2 posts tagged “heroes”

Heroes

I want to talk about TV tonight.  So be forewarned.  This is the first.  Spoiler alerts.

HEROES

• Mohinder: Is this guy the most clueless guy on Earth?  As a scientist, I would expect him to be a bit smarter and more logical.  Instead, he just amazes me week after week with his naivete.  He goes to NY and decides to stay in the apartment where his father was murdered, AFTER some strange dude showed up carrying a gun and finding out the apartment was tapped.  He doesn't trust Mr. Bennett, who says he knows about the heroes and can help them, but decides calling the FBI with this information was the smartest thing to do.  Hasn't he watched movies or TV? Doesn't he understand that trying to make normal law enforcement agencies understand that people have special powers probably isn't going to work.  And he knows some psycho named Sylar is out there killing people for their powers, including Eden, the girl next door that he took at face value almost up until the day she died.  Yet he just randomly starts getting in touch with people on the list and just shows up with no back up, completely trusting whoever it is that answers the door.  And now, he's wandering around with weirdo Sylar who, surprise, surprise, has killed another hero right under Mohinder's nose and the idiot doesn't even consider the fact that maybe "Zane" is that psycho.
• Peter:  He's surprising me.  Initially, I was bored with him.  It was like, fly already!  Tell someone!  Do something except wander around and try to convince your brother you can fly and then keep dreaming about it.  I'm still not sure how I feel about him.  I don't think he's all that hot and I personally think he's bit of a whiner.  Okay, the sensitive type, I guess.  Whatever.  I'm liking him a bit more now that Claude is helping him learn to control his powers and he's getting a handle on them.  But maybe that's because I like Claude.  But last night, when Peter stop the tasers and then flew away.  Awesome!  I can't quite figure out if he's stronger than Sylar because he's absorbed all of his powers but they seem pretty evenly matched.  Eventually, you know there's going to be a face off between the two of them.  Should make for awesome TV.
• Issac: I love the fact that he finally learned to do his paintings without shooting up.  But I think he got the short end of the stick.  You know he genuinely loved Simone and yes, she did what she had to do because it didn't look like he was going to get better.  But he finally cleaned things up and she was still not all about him.  She had suddenly fallen deep in love with Peter and frankly, I don't believe it.  The chemistry between Peter and Simone is no where near the chemistry between her and Issac.  And I'm interested to see where things will go between Peter and Issac now that he accidentally shot and killed Simone.  Frankly, Peter could whop Issac's ass, as we saw he almost did last night.  He's got a crap load of active powers and Issac just paints.  But I don't want this to turn into a whole Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine thing.  So Simone's dead, but there's still going to be all of that tension between the two.  It doesn't bode well for the future.
• Nathan:  I thought Nathan was an ass from the beginning.  But he's grown on me over the past few weeks.  I still wish he would embrace his kick ass power but that will come in time.  I think they've shown a nice soft side of him that makes him more likeable and human.  He's motivated by his career and by power.  Can't blame him.  We've all been there - where we want something so bad we'd do anything to get it.  I wasn't too surprised that he was Claire's father.  I figured it would be him or Linderman.  There had to be a tie there somewhere.  And he seemed like he really wanted to see her but knew better, for the sake of his family and his career.  Had he known about her, I can imagine he would have supported her, if even monetarily.  And I know all he wants to do is to protect Peter.  I'm just interested to see what his role in this whole "end of the world" storyline is going to turn into.
• Claire: Poor, poor Claire.  What a time she is going through.  While most girls are worrying about boys and makeup and stuff, she's worrying about the fact that she can't be hurt, that her mom is pretty much brain dead because her dad kept erasing her memory and whether or not she should be trusting her father.  Plus, there's the whole finding out that her real mother is a human lighter and her real father doesn't want to see her.  And there's the fact that the one good friend she had in the world had his memory erased.  Oh, and now the three "crazies" (Matt, Ted and Wireless) have showed up in their house pointing guns at them.  She still has the most kick ass power though.
• Matt: I really feel for Matt too.  All he wants to do is to make something of himself and support his family.  Between his bad run of luck with the police force and his newfound powers, he's just not having any luck.  And to be honest, it's changing him.  We see him take the diamonds last week because he knows he just going to get in trouble if he gives it to the cops.  They're not going to believe him.  He's stronger.  He's not letting people walk all over him.  He looks like he's going to kick some ass this season.  The fact that people are treating him like crap just got the best of him and now he's looking out for just himself and his family.  No more Mr. Nice Guy!  And while deep down he wants to do what's best for everyone and find out the truth, I think it's going to be interesting to see the unconventional methods he takes in finding out this information.
• Nikki/Jessica & family: First off, Micah was a brat when his mom was in jail.  He bitched at her before about how his dad was a good person and she needed to be nice to him.  Then, when his dad was taking care of him, he bitched at him about he wasn't as good as his mom.  Aside from that, Micah and DL's powers are pretty cool.  Nikki/Jessica is getting kind of old.  The whole Jessica as an assasin thing - not so much.  Particularly when she was hunting that guy Matt was protecting in a tight fitting suit and high heeled boots.  Because that's practical assasin clothing.  Anyway, I'm interested to see where the whole thing with Nathan as the mark is going.  And I'm interested to see how they tie Nikki/Jessica and her family into the whole end of the world thing.  They are the only ones to have yet to be more completely integrated with the rest of the heroes.  How they play into the scenario should be interesting. And I'm also interested to see who finally takes over: Nikki or Jessica.
• Hiro:  I love Hiro!  Love, love him.  He is the only one who seems to fully embrace his destiny and understands that he needs to develop his powers.  I just wish he could get his sword.  And I want to see him be less naive.  Because between him and Ando they sure do get themselves in trouble.
  
  Final Thoughts: Every week I want more and that's, of course, what the shows wants from you.  I want to see all the heroes come together.  I want to see the end of the world storyline come to a close.  I want to see how all the connections play out and see if Sylar eventually self-destructs.  I want more!
  
  Oh, and I love the whole alliance of Matt, Ted ("Radioactive Man") and Wireless.  What a cool power Wireless has!

NBC, Mondays, 9pm

Heros is Super Duper

Wow!  Wowowowowowowowowowow! WOW!  This show looked good but I didn't expect it to be THAT good.  But it blew me away.  I thought it was going to be something like Fantastic Four or X-Men and it kind of was.  But better in a different way.  I was impressed with about everything I saw - the writing, the directing, the character development, the actors and I think what I liked most about the show is that it's set on a common man level and it really has a way of making you believe that things like this can happen to normal, ordinary people.

They also did really well with creating the backstory for each of the characters while not scrimping on the drama.  there's Niki (Ali Larter), a camwhore from Vegas trying to make ends meet for her and her son who discovers that she sort of an alter ego in her mirror image and that ego has a mind of its own.  Claire (Hayden Panetierre), a high school cheerleader from Texas (Odessa, to be precise, which is the town that the movie and the book "Friday Night Lights" is set in, which is also another new NBC series this fall), who pretty much thinks she's a freak because she's virtually indestructible (trust me, she tried - she jumped from four stories, walked in a burning building and stuck her hand down a garbage disposal).  Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) keeps having dreams that he can fly and tries to convince his brother that he might be special enough to be able to.  Hiro (Masi Oka) has figured out how to stop time and ultimately transport himself through sheer willpower.  And Issac (Santiago Cabrera), a drug addict who can somehow paint the future.

Watching these people discover their hidden talents is not only fun and exciting but at times, nailbiting and triumphant.  You want them to succeed because the story is so well written that you are rooting for them and you begin to believe that they really are meant to be special.  Claire, the cheerleader, runs into a burning building just to test her abilities, perhaps to prove herself wrong, but ends up dragging a man out while on fire!  Instead of hanging around, she runs around and you can feel her awkwardness and fear because in high school, anything weird like that will ultimately label you as a freak.  Hiro is an amazingly awesome character to because he has a bit of flair and he seems to have a much better understanding of the code of superheroes - never use your powers for personal gain, use them for good.  A hero must test their powers and learn where they stand before they be great and help the world.  All of the scenes with him in it were so fun to watch and exciting because you knew he was on his way to doing something major.  At the same time, you get a bit of mystery because with Niki, you weren't exactly sure what to expect, just that weird things were going on in the mirror.  Until she has a run in with some nasty goons and well, as not to ruin it for those of haven't watched it yet, let's just say I'd like a guardian angel like she has.  Finally, the huge shocker is Peter's ability to fly.  We were on the edge of our seats as we watched him stand high atop a building and call down to his brother that it was his turn to be special.    And well, not going to ruin that either, but we were completely shocked at what happened and how his super powers came to be.

The best part is every bit of the storyline is weaved together.  There's a genetics professor, Mohinder Saresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), whose father's disappearance leads him to New York to uncover his secret theory that there are people with super powers.  He begins to make connections, because it seems that his father already knew about a lot of these people, and Peter ends up getting into a cab driven by him and begins talking about people's ability to be special.  Peter is also the hospice nurse for an old man whose daughter is dating Issac, the artist who can see the future.  Issac recently painted scenes of both Peter jumping off the building and the burning oil rig that Claire ran into.  Hiro's friend is a loyal viewer of Niki's webcam show.  And those are just the similarities for now.  As it seems, in upcoming weeks, they are obviously all connected in some way and them finding out how is going to be a major thrill ride.

Finally, with good you need evil and it seems there is a random guy who not only had something to do with the disappearance of Mohinder's father but also ending up popping into his cab in New York after Peter got out.  He made a few too specific remarks for Mohinder about his father and his work, prompting the professor to stop the cab and run out across the street.  But here's the real treat: this "evil" main is connected in a very personal way to one of the other characters, which should prove to be rather exciting in the weeks to come.

Overall, I thought it was amazing!  Steve did too and there's not many shows he takes too.  Even more, there's not many shows he gets really involved in and excited about and this was definitely one of them.  I thought the cuts to the different scenes at major dramatic moments would get old, but they did the exact opposite and made me want more.  I'm so excited because this show gives me something different to get excited about - I mean, I love my dramas and reality shows, but this is the kind of adventure I need on Monday nights.  Between that and Prison Break, Mondays are the next best thing ...

After Thursdays, of course.  :-(