Heroes Volume Four

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Well, it's starting tomorrow, so it's about time for a new thread.

This is also important for the future of the show.  While officially the show's not on the chopping block, it hasn't been renewed for another season, unlike most veteran NBC shows, and it's ratings this season have been at the level where if it was a new show, it likely would have been dropped already.

It looks like their intention is to start over.  The characters will all be living ordinary lives again, so time after Volume 3, and will apparently be reintroduced into the shows new plot.  I also glanced at some preview pictures in TV Guide, but didn't get a chance to read the article, and am too cheap to buy it just for that.  I did catch some interesting things though.

Spoiler

There's Tracy tied up under a heat lamp.

Another picture shows Peter, Matt, and Mohinder torturing HRG for information.  Don't care for Peter being involved in this at all.

Another picture is an action shot of Sylar.  The caption says that some sort of new character will initially be tracking him down, only to join forces with him later.

[Podmark]

I thought I read somewhere that Heroes will definitely return next season. Maybe I can dig up the quote.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

You might be thinking of

Angela Bromstad, NBC's president of primetime entertainment, said Thursday that the show was "very secure"

Which is not the same thing, especially as they have refused to renew the show for another season so far, unlike many of NBC's other shows.  Even Biggest Losers has already officially been renewed, for crying out loud!  Quite a few folks seem to think that it's future rides on Volume 4.

[Podmark]

Yeah that might be the quote. And yeah if it isn't renewed yet and other shows are then it's future is very much in the air. Personally I'm not expecting volume 4 to do any better.

[Glitch Girl]

Got my fingers crossed here.

Last season started off okay, but by the end... good grief what happened?  What a continuity mess!  And we don't even have the writes strike to blame here (at least I don't think we do)

here goes nothin'...

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Well Season 1 head writer is back, from Pushing Daisies, and that's exactly what he's concerned about too.  That's also the first thing he started working on after his return.

EDIT:  A TV site I sometimes go to is reporting rumors that Heroes may be canceled soon.  Again, this volume means everything.

[bredon7777]

Ok, well, that was the first episode in a long time I found more compellling than whatever I was working on at the computer, so I'm taking that as a good sign...

ETA: Two minor nitpicks

Spoiler

a) Matt can paint now?  Since when can you just <i>decide</i> to have a new power?

b) Peter can fly. Why was  he even bothering to hold on to the straps in the plane?

[NomadX]

Spoiler

I'm thinking that Peter's new ability allows him to only use acquired powers for a certain amount of time. Either that or it's just another example of how stupid he is. After all, he fell for the whole "give me a hug" trick twice  now

[Podmark]

This one didn't so much for me, but we'll see how things go next week.

[MJB]

This episode literally put me to sleep a couple of times. *sigh*

-MJB

[Mahu]

I liked last nights episode. It was the first episode in a long time where I was literally at the edge of my seat. I think this season has a crap ton of potential.

Of course, Volume 3 had a crap ton of potential too, they just got to convoluted at the end.

Spoiler

Is it just me, or does Peter's "touch" seem very similar to Papa Patrelli's power

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I just watched it, and I like!

The plot so far is straight, direct and untwisted.  The character shifting this time was all part of the same plot, so it worked a lot better.  Also, the characters haven't made more odd changes this episode at least.  By which I mean sudden personality shifts.

I really loved Hiro and Ando as always.

Spoiler

Hiro trying to turn Ando into a comic book superhero is funny and typical, plus it actually leads right into the main plot, as it provides a way for the two to be separated so Ando can come to the rescue later.  I'm thinking Ando has a chance of being the key to the whole thing, as they don't know about him, and his ability to superboost anybody else's ability throws any plans they have out the window.

Plenty of other things made sense here.

Spoiler

HRG is essentially doing what he has been doing with the company, so this is no real shocker at all. 

Peter's new version of the absorption ability is a surprise, but I suppose it works.  His old one was a bit too powerful anyway.

This plot also provides a way for Sylar to save the day without really being a hero.  He's a target too, so his enemies are everybody else's.

[Alaric]

Got my fingers crossed here.

Last season started off okay, but by the end... good grief what happened?  What a continuity mess!  And we don't even have the writes strike to blame here (at least I don't think we do)

here goes nothin'...

Heh. Last season was actually my favorite so far. Sure, it was full of gaping plot holes, and often didn't make much sense, but it was the only season so far that didn't bog down in the middle- it remained fast-paced and exciting.

As for last night's episode- I thought it was great.

A few "spoilery" points;

About Peter:

Spoiler

It seemed fairly obvious to me that Peter now has the ability of the last "special" person he touched, only keeping said ability until he touches another such person. He clearly lost the super strength when he gained the ice power. So, no, he CAN'T fly.

About Sylar:

Spoiler

Was it just me, or was there some indication that he and HRG might be brothers? Remember the glasses-wearing kid in the picture?

I knew it:

Spoiler

I figured out ahead of time that HRG was probably in on the whole thing, and I thought Hiro's "secret password" was pretty obvious.

About Claire:

Spoiler

I know she's had some combat training at this point, but it wouldn't surprise me is part of the reason she can knock out larger opponents is that, due to her ability, she can safely push her body past the usual safety levels- essentially giving her a form of "maniacal strength".

[Conduit]

I just finished watching this episode.  I decided to check it out after reading the comments here.

This seems good so far.  Hopefully they can keep this up.  This kind of story has been done before (see any X-Men property), but it has potential.

Spoiler

If Peter's power is now what it looks like, that's a very good sign.  It's still a versatile mimicry power, but it won't lead to a situation where he has every power ever seen on the show.  This is actually closer to how his power was originally portrayed in the beginning of Season 1, and I often found myself thinking it would have been better to leave him that way.

Speaking of getting new powers, Matt's storyline has me a little wary.  I'll have to wait and see how this plays out.  I hope they have a good explanation.

Was it just me, or was there some indication that he and HRG might be brothers? Remember the glasses-wearing kid in the picture?

HRG didn't need glasses until about 4 years ago (see the Company Man episode).  I'm pretty sure this was called back to when Hiro and Claire went back in time last season.

[The_Baroness]

I liked the episode and to me the best moment was....

Spoiler

"I don't want to set the world, on fire...."

[bredon7777]

I liked the episode and to me the best moment was....

Spoiler

"I don't want to set the world, on fire...."

I started cracking up when they did that. It has to be a shout out.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Spoiler

Speaking of getting new powers, Matt's storyline has me a little wary.  I'll have to wait and see how this plays out.  I hope they have a good explanation.

Don't forget that Africa-Isaac's powers seemed more advanced than Isaac's.  For one thing, he twice gave another character the ability to see into the future or past.  I'm guessing that he actually gave Matt the future painting ability.

[The Hitman]

Spoiler

Speaking of getting new powers, Matt's storyline has me a little wary.  I'll have to wait and see how this plays out.  I hope they have a good explanation.

Don't forget that Africa-Isaac's powers seemed more advanced than Isaac's.  For one thing, he twice gave another character the ability to see into the future or past.  I'm guessing that he actually gave Matt the future painting ability.

Or- my theory- Matt has somehow used his mental abilities to "absorb" the essence of Mr. African- Issac, and is "channeling" him, kind of like a reverse Jericho.

[BWPS]

The first half was lame. It was like they just rearrange which side everyone is on and say, "ok, go again."
I don't see why they have to depower Pete, and I really hate to see Hiro without powers, but it wasn't exactly making sense that he wouldn't go back in time for fear of messing something up unless he actually did the worse thing possible and bug his parents. But having the main character without powers is just ridiculous.
Toward the end it got pretty interesting, and the ending was cool. I also love to see Sylar kill people.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Uh--Peter does have powers, similar to his original one, just not so overwhelmingly uber.

[BWPS]

Uh--Peter does have powers, similar to his original one, just not so overwhelmingly uber.

Depowered = made less powerful than he was.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

The word de-powered normally means to lose all powers.

And I think this was a smart move.  Peter was too powerful before.  Way too powerful.  It was getting harder and harder to justify him not just rolling over all the bad guys.  Now he's still powerful, but not uberly so.  Much better.

The true was also unfortunately true for Hiro.  Even the show itself called him a walking reset button.  That makes it hard to believe any threat the writers come up with, since Hiro can simply go back in time and erase it.  That's why they had to add the afraid to travel back in time thing last season.

The changes are necessary in order to keep writing a decent story.

[Conduit]

Yeah, these changes were certainly for the better.  And like I said, Peter didn't always have his "permanently copy the powers of anyone he stands next to" power.  For the first 13 episodes, he could only mimic a power while close to the originator; he lost it as soon as he stepped away.  This new variant is actually more useful in a lot of situations.

Hopefully, if/when Hiro gets powers again, hopefully they'll either be less powerful/precise or the writers will establish clearer limitations.  In Season One, Future Hiro mentioned being worried about causing a rift, and Hiro talked about how he wasn't sure if he could change the past after Charlie's death.  It might have been a good idea to elaborate on that sort of thing.

[BWPS]

The word de-powered normally means to lose all powers.

And I think this was a smart move.  Peter was too powerful before.  Way too powerful.  It was getting harder and harder to justify him not just rolling over all the bad guys.  Now he's still powerful, but not uberly so.  Much better.

The true was also unfortunately true for Hiro.  Even the show itself called him a walking reset button.  That makes it hard to believe any threat the writers come up with, since Hiro can simply go back in time and erase it.  That's why they had to add the afraid to travel back in time thing last season.

The changes are necessary in order to keep writing a decent story.

Or it can mean to reduce powers, which I obviously meant this time.
And it's possible to write a good story no matter how powerful the heroes are. I've read good stories about Superman and he's pretty tough. Of course the writers made such a mess with Hiro by sending him back in time again even though he wasn't going to go back in time. So maybe they had to do that for him. I just don't like it because one of the reasons I love superheroes so much is that they ARE powerful. And with some heroes, I think the more power the better.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Or it can mean to reduce powers, which I obviously meant this time.

I have NEVER seen ANYONE use it to mean that EVER.  It ALWAYS means to lose powers in the context of superheroes.  And in any case it was not obvious that you meant it in that way.

And it's possible to write a good story no matter how powerful the heroes are. I've read good stories about Superman and he's pretty tough. Of course the writers made such a mess with Hiro by sending him back in time again even though he wasn't going to go back in time. So maybe they had to do that for him. I just don't like it because one of the reasons I love superheroes so much is that they ARE powerful. And with some heroes, I think the more power the better.

In order to make superman usable they either had to reduce his powers, change them, introduce a serious weakness, or introduce increasingly more powerful villains.  The end result of this is that the entire DC universe is ridiculously powerful.  That may be fine for DC, but Heroes is a more realistic world, so that just won't do at all.

[MJB]

It would be appreciated if you two drop it. You have a difference of opinion. Enough of that now back on topic of the thread. Not the definition of a word.

-MJB

[stumpy]

(minor spoilers for ep 315, but no plot roundup or anything)

Spoiler

I have to say, I am liking this volume as much as I have liked the series, and more than I have for the past couple seasons. For the first time, Claire is rebelling for a legitimate cause, not just being whiny because she isn't just like everyone else. Peter's power switch up makes him less uber and hopefully more strategic. I would like to see Hiro back with his power (or at least a power, if not necessarily the same one, since his was pretty uber, too), but I am still enjoying the character.

Nathan has emerged as a real villain. And, by 'real' I mean a bad guy who doesn't think he's a bad guy and rationalizes his use of force and lies as hard-nosed realism in service to a greater good, just as people do in real life.

And, even though Sylar is the less complicated version of a bad guy, I really think he pulls it off and I'm glad they're keeping his storyline alive. I really look forward to the melding of the two story types: a comic book-style villain and a more real-world struggle of individuals against conventional authority. Plus, Zachary Quinto may be the best actor on the show. He at least gets the best scenes. 

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

While it is a departure from previous volumes, the more linear single storyline with less switching of various perspectives actually is an improvement in this case.  While the old style worked for Season 1, it hasn't worked well since, but this change does.

I'm also liking the results of the more fleshed out, more 3-dimensional Sylar.  It's an improvement, in my opinion, and he's a far more interesting character now.

Spoiler

Daphne's death was surprising, but it looks like it will serve as an important driving force for Matt.  All in all, it could be a good move.

It's also good to see that Sylar has not reverted completely back to his original SK self.  He doesn't kill the kid for his powers, and my as a matter of fact have a new sidekick out of it.  In other words, he still can control the Hunger to some extent, and will likely absorb the microwave pulse ability through empathy at some point (assuming he hasn't already)

[Podmark]

I liked this episode more than the last one.

[Alaric]

It was great to finally see all the more-or-less heroic central characters together, at the same time. We've had gatherings of bunches of them before, of course, but this was, as far as I can recall, the first real full-scale full-cast team-up, even if it didn't last very long. I think having all the characters together actually works better for this show than the usual "5 different plot lines per season" thing.

So far, I'm enjoying this season a lot more than I expected. If they can keep this up, it may end up being my favorite season so far.