So. with the new fall season comes the NBC show "Heroes", a show about, well, mutants showing up and the effect they'll have on the world. While they aren't called mutants, we might as well use the word until the show gives us their name for 'em.
The pilot (which I had already seen via iTunes and other unmentionable methods before that) is pretty much a quick character intro piece and gives us the twin hooks of an impending disaster and some group of Men In Black trying to keep the Truth from getting Out There. But, we do get a good look at a majority of the cast and I presume that the final main cast members (a telepathic cop and a prisoner who can walk through walls) show up next week. As such, there's no real plot, per se, just a quick set of scenes where the character either discovers or hones their powers, and a follow up or two. I liked what I've seen, but it's really too early to tell how it'll play long term.
Since it's really a set of character intros, I'll just list 'em off and say what I thought about 'em. With the exception of the two brothers, Simone's scenes with Issac and Peter and two quick Lost-esque "crosses", none of them really meet in the pilot.
Posted by Rick Jones at September 26, 2006 6:17 PM
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I watched this last night out of curiosity with geeky hope that a new spin on superhero storytelling. I think the comparisons to Lost are apt because of so many similarities such as a large, diverse cast, a big mysterious plot, mysterious evil people, weird abilities of various cast members, conspiracy, and so on. Lost handles the character introductions better, though. They were bold enough to introduce everyone slowly and go back over and over their pasts to build up a better and better picture of them.
Heroes jumps right into the main plot headlong and establishes connections in a quick way that I hope will pay off. Being very plot focused and determined to slather on as many main characters as possible, it left little room for any real emotional connection. Lacking the mind-bending opening of Lost that did a good job of bringing this disparate cast together and give us a huge emotional hook, this has lots of little events that on their own would have been good episode fodder in their own right. We will have to see how they develop them.
The part that made me have initial doubts was the Indian professor who was spouting exposition and preaching the show's premise and then is told that his father died. Instead of any emotional response we immediately jump headlong into his plot to seek out his works and become a cabby in the process. It would have been nice to see, oh, him be sad or at least mixed emotionally because it was clear they weren't close. But still, it was his pop.
That said, the other characters intrigued me enough to come back to see what happens next. Hiro was also my favorite but I liked the Cheerleader's story, too..until we found out who her dad was( hope that plays out well but have concerns on that end).
Will this become an ensemble "Smallville" with a wacky new villain every weeky and a mix of "Men in Black" sort of conspiracies? Or will it really embrace its geeky potential and do something different? I will give it a few episodes to see how it plays out with reservations.
Question: is the artist character's name really Issac or is that a really persistent typo?
I enjoyed the show. The focus seemed more on who these people were rather than just showing off powers and special effects. I see a lot of comparisons to Lost but there doesn't seem to be all the ambiguity and lack of resolution that has driven me away from lost.
The origin of their powers seems pretty much a riff on the old Scanners plot, at least that is what I am extrapolating from the "Genesis" files that were seen in one snippet. It is pretty clear who the good guys and who the bad guy is. Probably the usual big, bad government story.
If they are smart they will resolve the whole end of the world plot quickly and then move on to smaller story arcs.
People are already leery of lengthy conspiracy stories after Lost has failed to really answer any questions for so long.
The ending of the show reminded me of the old joke they used to make about acid trips: "Remember, kids, if you think you can fly, first try taking off from the ground!"
A friend pointed out that Creepy Glasses Guy may not actually be the villain...he could easily be a goodguy on a parallel track who's being set up to seem really sinister to the viewers, but always in ways that let them later reveal he's actually on the side of the angels.
Of course, I figure his life expectancy after being revealed to be a good guy can be measured in minutes, if not FRAMES.
The ending of the show reminded me of the old joke they used to make about acid trips: "Remember, kids, if you think you can fly, first try taking off from the ground!"
What if you only think you can glide? :-)
Simple test. Put yourself on a bungie cord. You can attempt gliding/flying and if it doesn't work no harm done. Of course one of the tenets of ALL tv is that plots are so poorly done and characters so poorly developed that the only way for anything to work is for the audience to accept the idea that everyone is incredibly stupid. Of course given the state of the real world, that isn't that hard to believe either.
I loved the first ep of heroes. But a question has been plague-ing me for a few days. Is Peter really a superhero or is it just his brother, not him, who can fly? Or can they both fly? Its driving me nuts. (Plus im in Australia and we are so behind tv wise, so im hanging to download the next one when it becomes available online).
Dani, I have the same nagging question that you do, and I think the creators of the episode want us to be wondering about this very issue.
My guess at this stage is that both of them can fly, but that Peter is plagued by self-doubt that is preventing him from cleanly accessing his power (probably there's a scene coming where Peter will have to fully utilize his power or powers to save his brother or save the city or whatever, and he'll finally be able to do it).
That's just conjecture, but it seems reasonable. It will be incredibly dramatically unsatisfying if it turns out that Peter doesn't have any powers and he's stuck living in his brother's shadow once again.
A couple of data points worth considering. First, the painting that Peter sees of himself shows him taking off to fly (I believe). It doesn't look like someone simply jumping off a building (not that the creators couldn't ultimately ignore this). Second [VERY MINOR SPOILER], in a commercial for the show, we see Adrian telling Peter that Peter can fly too, but of course that could just be Adrian trying to make Peter feel better (again, that possibility seems weak to me).
The sense I got was that the entire episode was built around making us think Peter could fly, but the big reveal was that he can't fly -- but Adrian can. It seems to me that Peter has some sort of empathic power that let him "tune in" on his brother's ability to fly.
My guess is this question will be resolved in tomorrow's episode.
And by Adrian, of course, I mean Nathan -- who is played by Adrian Pasdar.
Jason--
I saw the pilot twice and couldn't remember the characters' names afterwards either time, except Hiro. So no worries about getting it wrong. :-)
I only hope they move away from the "10% of our brains" myth. I actually cringed when the writer put that in the mouth of a scientist giving a lecture....
Heh, I think I led Jason astray because I was calling Adrian's character "Adrian." :-)
Jason, you may well be right, but I thought the reveal was a bit of a setup and my gut says that Peter will indeed fly at some point, but I could be completely wrong.
Jonathan, totally agree on the "10% myth," but what are you gonna do? It's like cars exploding on impact in Hollywood, you just have to roll your eyes and let it pass.
I wasn't going to throw you under the bus, Chris, but since you outed yourself, I'll admit I was just following your lead on that whole Adrian/Nathaniel thing (I couldn't remember the character's name, saw your reference to Adrian, and went from there ...)
Does anyone have any idea what powers the single mom in Vegas has? Can she make duplicates of herself? Does she hulk-out? Is she another Thor clone?
My theory is that she's basically a smarter version of the Hulk who doesn't have any memories of what she does in her Hulk state.
Of course, we all saw who on-target I was with my Peter/Nathaniel theory, so maybe you shouldn't be paying attention to my theories.
I was just wondering if anyone else was concerned with the seemingly ultimate powered serial killer and the slicing of heads in half in order to steal thier brain.
I think it's three characters: Super Hannibal, Mr. Freeze, and the brain-sucking alien from the Starship Troopers movie.
Seriously, though, I'm not even going to speculate on what Uber-Killer guy can do at this point, or if he's working alone or what his agenda is (if any other than simply killing).
The serial killer is with the pro-super hero registration faction.
Is it me or is this show going at a snail's pace? I could have sworn that the first 15 to 20 minutes was a recap of what happened last week.
lol! Maybe so. I guess I'm too used to "Lost" where there's much activity but little plot advancement from episode to episode (not unlike modern decompressed comic books).