While Heroes was actually half-decent last night - meaning I only wanted whomever was on-screen at that instant to die a horrible death about 75-90% of the time; way better percentage than last year! - it's obvious the only thing that matters is Kristen Bell as Elle.
Always and forever. She showed her sparkling face, I squealed, and all was good for a moment.
Seriously though, it was a decent episode, reminiscent of the first season's occasional decent episodes. I still don't think this show has done anything with what it could do, what it could be. The boyfriend pointed out last night what the show is in desperate need of - a real sense of humor about itself. It takes itself way too seriously. I mean, look no further than what they've done with Hiro - the show has worked overtime to take its funniest character and surround him with betrayal and death and horror and just suck all the fun right out of him. Nobody's powers are any fun; nobody has any fun with their powers. Maybe a focus on bad guys will help switch that up, since they tend to say "Fuck guilt." That's why Kristen (besides the always inherent joy of watching Miss Bell) was such a bright light amid dull surroundings last season: she had fun. She enjoyed her powers. Now I worry that the show seems intent now on muffling her pleasure too, with all the bad mojo they're flinging her way. Lighten up a bit, Heroes! It'll do you a world of good.
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This will never, ever happen, because this show is made by aging fanboys FOR aging fanboys, and it is PARAMOUNT never to admit to themselves that their childhood love of superheroes is, at its core, kinda silly. These are the same people who hate Nicholson's Joker and want all the superhero movies to "go dark." "We must gussy it up with grimngrittiness at all times!!!!"
NERDS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS
While I'll agree with the general sentiment that Heroes is, at best, not very good, I don't think it's entirely fair to characterize it as being "by aging fanboys for aging fanboys." While there are definitely some aging fanboys on the writing/producing staff (does Loeb still work on the show?), I think it's pretty significant that creator/writer of last night's episode Tim Kring has gone out of his way to trumpet his lack of knowledge of and interest in superhero comics. And even if the episode only drew 10 million viewers, that's, what, at least 9.5 million viewers who aren't fanboys?
While obviously there are many fanboys who want their superhero stories to be as dark as possible, I think there's compelling evidence that the general non-fanboy public wants that even moreso. It's not fanboys who made The Dark Knight the second highest-grossing film of all time. (Hell, David Goyer aside, it's not fanboys who made The Dark Knight, period.) It was Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov--probably not a fanboy--who said he wanted his superhero movies to "go dark," in response to all those non-fanboys who loved The Dark Knight.
I actually think that turning superheroes dark is a way to engage the non-fanboy--the viewer/reader who thinks that superheroes are kinda silly. It's "Biff! Pow! Comics aren't just for kids!" writ large.
Did you notice Francis Capra, aka Weevil from Veronica Mars, was playing Jesse? I barely realized it, don't know how because he looks so different now. Apparently he had an injury before the last season of VM and required steroid treatment.
But gardner, I think there's some middle ground between the old Batman TV series' camp (or the Schumaker movies for that matter) and total humorlessness. Say what you will about Tim Burton's Batman movies, I think he actually managed to walk that line pretty well. I just think the show could use a little less capital-S Seriousness on occasion.
ghouliejulie, I noticed Francis Capra's name right at the start of the show, and it still took me a little awhile to realize he was playing that character. He does look a lot different. I wish he and Kristen would've interacted more.
I totally agree that there's a fertile middle ground for superheroes between outright camp and total seriousness--the Burton Batman movies (which I love, or at least loved the last time I saw them [though I did catch part of Batman Returns on HBO the other day, and it held up pretty well]) and Iron Man fall in this middle ground, and any Superman movie that hopes to be worthwhile will have to as well.
I guess what I'm arguing against is Sean's contention that the lack of fun or humor or whatever in modern superhero stuff is the result of "aging fanboys" getting their hands on the material, when I think there's very real evidence that average contemporary audiences enjoy the serious, grim 'n gritty stuff just as much as the most deluded, bloodthirsty fanboy. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the success of The Dark Knight and the possible upcoming success of Watchmen have the same grittifying effect on superhero movies that DKR and Watchmen had on superhero comics twenty years ago.
(I guess if I wanted to blow some minds in the freshman dorm I could say that our entire culture is an aging fanboy, the lines between adolescence and adulthood are more blurred now than ever, children are acting like adults, adults are acting like children, dogs living with cats, etc. etc., and the darkening of superheroes is as symptomatic of that as something like Gossip Girl.)
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