Review of the Heroes pilot

Now that the fall season has begun to quiet down and finale itself, I wrote a review of the Heroes pilot. Here you go.Peter: "Did you ever get the feeling like you were meant to do something... extraordinary?"Mohinder: "I'm driving a cab. You may have noticed."I wasn't wildly impressed with this pilot episode. I was confused about what was going on, and a little disappointed that it was all

Heroes isn't ringing my chimes. Yet

However, I didn't get into a lot of my favorites this early. And the end of the second episode was certainly intriguing. (I love time travel.) I just can't tell if it's going to be great yet, or just derivative. And why so much grue?So far, the stories I'm the most interested in are Clare the cheerleader and her evil father, Nicki the single mother/mirror person who has clearly gotten the most

How we pick what we watch, especially during the fall blitz

During the summer, I recruited some wonderful guest bloggers, and we recently discussed how we pick what we watch.From Dan:For me, the genre shows I pick tend to be based on the concept of the show. If it doesn't conflict with something else that I watch, I give it a try. This has led to some major one season wonders. On the other hand, it led me to Battlestar Galactica and Lost, so I can't

Heroes: Powerless

Thug: "You know what happens to heroes in the real world? They end up dead. Just like you."Well, at least they didn't leave us with a cliffhanger, or kill off Mr. Muggles. (Heaven forbid.) And I got what I wanted: Peter, Claire, HRG and Hiro made it, and so did Elle and Adam. (Adam is still alive, after all; he could return. And if we thought he was nuts before, we ain't seen nothing yet.

Heroes: Truth & Consequences

Hiro: "I must avenge my father's death and save the world."Ando: "Why is saving the world always your responsibility?"Montreal and Searsmont, Maine: So Adam was initially imprisoned because he wanted to release the killer virus, "for the greater good"? Aha. So that's his evil plan. And thirty years in prison just made him want it more. Why is Peter so determined to believe Adam? Please

Heroes: Cautionary Tales

Hiro: "Every hand I extend in kindness is his hand. And every blow that I strike for justice is his fist."This was an emotionally resonant episode with a powerful, unifying theme. Fathers, and what they give their children. Good fathers, and not so good fathers. Kaito Nakamura made his son into a hero. Noah Bennet protected his adopted daughter from evil so that she could become a hero,

Heroes: Four Months Ago

Peter: "I remember. I remember everything."Adam: "Good, then. Shall we save the world?"This was a particularly delicious fill-in-the-blanks episode. It was like watching floating puzzle pieces zoom in and snap together. I was thinking that this might have been a better season premiere than the one we had. Except that back then, we didn't know Adam from, well, Adam, and his

Heroes: Out of Time

Yaeko: "You must concentrate! You have to get us out of here!"Hiro: "Why is everything so purple?"Wow. This one impressed me. A lot of good storytelling, a lot of resolution, and a lot of new direction. We even saw most of the 8/8 paintings come to life. In fact, this episode was so jam-packed that at one point Dan said to me, "This one just keeps on going, doesn't it?"Future New York: How

Heroes: The Line

Cop: "I don't suppose you saw a flying masked man this evening?" It wasn't so much about "the line"; it was about crossing it. Several of our cast made bad decisions, with even worse possible consequences.1671 Japan: Just when I thought I was bored with this plotline, it got really interesting. Ending the rule of the Samurai before its time could have an enormous ripple effect. Did Hiro just

Heroes: Fight or Flight

Hiro: "It's like living in a storybook. Only more tiring."The "really scary villain" club just got two new members.Cork, Ireland: So Peter essentially just got Caitlin's brother killed. So much for that little romance. The question of whether Veronica Mars would be good or evil has been answered; she's petulant, out of control, and viciously homicidal, and I'm really glad they didn't show

Heroes: The Kindness of Strangers

Noah: "If the wrong person comes into her life, it could be... problematic for all of us."This week, instead of five minutes with each member of the cast, we got more of a concentration on certain characters. Which can be good. But we didn't get either Peter or Hiro, and I always feel a bit cheated when there's no Peter. And they're still laying story foundation, so it feels like not a

Heroes: Kindred

West: "You're indestructible. You can skydive without a parachute."Claire: "You could skydive without a plane."Cork, Ireland: Lots of Peter with his shirt off again, probably because he's so buff now. He's certainly won Caitlin over. Who could resist a kind superhero who looks like Milo Ventimiglia? I thought Peter using his powers for armed robbery was a lot of fun, and he continued to be

Heroes: Lizards

Sandra: "We do have a colander, dear. No need to be flashy."Cork, Ireland: Peter automatically healed without thinking of Claire, and phased without thinking of DL. Let's hope he doesn't want to cook something without a stove.Speaking of hot, does Peter look great with his shirt off, or what? That and his memory loss made him appear so vulnerable, which is interesting when you consider

Heroes: Four Months Later

Noah: "From now on, you have to be entirely unextraordinary."Claire: "Right. Don't stand out in any way."So much goodness. Where to begin?The Company: Nakamura talked about the gifted ones as if he and Angela weren't in their number. Which means that he's not going to get up and walk away; he really is dead. He said he'd wronged them and Hiro was his redemption. Hiro is nearly thirty. The

Heroes: How To Stop An Exploding Man

Deveaux: "In the end, all that really matters is love."This was the pay-off. Was it worth the wait? Well, yes, pretty much.It was all about the full circle. The series began with Peter jumping off the roof and Nathan saving him, and it ended in much the same way. I think Nathan had already decided to let the explosion happen so that he could become the leader of the free world. What

Heroes: Landslide

Ando: "Destiny picked you, Hiro."Hiro: "Destiny made a mistake."Characters are coming together, storylines are coalescing, and we're at the culmination of every plot thread. I'm surprised at how much I'm loving this, considering how lukewarm I was when the series began.Since we just lost D.L., Ted, Linderman and Thompson, I'm bracing myself for a total bloodbath in the finale. Who is the key

Heroes: The Hard Part

Sylar: "I think I'm going to do something bad."Mohinder: "You're a murderer. You don't get the luxury of regret."Sylar made a pretty serious attempt to return to normalcy, to his life as a watchmaker -- because, surprise, he didn't really want to blow up New York. And then his mother actually talked him out of it before he (not really accidentally) killed her. One of her snowglobes had a

Heroes: Five Years Gone

Sylar: "When I killed Nathan, he had already turned against his own kind."Peter: "Liar."This one was so cool that I almost didn't want it to end. It was like the outstanding Buffy episode, "The Wish", with a frightening alternate universe, intriguing changes in our characters, and way too many deaths.Sexy, scarred, powerful Peter Petrelli just blew me away. Wow, and double wow. Remember

Heroes: .07%

Isaac: "You can't fight the future."Exciting, information-packed episode.Even though I saw it coming (because of the tree branch through Claire's head), I loved Claire bringing Peter back to life. It was the perfect karmic reward for the courageous, selfless way Peter saved Claire back in Texas. Although I couldn't help but wonder why Peter couldn't stop the glass in the first place.My second

Heroes: Parasite

Nathan: "When I first met you, I thought you were nuts."Hiro: "That's okay. I thought you were mean. But now I know. You pretend you do not care about anyone, but you care too much."So much good stuff. Where to begin?Nathan. I love Nathan. Trying to figure out what side he was on made him fascinating before, but I think working undercover for the FBI let the cat out of the bag. He may even be