As I stated in my tweet, WTF Heroes. WTF.
I'm going to go through the episode in order and list every issue I have with it. First, what the fuck did papa petrelli do to Hiro? Erase his memory? Why not take his powers too? Can he not take powers he already has? And can he only take powers and not like life force? How did he kill Adam then? I would think without Adam's powers he would just start to age, not disentigrate. Which brings me to another point: I thought Peter's power was to absorb other powers, so what exactly did Papa take from Peter? That's a minor point that I'd be willing to let slide. Also, if Papa Petrelli has had this power-stealing ability all along, why is he not uber-powerful like Peter or Sylar? He appears to only have the mind power and apparently the teleport power, but was that from Peter or before?
Next: The secret to Hiro's power is to blink? Ando making his eyes blink made them teleport? SERIOUSLY? Heaven forbid he's ever daydreaming and blinks. And something else that they've never explained: How does he not wind up inside a wall or something? (another minor point I would let slide if the rest of the show wasn't shit). So they wind up in a bowling alley in LA that's dress up to look like Tokyo, complete with random Asian people who may or may not be actual Japanese. i'll give them credit for using signs in actual Japanese. I'll stick with Hiro's storyline for now, and bitch about the comic book shop they went to. Having lived in Japan, do you have any idea how rare it is to find American comics there, much less in such large numbers? Mainly because Japanese manga are usually better. And it was cute that he was so shocked by Captain America and Hulk, but that 9th wonder comic is a stupidly convenient plot device. It made sense when Isaac was drawing it, but how many precogs ARE there in the world? Are there like ten powers and people get one of those, like rolling a dice? Precognition is too powerful an ability for more than one person to have it. And also, if these books have continuously been published, WHY HAVEN'T THEY BEEN READING IT THE WHOLE TIME? And why jump ahead ten pages? I'd be reading the whole thing, since clearly they are not in any hurry to get anywhere. The time traveling and precognition in this series need to stop, because it ruins things. It was really cool in season 1 when they jumped to the future and peter was all dark and evil with his scar that never healed despite his healing abilities (again, wtf?) but it gets old.
Ok. So now lets look at Nathan and Nicky. except her name is Tracy. Meh. Nathan has never been anything but melodramatic and stupid, and are just forgetting that he somehow came back from the dead? Can someone explain that one to me? Was it because of the infusion of Adam's blood last season? Could we at least explain that? And why does he hang around Tracy? And why does he give his father the time of day? If my father was using me to blow up the world, I really wouldn't have a sit-down with him. And if his father is all powerful, couldn't he find a better pawn to use? How about another shapeshifter (since that's one of the ten powers people can have)? He could even absorb the power and just do it himself. Nathan is expendable. And are we also forgiving Papa for giving Nathan powers because he was disappointed he wasn't born with them? And Nathan is clearly thinking with his Penis because Tracy is obviously not on the side of good. And whatever happened to Nathan's wife? Did I miss the talk of divorce? And doesn't he have children? Were they killed and I missed it? I somehow doubt that, as it would have given Adrian Pasdar an actually legitimate reason to chew scenery with bad acting and scowling.
Now for Matt and Flashette. First off, I'm not a fan of the weird camera work that happens when he's using his powers. Second, I'm not a fan at how he can be completely inept at using his power one week, then create these massive illusions for the fear guy, and then go back to being completely inept at his powers. Fucking skill-up man. And I think his lack of power inside people's minds is really just evidence of this fuckers lack of imagination. In the mind there are no rules. Stupid. And oh Flashette (I'm calling her this because I dont' know her real name). How did you fall in love with Matt exactly? You've been lying to him. Was his obliviousness and ineptitude really that attractive? "Aww, look at him not be able to do shit with his powers. It's so cute!" And I could go with him bleeding in real life if he got stabbed in his mind, but not it healing up like that. And while we're here, how did Mama Petrelli have that much power over Papa Petrelli? And if she did have that much power, why the fuck didn't she use it in the first place? I think my biggest problem with Matt is I've seen how powerful telepaths can be in other comic incarnations, and he comes off as such a pud. Which is fine as long as it's consistent. And before I forget, how often were they going to say "lets get a doctor" when there was CLEARLY no one in the facility. Which leads me to another point: Why was there no one in the facility? And I'm still annoyed that the company is actually called Primatech. I thought that was just a cover for a more interestingly named organization. But no.
Peter and Claire. I'm saving Elle and Sylar for last because I have the most issues with their storyline. Now. Peter is a horrible character. He can't act, and the bad writing makes it even more apparent. And seriously, why would papa petrelli send henchmen after peter if he had no powers? What's he going to do? It was ridiculously naive to assume they weren't after Claire. And could someone please teach the bitch some fighting moves? I'd love to see her become a martial arts genius, cause that would be cool. Right now she's just kind of pudgy and slow. And I don't think Hayden Planetarium is that bad an actress, but the writing is not doing her any favors. Minor side note: Where did the fire out of the gas jet go, exactly? I really have nothing else to say other than Peter is a horrible character and I wish he'd get killed off. And I would like Clare to start doing more useful things.
Now, Elle and Sylar. I think Kristen Bell and Zachary Quinto are horribly used in this series. I <3 style="font-style: italic;">can act (Sylar, Noah Bennet) aren't given good enough material to make it worthwhile. Even in general, the show just lacks a certain quality that it had first season. I don't know if it's that Heroes was new back then, and now it's not, or if my gut is right and the show is just lacking something. And my co-worker keeps telling me that the budget was lowered, but I don't think it's special effects that I need. I just need a compelling story. Look at BSG: the best episodes are not the giant space battles, but the episodes where the characters (read: Cylons and Roslin) are giving it their all.
The whole thing is remarkably disappointing and I hate it. Yet I'll be there next week to see how this section continues along. Clearly I'm a masochist for pop culture.
