What I'm Watching: Heroes (Fall Finale)

Heroes: Season 2, Episode 11 “Powerless” (F)

I am going to try to go point-by-point through this episode and its characters and attempt to avoid going on too long a rant, but I doubt I can stop myself. First off, Adam and Peter all really not a good pair for a number of reasons. Them walking down the Primatech Paper hallway looking like they are too cool for school is obnoxious. Adam wielding his sword to knock out security guards makes him look like an idiot. And Peter more often than not looks confused. Worse still, Peter’s extreme trust placed in other people seems so arbitrary. He so easily takes Adam and even knocks out Hiro (which was pretty lame) before instantly changing his mind to believe Nathan. He also makes a big show about getting to the virus in time (more on convenient timing later), but the writers continue to fail to capitalize on the fact that Peter is insanely powerful and can stop time at will and go back and stop the virus from being released. Making him seem too human and building Adam up is not a smart choice. As far as Hiro’s choice to inter Adam (in the 16th century, I thought) is clever but more than a bit morbid and atypical of Hiro’s kind nature. At least he did not kill him, I suppose.

I am tired of the Company. I never thought that a shady, all-manipulating organization called the Company could be any worse than the one from “Prison Break”, but now it comes close. Since Adam was the one who did want to release the virus, now suddenly the Company is no longer villainous? H.R.G.’s decision to come back and work for the Company makes little sense, as he is sure to prove untrustworthy for Bob’s purposes. Elle is also a loose cannon who needs to grow up a bit, heal that arm, and stop whining about impressing Daddy. She was a fascinating character back when she was just out of control, but this has gotten a bit much to handle. Her actions in this episode are so forced – she just happens to break into her dad’s office and pleasantly come upon the fact that Mohinder is under surveillance just as Sylar turns around tot look at the camera? So much for Elle and Sylar teaming up, as I had hoped. Oh right, I forgot, the Company are the good guys. Or are they?

It is always a token of good writing when a sneak attack such as Elle’s on Sylar is preceded by a loud shouting of the opponent’s name to alert him. How Sylar managed to grab the virus while lightning was being shot at him is a puzzle to me. I hate “Heroes” for its constant cheating – it purports that it will kill off characters but continually lies through its teeth and brings them all back. Sylar was the first, then H.R.G., and Maya only had to wait about a minute and a half before she was back on her feet and crying. If the show refuses to allow its characters to die and move on, each season will become cyclical and no developments will ever be made. Maya seems to have the same trust issues as Peter, i.e. baseless faith in people which changes right away for no reason. She went from cooking in someone’s apron (Matt’s, I am sure) to shouting at Sylar and getting herself shot then speedily revived. Sylar’s injection of himself to return his powers is another matter entirely, and I will discuss that at the end.

The infusion of far too many new characters was one of the biggest problems fans had with season two. What might have made it work, had it been done better, is that the characters finally came together. Adam, Maya, and Elle all had purposes which brought them to the other heroes. But I still fail to see the relevance for Monica as well as her cousin and aunt. Each time Micah popped up on screen talking about how he talked to the phone and told it to turn on (not cute! Just annoying!), I thought to myself how completely unrelated their story was. I never cared for Niki, as should be clear from my reviews, but she at least was slightly interesting when she was working for Linderman or when Micah was brought in to help create a landslide election for Nathan. Once again, the not-so-dynamic duo, a.k.a. Electric Boy and Woman-with-no-Powers, find Monica and that unsubtle red van just in the nick of time. Put some faith in our characters and their abilities and do not make their jobs so painfully easy! What really gets me is that we did not see Niki die. We saw Sylar, H.R.G, and Maya die and now they are all back. I really hope that writers take a cue and cut that entire storyline out. I cannot possibly imagine what use they would have for Niki come next season.

In terms of new directions, I got pretty excited towards the end of the episode. Claire going public would have been distracted because there probably would have been aggressive cheerleading and pathetic speech-giving involved, but Nathan doing so, in his political capacity, could have been excellent for the show. The show could have become more like “X-Men” or “Spider-Man” with the heroes coming together and really saving the world, rather than just shouting at each other’s minds (I am talking to you, Matt and Peter!). I do not see where the show can possibly go now. Worst of all, the last minute shows that the show is exactly back where it started.

Sylar was the villain of season one and they took him down; they stopped him. Now, after an entire season of people running around and saying stupid things, nothing has changed and Sylar is back in power. Much as Nathan annoyed me, he is the one who could most have inspired change for both the fictional world in the show and the show itself. After opinions were shifted just half an hour ago, the Company is suddenly evil again as Angela Petrelli orchestrates the murder of her own son (not the one she wanted to kill twenty minutes ago, of course). Volume three is titled “Villains” yet both of the supposed villains who would seem to be the Company and Sylar, who each had their seasons to shine. This season’s supposedly spooky Boogeyman proved to be nothing more than a grumpy old man. Mass murderer Adam was really just a pissed-off British guy who spoke Japanese. Elle, who might not even be a villain, could have been compelling had her maturity level not been lowered to an impossible point.

What could possibly be in store for the show next? I have no idea. My recommendation would be to scrap the whole Niki clan, get rid of Claire, introduce some kick-ass new villains, and emphasize the heroes teaming up more rather than getting into scrapes with each other. This show had some great episodes last year and even used new characters well (Claude and the exploding guy, for instance). I am hoping that creator Tim Kring’s realization that volume two sucked will lead him to reinvigorate the show’s third set of episodes, which should begin next fall or possibly earlier, depending on when the strike ends and how much faith NBC still has in the show.

Volume Two grade: F