Sigh. When will the big wigs learn?
Don’t get me wrong, Season 3 of the NBC hit Heroes is already a vast improvement on the stinker that was the show’s sophomore season. We’re only three episodes in and I can practically hear the sighs of relief up and down the street. Still, I’ve been burned before.
And quite frankly, Heroes was flashing a few big warning signs for me way back in the first season. I know, I know- how can I say that? How can I say that when the numbers, the fan base and the so-helpful NBC media machine assured me, multiple times I might add, that what I was looking at? That, right there? That’s a HIT. A bona-fide hit series phenomenon.
Well, I stick by my story. As a writer and a general lover of good stories, I find fault with the whole Heroes set up. Here are a few ways to fix it, but good.
Not So Special Anymore, Ma
Issue: Here’s the thing- if the vast population of people in a show are “special”, they stop seeming, well, special. On Heroes, if things start to seem like they’re slowing down a bit, another character (lately it’s more like 3-5) with powers pops up. At this point, the only person who is sans ability is Mohinder and we all see what’s developing lately, with him going all Green Goblin on us. Quite frankly, the fact that Mohinder WAS powerless made him interesting. To rely on his mind, his intellect, while everyone around him can do fantastical things? We call that emotional conflict. Now that he can scale walls, that’s pretty much over. At this point, you have to wonder- is anyone but Claire’s adopted mother and brother without powers?
Solution: Scale back the newbies with powers. That way, when they pop up, it’s genuinely noteworthy and exciting.
The Ties That Bind
Issue: Where are the relationships? The show has such potential for interesting characters and yet, making everyone so insular keeps them from building or establishing relationships with each other. Here’s a news flash- we, the viewers, don’t have powers so we can’t really relate to Claire wondering if she’s alive anymore. On the other hand, we’ve all had issues with our mothers, our friends, our would-be boyfriends, that father-like relationship with a mentor. You see where I’m going with this?
Solution: I know fast-moving plot is important but taking the time to develop relationships is one of the reasons soap operas last on the big networks for 40+ years. I enjoyed the idea of Mohinder and Matt playing My Two Dads with Molly- what do they do in Season 3? Ship Molly off somewhere so Matt could stumble through the wilds of Africa with a cryptic guide. Awesome. It would be nice if Not-Nikki (aka The Ice Queen) instead of toying with a surface relationship with adorable Micah before dumping him for some action scenes, actually became something of a surrogate mother, in the process thawing out a bit and revealing a side to her other than a frosty look-alike. Which brings me to my next point.
Character
Issue: Nobody changes. Unless we’re talking about Absolute Good to Absolute Evil. This is the fastest way to kill a viewer’s interest in a character, before the show can kill them off the show. Which is a waste because no one will care anyway. Anyway, our flaws draw us together. Nobody’s perfect, everybody has issues getting in the way of them being the best they could be. Heroes aren’t born, they’re made.
Solution: Establish some pratfalls, make sure they screw up, pick themselves up and learn from their mistakes. There was the perfect opportunity with Sylar’s gruesome attack on Claire- he cut off the top of her head and toyed with her brain for God’s sake. And yeah, she survived but the show is barely tapping into her fears about being vulnerable to attack. She wants revenge but her fear would be so much more palpable. Just watch an episode of Law & Order: SVU to see how it’s done. When Sara Gilbert, a victim of a rape nearly six months before, answers the door to the sympathetic detective, she is a mess. Her apartment is in shambles, her hair is a mess, her eyes are haunted. She’s surviving but barely- she loves her ADHD son so much she gave him up for adoption rather than force him to live in her hell. She’s trying to heal and her small efforts are infinitely more compelling than Claire videotaping herself stepping in front of a speeding train. Real survival is ugly and takes time but it’s worth it.
Bring Them Home
Issue: Spiritual journeys in Africa, time traveling from a bar in Ireland to post-apocolyptic New York. We don’t care. The end.
Solution: Stay in home base. Once you start doing all of the stuff in the list above, there won’t be much time to send Matt to the desert for some story-time suckage. Thank God.
Culture Clique 