HEROES 3.08 - VILLAINS

I noticed that the comments have dropped off quite a bit on my blogs concerning 'Heroes'. So, first and foremost, I would like a show of hands (er comments) How many of you are still watching 'Heroes'? A simple "I'm not" or "I am" will do.

The sad thing is, is that I am seriously considering dropping the show myself. I would like to think that it is because of my own taste, and not because of the Anti-Heroes Bandwagon, that seems to be pulled by Entertainment Weekly.

Two weeks ago, EW listed the five ways the creators of 'Heroes' could possibly save the show. This week, there was mention of the firing of two of the show's creative consultants. According to EW, Tim Kring, 'Heroes' creator, will now carry the creative direction of the show on his shoulders, while co-producers Jesse Alexander (who has worked on 'Alias' and 'Lost') and Jeph Loeb (famous comic book writer guy) have gotten the ax. The remaining 'Heroes' writers believe that they can now streamline the idea behind the show. Though what that means for the actual plot is yet to be seen.

Tonight's episode was a disappointment. A few weeks ago, I had thought the show had reached the point where it had gotten out of the quagmire of dealing with time travel, and could focus more on events taking place in the present day. No such luck. We are treated to another "Six Months Ago" type episode, where we go back in time and see what has been going on to lead up to current events in the 'Heroes' saga.

One of the top five comic book creators out there right now, Brian Michael Bendis (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, NEW AVENGERS) , uses this approach in his story telling, the most famous of which would be the back story explanation for the Marvel Mega Crossover, going on right now, called 'Secret Invasion'. Bendis has this down pat, however. He gives you tons of moments where things are tied together, explanations are given, and the reader has a few "Oh I should have picked up on that" moments. Tonight's episode of 'Heroes' was the anti-Bendis backstory.

We cut back to a year ago, when Sylar, is consumed with guilt and is about to kill himself, Meredith and her brother Flint (great, now it turns out this Hillbilly pyromaniac is Claire's biological uncle) are being chased by the Company, and Angela is wondering what she should do about her husband and the fact that he might be plotting to kill their son, Nathan.

The only story that is both interesting and (at least for the time being) seems important to the plot is the one dealing with Angela and Arthur. Many parts of the 'Heroes' mythology have been kept vague, to limit the contradictions to the main story. One of the parts of the mythology that has always been confusing, based on its vagueness, is Angela Petrelli's involvement with the Company. Does she run it? Does she work against it? Does she care about her children, or are they expendable when considering the goals of the Company? In Season 3, we have seen Angela step up to the plate and take over the Company. This has made her seem cold and has made it seem as if she was evil all along.
Tonight's episode showed Angela's true colors, however. She chose the life of her son Nathan over the Machiavellian schemes of her husband. It turns out Angela is actually the one that "killed" Arthur in the first place.

The Sylar backstory is important to the direction that the show is going now, which is to make it seem like he is redeemable. They wanted to show that Sylar actually had a conscience at one point. If you are one of the fans, like yours truly, who believe that Sylar is far better as a villain, then tonight's episode probably just made you groan and roll your eyes a little.

The most disappointing part of tonight's episode had nothing to do with the revelations though- it was all about the editing. The show jumped around, back and forth through time, having moments that occurred ''six months" before the first season take place during the time of the very first episode of 'Heroes'. One glaring example would be the 'Death' of Arthur Petrelli. That took place "Six Months Before" the events of the first season of 'Heroes', yet, according to this episode, it happened around the time that Claire rescued a man from a train accident. That rescue took place in the first episode of the show.

Tonight's episode was another example of what the show is doing wrong- explaining things so much that it actually confuses the viewer, and changing things around, so that literally nothing seems set in stone, therefore erasing any sort of dramatic tension.