I'll start off by saying I've really enjoyed the show, though the episode I watched this morning (The Bug woke up at 4:30 and I couldn't fall back asleep) took it down a notch for me. It was titled "The Hard Part" and it's the third to last episode of the 1st season. Not only was the episode itself clumsily written, but more importantly it highlighted the weakest parts of the entire series:
Issue #1: The science on the show is crummy. That may sound ridiculous referring to a show about people with superpowers, but there a few simple things they could have done better. For instance, a major premise of the show is that these heroes are being found using the human genome project. As in the genome of every individual human on earth. Ludicrous. I'm probably more annoyed that the vast majority of people watching the show don't realize that the science being portrayed is just plain silly.Issue #2: The creators of this show really wrote themselves into a corner with the character of Peter Petrelli, and it was most obvious in this episode. He's been having nightmares that he's going to explode and wipe out NYC. Of course, he hasn't absorbed that power yet, but he's still freaked out that he's going to explode. He finds out there's a guy in the city who does have that power. So naturally, he should do whatever he can to stay away from that dude, right? Wrong--he actively looks for him, and tells Claire to shoot him in the head if he gets the power, which he knows he'll get if he finds him. Then there's this dilemma: you realize you are about to potentially explode, killing millions of people. Do you A) use the ability to fly at supersonic speeds that you happen to have to get as far away from the city as possible...say out over the Atlantic Ocean somewhere, or B) stare at your glowing hands? Apparently B is our answer. The dude just has too many powers, and even if you buy that he hasn't learned to control them all yet, it allows for too many plot discrepancies.
Issue #3: The amount of exposition coming out this late in the season is insulting. DL and Nikki (or Jessica...whatever) break into Linderman's and discover that he knows all about them, and then proceed to explain to each other how he knows all about them and how terrible it is. I guess I'm used to better written shows that either explain just enough (BSG) or not enough (Lost). To have characters explaining major plot points after nearly 20 episodes is just kind of lame.
Issue #4: Does Eric Roberts have a facial expression other than "smarmy grin"?
I've got my eye on Aron Eli Coleite, the writer of this episode. Even if the last two episodes of the season are great, this episode stuck out like a sore thumb as not great. I still have high hopes for this show, unless someone tells me that the second season (what they were able to complete of it) sucks. But it has Kristen Bell in it, so it can't be that bad, right?
2 comments:
If this show had been on HBO rather than a major network it would have been much better IMO. Just as I would argue that LOST would have been better (there have been times when it has been the exception to the rule). I know this will come across as snobbish, but when you have to produce a show for the masses, unfortunately you have to lower the common denominator. Which is why I am thrilled that BSG is on Sci-Fi. At any rate, Nerd rants are a good thing.
Yeah, that's probably why I like Flight of the Conchords and Extras as much as I do (both on HBO).
I don't even think that's snobbish, just the way things are. I'm not the type of hipster who only likes things because they're obscure--there's plenty of obscure things embraced by the hipster culture that I think is crap. And I'm perfectly willing to embrace something that's mainstream but of high quality. It just happens so rarely, and I was hoping this show would be different. And as far as LOST goes, the weirder that show gets, the smaller its audience gets. I haven't started the third season of that yet, but I'm actually looking forward to the weirdness I've heard about.
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