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litheraI've been thinking about Heroes a lot recently and a post pointed out to me elsewhere by someone made it so I want to say something. (Also, add in the fact that I've been NOT commenting on SO MANY other things that deserve it, make it so I need to say something about something, so this is it.)
My biggest criticism about the first season of Heroes was "Been there, done that". While I think that is a valid point, I also realize that now I've sort of missed the boat somewhat. I had to realize that this show is taking comics (no matter how much Tim Kring says he hasn't read them) and putting it in front of an audience who doesn't read them. (And in fact, who probably has exposure only through movies and the previous TV shows.) This means a few things:
1) It will start slow. It will start slow and go slow so people unfamiliar with the landmarks and signposts will come to learn them. Everything with Claire points to this.
2) We will also add in a few of the conventions that are familiar from other genres. See Hiro's journey to becoming a hero in season 1.
3) You will have powers that everyone can understand without trying too hard. You can't get too creative with things or you will either lose your audience or overshoot your budget. Nijesina's split personalities is on the edge of what people are okay with here, or so it seems to me.
4) Plots that have been done before (and sometimes to DEATH) in comics will show up. This virus plot is pretty much a great example of that. We haven't seen a clone yet. I'm sure that'll happen at some point. Not too much alternate timeline wackiness so far.
5) There will be things that seemed amazingly cliched to me which aren't as much to the average viewer at home. For instance, the plot setting it up so there is a misunderstanding between heroes, they fight, they hash it out while fighting and end up turning on the ACTUAL bad guy to save the day.
6) A level of suspension of disbelief is needed but it needs to be the right level. (And this is for everyone, not just for me, and almost especially for comic readers.) It is easy to say, "Well if I had those powers, I would..." The thing is, you'll never have those powers. You really have NO IDEA how getting them would change your life or what you'd do with them.
7) Public vs private. In comics there are varying levels of people who have secret identities. Heroes goes another step further and has it so that powers are even secret. There are always contraversies about keeping things secret and exposing them. This is about so much more than comics and powers but it is a good format to talk about that sort of problem. Do you hurt people more or less by being open about it?
Having said all of that, I'm still wishing that the show didn't feel the need to spell things out as much as it does. It doesn't need to have taken so very long to get Sylar and his South American pals to New York. The drive to action has been weaker this season for me and I think it has to do with the lack of anything unifying for the characters. They all came together at the end of last season and then just rescattered to the winds in order to have to come together again....
People need to learn to keep in contact with each other.
My biggest criticism about the first season of Heroes was "Been there, done that". While I think that is a valid point, I also realize that now I've sort of missed the boat somewhat. I had to realize that this show is taking comics (no matter how much Tim Kring says he hasn't read them) and putting it in front of an audience who doesn't read them. (And in fact, who probably has exposure only through movies and the previous TV shows.) This means a few things:
1) It will start slow. It will start slow and go slow so people unfamiliar with the landmarks and signposts will come to learn them. Everything with Claire points to this.
2) We will also add in a few of the conventions that are familiar from other genres. See Hiro's journey to becoming a hero in season 1.
3) You will have powers that everyone can understand without trying too hard. You can't get too creative with things or you will either lose your audience or overshoot your budget. Nijesina's split personalities is on the edge of what people are okay with here, or so it seems to me.
4) Plots that have been done before (and sometimes to DEATH) in comics will show up. This virus plot is pretty much a great example of that. We haven't seen a clone yet. I'm sure that'll happen at some point. Not too much alternate timeline wackiness so far.
5) There will be things that seemed amazingly cliched to me which aren't as much to the average viewer at home. For instance, the plot setting it up so there is a misunderstanding between heroes, they fight, they hash it out while fighting and end up turning on the ACTUAL bad guy to save the day.
6) A level of suspension of disbelief is needed but it needs to be the right level. (And this is for everyone, not just for me, and almost especially for comic readers.) It is easy to say, "Well if I had those powers, I would..." The thing is, you'll never have those powers. You really have NO IDEA how getting them would change your life or what you'd do with them.
7) Public vs private. In comics there are varying levels of people who have secret identities. Heroes goes another step further and has it so that powers are even secret. There are always contraversies about keeping things secret and exposing them. This is about so much more than comics and powers but it is a good format to talk about that sort of problem. Do you hurt people more or less by being open about it?
Having said all of that, I'm still wishing that the show didn't feel the need to spell things out as much as it does. It doesn't need to have taken so very long to get Sylar and his South American pals to New York. The drive to action has been weaker this season for me and I think it has to do with the lack of anything unifying for the characters. They all came together at the end of last season and then just rescattered to the winds in order to have to come together again....
People need to learn to keep in contact with each other.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 11:02 pm (UTC)Mr Nakamura - what could you do??????
no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 11:07 pm (UTC)I agree...
Date: 2007-11-28 03:00 am (UTC)Also, I think when comics deal more with your point in number seven the more interesting it can be, at least for me it is. As it's a new dynamic that enters into the comic book universe. I think the greatest example of this, is Marvel Comics Civil War series. It's steal dealing with heroes secret identity, but in more relevant topic aka terrorism. Anyway just my two cents.
I made...
Date: 2007-11-28 05:59 pm (UTC)I also wasn't a huge fan of the new characters for the overall health of the show. It's not that they aren't interesting on their own, but that I don't think there was room for them. This also served to slow down the pace of the show, because it was having to be dealt with from so many angles.
Overall, I'm happy. Just a few disappointments. I really can't believe the season finale is next week already.
Re: I made...
Date: 2007-11-28 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-28 07:14 pm (UTC)I think a big part of the pace of Slyar getting back to America is that Sylar looks like he's going to be part of the "big threat" for the last half of the season. All of his stuff is just setup.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-28 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-29 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-29 12:20 am (UTC)I didn't need them to take the time to prove to me that Sylar is a smooth manipulatively evil bastard. I knew that already.