Season 3 Discussion/Spoilers

[BlasterBoy]

All spoilers must be in spoiler tags, but just discussion and speculation about you want does not have to be in tags. Let's talk Heroes.

I severely hope Nathan doesn't die and Maya does....and she stays dead. If Nathan stays dead, then.....I'll be really, really pissed.

[Heather]

What I want for Heroes Season 3? That's an awfully long list, mainly filled with things I don't actually foresee happening on the show in the near future (IE: b'bye Clairebear!), but there are some things that I'm pretty positive will happen...at some point.

1. I want Ali Larter back. And better than ever. Giver her character a storyline that's significant and exciting. Give her a REASON to be on the show and don't bench her. Ali is a phenomenal actress and deserves a phenomenal storyline to show her skills. In "Volume II: Generations," she was nothing more than a plot device - not even a character. Here's to praying that "Volume III: Villains" actually brings her back and gives her something to do.

*SPOILERS*

Spoiler:

Now, it's almost definitely confirmed that Ali Larter will be back on the show in Season 3. However, it's not known HOW she'll be back. Will she play Niki Sanders? Or will she play Jessica Sanders, like everyone is currently speculating at the moment? And, if she IS back as Niki: how did she escape the fire? And, even more intriguing is the explanation behind how Jessica is alive! Seriously. This could be one of the best storylines in "Volume III: Villains" if they don't just take the lazy way out of it and actually give us some great Ali Larter goodness!

2. I want Nathan back. Shooting someone up with bullets has never stopped the writers before. Hell, Matt was hit with...what? 6 bullets? And he's still running around and doing heroic deeds. But what's even more interesting is the question of who shot Nathan? Some speculate that it was Mr. Noah Bennett, the Company's pawn (again). Others think we'll find out that it was Future!Peter, coming back to stop Nathan from making a devastating mistake. Others still speculate that it was someon else entirely. Again, this could be a great storyline if the writers put some actually THOUGHT into it and not just worry about the shocking twists and whatnot.

3. Coming up with only a few key storylines and involving multiple characters in each. Enough of this "Everyone-gets-their-own-story," nonsense. Bring the characters together quicker and, most importantly, BETTER. Especially now that most of them are well aquainted with each other (Nathan, Niki, Matt, and Mohinder especially).

4. More development, less "shocking" plot twists. Most importantly: enough with the fake deaths. Introducing Claire's blood as a Miracle Cure was a mistake (albeit, a necessary one) since now anybody can come back from the dead with just an ittybit of blood. Mr. Bennett's revival was fine. Great, actually. It made me happy. Maya's ressurection? Completely unnecessary, as was the character. Especially if that was her two purposes - to transport Sylar to New York and to prove to Sylar that the blood works. So let's have some deaths actually STICK, huh? Simone's did...Isaac's did...DL's did...Why not everybody else's?

5. Move faster. The biggestbiggest mistake from "Volume II: Generations" was how slow it went by. The fruitless Claire/West "romance" that was rushed into and then stretched out as long as possible to justify Claire appearing in episodes...the Hiro in feudal Japan storyline that lasted far too long only to explain one character's turn to the dark side...Peter's amnesia and then, 7 episodes later, jumping into the future and finally giving us the season's major storyline. Get to the point sooner and then just move at full throttle from there.

But that's just me.

[Jenni Lou]

5. Move faster. The biggestbiggest mistake from "Volume II: Generations" was how slow it went by. The fruitless Claire/West "romance" that was rushed into and then stretched out as long as possible to justify Claire appearing in episodes...the Hiro in feudal Japan storyline that lasted far too long only to explain one character's turn to the dark side...Peter's amnesia and then, 7 episodes later, jumping into the future and finally giving us the season's major storyline. Get to the point sooner and then just move at full throttle from there.

I can't argue with most of your points actually. Especially about Maya. After watching s2, I was like "that's it? What the hell was the point of her at all?" So, whatever.

But I did just just watch for the first time the last 5 eps o s1 and all of s2. IN under 3 days, no less. And as with many shows, I think it helped that I marathoned it as I did because I really enjoyed it!!!!!! Okay, it was a liattle slow in spot but overall, good stuff. When I finished an ep, I wanted to start a new one.

So I understand your complaint. And jad I watched it week-to-week as you all did, I would probably be saying the same thing. But for me, it seemed fine.

Although, I wish David Anders wasn't buried alive because I liked him! Of course, after Alias, I was expecting him to be playing an American in Heroes...but no....I guess they really love his British accent. That guy never gets to speak with his on voice. So...bring him back!!

And yeah...they could just bring Nathan back, I guess. But Claire's blood unfortunately has become a deux ex machina and the only way to remedy that would be to kill her off. The writers sort of wrote themselves into a corner with that one a bit, imo. And I wish that more characters would just stay dead instead of being brought back---otherwise, don't kill them off in the first place! But as for Nathan--like Niki--his storyline is dry and tired. SO they either need to find something substantial for those two. Or just let them die. It doesn't seem right to crowd the screen with nugatory characters if they serve no purpose other than stealing time away from others. :/

[Heather]

I see what you mean, hun. I think that when I go back and rewatch the season at a faster pace, I'll enjoy it more - like I did with VM Season 3 and GG Season 7. But, on the first run, it was disappointing overall to me since I personally expected more. *Shrugs*

But at the moment, I'm too...psyched about something I've just stumbled upon and it deals with David Anders' character, Adam Monroe, and his fate.

As many of you already know, NBC releases a weekly online comic that fills in the gaps in the "Heroes" saga - whether that means showing us things only mentioned on screen (IE: Jessica robbing Linderman of millions with DL's crew and then killing them, DL's escape from prison, etc...) or giving us a look into characters' pasts (IE: Hana "Wireless" Gitelman and how Mr. Bennet recruited her, Isaac's first use of his clairvoyant powers, etc...). The latest issue was "The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei" and it told us many things about Takezo Kensei/Adam Monroe that we didn't already know.

*I'm putting this behind spoiler tags just in case there are some spoiler-sensitive people, but really it's just facts release through the comic and my speculation on what's to come...*

Spoiler:

This is the description of the issue as given by HeroesWiki:

Trapped in a coffin, Adam remembers how he outlived and survived the world's greatest men and women. All except one-Hiro Nakamura. He ponders the point of immortality if he is buried alive and when all those he has loved are dead and gone. He then recalls his ten wives, realizing he is alone. He mentions he has already died countless times in the coffin, but that the deaths do not matter because he believes his newest bride will find him.

Also in the comic, they give us another little detail about Adam's past - a former name that he took on...

Adam's birth name is unknown. He has taken on "a few dozen names" (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei), most notably Takezo Kensei, Richard Sanders, and Adam Monroe. The name given to him at birth-whether one of these or something else entirely-remains unclear.

Richard Sanders. Blonde, blue-eyed...Sanders. Does this ring a bell to anyone?

We already know that David Anders and Ali Larter filmed a scene together on the last day of filming before production was forced into a strike-induced coma and that it was of Ali Larter having a "night terror." We also know that they did film numerous scenes for episodes after 2.11 "Powerless."

We were also told that Niki/Jessica would be connected to the show's greater mythology and really be set on a path towards getting involved in everything. This was back when the season first started, of course, but plans couldn't have changed THAT much.

So let's speculate, shall we?

-Are Niki and Jessica Sanders related to Takezo Kensei/Richard Sanders/Adam Monroe? It'll certainly bring the two of them deeper into the mythology of the show and could bring about an explanation as to why the Symbol appeared on Niki's back when Jessica took over her body.
-Could this night terror that Ali Larter has be the way that Adam reaches out to Niki/Jessica? Is Niki/Jessica his "next bride" that will come and rescue him?
-It's rumored that Jessica will be the character that Ali Larter portrays when the show comes back. It's also been said that Sylar will free the equivalent of "12 Sylars" from the Company's holding - thus explaining the title of the volume being "Villains." What if Jessica, the real Jessica, is one of the villains freed and she goes to rescue Adam from his grave and the two team up?

I don't know about any of you, but this really really really excites me. It has the potential to be a huge storyline if they do it right and I'm just...so eager for the strike to get resolved and the show to return to production so we can see it al play out.

[Jenni Lou]

Dude, thanks for the info. It sounds awesome. For realz. And I just think David Anders can be so cool and that he could totally fir into the larger scope of this series. And I love the idea of one of heroes actually being connected to him somehow. I don;t follow the stuff outside the show for Heroes. But I love that Heroes and Lost have been banking on fan hype to propel their series. Lost also recently started a new online game full of clues.

Anyhoo, thanks Heather! And I am sure you will enjoy it more the second time around.

[Yosso]

*pulls mousepoint away from spoiler button*

Must?resist?spoilers?

1. I want Ali Larter back. And better than ever. Giver her character a storyline that's significant and exciting. Give her a REASON to be on the show and don't bench her. Ali is a phenomenal actress and deserves a phenomenal storyline to show her skills. In "Volume II: Generations," she was nothing more than a plot device - not even a character. Here's to praying that "Volume III: Villains" actually brings her back and gives her something to do.

Hear hear! Niki was nothing more than a plot device, when they finally decided to give her some screen time a few episodes in. The only time during the season where we actually managed to explore Niki as a person was in Four Months Ago, even in the first half of S1 (a fairer comparison) we got that a heck of a lot more. That's the only time I remember Jessica even making an appearance in the season. I desperately hope Niki isn't dead. If Nathan can survive the bomb surely Niki can survive that explosion?maybe? She's got more of a chance than Nathan anyway, maybe the super strength she has gives her some sort of extra resistance to harm? :/. I just hope they give some time to Jessica next season and deal with Niki's alter-ego(s) (I'm still not entirely certain about this new Gina character she seems to have developed) Because in S1 that's what intrigued me about her character. This last season I found her slightly bland. Though to be fair about all this the writer's strike must've screwed their plans up a lot this season, for all I know they could have had big plans for Niki in the latter part of the season (a season of regular length I mean 22 or so episodes)

3. Coming up with only a few key storylines and involving multiple characters in each. Enough of this "Everyone-gets-their-own-story," nonsense. Bring the characters together quicker and, most importantly, BETTER. Especially now that most of them are well aquainted with each other (Nathan, Niki, Matt, and Mohinder especially).

Yes. There were way too many individual plots especially at the beginning of the season which mostly resulted in the Heroes running around pointlessly and not actually doing much. Maya and Alejandro wasted a couple of episodes doing just that. Though I'm glad to say that things started to entwine and join together again nearer the end of the season.

Mostly next season I'd like fewer new character introductions. Not likely I know, but I really hope they don't give us a whole load of new characters. Don't get me wrong, I actually do like a lot of the new characters this season, but I hated how they ditched perfectly good characters in S1 ? didn't bother to develop them further when I felt they had so much more story to tell and just killed them or forgot about them. I just hate what they did with Zach, I loved his friendship with Claire in S1 and now it's like it never even happen. And it's even more irritating since I don't really care for Claire/West as much. I hated that annoying Irish girl, can't even remember her name. I must've purposely pushed it out of my mind to keep from having rage blackouts. They keep on focusing on newer characters, trying to thrust them down our throats when we'd like to focus more on characters we actually know. Like Niki, Nathan didn't actually do a whole lot in the season either I found.

I hope Sylar's plot actually progresses. Because really this season he just completed the second half of a loop and he's pretty much in the same position he was in S1. And I hope he grows some layers. To be frank, I don't completely get all this fanlove of Sylar. All I see in him is he's an evil, merciless killer ? and that's it. He just seems to one dimensional to me, I guess the episode when he killed his mother in S1 gave him a momentary appearance of having layers as a character, but this season all he did was kill and kill and be evil, when thinking about Sylar as a person is just dull. He doesn't seem believable as a person. So I hope they actually flesh out the character a bit more or just kill him off. I'd say there are definitely better, more rounded and layered characters that deserve a place in the show.