Heroes 3x22 "Turn and Face the Strange" Discuss and Grade

^Good point, though we did see a little more of BB than we did of Dorn.

 

^This is nothing new. Remember the big deal they made out of Nichelle Nichols back in Season 2?



Me neither.

 

None of the semi-big names they cast rarely get a substantive role. They usually are small or amount to nothing other than a cameo--Dominic Keating, The Greatest American Hero, Nichelle Nichols, Joanna Cassidy, George Takei, Swoosie Kurtz, Seth Green, Michael Dorn etc etc. On another serialized arc we might have confidence they will play a more important role later on even if at first they seem a little pointless to the story. Here it is more of a game of casting as many genre actors as possible. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Bruce Boxleitner might return next season.

 

They need to seriously recast this show. Half, if not all of the cast is now useless.

*sighs* It had promise.

God! Claire's entire family needs to go. Her mom is so freaking annoying as well.

There is maybe one or two cast members I really care about anymore.

 

Please, if they did that then the fans who remain would just howl their guts out over how they got rid of everyone and how they hate the new cast (no matter how good they are) and it was a sell-out.

 

I'm not sure I get this idea that killing off half the cast will somehow fix this show. Going back to developing them as characters will do that.

I certainly can't believe people want to have Sylar, the show's most interesting and best developed character, killed off.

 

This probably makes me shallow, but one of the things that is irritating me the most right now is Hayden's horrible wig. These days we have the capacity to make wigs that look so much better than what she's being put in. The color is off, and the shape is unnatural. It makes her face look too round - which considering her structure is NOT a feature you want to enhance. I don't know, it's just driving me slightly crazy. Bring back her real hair!

 

Because poor writing has for me damaged the characters where I am indifferent or am annoyed with all but one or two. It might be different if it had been an isolated instance of bad characterization but it has been pervasive and unrelenting over the better part of a season.

At this stage, I'm just not into the characters. Everytime I look at them I see all the bad writing that came with them. At this point I don't know if a sudden change would spur any sort of rekindled interest in them. And since the writers would have to essentially start from scratch given what has been done to them I think it would just be better to start with actual brand new characters instead of rebooting previously existing ones in an effort to get me to care. Plus new characters won't have all that baggage.

And given the continued ratings slip compared to what the show had in season one I think I might want to try to recover those who left who clearly weren't that invested in these characters to stick around and I would also want to attract new audience members who might have been intimidated trying to jump into such a complicated show by telling them the show is introducing an all new cast and is relaunching anew. Afterall, this was the original intent by Kring until the network stepped in.

Maybe we can attribute some of Heroes' problems to the fact NBC interfered with Kring's plans of revolving casts. Who knows how that might have altered storylines.

Sylar was interesting in season one. Now he is not that compelling or interesting--his Maya phase, his going to work for Angela, his being a daddy, him falling in love with Elle before deciding to rip her head open, his boring search for his real dad, his bonding with Luke. Frankly, his snearing has gotten tired. Some of what I read about upcoming episodes sounds potentially interesting but just going on the last two seasons I'm unimpressed. We need a new fresher more interesting adversary.

I don't really see a lot of Hiro fans or Claire fans or Ando fans or Tracy fans or Suresh fans or Sylar fans threatening to bolt if the writers dare kill off their characters. I've mostly heard complaints about childish silly Hiro, bratty bitchy Claire. I liked Niki but most people didn't like her and I see there is even less of an interest in further Tracy stories. Suresh is pretty much universally bashed. I like Angela but I don't think there is a big fan base for her. Matt generates a lot of "meh". Was there a backlash when Eden was killed off or Micah was written out or Linderman was out in a few episodes?

The only two I could possibly see causing a stir are Nathan and Peter and that coming more from fangirls who are more interested in how hot they both look without their shirts on.

 

^ I liked Niki too. The Niki/Jessica story kept me engaged because I had no clue what in the world would explain her situation. When Niki merged the Jessica personality into her own, that was fine. I hated losing D.L. But I loved the blonde twig being the one with super strength. And I liked her character, the way she desperately loved and fought for her son.

When Niki died and the writers brought Tracy into the picture, Ali Larter became completely uninteresting. It was only in Tracy's last episode that Ali got my attention again and finally made me feel something. I think they mainly kept her around to ... actually, I don't know why they kept her around. Early Tracy was dressed and coiffed in the most unattractive way possible. It was only later that they took her out of the business suits and made her sit around looking all hot & sweaty. By then that seemed to be all the character was good for.

 

It doesn't make you shallow. I complained about it last week. It's very distracting. Especially when you consider how much $$$ they are pouring into this show. Just show her with her real hair short. They are fugitives after all. What better way to change your appearance than with a haircut?

 

Above Average. These last few episodes are finally righting this water-logged wreck, but it might be too little too late. I don't want to get a fresh set of characters entirely, just write these ones better. You can keep Claire if you write her well, she's got a useful power with a well-established pedigree. Bring back Molly, more Micah. Bring back Tracy Strauss only if she's in the vein of "Cold Snap."

I'm still invested in the show, especially after these last few weeks, but please, tie this useless volume up and give us some better direction.

I was one of those that was pissed when the show killed off Eden and Ted - but their deaths were well done and served the story well. D.L.? Still disappointed at his wasted potential. Character deaths now? Where's the drama and why do I care about these people? If it wasn't for that last scene, Daphne's passing would've been almost entirely un-noteworthy, and that's a shame.

 

Frankly I'm tired of character deaths. I prefer them to be few and far between and treated with more care than that of a noname extra. Nowadays they are a dime a dozen and everyone is expecting them and it has undercut their impact. The show needs a smaller ensemble and to balance character and plot better. Don't be too densely-plotted. By cutting down on the number of threads covered the writers can actually have longer scenes and can focus and develop a few characters instead of the rapid jumping around. This would allow more time to develop a meaningful and interesting romance or allow us to really come to care for a character so if you did kill them off it would carry some resonance. Don't let plot overwhelm the characters and don't do away with plot altogether either.

I think adopting a season long arc next year would help. Don't try to be as ambitious like LOST, be more of a straightforward traditional serialized drama with three or four season long threads. Don't have dozens and dozens of unnswered questions and all sorts of confusion bewildering the audience. Have each episode build on what happened before with each episode ending on one or two intriguing cliffhangers that make us want to tune into the next episode. Introduce a few guest stars that will be there throughout the season to spark some interesting dynamics with the regular characters. Stop with wasting semi-big names on mere cameos.

Writing needs to improve--Don't be so obvious or cliched or predictable. Be a little more creative and imaginative. Don't just fall back on well worn comic staples for inspiration for storylines.

 

To use tvtrope terms, Sylar's a karma houdini and a Draco in Leather Pants. He's killed too many innocent people to be redeemable and it's just bizarre he gets to go off and live happily ever after when all is said and done.

 

It's the same problem with Spike on Buffy. This man is a unrepentant mass murderer and there is no valid in-story reason for the heroes to spare his life when they catch him... but because he's popular with the fans he gets kept alive. And unfortunately that means ridiculous filler stories like not having his powers and running around with Nikki and Paulo or thinking Angela is his mommie and trying to be good or bonding with his fake dad Arthur or going on a road trip with an annoying little **** to find his long lost daddy.

 

I think they could've gone somewhere with Sylar and his so-called hunger if he only killed people with powers. But now that he's probably killed just as many normal people, where do you go with him other than the daytime soap opera cliche of the bad guy becoming good and suddenly everyone forgets about his 500-page police file.

 

I don't think they'll do that, it's not like any of the cast really feel any sympathy or friendship for him. Danko is only having him since he's great as a Hunter.

As for Spike, I think after he got his soul back it became more muddled for him because Vampires with souls essentially are entirely separate creatures from normal Vampires. Vampires are demons who took over/merged with the corpses of humans bitten by Vampires, Vampires with souls are the original human souls suppressing the demon that took over their body, while gaining the demon's memories. So souled Spike is actually his original human self suppressing Spike the Vampire meaning if they wanted to kill Spike the Vampire they'd be killing the human soul in him as well, who had nothing to do with Vampire Spike's crimes.

 

Hiro and Mohinder are really the only one with a justified reason for being angry with Sylar. Claire and Noah's anger at him is pretty much totally insane, since he didn't really hurt Claire and couldn't even if he wanted to. As to everyone else, why should they care? It's not like he killed anyone that they actually liked.

 

^ Wow. Just wow.

I can't even begin to imagine how out of touch with reality and humanity someone has to be to think what Sylar did to Claire didn't hurt her. What's next, rape is totally cool because the woman survived? I guess you wouldn't mind if someone came over to your house, kidnapped you, did whatever they wanted to you, and then threw you in a dank, lightless cellar for an indeterminable amount of time. You're alive, right? Probably not even permanently wounded. Hey-oh! Nothing to get bent out of shape about, huh?



Some people.

 

He terrorized Claire in her own home. I would think that's a legitimate reason for Noah to hate him. People tend to hate people who terrorize their children.

 

He also hunted her down on her homecoming dance in the first season and murdered one of her school-mates then nearly murdered her...