A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

And so it comes to an end. Last season’s juggernaut of a series comes to a schreeching halt due to the Writer’s Guild strike which left many a shows in a lurch. Heroes is not invulnerable after all. Even series creator Tim Kring had to apologize for the lackluster sophomore attempt — an acknowledgement that they fumbled the stories and lost their first season momentum. Last night’s title, “Powerless” might as well describe the show’s inability to regain its initial shine. That said, last night show wasn’t without its high points. Last night’s episode, written by veteran movie, TV and comics scribe, Jeph Loeb offered a peek at what the show might have been most of the season: tightly scripted (albeit some corny dialogue here & there), action-packed without being a stupid slugfest, funny, poignant and exciting all at the same time. Spoilers after the jump.

First off, as people observed, Peter needs to be near super-powered people with some intelligence so he can absorb some IQ. The poor guy was running around most of the season like Sylar ate half his brain. With several people already telling him “Don’t trust Adam!” he still went along as his meat puppet. Nice to see that he seems to have full control of his powers. Going nuke to destroy the virus & going *ahem* head to head with Parkman was a neat display.

Speaking of people with half a brain, what’s up with Mohinder Suresh? He must be the smartest dumb person (or is that dumbest smart person?) in that universe. Siding with the Company and taking down HRG in front of Claire? Not having multiple stash of Claire’s blood — the only substance that could cure a deadly disease — in different locations? Needing to be rescued by a girl (Elle) against a powerless Sylar? Okay granted he had a gun but didn’t Mohinder take out Sylar with a blackboard last season despite the latter having his full powers? Dude, seriously.

The popular Hiro Nakamura seems to have been benched most of the season by sending him to 17th Century Japan to play Sancho Panza to his childhood hero Takezo Kensei. Kensei turns out to be Adam Monroe - the Man With a 400 Year Old Grudge, and the man who kills Hiro’s father for revenge. Separated from his straight man Ando, the Hiro of Season 2 takes a darker turn as it’s revealed that his childhood hero is actually a heel. Hiro’s revenge at Adam - by burying the immortal under six feet of dirt in a cemetery - is especially twisted. We might have finally found out why he grew that soul-patch.

Niki/Jessica, DL & Micah were the weakest link last season. This time around, the show creators seems to have disposed of Niki/Jessica and DL and decided to turn poor Micah into an orphan. And over what? A backpack, a few comic books and a medal? The poor kid would need therapy after sending his mom into her fiery death. I hope they don’t turn him emo next season. His relationship with his super-powered but also clueless cousin needs more integration with the rest of the bigger story. The New Orleans plot, though interesting, seems to be the most out of place this season.

At least the twins Maya and Alejandro easily fit into the bigger picture courtesy of Sylar. Saddled to be this season’s Niki/DL/Micah as the characters with the lame storyline, the twins’ presence only slowed down the already sloth-like pace of the series. Not until they met with Sylar did their plight take on a somewhat interesting twist. Maya coming back from the dead courtesy of a bullet from Sylar seems to be anti-climactic at best. I’ve always rooted at Sylar eating the twins’ brains. Oh well.

The only characters who seem to have grown nicely from their Kirby Plaza experience are Noah Bennett (HRG) and Matt Parkman. HRG is probably the most well-defined character of the lot. His ruthlessness in pursuit of taking down the Company is tempered only by his need to protect his family and his guilt over what he has done in the past. His shining moment came in the stand-off with Bob the Company Man with the Golden Touch (Bob the Gilder? *Snicker*).

Parkman ended his losing streak to become a detective, resolve some of his daddy issues and seems to have developed his mental abilities. Although his partnership with Mr. Dixie Chicks, Nathan Petrelli, seems like an odd buddy-cop movie pairing, they did offer the funniest scene in last night’s episode: travelling from New York to Texas, we see Parkman climbing off the usually staid Flying Man Nathan, the latter intoning “we must never speak of this again.”

Nathan Petrelli, who for most of the season sported a full-on mountain-man beard which apparently grew in just two weeks, suddenly became the show’s reluctant hero again. Partnering with Parkman, talking down his amnesiac brother, and then holding that press conference where he was to reveal his special abilities before being gunned down seems to be too deux ex machina. We , the audience, were treated to a montage of the different abilities as Nathan intoned what he has learned during his descent into despair was suppose to feel sympathy for Nathan before he gets shot. The problem was, he barely registered in the second season for us to care enough that he did get shot. HRG’s “death” had more of an impact because we know what he’s been trying to do. Sure Nathan’s assassination was shocking and totally unexpected but since death in the TV series seems to be a temporary setback, the novelty wears off as soon as we see Sylar doing his best Popeye impression with a can of spinach in an alley. Besides, he has Adam’s healing blood in him already remember?

Off course that ending: the creators went for a “Who Shot J.R.?” gambit. Speculations already abound as to the identity of Nathan’s assassin. HRG seems to be the top candidate at this point. To call off the Company’s threat to Claire, HRG reluctantly comes back into the fold. This might have been a mission to prove his loyalty. Expect the “Who Shot Nathan?” tshirts soon.

Season 3’s been billed as “Villains”. Plural. So it mean it’s not just Sylar. Adam of course is still alive albeit buried under six feet of dirt somewhere in Japan. Bob, Elle, the Haitian and HRG are still in the Company. Of course, Mama Petrelli might have just ordered the assassination of Nathan herself to protect the Company. Who is else is there? Micah goes emo shutting down entire cities’ power grids? Soul-patch, angsty Hiro?

Whatever it is, it should be better than Season 2. They should’ve learned their lesson. The Writer’s Guild strike might be a blessing in disguise for the Heroes production. Who knows how many more audience members they would’ve bled if they kept indulging in that glacial pace for 22 episodes?

If you’ve been following Heroes this season, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What did you think of the ending? Will you stick around for Season 3?