Return of the Kring
I've just watched the first two episodes of Heroes season 3.
It's late, and I don't particularly want to make a "more on this subject later" post, because I have a pretty dismal track record with those (I still have to write What I Did On My Holidays Part Two, in which I tell you about Russia. Hm.), so I'll just be concise.
I liked it, on the whole. It's different to Series 2 (in that we actually got events, rather than X-Files-esque something-a-bit-spooky-that-we'll-maybe-explain-later hints), and also pretty significantly different to Season 1 (in that several of the characters (Mohinder, anyone??) appear to have been replaced by a different character with the same name, and there are a couple of things that suggest that Tim Kring's had a bit of a re-think of how the Heroes world works). However, the changes all (for me, at least) work; continuity's been shot to hell, but if the net product is an enjoyable season, then that's the price I'm willing to pay. I'll give you my Why Heroes Is More Like Star Wars Than The Lord Of The Rings theory at some point. Maybe. If it rains.
Spoilerific specifics include
-Peter, the man who can teleport and travel through time, can't take his beloved brother to Claire and save his life because she's too far away. Oh well.
-I love it that we get plenty of Hiro/Ando interaction again. Hiro-as-boss, "I told you not to open the safe!", the Catwoman bickering. The comedy oil well here is potentially bottomless.
-TV writers should stay away from science. "Fight... or FLIGHT!!! Of course!" Not to mention all that "Hmm, the enzymes are harmonising with the tyrosine antigen" shite. Doctor Who, of course, gets a free pass on this sort of stuff due to being the best thing ever, but other shows get nit-picked.
-I note with pleasure that Maya's costume designers have realised why she was cast, and dressed her accordingly.
-Good to see Maccy McDowell back. Whilst Linderman isn't the most amazing villainous creation (the chain of reasoning with "the world needs a strong leader" at one end and "Let's blow up New York" on the other could use a bit more thought-mapping, for instance), I love this performance. His interaction with Nathan is great as well, though it'll be interesting to see whether the voice-in-the-head schtick avoids being too reminiscent of BSG.
-Note to self- get back to watching BSG.
-Lots of deaths! Hooray! And now the cool Goldfingery power is in the hands of someone who might actually USE it once or twice!
-The "Eating brains? Euuuuuurgh!" bit amused me, though it screams RETCON louder than...
-...Mrs Petrelli being able to see the future. So in Season 1, Mr Linderman was buying up Isaac's art (I miss Isaac) why, exactly? Triangulation? Still, I like what it does to the character- the flinty cold-heartedness now comes from the Cassandra schtick of seeing horrific futures that she's powerless to prevent.
-Whilst I get that Elle's not the most stable girl to have knocking around the Company, surely now that she's sacked she's just an equally dangerous loose cannon with no way to live other than crime? Get the lass a pension plan, of the 99mm kind or otherwise.
-What actually happened to the brains of all those people that Sylar killed in Series 1? Are they going to introduce a new guy who follows Sylar around and collects all the brains for his display case?
-Nikki-but-not-Nikki. Huh. I have no idea where they're going with this, and I'm not sure I care that much. I am more than willing to be surprised though.
-On the Ice Maiden theme, they should just give them all superhero names and have done with it. Nathan: High-Flyer. West: Flyboy. Sylar: The Brainiac. Daphne: The Human Whizz. Bob: Goldfinger. Elle: Electra. Et cetera.
-Super Mohinder... what the fuck? "Your...extraordinary body!" He appears to have changed taste in women as well as everything about his seductive approach (from the occasional wistful sigh to going from zero to borderline rape in six seconds) since the shy bimbling around with Eden in Season 1. And now his nipples are falling off, or something. This seems to be the biggest example of the "reboot factor" so far, and... well, I hope Tim Kring knows what he's doing. Either that, or he meant it to be hilarious.
-Bennett has barely done anything, but gets a "hooray" all the same.
-Matt going on a spirit quest sounds good for a laugh.
-Googling "bring back Monica Dawson" gets zero results. I guess we'll never find out whether she got Micah's comic bookzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That ended up longer than I meant. I'd best go to bed now, as college continues apace tomorrow.
I'm pretty happy at the moment, for what it's worth. I think it comes from college keeping me busy.
It's late, and I don't particularly want to make a "more on this subject later" post, because I have a pretty dismal track record with those (I still have to write What I Did On My Holidays Part Two, in which I tell you about Russia. Hm.), so I'll just be concise.
I liked it, on the whole. It's different to Series 2 (in that we actually got events, rather than X-Files-esque something-a-bit-spooky-that-we'll-maybe-explain-later hints), and also pretty significantly different to Season 1 (in that several of the characters (Mohinder, anyone??) appear to have been replaced by a different character with the same name, and there are a couple of things that suggest that Tim Kring's had a bit of a re-think of how the Heroes world works). However, the changes all (for me, at least) work; continuity's been shot to hell, but if the net product is an enjoyable season, then that's the price I'm willing to pay. I'll give you my Why Heroes Is More Like Star Wars Than The Lord Of The Rings theory at some point. Maybe. If it rains.
Spoilerific specifics include
-Peter, the man who can teleport and travel through time, can't take his beloved brother to Claire and save his life because she's too far away. Oh well.
-I love it that we get plenty of Hiro/Ando interaction again. Hiro-as-boss, "I told you not to open the safe!", the Catwoman bickering. The comedy oil well here is potentially bottomless.
-TV writers should stay away from science. "Fight... or FLIGHT!!! Of course!" Not to mention all that "Hmm, the enzymes are harmonising with the tyrosine antigen" shite. Doctor Who, of course, gets a free pass on this sort of stuff due to being the best thing ever, but other shows get nit-picked.
-I note with pleasure that Maya's costume designers have realised why she was cast, and dressed her accordingly.
-Good to see Maccy McDowell back. Whilst Linderman isn't the most amazing villainous creation (the chain of reasoning with "the world needs a strong leader" at one end and "Let's blow up New York" on the other could use a bit more thought-mapping, for instance), I love this performance. His interaction with Nathan is great as well, though it'll be interesting to see whether the voice-in-the-head schtick avoids being too reminiscent of BSG.
-Note to self- get back to watching BSG.
-Lots of deaths! Hooray! And now the cool Goldfingery power is in the hands of someone who might actually USE it once or twice!
-The "Eating brains? Euuuuuurgh!" bit amused me, though it screams RETCON louder than...
-...Mrs Petrelli being able to see the future. So in Season 1, Mr Linderman was buying up Isaac's art (I miss Isaac) why, exactly? Triangulation? Still, I like what it does to the character- the flinty cold-heartedness now comes from the Cassandra schtick of seeing horrific futures that she's powerless to prevent.
-Whilst I get that Elle's not the most stable girl to have knocking around the Company, surely now that she's sacked she's just an equally dangerous loose cannon with no way to live other than crime? Get the lass a pension plan, of the 99mm kind or otherwise.
-What actually happened to the brains of all those people that Sylar killed in Series 1? Are they going to introduce a new guy who follows Sylar around and collects all the brains for his display case?
-Nikki-but-not-Nikki. Huh. I have no idea where they're going with this, and I'm not sure I care that much. I am more than willing to be surprised though.
-On the Ice Maiden theme, they should just give them all superhero names and have done with it. Nathan: High-Flyer. West: Flyboy. Sylar: The Brainiac. Daphne: The Human Whizz. Bob: Goldfinger. Elle: Electra. Et cetera.
-Super Mohinder... what the fuck? "Your...extraordinary body!" He appears to have changed taste in women as well as everything about his seductive approach (from the occasional wistful sigh to going from zero to borderline rape in six seconds) since the shy bimbling around with Eden in Season 1. And now his nipples are falling off, or something. This seems to be the biggest example of the "reboot factor" so far, and... well, I hope Tim Kring knows what he's doing. Either that, or he meant it to be hilarious.
-Bennett has barely done anything, but gets a "hooray" all the same.
-Matt going on a spirit quest sounds good for a laugh.
-Googling "bring back Monica Dawson" gets zero results. I guess we'll never find out whether she got Micah's comic bookzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That ended up longer than I meant. I'd best go to bed now, as college continues apace tomorrow.
I'm pretty happy at the moment, for what it's worth. I think it comes from college keeping me busy.