Should I bother finishing HEROES? - Page 2

But you know, a lot of people (myself included) watched the first and second season, and eventually just lost interest, not caring how it ended.
I checked out at the end of the Season 3 premiere episode. I wasn't even curious enough to read updates and episode recaps.

I can't imagine Ambler willingly sitting through every episode from every season.

Yes, absolutley. It won't kill you (probably), and what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

I kinda feel like making a Heroes recap/review thread now.

I think Heroes biggest problem was it was trying to be the Anti Lost. Lost was going into its third season when Heroes aired, and there was a lot of negativity surrounding that show at the time, in particular amongst fans who felt the show wasn't going anywhere and that the mysteries weren't being properly addressed. Basically, the producers of Heroes were afraid the same thing could happen to them, so they decided not to develop any big mysteries or have any major destination points early on. It was meant to be a show people could jump into at any time. Unfortunately Heroes is not that kind of show. It still needs mythology and mystery to keep viewers tuned into watching these rather bland characters.

Uh, didn't they establish some mysteries with the eclipse, some of the painter dude's paintings, and Sylar's identity? Though the last one was answered fairly early on.

Honestly and serioulsy, I'm with Syd. Sylar lasted too long, and it really hurt the show. ZQ was so popular, and should have been, but he was an evil character right out of the gate with whole cutting other heroes brains in half so he could study them stuff. In my opinion the character was not redeemable.

But because he was gigantically popluar he had to be in every episode, and when you do that, you need to start showing some serious layers with the character. They tried to do that with Sylar, while trying to walk the tight rope of keeping him dangerous, and it just didn't work (for me).

It's too bad ZQ wasn't introduced as one of the heroes and some hapless other guy was Sylar. ZQ's popularity (because he really deserved it) might have worked out better for the show that way.

I've always felt that the first season was a nice little self contained story of throwaway, forgettable, pulpy fun. I've never felt the need to move beyond that first watch of it onto later episodes.

It seems to be how I seem to be one of the few people I know who remembers the show in a vaguely fond manner - only just tho.

They pulled their punches with the ending of the first season. It was actually pretty engaging until they ended up just spinning its wheels for a long time. I'd say it was decent to good for one and a half seasons or so.

This is becoming the HEROES catchall thread isn't it?

Sylar not being dead at the end of the first season was a MAJOR cop out. Popularity be damned. My reaction and dettachment from the show is similar to yours, Cocoa. It was only after that I actively started to dislike it. I must be jumping on the bandwagon. Whee!

I'm still annoyed when I think about Peter's Irish girlfriend in Season 2. They both travel to the future, where she gets taken away by some thugs. Peter gets yanked back to the present and we never hear about her again. Nobody gives a shit what happened. The writers spent all that time introducing and tying this character into the series and then just dump her, completely wasting the time of viewers.

Sums up the entire show for me.

Not only did saving the cheerleader not save the world, it really didn't accomplish much of anything. She had no role in the final confrontation at all. In addition, we've got Nathan sacrificing himself because Peter has suddenly forgotten that he can fly. Also in addition, we've got two guys who've absorbed the powers of every other character in the show reduced to hitting each other, all while the cheerleader who was supposed to be instrumental does nothing.

It's really one of the worst season finales of all time. And season two actually managed to get worse. I gave up halfway through.

You're probably giving internet chatter far too much credit.

I can't tell the difference between the shows that were trying be "anti-Lost" and the ones that tried to copy it. Both seemed to miss what worked about that show spectacularly.

Hell, Heroes was such a failure they couldn't top Lost in fight scenes, even though Lost barely had any.

Haha, you really summed up my feelings about that finale perfectly.

And good for you for giving up, I sort of wish I had now. I stuck it out all the way to the freaking end, ugh. Sure there were some laughs but mostly I just found myself getting more annoyed with every episode. Season 4 especially was just AWFUL! Claire explores a lesbian relationship in college, Sylar spends the whole time trapped in Parkman's head and the big villain is a crazy guy who runs a carnival and is trying to destroy the world so he can bang his girlfriend again. I actually felt embarrassed for the actors while I was watching it, poor Zachary Quinto...

I know that I watched Season 3, but I honestly couldn't tell you what it was about. I watched the Season 4 Carnival of Evil. I have to agree with previous posters, Sylar was awesome, but around way too much. They constantly introduced characters who did nothing then died. GPS girl that Matt fought to save and rescue? I guess she turned to hooking, because she wasn't in Season 2. Irish Girlfriend? For some reason, I thought that Kristen Bell killed her. Badass villain in Season 3 is a man on life support.

To further reflect on how such good will goes terrible so quickly, I quote the Wikipedia synopsis of the Season 2 premiere.
I don't know that this much happens in 3 weeks on Days of Our Lives.


Now, all that being said, some wonderful character actors on here. Even Jessalyn Gilsig, who has ruined two TV shows for me (Glee and Nip/Tuck) is decent here. All in service to an unwieldy plot and too many characters.

I quit during season 3, maybe an episode or two before the end of that "volume" (ugh so pretentious). By then I was watching it for laughs. But then it just got boring, and then completely incomprehensible and anti-climactic. I think I quit because they killed off Robert Forster's character, who I was rooting for to slaughter all of the major characters and take over the world, because everyone else was so anti-charismatic, and Robert Forster is awesome even as a retarded god-mode supervillain.

Yes.

But you know, this was kind of funny though.

Claire's boyfriend in season two...

That Irish lady...

The god damn wonder twins...

Fuck this show in every way possible. Seriously one of the worst things that I can ever remember putting any time into. Does anyone remember the promos that they used in the first and second seasons, with that dude whispering really vague things multiple times? "Someone flies, someone dies someone flies someone dies" was probably one of the most unintentionally hilarious things EVER.

And to whoever said that they were considering creating a Heroes recap thread, DONT! I'm not strong enough to avoid the hilarity

Ambler, I think if you stick with Heroes you will answer your own question. You will decide to not bother finishing it all on your own. Season 1 was ok. It had some interesting (if unoriginal ideas), but the weak writing and inconsistencies were already evident, BUT it was fun, for the most part. Then it ended... with a whimper, and I should have know to stay away, but nooooooooo. I went back for season 2, but it was a chore. Looking back now I honestly don't know what I was thinking. It was a mess and I watched it out of some friggin misplaced loyalty to the show. Made it all the way to the end of season 2, though I am not sure how I survived. Cold turkey was never so easy. I was done then and there. Never caught a peep af anything after that.

It's really sad, because the show could have been great in the right hands. The marketing for it before it premiered was great. It was all over the place and they sold it really well, and I'm sure that helped get people to tune in. What a mess it turned into... at least it kept some of those folks employed, but that's about all you could say for it.

Take the advice of the others in here and check out some of those other shows instead. For the genre stuff you can't go wrong with Fringe or Supernatural.

Fringe is really good and arguably only gets better as it moves along. I've always looked at Fringe as being on the cusp of greatness, and with season 3 it may have actually gotten there. Seasons 1 and 2 were mostly solid, though they had their slower episodes but even from the beginning, when Fringe is ON, it's one of the best shows out there. And even in so/so episodes you have Walter. Walter would make even a terrible episode of Fringe worth watching.

I actively avoided Supernatural (won't bore with details) until I gave it a chance for a friend somehwere in season 2. Right from there I was hooked. Went back to the beginning (long live DVD) and stuck with it since. It is seriously one of my favorite shows in recent years, perhaps even THE favorite show of mine.

I'm talking about big picture mysteries. The eclipse or the painter dude weren't exactly huge mysteries in the way that Lost's "what is the island?" or "why are they on the island?" were huge.

From Tim Kring:

Lost's biggest hook early on was the sense of mystery is created, and the feeling that maybe all of these mysteries would be answered and the show was headed for a specific course. But a lot of fans early on felt the show was spinning its wheels. As I've said, when Heroes first premiered Lost was coming off a second season that received mixed reviews from fans and critics. And I would bet Kring wanted to avoid the same fate with Heroes. But in not creating any big picture mysteries, there was very little to latch onto with Heroes.

I for one can't think of a better title for a Heroes catch-all thread than "Should I bother finishing Heroes"?

I dropped off this show right around the time the Irish girlfriend disappeared. Then I would periodically try to get back into it and the stupidity was just overbearing. I do remember the various threads for each season here on CHUD being consistently hilarious though.

Oh shit. I forgot about them.

Ambler,

If you decided to finish the episodes you will probably begin to notice that you are reacting very similar to Maya's powers.

What was the final decision?

Calling The Wire a cop show is like calling Casino Royale a poker movie.

I like Fringe as well. But I thought The X-Files does better "Monster of the Week" stories. Walter is probably the best thing in the show. Though Olivia is slowly beginning to grow on me as well.

This makes me wish Heroes upon you.

I am hurt.
A Heroes o' both your houses! I am sped.
Is Ambler gone, and hath nothing?

Help me into some house, Francis,
Or I shall faint. A Heroes o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me: I have it,
And soundly too: your houses!

One thing both shows have in common is that you need to commit to the full first season to really get a sense of how good they are.

Specifically on The Wire: Calling it a cop show is like calling Citizen Kane a mystery. And that comparison is apt in more ways than one.

I shouldn't admit this publicly, but I'm in the same boat as Ambler. I've been told repeatedly that I need to see The Wire, but I simply can't bring myself to sit through another show about cops, doctors or lawyers. After four decades of television, I'm sick to death of all of them, individually and collectively.

Sure, I might miss some really good shows for that stance. But I'm pretty sure that my last regret on my death bed won't be that I missed some good TV shows.

Having watched a season and a half of Heroes might be up there, though.

The Wire has cops in it, but it isn't a cop show - it's more simply, about the decay of an American city. Each season puts a magnifying glass over a different aspect of Baltimore's deterioration: The justice system, The school system, the political system etc. Even the first season, which has the majority of the cop stuff in it is more about the criminals and how they operate than it is about the police.

It's pretty much the most ambitious show ever put on television.

You're not missing a really good show about cops. You're missing the greatest work of fiction in recent history.

Holy fuck, dude. THE WIRE is an AMAZING show, but still.

I'm not sure I'd use the word GREATEST but yes, The Wire is definitely up there. I seriously can't think of too many recent books, shows or films that display such scope.

I'm not sure how much sway I have on this boards being a young 'un and all, but The Wire IS the greatest television of the last 20 years, possibly of all time.

Evi put it beautifully describing it as the story of a modern American city falling apart under bureaucracy and corruption. It covers every facit of Baltimore and refuses to offer easy answers. That it does this while being exciting and often uproariously funny is a minor miracle.

I am literally jealous of you if you haven't seen it. No amount of hyperbole does it justice, it cannot be overhyped.

No use of "greatest" is ever going to be definitive. But if one's ever going to use it, to get a point across, The Wire is as good as anything for it.

Truthfully I see no hyperbole in "greatest work of history in recent history", if for no other reason that any other plausible contender would have to debate itself on its own merits and there will always be arguments that, for its medium and for its subject, nothing has done what The Wire did.

I gave up on heroes after after season one, when Peter showed up in Ireland and met the dude from Enterprise I knew it was going down hill.

I to, however am one of those people who have avoided The Wire because i'm not a fan of cop shows. Sounds like that was a tragic mistake.

I was in the "The Wire is another cop show" boat too. And then I watched it.

In answer to the main question, I say forget about finishing Heroes. Not unless you want to start wondering if that growing pain in your head is actually a tumor instead of in-credulousness at the mounting stupidity of the show. Take other people's suggestion and watch The Wire and Fringe. If you are really looking for a great superpowers show, see if you can find a British show going on right now called Misfits. It's onto it's second season but it's good.

I loathe "cop shows" as well, but The Wire is just too damned great to skip over due to that bias. I put it off for years, and kicked myself for waiting so long when I finally got around to watching it. It's literature of the best sort, playing out on the small screen. I can't think of a single bad episode or weak link in the show.. it about as close to perfection as you can get in fiction.

I'll echo the Supernatural and Fringe suggestions as well, with the caveat that you need to be able to get through the first seasons. Both shows don't really start delivering on their promises until season 2.

Fringe's first two seasons start weak and end strong, with the current season 3 being amazing from the get-go. Supernatural, from season 2 - 5 is the best genre show I've EVER seen. This is another show I avoided for years, as I typically HATE "Monster of the Week" type shows, and one on the CW at that... bt enough people talked it up that I had to give it a shot. It's about as close to Gaiman's Sandman as I've ever seen played out on film.

I may also suggest Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, which had their ups and downs, but both managed to make me miss them dearly after being cancelled.. so they did something right. And Dexter... can't go wrong with Dexter. Especially if on DVD, you can skip over the scenes that Michael Hall isn't in.

Amen to that, Supernatural is fantastic, far better than it is given credit for. Although, now original showrunner Eric Kripke has left it has lost some of it's magic.

It tends to undercut recommendations of The Wire when the same people go on to recommend Terminator and Dollhouse.

Just sayin'.

If you're posting on these boards and you still haven't checked out the wire, you really need to reconsider how you spend your time.

The 2nd seasons of both shows were fun for genre shows, IMHO. The original poster seems to want some scifi/horror/genre suggestions, so I offered them up... but you're free to be a judgemental dick about it if you like.

Seriously. The Wire is probably one of the greatest TV shows of the last ten years and it's got perhaps one of the best scripts I've ever seen. It's a show with a lot on its mind, which tackles issues, which fleshes out characters and which has dialogue that just sings. It's not a show about cops, it's a show about institutions (both legal and criminal) and the people trapped in them.

The Wire can't really recieve any more praise than it already has. If he hasn't seen it by now, I doubt repeating the same recommendations will do much. It's still the greatest long-form drama ever made. I'm surprised people still think The Wire is a cop show, especially after all the exposure it's recieved.

The other shows done by the same crew after The Wire (Generation Kill and Treme) are also excellent. Generation Kill was so good it ruined The Hurt Locker for me (both tackled similar issues, but Generation Kill did it first, and better). All three tackle oppressively dark subjects while managing to remain entertaining and slightly hopeful while breaking your heart.

Yeah, Anjin ruined it. We were just trollin', man. Wire's totally paint-by-numbers case of the week and only gets praise out of political correctness. Feel free to skip it.