Dual once again threw at us the kind of mindless drivel that has undermined Heroes this season. Apart from plot holes so big you could three-point turn the Titanic in them, the episode once again lacked any real direction as it seemed like Kring was hurrying through the mess of narrative that has been created over the past three months trying to tie up some loose ends and end on some kind of satisfying resolution for the audience. So cue more ridiculous time travel, the sudden and rather silly deaths of several bit-part characters and an excruciatingly executed ‘house of horror’ effort as Sylar rampages through The Company and you pretty much have the unsatisfactory culmination of 13 weeks of narrative wooing by Kring that was volume 3. But how? Well, now that the show needs saving as much as the cheerleader we’ve come up with a few suggestions… Get back to reality – In season 1 Heroes had a sense of reality, sure it was a show about people with fantastical powers saving New York City from obliteration, but despite this pie-in-the-sky premise, it had one foot firmly planted on the ground. Claire was at school going through the growing pains of a teenage girl, Peter was battling to find a purpose in life and Suresh was trying to make sense of his father’s legacy. Each character had a family, a job, some kind of tie to reality that fleshed out their place in the narrative and gave each a very individual reason for being and for using their powers. Sadly, this sense of reality has gone and Heroes and its characters seem so far removed from real life that their actions seem inconsequential at best and at worst, have lost the interest of faithful viewers. Hopefully, the involvement of the government, signalled at the end of volume 3, will give the show a much needed injection of reality. It’s Fuller time – Apparently, he’s not due to return to writing duties until episode 19, but the man who added such humanity to season 1 and who sadly had some of his finest work culled in Heroes’ name is the perfect tonic to the show’s current ailments. Get some new sets – I’m bored of Isaac’s loft, Claire’s house and The Company headquarters… Give us an end date – It’s amazing how much more poignant a series becomes when it has a sell-by date. It worked for Lost and it will work for Battlestar Gallactica but without a final destination Heroes could spiral into the depths of televisual hell as the network regurgitates season after season onto our screens transforming a once groundbreaking show into the superpowered equivalent of Friends. So, all hope is not lost, or is it? Give us your thoughts, your feelings and your suggestions on how the show can be revitalised below and cross your fingers and hope for sentinels…lots of sentinels. Read Daniel’s prior review here. 30 December 2008
