From the very beginning

[tangent]

Okeydokey as this show hit U.K Terestrial T.V for the first time last night i though i would start a thread for the people on this side of the pond as well as for those who have maybe just found it.

My first impressions? Well i thought it was very interesting if a little bitty. I think the jumping around from character to character took a bit of getting used to and maybe would have preferred a single character centric aproach to the eps.

Overall though i was very impressed. My faves so far are Hiro (which probably everyone says) the mirror woman (can't remeber her name) and Claire. How much is Claire Buffy by the way. The comparisons were amazing but i can tell i'm gonna like her.

Anyone else catch it last night?

[Llywela]

I caught the first two eps on the Beeb this week, too :)

It's early days yet, but I like what I've seen so far. I liked the concept, felt engaged with the characters, and am intrigued enough to keep watching.

So, a strong beginning - I hope the rest of the season continues in the same vein :)

[Wolfie Gilmore]

I hope Peter jumps of a tall building and falls splat. Bor. Ring. But I heart Claire, Hiro, Peter and Hiro's mate...Anders? Something like that.

It's fun and silly. Wish they'd lose the voiceover and the dull characters...but at least that gives you a chance to go and make a cup of tea.

Oh, and Niki (and Ikin the mirrorbitch) is also interesting, with her smart brat boy (who's miraculously NOT annoying, so calling him brat is all in affection).

[KingofCretins]

Ikin! You're reading TWOP ;)

Hiro's friend is Ando.

[tangent]

Hmm started this and not caught up. Bad me!

Well after three more eps things are certainly starting to get interesting. Peter has gone, for me, from one of the most boring of the heroes to perhaps the most interesting of the lot of them. (still loving Hiro though).

It's also nice to see those seperate threads coming together and the characters paths crossing more and more as the story develops. It strikes me as almost being Lost in reverse. There you have various people thrown together and through flashbacks connections and secrets are slowly reveealed. Here we have that coming together, that overlapping of lives from the start but we don't, as yet, know where it's all going.

Overall i would have to say that after what i thought was a slowish start i'm definitely getting drawn in.

[ferdy-m]

... (still loving Hiro though).

Subarashii, yo - isn't he splendid! :) Ando too, "Use the death grip, Spock, the death grip ..." Inneresting to see how the international thang works for a US hit series - the comic (at times literally comicbook) Japanese, very cute and not only parsecs away from the national characteristics that presumably made dropping an atomic bomb on the civilian population an absolute necessity a few years back, but - have I got it right? - he's using all those super-hiro powers to stop the destruction of NY? If he doesn't get a B-plot where he time travels back and stops Hiroshima suffering the same fate, I'm going to write in ... the actor who plays Hiro, MO, sounds a bit too californian to raise the issue himself, bless. ;) Not too sure about how the other "internationalism" is going down - I've got strong links with Japan but not, say, India?

... It strikes me as almost being Lost in reverse. There you have various people thrown together and through flashbacks connections and secrets are slowly reveealed. Here we have that coming together, that overlapping of lives from the start but we don't, as yet, know where it's all going.

I'm finding that knitting up of plot, instead of the tendency to unravel into individual situations in "Lost," really satisfying, and the use of amazin' SFX to further the plotting instead of looking pretty, very pretty indeed. :) Previous Hiro stopping time in the subway to tell Peter(?) what Future Hiro needed - hope I've got this right, I always arrive 10 minutes after it starts - nice.

Surely the "cheerleader" is Buffy? Didn't Joss do the little blonde Valley girl into heroine in that BtVS thing?

[Llywela]

I'm finding that knitting up of plot, instead of the tendency to unravel into individual situations in "Lost," really satisfying, and the use of amazin' SFX to further the plotting instead of looking pretty, very pretty indeed. :) Previous Hiro stopping time in the subway to tell Peter(?) what Future Hiro needed - hope I've got this right, I always arrive 10 minutes after it starts - nice.
Other way round ;) 'Twas FutureHiro stopping time to give Peter the info he needed to pass onto PresentHiro...all very complicated.

I've been really interested to see how polarised opinions of this show seem to be. Some people rave about it, others seem to get bored and give up very early on, usually citing too many characters and complicated plot as their reason. Me, I'm finding the characters engaging enough so far, not having any trouble keeping up with them all, and the storyline is holding my interest. I'm very impressed by the interweaving storylines of the various characters so far.

I haven't really attached to any of the characters yet, and long-term I do tend to need at least one character that I'm deeply attached to, who will keep me watching no matter what. But I do care about finding out what happens to them all, which counts for a lot. Plus, it's got the thrill factor of moments like Nathan shooting off into the sky and going supersonic last night, which was very cool and delighted me muchly on a highly superficial level. :D Now that Peter has more information and has hooked up with Isaac in search of answers, I'm engaging with him more and being less distracted by his silly hair and droopy mouth. Policeman Matt's wife is distracting me instead because I remember her from her Home & Away days, back when she had an Australian accent. Hiro isn't bugging me as much as he did at first, although his cute-as-a-button shtick is getting old. So yeah, so far so good. I look forward to seeing how it all unravels. :)

[tangent]

So what do we reckon of the last couple of weeks then?

To me things are starting to bubble up nicely now. I want to know just exactly whats happened to isaac of course after the evil neighbours visit and Mohinder's got to come back hasn't he? Hasn't he?

Anyway nikki is becoming more and more interesting in my book specially now we know Jessica's name and a little bit more about how that works (smashing the mirror a way to make sure Nikki can't get back?). But probably the characterthat's growing on me most is matt. Really interesting power to explore without it being earthshaking and the scene with the dying woman was really tender.

The other big hit for me in the last couple of weeks was the appearance of our own Forest Gates as D.L. Buffy Alumni are always good to spot in other progs and with ASH doing the commentry on Heroes Unmasked i'm happy as.

Just one point though the radioactive man can't be Sylar can he? not seriously? My guess is that he might just be lindemann

[tangent]

I hope Peter jumps of a tall building and falls splat.

wish granted, well sorta anyway.

To me this weeks ep was the best so far. Claire was excellent in this ep i feel really engaging and quite vulnerable but still feisty and her growing sense of real identity is refreshing and again very reminiscent of another cheerleader with a destiny i seem to remember.

There was a nice sense of tension as the different parties coverged on the high school and just about every scene after Sylars first attack was already familliar because of isaacs paintings which i felt added to that tension. Mind you as soon as peter and sylar fell i pretty much guessed at the get out clause so the reveal on that wasn't qiuite as powerful. Peter still seems a bit too much of a dreamer to me and i felt more could be made of the other plotlines with nothing really new coming from Hiro or Nikki's predicaments right till the end. Overall though i thought the ep was nicely paced and had more action in it than some.

[Llywela]

Mind you as soon as peter and sylar fell i pretty much guessed at the get out clause so the reveal on that wasn't qiuite as powerful.
Oh, I'd twigged that one much earlier in the episode, pretty much as soon as I realised Peter and Claire were actually going to meet, so there was no power in that scene at all for me - I'd been waiting for it for most of the episode! :D

This has developed into one of those shows that I'm happy to follow from week to week, but feel no urge to dissect and discuss. Funny how that works out with different shows, huh.

[vampmogs]

I must say as I'm watching 'Heroes' the whole way through, I'm really not finding any of the characters lovebale or people I can connect with. I'd seen quite a lot of the show already but never have I watched it all in order so I thought I would to give it a chance, but still zilch for me. I find some of them interesting, but not likeable, the most likeable being Claire who is so much like Buffy I think is why I like her the most. I'm of one few who cannot stand Hiro at all! I'm so sick of his 'loveable' quirks, he is just annoying the hell out of me, I find his character so unbelieveable for a man of his age to be acting as immature as this.

Heroes is keeping me interested, I am enjoying it but do feel that thus far it is going downhill rather than getting better, hopefully it will puck up towards the end through. I thought the first episode was the best thus far and cannot work out if Claire can actually feel pain or not? One minute she'll his and say ow and then the next she'll close up her body after cut open without so much as a flinch?

[Wolfie Gilmore]

Just watched Six Months later...as mogs says, I am enjoying it, but it's not carrying me off in its arms and making sweet love to me (ok, that's not what he said, but I'm extrapolating with unecessarily smutty imagery). There's something a little stilted about it for me, in terms of the characters. I think it's partly the fault of the framing stuff, which I don't like (cf thread on heroes is it really any good), but also some of the acting is a little...cold, perhaps?

I do love Nathan and Hiro actually...but some of the leads, especially Peter, get up my nose a bit, so I find my interest ebbing and flowing so that I'll be really into it for some sections, then turning off for others.

[tangent]

I actually really liked last nights eppy. Loved the introduction of Sylar and think he makes a suitably creepy but strangely empathic villain (and can totally see him as spock)

It was a little bit back and forth in places as it tends to be and i'm really quite sad that Charlie wont be with us in the future. Having said that i thought the story between Hiro and Charlie was fantastic and really quite moving. Now that the big reveal of sylar has happened I really want to know a bit more about Lindemann.

Regarding the framing, whilst i agree that on occasions it can be distracting i quite like the comic book feel overall and the coldness for me is because we're not really focusing on characters up close at any point. i mean last night ended on a very emotional moment bt i just now that it will be pretty much ignored next week whilst we focus back on to claire or peter or nikki. They all have stories to tell of course but a bit more continuity would probably make for a better connection with the characters.

[vampmogs]

I've now watched up to Ep 14 and the show is still holding my interest, so that must mean something. I think the show does rely heavily on the wow factor though, and not the characters. They are always giving us the big "oh" moments to keep our interest, I guess if it works it works and it has worked on me because I'm downloading the rest of the season now before season two starts here in Aus in a couple of weeks. Because as of yet I can't emotionally connect with any of the characters I don't think it will be a show I can ever really discuss in depth. Though it is a show I can find enjoyable for pure entertainment and there are parts of it that are well done.

[tangent]

I was very impressed with last nights double bill. Nathan geetin a bit more involved at last is a good thing in my book and Claire, Nikki and Hiro all had nice amounts of screen time. I'm a little bit gutted about Eden 'cos she was a very interesting character as well as being a lovely lady and i'm not sure about nikki's arc taking her to prison. Also i could have done with a bit more sylar here but once again we seem to have a situation where a character is buit up over the last episode and then they don't do a huge amount twith them in the next.

I was looking forward to last night though as the T.V guide mentione the arrival of a certain mr Ecclestone. Now although we didn't really get a look at him until the end of the second ep his character does look very interesting indeed.

Plot wise i think i'm beginning to see where we're headed here but i'm not blase enough not to expect a few twists along the way. Probably the most interesting development last night apart from CE was the Haitian helping out Claire, which was interesting to say the least.

Anyways onwards and upwards, eh?

[Llywela]

This still isn't a show I'm connected to on any kind of emotional level - hasn't hit my list of 'must see TV' - and yet I've yet to miss an episode. I find I'm really enjoying just watching the story unfold, without being too troubled about trying to second-guess it in any way, or worrying too much about the fate of any particular character. It's a lot of fun. Great entertainment value - certainly makes me giggle a lot :)

Since the intersection of the lives of the various Heroes seems to be half the point of the show, it's fascinating to watch those intersections (and near misses) unfold week by week. A bit like watching a spider weaving a web, just waiting to find out what the final pattern will be.

Is it wrong of me to admit that I liked Isaac better when he was a hopeless junkie than I do now he's shiny and healthy? ;)

[tangent]

Well he does look a bit wierd clean shaven. Dudes got a funny chin.

Had to post agin though 'cos i forgot my favourite bit. Nathan correcting Hiro's pronunciation. Made me laugh that did.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

My fave bit was Hiro going on about flying man and doing is swoop gesture to Nathan. When Nathan shushes him, he makes a slightly smaller swoopy gesture. So cute!

Loving Claire. Still hating Peter (the actor looks like he's had a stroke, the way he does that funny lip curl thing). Nathan great. Mohinder...perfect time for a loo break, since there aren't any ads on BBC2...can't wait for Peter to explode!

[Llywela]

I find I'm fonder of Peter now than I used to be. I enjoy him with other people, I've discovered. Like how I liked his scenes with Isaac, and I've decided that I like his scenes with Nathan, as well, because their family is so dysfunctional, in that special TV way...like how Peter's brand of bratty youngest child rebellion was to become a lowly hospice nurse, because no amount of bad behaviour could possibly piss his family off more than taking up a low-paid vocational career. And how Nathan gets so frustrated with Peter, in that special way that only a bossy older sibling can, and generally always comes through for him while making it clear that it's extremely inconvenient for him. That always tickles me in all the right places.

So...this show gets me in all the right amusement places, even if I'm still lacking the emotional connection.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

And how Nathan gets so frustrated with Peter, in that special way that only a bossy older sibling can, and generally always comes through for him while making it clear that it's extremely inconvenient for him. That always tickles me in all the right places.



I think that's why I like Nathan so much - he does the right thing so reluctantly. Good guys who are too keen about it get up my nose. Or perhaps I can't relate to them? I like the "oh, go on then, if I must" school of heroes. :D

[Llywela]

I think my favourite scene last night, or at least my favourite that I can remember right now, was when Nathan was at Isaac's place with Isaac and...whatshername, Simone. Nathan's grumbling and trying to hang on to his scepticism, and then Hiro and Ando waltz in talking about Linderman. And Nathan sticks his head out from behind a painting, all, 'heck, I really can't deny that this is real any more, and I really can't get out of it now, but how much face and anonymity can I salvage?' That amused me. Actually, Nathan often amuses me. I think I'd hate him in real life. But as a TV character? Highly entertaining. :D

He amused the hell out of me when rescuing Peter from Texan prison as well, so disgruntled about it all, because, y'know, his intentions were about as pure as Nathan's intentions ever get when he tried to keep Peter away from the place. But of course Peter had to go and almost get killed anyway, trying to be a Big Damn Hero, and big brothers aren't good at seeing their kid brothers as responsible and capable adults at the best of times, and then Peter's going on and on about having to save the world, and Nathan's all 'dude, you can't even walk straight,' and that was also fun. Right up to the moment Peter collapsed, and then it was touching. I liked that.

Okay, so maybe I'm more connected than I realised.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

I think my favourite scene last night, or at least my favourite that I can remember right now, was when Nathan was at Isaac's place with Isaac and...whatshername, Simone. Nathan's grumbling and trying to hang on to his scepticism, and then Hiro and Ando waltz in talking about Linderman.

That moment of realisation, yeah, enjoyed that a lot! I think Heroes does transitional moments v well - cliffhangers, revelations, moments of self knowledge.



Okay, so maybe I'm more connected than I realised.

It's funny how posting about a show can make you realise what you really feel about it, isn't it?

[Llywela]

I do really enjoy Heroes. It isn't a show I feel inclined to discuss in any depth, though. I find myself mostly content to just sit back and watch the action unfold.

Some of the storylines are pretty saggy in the middle, though. It's a pacing issue - the writers have got a set number of characters, all of whose storylines have to come together in time for the season finale (presumably), but getting them there is easier for some than others, simply because some of their individual stories just don't have enough material to fill the season. Thus Hiro and Ando have spent several episodes running around in pointless circles, while Niki/Jessica and her family are also mostly treading water.

We're coming into the last third of the season now, though, so hopefully all the storylines will pick up speed again soon.

[Llywela]

It was an excellent episode last night - 1.17 - narrowing the focus like that. It's left me a little perplexed, though. I thought it had been established that Bennet believed Claude had been dead for 15 years - in the flashbacks it was only 7 years since Claude's supposed death. :s

[tangent]

Missed the maths myself but I have to agree that last nights ep wasd definitely one of the best so far. Claire was good, Matt was better but the plaudits for me have to go to Bennett.

since the show started he's always been such a creepy, sinister character but last night i really felt for the character, especially in the scene in claire's bedroom and then again at the end.

The narrow focus was definitely a good thing and something i hope will be happening more and more now that the cast are starting to interact more. Leass flitting about and more concentration on specifics definitely helps to build tension and get me more involved with the characters.

I don't know if anyone watched Heroes Unmasked afterwards but apparently the actor who plays ted is married to the actress who plays mrs bennett in real life, which certainly adss a whole new dimension to the scene in the Bennet house where ted 'pulls the trigger in his mind'

Actually, thinking about it, the thing i wondered is where download woman went. Surely she should have been with matt and ted when they went to face bennett. She might not have useful powers in that situation but i'm sure she could hold a gun.

[tangent]

Well it's been a while but i feel compelled to post about the 'future' episode that aired terestrially last night.

Excellent stuff, perhaps the best ep so far. I loved the future/alternate versions of each character, especially the harder, edgier version of peter who finally lost that soppiness thats haunted him for so long and Parkman and Mohinder becoming so inverted. Future!hiro is superb as well. It's almost difficult to remember that the same actor plays both versions of the character.

I was hoping for a little more Linderman in the mix, although it is pretty clear that his influence at least has shaped matters (the linderman act) but overall i'm getting the sense that the show is finally getting to a sense of definitive direction, that the long and winding road is finally converging somehow.

Oh and major, major props to Adrian Pasadar(sp?) for Sylar/Nathan. Heroes uncovered really highlighted what a good job that was.

[tangent]

Okay then.

Just watched the last two eps and i'm feeling... Slightly unfulfilled.

The bringing of the heroes together was well done, with each Hero having their own agenda to find their way to the battle site and i liked the hints of more bad guys being out there. jessica/Nikki's scenes were great and Parkman ruled once again. I quite enjoyed Hiro again as well after what i felt was his character going a little flat. Sylar carried these last eps for me though. Creepy, scary and just such an all round badass that he just outshone just about everyone else.

But Linderman? Noooo. There was real potential there. Please, please don't let that be true, pretty please. That's actually my main beef is that the characters i was expecting the most from in the big fight didn't really come through for me. Peter just did nothing but glow for a bit, Claire couldn't step up to the plate (and we didn't get any horrific injuries from her) and the moral torture of Nathan just wasn't given the time to really come through stongly enough. The final fight as a whole i felt could have been a lot more spectacular and a lot more gripping really.

Nice teaser at the end though.

[Llywela]

Just watched the last two eps and i'm feeling... Slightly unfulfilled.
I kind of felt much the same way, I must confes.

The series has been quite a thrill ride, watching all the pieces of the puzzle finally slot into place, but I thought the actual ending was a bit of a let-down. Once all the Heroes were gathered in one place, with Peter about to go nuclear, it all just...slowed down to a snail's pace, which totally killed the tension they'd worked so hard to build up.

Around mid-season I was really feeling the relationship between Peter and Nathan, but since then they've barely had any scenes together, so the emotional kick of Nathan coming to the rescue and whipping Peter away into the sky was lost, as well - the downside of the large cast, I guess. The focus of this show has always been on plot movement over character exploration, and a cast of this size makes it all but impossible to have both. It's kind of a cleft stick, really, because I've enjoyed having the large cast, seeing all their lives criss-cross and intersect, and how those seemingly random meetings have built up into a coherent pattern that brought them all together come the end. A truly complex and intriguing web of shifting allegiances and alliances. But, on the other hand, I do like being able to really understand what makes a character tick, and although all these characters have fairly clear motivations, we haven't spend enough time with any of them - except perhaps Claire - to truly feel that we understand them inside out.

Also, I kept wondering just how long we were going to carry on seeing people randomly wandering around Isaac's studio totally ignoring his poor mutilated body, instead of calling in the authorities and having him laid to rest with a bit of dignity!

Hiro's storyline continues to irritate, as well. Seeing George Takei busting his ninja moves was cool, though, and given the backstory, Hiro has probably done well to reach adulthood as cute as he is. Mama Petrelli is pretty loathesome, all things considered, so her sons have probably done well to become who they are, too. And Claire had something of a lucky escape getting the adoptive father she has! Claire is badass. Bennet killing Thompson was awesome. And so was his bickerfest with Mohinder, who remains mostly dull and pointless, but I did like him bonding with Molly, who provided him with a purpose. And Matt.

RIP RadioacTed, who did Out Of Control so much better than Peter, who never looked or sounded properly frantic even at the climax.

Linderman's end was icky. Well deserved, but icky. Such a relief to see Niki finally integrating Jessica into her personality, so hopefully there'll be no more of that hopping in and out of mirrors and whatnot from now on.

I have no clue what the deal was with Peter going back in time in his dream and interacting with Simone's father - Deveaux? - but I'm assuming that Peter's weird dreams and whatnot are a power he absorbed from the old man in the first place, without knowing it. It's a power that hasn't been all that well explored or explained, though. And all that 'all that matters is love, you're the good guy, Peter' stuff was laid on way thick for my tastes.

It's fun watching Peter, mind, and trying to remember which Heroes he's come into contact with so far, and therefore which powers he does and doesn't have. I found myself wondering just how close he has to get to absorb their powers - we saw him absorb Niki/Jessica's superstrength at the end, there, but D.L., Micah and Molly were all also in the vicinity. He didn't get up close to any of them, but they were nearby. So how close does he have to get to absorb their powers? I'm not sure.

I'm also not sure what's up with Sylar. That's twice now that he's been supposedly dead, but then not - it happened way back when he was a prisoner at Primatech Paper. I thought the whole point of the Save the Cheerleader, Save the World rap was that if Sylar stole Claire's regenerative power no one would be able to stop him? But if he already can't be killed, or can survive apparently mortal wounds, why would preventing him from stealing her power help at all? It's all a bit hazy because there was so much misdirection going on over who was going to be the bomb and how it could be prevented, and all those time paradoxes, predictions and premonitions being prevented from coming to fruition, etc.