If you’ve kept up with the posts here you’ll notice that in the early days we talked a lot about Heroes.  I was quite optimistic coming into this season.  I thought, that Heroes might just be able to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Season 1.  I’ll be the first to admit, that I was wrong.

Heroes season one was  great mystery that I wanted to figure out.  We didn’t know what everyone’s abilities were or how they were all going to become part of the overarching plot.  There were plot twists and turn that kept an audience engaged and on the edge of their seats.  Compare that to this season, we knew what Samuel wanted early on and there was no mystery.  Plot twists were for no reason other than to stretch the season out to its 19 episode run.

Anytime change occurred in the past it was only temporary before returning to the status quo.  Examples being the round-up of the powered people, the virus that was going to be unleashed.  Characters rarely changed and life changing events rarely stuck.  I’m sure that if Heroes continues for a 5th season they’ll find some way to cover up Clarie’s power reveal and return again to the status quo.

Evil Sylar

Sylar used to be an incredibly badass mysterious enemy that was a force to be reckoned with.  And now?  Now Sylar has flip-flopped and changed so many times you don’t believe that any change is going to be permanent.  We went from evil Sylar who wants all powers, to Sylar with no powers, to Sylar with mommy issues that works for the Company, to Sylar with a girl trying to be good, to Sylar being evil, and now Sylar is a hero.  In four seasons his character has had way too many dramatic character changes.

Peter used to have the greatest/coolest power.  They ability to capture and use any power.  I’ll be the first to admit that probably made him far too overpowered.  But to be honest the writers never had that problem.  Anytime Peter was about to turn into a competent hero that can do a great deal of good with his powers he was knocked back down into being the whiny emo kid.  The writers can change Sylar about a bazillion times but for some reason not Peter.  He always has to revert back to his status quo of basically being useless.  I could live with the depowering, I really could.  However the lack of character progression just annoyed me.

Future Hiro

Finally, there is the most egregious mistake, and that is the mishandling of Hiro.  I’ll be the first to admit that was something funny and enjoyable about the quirky nerdy Hiro we first met.  Then we got teased by the appearance of future Hiro.  Remember the badass with the sword and the soul patch who could actually speak English?  After seeing future Hiro that’s what we thought we would get one day.  Instead we continued to see the immature outmatched Hiro from week to week.  The character never grew despite the potential future that had been setup for him.

Despite all my reservations I stuck with Heroes until the end of this season and I was one of a dwindling group.  This series premiered having 14 million viewers a week and peaked out at 19 million.  Now, in its 4th season, the show barely drags in 3-4 million a week.  Something obviously went wrong.  At the end of last year Heroes was renewed and Chuck was on the verge of cancellation.  NBC thought the smart move was to keep Heroes and only kept Chuck due to fan outrage/support.  Look at things now, Chuck is NBC’s best rated show on Monday nights and Heroes is drawing worse ratings that Chuck did even in a slump.

I was tempted to give up on Heroes this year, I really was but I kept hoping for things to get better again.  Sadly I was disappointed.  If I had to describe season 4 in one word it would be this: BORING.  Nothing really happened except for people talking.  I think that even if Heroes does come back for a 5th season I’m done with the show.  They’ve had their chance to realize their potential and haven’t been able to do it for the last 3 years.  Looks like I’m down to one show on NBC now!

If you saw the preview for next week’s Heroes you know what I mean.  If you didn’t check out the last few seconds of the trailer.

Also, NBC released this as a promo picture.

NBC's Ratings Plan

NBC is banking on the fact that even if the plot sucks people will still watch just to see girls kiss.  Honestly, this just smacks of desperation for ratings on Heroes.  I’m starting to think the writing is on the walls for Heroes to end after this season.  Not even the awesomeness of Robert Knepper is saving the show right now.

Thanks to the folks over at SuperHeroHype for the image!

Since my DVR cuts off the previews for next week’s episode I’ve posted the latest Heroes promo for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

Smallville Season 9: It’s no secret I’m excited about the return of Smallville.  I have my doubts as to how good this season will be, but I do at least want to see Clark getting that much closer to becoming Superman.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the season we see him finally fly.

Dollhouse: I make no secret of the fact that I fell off the Dollhouse bandwagon for a while.  Needless to say, I hopped back on and am ready to see whats happening next.  It doesn’t hurt that I enjoy the actors they’ve got on this show especially Tahmoh Penikett who played Karl ‘Helo’ Agathon on Battlestar Galactica.  I think it could be pretty cool to see how much good he can do from within the Dollhouse now.

Flash Forward: I don’t know a lot about the show, but what I’ve learned I find interesting.  Here’s a little bit off Wikipedia to whet your appetite.

A mysterious global event causes everyone to simultaneously experience, for two minutes and seventeen seconds, his or her life six months in the future. When it is over, many are dead in accidents involving vehicles, aircraft, and any other device needing human control. Everyone who survived is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen.

A Los Angeles FBI agent named Mark Benford tries to figure out what exactly happened and why it happened. Along with his team, he creates a database of people’s flash forwards from around the world called the Mosaic Collective (for which a website has been launched). Apart from the various catastrophic visions, people also see themselves relapsing into various former vices, such as Benford seeing himself drinking again, and his wife Olivia has a vision of herself with another man

Stargate Universe: Its Stargate so I’m hooked already.  I’m hoping its good as thats about the only thing keeping me on the SciFi Syfy channel.

Heroes: I’ve said my peace on Heroes, lets just hope they can get back on track now!

V: A remake of the earlier series from the 80s.  It’s got Morena Baccarin from Firefly so I’m sold already.

Anyway, I encourage you all to check out the top 100 list and chime in on their debate.  I’m pleased with where the modern BSG ended up, but personally I’d have probably put it a little higher, but of course I’m biased.

Click the pic to read io9's article

Also, there is a new trailer out, we’ll try and link it.

Finally, its worth checking out this article from IGN.  Pretty good ideas on how to make Heroes better this season.

NBC has released a press release for the upcoming season of Heroes.  It looks like they talk about almost all the characters in this one article.  Seems like everything is lining up with our previous coverage of Heroes.  Pay attention to the sections regarding the Petrilli family and Hiro especially.  That should be the good stuff for this season.  Lets just keep our fingers crossed that this gets Heroes back on track.

From creator/writer Tim Kring (Crossing Jordan) comes the award-winning Heroes, an epic drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities.

On September 21, Heroes returns with its fourth season and a brand-new volume – “Redemption.” As the dust settles from last season, our heroes attempt to settle back into their ordinary lives. But, as they will quickly discover, it’s not easy to go home again. They will face one pressing question: how do extraordinary people lead ordinary lives?

Previously, in “Volume 4: Fugitives,” our heroes made an attempt to return to their normal lives – but that attempt was cut short when Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) uncovered a deadly plot orchestrated by one of their own – Senator Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar). After revealing to the government that there were people with special abilities, Nathan spearheaded an initiative to capture and imprison those people and used Noah Bennet a.k.a. H.R.G. (Jack Coleman). Lives were torn apart. H.R.G.’s own marriage was destroyed. Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter) was killed — literally shattered into frozen pieces.

Ultimately, it was Nathan who paid the price for his misdeeds – murdered at the hands of Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose), devastated at the loss of her son, and H.R.G., in need of an ally within the government, convinced Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) to use his ability to repair the damage. Matt used mind control and forced Sylar to shapeshift into Nathan, while erasing Sylar’s own memories so he truly believed he was Nathan. Now, as far as everyone else knows, Nathan is alive and well. And Sylar is gone. But all of that is about to change…

This season, “Volume 5: Redemption” begins with our heroes putting their lives back together.

Claire is finding that her biggest challenges are forgetting her old life and starting college. How does someone who has led such an extraordinary life assimilate back into everyday college life? Any semblance of normalcy is shortly overturned when Claire’s roommate commits suicide and Claire discovers her new friend, Gretchen (guest star Madeline Zima), is hiding a secret herself.

Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) goes back to his old life in Japan, but discovers that he has a terminal illness. When Hiro can no longer keep his illness hidden, he sets out to fulfill his own personal bucket-list – righting the mistakes of his past. But will Hiro be able to correct the errors of his ways without severely altering the past and present?

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) returns to work as an ordinary New York City EMT, but he uses his abilities to save lives. Peter has become obsessed, looking for redemption and shutting out the rest of the world he once knew. How can he forget the past and begin anew? Peter’s life will quickly change when a hearing impaired woman, Emma (guest star Deanne Bray), enters his life. Emma has used her disability as an excuse to shut herself off from the world. But as a new and unique ability manifests, the shell she’s built around herself will begin to crack apart – as will Peter’s.

H.R.G. is adjusting to life as a single man. Charged with creating a new company, he is rapidly discovering that he needs more from his life. But how does a company man become ordinary? And, when Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) returns and offers H.R.G. compelling evidence of a new danger, it makes H.R.G. wonder if he should get back in the game.

Tracy Strauss, having risen from the dead, is consumed with seeking vengeance, but soon realizes that she has a real opportunity to reinvent herself. The question is: who should she be?

Nathan Petrelli, not realizing who he really is, returns to the Senate and begins to notice strange changes in himself. Most alarming, Nathan discovers that he has new abilities. These changes are not lost on Angela, who recognizes them for what they truly are – the emergence of Sylar.

Meanwhile, racked by the guilt of what he did to Sylar and Nathan, Matt Parkman returns to life as an ordinary family man. All he wants to do is to raise his son, love his wife and return to a fulfilling career as an LAPD detective. But what Matt doesn’t know is that something unfamiliar is buried deep within his psyche – Matt can see and hear Sylar. And this specter will haunt him until Sylar is returned to his body.

The biggest challenge for our heroes is a strange and dangerous carnival comprised of a traveling band of outsiders with powerful abilities, led by a charismatic and powerful leader, Samuel (Robert Knepper). Alongside Samuel is his right hand man, Edgar (guest star Ray Park), a deadly Speedster with a talent for knives, and Lydia (guest star Dawn Olivieri) the Tattooed Lady.

Samuel leads his flock to intersect with the lives of all of our heroes. He will find them, and he will entice them to join him. And together, they will ask the same basic questions: Who are we? What does having powers mean to the world? How should we live our lives – shameful or proud? Should we hide or live out in the open? And if the world of powers is revealed, how will the world ever recover?

In 2009, Heroes has been honored with: a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show, a Teen Choice Award for Choice Action-Adventure Television Show, and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series. Among its honors in past seasons, Heroes has garnered a People’s Choice Award, an AFI Award, a Multicultural Prism Award, a TV Land Future Classic Award, the Television Critics Association Awards’ Outstanding Program of the Year, the International Prize at the BAFTA Television Awards, and Choice TV Show Action Adventure at the Teen Choice Awards. It has also garnered nominations at the Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, NAACP Image, WGA and Satellite Awards.

Heroes is produced by Universal Media Studios in association with Tailwind Productions. Kring, Dennis Hammer, Adam Armus, Kay Foster and Jim Chory serve as executive producers.

The Great Body Swap – At the end of season 3 of Heroes, Nathan Petrelli was killed by Sylar.  However, Matt Parkman was able to successfully trick Sylar into believing that he was Nathan, in effect using Sylar’s powers of mimicry to recreate Nathan Petrelli.  Or was it a matter of Parkman placing Nathan’s ‘soul’ in Sylar’s body in effect displacing or supplanting Sylar with Nathan?  According to what we’re seeing online it looks a lot like moving one soul into a new body, and there are consequences.

According to Greg Grunberg, who plays Matt Parkman on the show, : “When I [Matt] did the mind transfer, it didn’t go clean.  Some of him [Sylar] stayed in me and he needs me.  He’s looking for his body, he needs his body back and he’ll do anything to do that, including kidnapping my son.  He’s kind of hanging around in my subconscious, making me do things that I don’t want to do. I have to catch myself. I can’t get rid of him, so I decide to ignore him.  But you can’t ignore Sylar for very long.”

Looks like it could be an interesting twist.  The preview for season 4 showed Sylar’s powers starting to become active within Nathan, but now Parkman is going to have Sylar’s ‘spirit’ in his head basically trying to trick him into returning him to his body.  I think its going to be really cool to see a pissed off Sylar pulling out all the stops to anger and/or trick Parkman into returning him to his body.  Add into that the conflict Parkman already had about sticking Nathan into Sylar’s body and I think there will be a really cool dynamic.

Claire does what? – Its no secret that the writers of Heroes have decided to give Claire a potential new romantic interest.  The internet fairly well exploded a while back when it was mentioned that the new romantic interest could potentially be her college roommate, Gretchen.  Its already been acknowledged that at the very least the two will share a kiss.  Whats the reason for this?  If you’re a cynic, like me, you’re probably thinking its an attempt to grab ratings because after all sex sells.  We’ll see what comes of it, but I can’t help but think this is just a way to grab ratings.  Don’t believe me, take a look at the roommates below.

Gretchen and Claire

Peter’s New Life – I fully admit that Peter and Hiro are my two favorite characters on the show.  I think that’s mostly because they were the only two characters that actually embraced their powers early on in the series.  At the end of last season, Peter was instrumental in stopping Sylar from becoming the president.  Afterwards we had to wonder just what power had he stolen from Sylar?  The trailer we posted earlier seems to hint at the fact that Peter might be mimicking Sylar’s ability to use other people’s powers.  If thats the case, I’m kind of happy.  I enjoyed Peter having to shoulder the burden of trying to control everyone else’s powers.  Also, Peter has some experience with using Sylar’s powers.  There has to be some kind of reason they ran the story of Peter going to the future in early season 3 to steal Sylar’s powers.  Hopefully it was to setup his use of Sylar’s powers after being depowered.  As for what’s new with Peter, we’re hearing that he’s returned to being a paramedic and is supposedly pretty happy with his life helping others.

The Carnival – As the trailers have been showing there is a new organization taking the stage this season.  This group is referred to as the Carnical and lead by an earth-mover named Samuel.  Samuel is played by Robert Knepper who was recently seen on Prison Break as T-Bag.  Early reports say that Samuel is played well and in fact is more bad than T-Bag.  I loved Knepper’s work as the creepy T-Bag so if that translates over to Heroes I think we’re in for a real treat.  The Carnival is described as the opposite of the Company from previous seasons.  The Carnival is interested in having people with abilities use them so that everyone can be seen.  In effect they don’t want powered individuals to stay hidden.  The question is, are they good or bad?  Seeing as this is Heroes we probably won’t know until halfway through the season.  The show likes to tease us a lot when it comes to people/groups being ‘good’ or ‘bad.’

What Will Happen to Hiro? – As I said above, I’m a big fan of Hiro.  Needless to say I’m curious about what’s happening to him.  At the end of last season Hiro had gotten his powers back, but with a price.  It seemed that excessive use of his powers was causing him to black out and have nosebleeds.  It sounds as though this season that will continue as Hiro will be sick.  The question is, will his powers end up killing him?  Or better yet, can Hiro stop using his powers?

One thing of interest is that it looks like Peter might be using more than one power again.  Did he keep Sylar’s power to learn how to use others abilities?  If so it looks like his powers will almost be back to normal.  Finally, I’m really curious to see where they go with the Sylar and Nathan having a timeshare on one body.  Looks like it could be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing.  Anway, the trailer is below, take a look!  Hopefully its enough to begin to redeem Heroes.