I love this episode, if only because I’m a big, big fan of Hiro. Or maybe it’s actually Masi Oka in real life, as he’s a programmer that can do so much more. (I was once a straight-up coder as well.)
I know there’s a lot going on this week, but if you have the chance, why not check this ep out and join me here to discuss?
Hey Chuck, I have been wanting to post about heroes for a while now. I started watching the show based on the GWC recommendation and found it to be engrossing at first but a real let down at the end of season one. The two characters I really enjoyed were, of course, Hiro (and Ando) and Peter Petrelli. I have to tell you that none of the other characters really grabbed me and I found myself wanting to “get through” their stories because I just couldn’t empathize with them.
And the villans well, weren’t that great to say the least. Is Sylar even scary, or is he just a pathetic worm? After the conclusion to season one, I did not feel like he was an effective villan, just a shmo walking towards a forshadowed destiny and a lot of sensless and (perhaps unecessary) killing along the way. And Bob the suburban Dad/ Government Lackey/ Villan was, in my humble opinion, really uncompelling as both a villan and a reformed “hero”. Most of the time I just wanted to smack these people. I mean Mohinder, how naive is this guy?
I don’t know, I guess the whole show just left me feeling empty at the end. Like a rollar coaster ride that goes up and up, only to go down a VERY small hill. Everything from the 100% foreshadowing of the entire plot, to the throwaway setup for the second season left me wanting.
Sorry for the rant. I do think the idea behind the show is really cool and some great characters are there; however, they have just been executed so poorly in much of the show.
Ok, let me have it.
dave
To me, the whole cutting people’s heads open is very scary indeed. But I agree, he doesn’t have the villanous depth of, say, Vader.
Also, I’m really sorry I didn’t find the time to post extensive comments for this and the last episode, I’m watching Firefly for the first time now and wow, new Firefly is just cooler than old Heroes. I hope I’m forgiven for that and I promise to get back to the Heroes re-watch after I’m through with Firefly.
Wow, watching Firefly for the first time. I’m jealous! By all means take the time to savor every awesome moment.
dave
FWIW, Dbhyde71, I can understand your reaction. It’s much more a comics-style story than other TV shows, which (to me) means that the good guys aren’t always good (or good for the right reasons) and the bad guys aren’t all bad (or are bad for, say, good reasons). The only full-on villain in the show is Sylar, and we even get to see a little bit about why he’s the way he is – though it certainly doesn’t justify things.
For the rest of them, it’s entertaining to me to see them forced to deal with their “gift.” It’s very X-Men-ish – you’d jump at the chance to be able to do the things they can do, but it rarely works out well for them. And the pain of seeing them head off the wrong direction because they’re convinced it’s right is part of the joy of comics.
I’m definitely with you on this one.
I enjoyed this episode for the reasons already stated, that is, Hiro is just too cute. He’s like a teddy bear!
I guess for me Heroes is just not as thought provoking as other shows (read: BSG and Firefly), and certain characters just annoy me no end. I guess I’m just disappointed in that the show had so much potential to be really challenging and in some ways subversive, and it just didn’t do that.
It makes it worse, the opportunity for change and coolness that I just don’t see happening. Race and gender could be really interestingly problematized in the show (class would be cool too…) but it isn’t. I would think that in a show about identities and figuring out where you are in the world would do more with that. So yes, Heroes is/has been disappointed expectations for me.
That said, it’s still pretty fun sometimes. And it’s better than a lot of other stuff out there. Especially when certain characters (ahem Peter Petrelli?!) just turn hot. That was nice.
Also for anyone who has Netflix, you can watch episode by episode on your computer of Season 1. It was quite nice not to have to wait for the DVDs in the mail, if you’re ok with the most basic things.
~casilda