Heroes returns strong in Season 3
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- August
- 25
I’ve seen the Heroes season premiere, and it is good. Very good.
If you’re on the fence about this show after last season, if it’s been so long you can’t remember whether you liked this show or why, or if you’re a Heroes diehard who never doubted and never thought you’d survive a 10-month hiatus, you will be blown away by its Sept. 22 return.
The sneak preview I enjoyed last night reaffirmed for me that this show, at its best, is very, very good. It’s not perfect, but it exceeds expectations. And expectations, rightfully, are very high for a marquee show with as fat a budget and as big a following as this one.
Last year’s writers strike was almost merciful, given the sophomore slump suffered by showrunner Tim Kring & Co. (He even apologized!) Dawdling storylines like that of Maya and her twin brother and overexposure of characters like Hiro, whose act wears thin at times, kept the second time from being much of a charm.
Well, season 3 looks like it’ll get off to a very strong start. Sure, some minor annoyances persist. Hiro still seems like he’s written for the 9-15 demographic. Peter Petrelli, too, and can he brood any more?
I won’t reveal any key spoilers or plot points, but I will talk after the jump about a few surprises, so be warned.
Sylar is back. And by back, I mean, in full evil form, though he seems to have lost a little off his fastball. He meets up with an old friend and even shows he might not entirely be his old evil self after all. That’s not really clear, but he does reveal something explosive about one of our heroes that fans have pondered extensively.
Zachary Quinto is one scary guy. The more of him the better, because his act doesn’t get old for me. I don’t know how you stretch that aspect of the show out without over-relying on it, but I hope they try and succeed.
Right off the bat, timelines are out of wack, but that’s something fans have gotten used to. Old friends appear to be enemies in one reality, but it’s to be determined if that reality ever comes to bear.
Kring kindly throws fans a bone by resolving one of the biggest mysteries of the finale, and the twist is satisfyingly twisted. Again, I’m not telling, but I think you’ll all love it.
Speaking of timelines, by the way, I get nervous when Hiro and Peter jump around a lot. It begs the uncomfortable question of why they don’t always do that with every conflict. Sure time travel can make things worse, but just keep jumping and you’ll get it right eventually, right? The laws of physics would seem to no longer apply, which wouldn’t make for an interesting story necessarily, but it annoys me this way too.
A couple of random observations that probably won’t make sense until you see it:
- Claire hasn’t seen enough slasher flicks. Or she’s seen too many. One or the other.
- One of the new heroes we meet has something a lot of characters on this show lack: personality. I’d even use the word feisty. Peter’s power sponge ability is the most interesting on the show because every new trick adds an interesting twist.
- Speaking of interesting twists, dabbling in religion is certainly a novel way to go. I wonder how or even whether that’ll be developed.
- Suresh is always fumbling around in the dark, firguratively speaking. Even when he seems to know what he’s doing, he’s still flying blind. Again, figuratively.
- Ever wonder how Sylar steals powers? Well, we can rule one way out.
- The whereabouts of three main characters are very clear and yet I still have no idea where each is.
- An old enemy thought long dead returns a seeming friend. And a friend thought recently dead looks alive but is somehow unfamiliar and unfriendly.
- There’s a new symbol this season, and it’s a doozy.
Want some spoilers and some interesting clips of what could have been and may yet be? Click here and here.
This entry was posted
on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 10:08 pm by Brian Howard.
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