving cast like they originally planned.
They're far too attached to characters that were popular a few years back and will not get rid of them. Remember how addictive Heroes was when they killed of Issac? Just think about the amount of time Nathan has supposed to have died and how uninteresting he has become. Shame :/
Is this beside the point? Has a show EVER been "saved?" I can't think of a single show that was good, started to suck and then was revived by renewed creative direction. Heroes was one of those shows that I would DVR and then find unwatched episodes piling up. It was a chore to make myself watch them, until I remembered that tv was supposed to be fun and something you wanted to do. I gave up on Heroes somewhere in season 3. For me, I could never get over how these supposed heroes only really focused on their own kind. I guess I expected them to ultimately begin saving normal humans, but with the exception of the NYC atomic bomb storyline in season 1, we really didn't see that anymore.moreless
You've got it right, dude. On every point. I had to stop watching Heroes at the beginning of the season (it was just too much of a waste of time, and the plot was going no where). Maybe if they turn it around next season I'll give it another try, but if they keep going the way they're going, then there's not a chance. I like my seasons planned from the beginning with a surefire end-game in mind. And Heroes fails to deliver that.
I dont think I am able to start up a new season, I am board with Heroes
i agree with the find hiro's powers thing. They have seriously gone on and off with it and its total BS wen the hell does he become a badass with a sword and ponytail. within hthe next season I WANT TO SEE AN ASIAN WITH A SWORD AND PONYTAIL
i agree with the find hiro's powers thing. They have seriously gone on and off with it and its total BS wen the hell does he become a badass with a sword and ponytail. within hthe next season I WANT TO SEE AN ASIAN WITH A SWORD AND PONYTAIL
Iam really surprised that you wrote down a whole paragraph about getting Sylar killed, but, you dont mention anywhere in your review anything about Claire Bennet, probably the most annoying character ive ever met in any tv series. Another guy comments that she should get killed or grow up. Totally agree. Also Matt Parkmans family should die, so he would become a villain. Fix Hiro, and a glorious battle between Peter and Sylar. The rest i dont really care.
Full ack! I am green. No blue. No green. No red. No, still green.The show has neither direction nor purpose. And the same goes for most of the characters. Sylar is the main example for it. Twists are fine, but please, please make the characters act according to their personality, in case they happen to have one) and not in some random manner with some weird explanation why they choose to act completely different.Anyway, I think they blew it. It didn't work out and repairing it is nigh impossible.
I was a big fan of Heroes, when I first watched Season 1 until "VOLUME 3", Then until Volume "4" with this whole Nathan and the President thing and he wanting to make a change just does not make sense anymore, and what's up with Sylar still in the picture, i mean how??? how?? can he magically appear into Parker's Mind.. This whole story has gone baloney, I'll agree with what the writer says, kill Sylar.. I'll give a word of advice, watch Volume 4 and see what went wrong..
I've been watching Heroes from season 1 and I have stopped watching a few episodes into this season. I just don't find it fun to watch anymore. If other shows can keep my attention and keep me exited for all these seasons (lost, supernatural, smallville, ...) surely Heroes should be able too. But it doesn't, mostly because of the bad writers. The show started to go downhill since season 2.
hahaha :) yesthank you very muchfinally...they need to get rid of so many characters (yes, including sylar, as much as i like him)i am completely confused about hiro and co. where are they now? what? why?...just kill him already...he's getting on my nerves...
Give them a PURPOSE! Either saving the world or fighting an evil villain or something other than exploring teen angst, family drama and sexual confusion! Stop trying to broaden the audience base with mass-appeal, market research crap and dumbed-down scripts. Kill off the unecessary characters, as has been suggested. How about exploring WHY these characters have powers, other than to entertain us? Were they the result of some military experiment--as seemed to be hinted at, or some natural phenomena? Why wasn't Mohinder exploring THAT instead of all his other red herrings? Claire either needs to grow up or get killed off. Maybe she should could be captured for an entire season, and HRG could be trying to find her--leaving bodies in his wake. THAT would be more interesting than having her stomp around feigning moral outrage in between meaningful glances at her roomie. Kill Matt Parkman--he's a wuss. Have Sylar kill Matt and Angela, then Peter can kill Sylar. Bring it all to a CONCLUSION, then kill the whole show. The end.moreless
There's no sense of reality, thus no urgency. It's hard to immerse yourself in a show that leaps between ideas like an energizer bunny having a seizure, especially if there's an unbearable wait before the plots are resolved. Similarly, the new characters aren't explored to any depth and the old ones are completely different anyway, with little to no reason for the change. It has become a romp through powers and characters that would be interesting if they had a chance to shine alone. - - - - - - My diagnosis: the writers are lazy. They're using any idea that pops into their heads regardless whether it contributes to the story being told. A show like the overall concept of superhero comics would still be awesome, but here they've done it by taking what would normally be several individual comic series and cramming them together in one show. Giving the most of the characters their own spin-offs would improve this show to no end. Ditch the cheerleader, save the show.moreless
I stopped watching Heroes about 7 episodes into season three. I already had trouble with it half-way through the second, hoping the series would become good again.. eventually.. but as far as I can tell, they should have just stopped it at the first, as they've ruined it with too many characters and plots. At first it seemed Peter was the main character, but then the focus shifted around and around and around, and I just didn't care after a very short while.I was interested when Peter resurfaced, and was rooting for him to regain his memory (took too long) and was interested again when his father appeared, but at the same time there was Mohinder's stupid cockroach thing, the prophecies and time travel were pointless as said above, and finally... he lost his powers again. I knew at that point it would take too long for him to get them again, and I knew for a certainty that the writers were injecting stupid directly into their brains with syringes they bought using the first season money by adding this without finishing previous plots.Hiro was my favourite character (as opposed to Peter who was just the main character), except they messed with him too much and lost my interest.Then there was that deal with Mohinder. He turned into cockroach man and suddenly he didn't know who he was anymore? That's utter BS, they only have one power each, it's either cockroach or complete fail, not both. He seemed to handle it appropriately at first, cataloguing the changes and making observations, but how in the world did he suddenly decide eating people was a good idea for something to do in his spare time?!Despite all this plot, I found myself bored. Bored, bored, bored. There was so much going on to create tension, but I learned my lesson when I realized that all these plots floating around in my head (in vivid detail I might add) had accomplished nothing, and there was nothing of merit to look forward to thus no future in watching the show.Every episode was a disappointment, like every new character was already.- - - - - - - - - - -My heart has been pounding for the entire time I typed this, as these recollections filled me with barely-contained anger at how they could do this to a show that was so good in the first season and so good in concept. I breathe slowly and deeply now to relax, slowly letting this resentment go, and am finally able to calmly click submit.moreless
Used to watch the show faithfully. Not anymore... the episode stayed on my Hulu queue until it expired and I'm not worried at all... Time to end the show.
No amount of tweaking or retooling can save Heroes. I thought the first season had a few very clever episodes but was still largely a mess to follow. Every season after that was just unbearable. I say finish the series... assemble a new crew of top notch SF & comic writers and create a new comic book series with a definitive beginning, middle and end. The problem with North American audiences is we want series to go on forever. But sometimes it's better if a series is made to have a limited run instead of continually "adding on" or rehashing plots. I love LOST to pieces, but I am glad that this is the final season. Sometimes you just gotta write the final chapter.
wait - people are still watching this garbage? lolit's the problem with many shows - they start out great, get you hooked in season 1, then become pure 100% garbage. just like prison break, lost, or californication. heroes is no different.
I loved the first season. I completely agree that those first characters are the heart of it, especially Hiro, the "fast-healing" girl, and the mind-reading cop, though the other first-year characters were important, too. But the creators need to remember that great stories are not complex at the core. Even "War and Peace", with its many characters and their stories, were comprehensible. Hamlet's dilemma was conscience vs. injustice, played out with building intensity over five acts. We can understand that. But I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out for longer than ten minutes why anybody in "Heroes" was doing anything. I can't invest in concern about where things are going when I can't figure out how they got where they are. It just doesn't strike our chords of humanity. Tell us stories that grabs us and we'll support the series for years.moreless
just cancel this show already
Here's the problem, though. You can't change sexual preferences. I'll even go as far as to say that our orientation is encoded into our own very genes, as sexual attractions have been taught (at least in my school) to us to have originated from pherenomes receptors acquire matching attractions.
season 3 was pretty good until they change writers .
this season is pretty good ,all the characters are going on a different path. I just hate when people sit on their couch watch the show and then complain . The only reason why the show is not doing so great is because there are not doing a pretty good job with the advertising , however heroes is the most donwloaded show so fair... hmmm I wonder why??
season 3 was pretty good until they change writers .
this season is pretty good ,all the characters are going on a different path. I just hate when people sit on their couch watch the show and then complain . The only reason why the show is not doing so great is because there are not doing a pretty good job with the advertising , however heroes is the most donwloaded show so fair... hmmm I wonder why??
Gives Peter his original ability and the ones he absorbed with it back. Because at the moment, he just a little loser who needs to die.
For all of you who claims that they should kill Claire, I doubt that's possible, not because I respect her or anything, but it was stated by even Sylar that she simply cannot be killed, period. Now, if she left the series without it having to relate to death, that might be a possible way to handle it.