What has happened to Heroes?

[congo kong]

It appears this has been discussed a lot here, but I didn't feel my little "essay" would be appropriate in an already existing thread.

What has happened to the show? Season 1 was my favorite season of a show ever. Season 2 started bringing it downhill with the loss of impact in death from Claire's blood and other things, but season 3 is the season that has made me drop the show.

One issue is how plots have been recycled over and over. I'm sure many are sick of the time travel. It was fun in season 1 with Sylar in the White House, but the second time I saw it I had lost interest. How many times must we see Claire argue with Noah about his occupation?

The paintings of the future have also become so repetitive. Issac was killed in season 1 so the paintings should have left with the season (or have only been mimicked through Sylar or Peter), but then we discover these special 12 paintings that no one mentioned before. Now there's another guy with paintings...

A lot of their foreshadowings were cheapened too, like Noah being killed. While he indeed did die, he was brought right back which has now devalued death in the show. Stop putting characters in mortal danger when they will just be revived! The show has become like modern day comic books.

Speaking of comic books, the writers have turned Sylar (originally an awesome villian) into Venom, who also was originally an awesome villian. Venom became a killer-turned-hero. That was his downfall, and has become Sylar's. An obvious reason for this is to give Sylar more on-screen time. It's hard to put him on-screen a lot if he's always killing someone. But they've softened the character as a result.

Sylar was an excellent villian, but they decided to "fix something that wasn't broken" by having his "hunger" be a result of his power rather than serial killer tendency. It would be best to keep Sylar's thunder by having him kept in Area 5 at the beginning of the season and left there for a while.

Some characters' existence has just been ignored. Peter's Irish girlfriend, as well as Nathan's wife and kids have been completely erased. And where is present day Molly?

Some character development has also been poor. It was fine for Hiro to be childish and blissful in the first season because he was more ignorant about his powers and the seriousness of the world's problems, but now it's becoming overdone. He needs to develop.

There is a great lack of limitations on the characters' powers. I knew in Season 1 that it was a mistake to have Peter have permanent mimicry of powers rather than temporary. It didn't ruin the season though because for all of it he couldn't control them. Hiro also had this trait which preserved the season. But now it's hard to use these characters in a fashion that won't hurt the show's quality. Sylar may have ridiculous quantities of powers, but he was the grand villian and should have an edge over an individual hero. He also doesn't require the on-screen time that the main characters do.

I've dropped the show because I just don't feel it's right to give Heroes attention it doesn't deserve. To me it was a one hit wonder.

 

[November Rain]

i bet you 10 bucks you'll be watching it next week

 

[Fanticon]

this season started off great...at least the first 3 episodes did...now i'm struggling to defend it when talking about it with friends...they've really lost me now...they're trying to make it too complex and are afraid of getting rid of characters...the Nikki Sanders/Ali Later storyline is DONE! and where's micah and the mime? Sorry...but, I'm not sure how much longer they're going to be able to keep this show on now. The ratings have dipped for a reason.

 

[PLAS]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, maybe you're just not getting it/considering the whole scope/etc.
could be either

 

[ragdus]

Plas:

If so many people are "not getting it" that the ratings have plummeted like they have, then either

a) This show is too smart for network TV
or
b) It's not communicating itself well

Either way, they lose unless something changes.

 

[Double Down]

Heroes = The OC

A once-hot show that people just stop watching and the more they try to fix it, the worse it gets.

 

[absonic93]

eh, people online tend to be more critic cause, after all, they're on a superhero hype board which obviously means they know more about superheroes. They'd be expecting things, and more critical about plots ,powers, and other stuff, thing that should make sense in a comic.

Other people who watch the show don't go online for all this fancy talk, so it's not going downhill. Only here. (this is all my opinion) but I still love the series, and I know a lot of other people, older and younger that aren't of internet age, who absolutely love the show.

 

[chaseter]

Ugh we have a lets complain thread. You don't deserve your own. Close.

 

[Double Down]

From Entertainment Weekly:
"The show is now averaging only 9.4 million viewers, down from last year's 11.6 million average. And the Oct. 6 episode notched its lowest number ever at 8.2 million viewers — a far cry from its peak performance of 16 million in season 1."

And here is what happened to The OC:
"Based in the affluent Orange County, Calif., city of Newport Beach, “The O.C.” caught fire in its first season, 2003-04, as the top-rated drama among advertiser-favored young adults and with a total audience of nearly 10 million. The show’s story lines revolved around Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie), an outsider thrust into a heady new world of money and sex, and rich high school kids including Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) and Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) and their families. “The O.C.” didn’t sustain its momentum, dropping to about 7 million weekly viewers during 2004-05 and then to fewer than 6 million last season. This year, returning in November after Fox wrapped its postseason baseball coverage, “The O.C.” has only drawn about 4 million viewers."


Once you start to lose viewers like that, you tend to never get them back.

 

[chaseter]

I also love how people complain about plot recycling yet they watch 24, Smallville, Chuck, etc. etc. Let me guess about next season of 24. Jack Bauer must stop a bunch of bad guys/terrorists before they do something bad. He will have to make hard decisions along the way. Smallville...Clark must fight a bad guy from Smallville that has been affected by the meteor.

 

[congo kong]

eh, people online tend to be more critic cause, after all, they're on a superhero hype board which obviously means they know more about superheroes. They'd be expecting things, and more critical about plots ,powers, and other stuff, thing that should make sense in a comic.

Other people who watch the show don't go online for all this fancy talk, so it's not going downhill. Only here. (this is all my opinion) but I still love the series, and I know a lot of other people, older and younger that aren't of internet age, who absolutely love the show.

If I care about continuity and stories that make sense, I wouldn't read comic books. I haven't bought a comic book in years. Can't you tell that I criticized comics in their present day form in my initial post? Heroes has adopted the "no character stays dead" philosophy of comics, which I find to be a huge problem. I guarantee many people who aren't comic readers want the story to make sense.

 

[chaseter]

If I care about continuity and stories that make sense, I wouldn't read comic books. I haven't bought a comic book in years. Can't you tell that I criticized comics in their present day form in my initial post? Heroes has adopted the "no character stays dead" philosophy of comics, which I find to be a huge problem. I guarantee many people who aren't comic readers want the story to make sense.

I agree with you about no characters stay dead but come on...did you need to make your own thread?

 

[chaseter]

The fact of the matter is that television ratings have gone down across the board...on every show. Heroes is still an NBC hit and one of their prime time babies. It is not going any where any time soon so get over it.

They are listening to the fans so that is good and gives you reasons to complain. But they can't listen to every single person. So...close this thread.

 

[Matt]

Ugh we have a lets complain thread. You don't deserve your own. Close.

I'm with chase. Closing.