I can’t be the only guy who wants to like Heroes again. I loved this show from the very beginning, when Peter Petrelli thought he could fly. Over the last couple of seasons, it seems as if Heroes has lost its way. Our senior writer Jeff Jensen has also been wrestling with both his feelings about the show and what, as a fan, he thinks Heroes needs to do to get back on track.
Me, I’ve been watching the show closely for the past two years in my role as Heroes TV Watch writer, and I’ve got two recommendations: Thin the cast and focus. There are too many characters bouncing around Heroes-ville, and not enough time to service them all. As a result, we don’t get to know them. Hiro, Peter, Nathan, Claire, Sylar, Angela, Tracy, Ando, Noah, Micah, Daphne, Arthur, Maya, Mohinder, Elle, and Matt — all mere ciphers where real characters should be. And if you thinned that cast, you could spend time getting to know the ones who remain, instead of just visiting with them for a few minutes each episode.
What about you? Do you think Heroes is fine the way it is, or does it need an overhaul? What’s on your fix-it list?
More on Heroes:
Five ways to fix it
TV recap: Who’s your daddy?
Season 2’s best and worst Heroes gallery
Inside NBC’s attempt to make Heroes fly high again
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I really enjoy Slyar – but want to slit my wrists every time Peter and Mohinder open thier mouths. I was so excited when I thought Peter’s dad was going to kill him last week. Instead he takes all his powers….just one more thing for him to whine about.
Oh, and while we’re at it – let’s cut Maya, and Daphne as well. Where do they find these actors??
I enjoy Sylar and Hiro – but want to slit my wrists every time Mohinder and Peter open their mouths. I was pretty excited when I thought Peter’s dad was going to kill him – but instead he took away his powers…just one more thing for him to whine about.
While we’re at it, let’s cut Maya and Daphne as well. Where do they find these actors??
I have been a huge Heroes fan since day one. I agree with the OP, the cast needs to be thinned out. Mohinders character sux now and they have even managed to make me not want to see Hiro. He used to be one of my favorite characters!
I have to say though, this last episode was MUCH better than the others. The action was hot! I am still shocked that Adam was killed. I had high hopes for his “bad guy” qualities since Sylar gave up his.
Daphne used to seem like a character I wanted to go away, but now I feel that there will be more to her. So I will be patient and hope the writers stop bringing in more characters and really develop the good ones.
Kill Maya. Make Claire stop being whiney. Bring back Niki. Give Mohinder something better to do. Stop repeating the same story lines: ie Hiro and Ando fighting, Claire not trusting her dad, and the entire Patrelli family drama. above all focus focus focus, the show is a big mess with no direction.
If they got rid of Mohiner it would be so much better. I think I am one of the few that enjoy this season. I don’t get why everyone is trying to rush this show. If you just sat and watched it I am sure it would be more enjoyable. Plus go read the graphic novels. This will help understand plot points that people are missing.
DEFINITELY get rid of Mohinder. I think the best parts of the show were when everyone was working together in some regard. I still want to love Parkman, and Hiro, and even Peter…but they never seem to DO anything. Get them all working together to “fight the future” or whatever. Just have them do SOMETHING, combined with some interesting revelatory backstory (Lost-style.) And yes, there are waaaaay too many characters right now. Focus on the originals. Only introduce new ones if they’re there to be, you know, killed by Sylar or something.
I agree about getting rid of characters, but for me that isn’t the first priority. I would like two main things for Heroes, one more than the other.
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First, and most important, is coherent, compelling storytelling. I know that there will always be plot holes, because TPTB seem the type to care more about the big picture than the details (after season 1’s finale, it was said that they set it up just so Nathan could fly Peter away, Peter’s powers be damned), but I expect fewer blatant contradictions. For example, in one episode the African guy paints over Matt with a baby because it is no longer his future. In the next episode, what does Matt see in his future? A baby. Don’t even get me started on the “save the cheerleader” stuff and the recycled apocalypse.
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The other thing I would like are complex characters. Both BSG and Lost manage to have large casts, but of three-dimensional characters. I don’t understand why someone on Heroes has to be all bad or all good. I like shades of gray.
Get rid of Jar Jar Binks, er I mean Jar Jar Hiro. He is the most annoying character on the show and his scenes consistently bring the drama to a grinding halt with unfunny meaningless jokey scenes. Maya, the 2nd most annoying character, isn’t even 1/10th the annoyance that Jar Jar Hiro is.
I agree with thinning the cast. Way too many characters. I don’t think the show has ever really developed a consistent mythology, I wish they would just tell a story.
Get rid of Jar Jar Binks, er I mean Jar Jar Hiro. He is the most annoying character on the show and his scenes consistently bring the drama to a grinding halt with unfunny meaningless jokey scenes. Maya, the 2nd most annoying character, isn’t even 1/10th the annoyance that Jar Jar Hiro is.
Mohinder has to go. And I’m getting pretty sick of Peter being absolutely useless. I know he’s supposed to be in a cycle to try to save the world and in the process screw everything up, but can we see something a bit different? Claire’s just annoying. It’s funny that it’s the older generation that I’m most enthused about. More about them! And Sylar, he’s still the only real interesting young ‘un.
Most of my concerns were mentioned in the article, but there are a few that have been on my mind:
1. STABILIZE your characters. It’s not okay to change your characters’ fundamental traits and motivations on a scene-by-scene basis. We liked them for who you made them in the first place. You cannot just make them murderers, radicals, vegetarian peaceniks, megalomaniacs, or saints at the drop of a hat. We will get whiplash.
2. Please never introduce a single unnecessary SUBPLOT again. Seriously. If I hear one more character say, “Okay, we are now going to do (plot-forwarding important thing)…BUT FIRST, you must prove yourself with a Task/save this person/embark on a spirit quest”…I will scream. I really will.
3. Bring back the HUMOR. Stop taking yourself so seriously, show! You are goofy and pulpy and ridiculous even when you’re at your best! So be funny! Find some joy in what you’re doing.
4. FIRE Tim Kring. I am serious. It’s been done before. It needs to be done now.
Do we really need a whole article (plus front cover) on how to fix Heroes? You coulda just made a list. I know I haven’t read the article yet, but I’m not really interested in why the creators, producers and writers messed up the show. They had a whole lot of time during and after the writer’s strike to come up with ideas to fix it. There are no excuses. The Heroes motto from now on should be “Kill, Kill, Kill.” It works two ways. The writers are killing the show with reused plots AND they need to kill off a characters.
One word: Focus.
As in Focus on one character per episode. We don’t need all of them getting starring roles! Like on Lost, your ensemble brother, you should shove some into sometimes on-screen roles.
Also kill anyone that starts with an M except for Matt or give them a new identity and have them live their quiet lives in Canada.
Grey’s is on my fix-it list. They’d have to do something pretty bad for me to stop watching, but I wouldn’t mind a little tune-up. Let’s get back to the spirit that was seasons 1 through 3. The times where Meredith was only annoying some of the time instead of all of the time. The times where Izzie was my favorite because she was given good story lines instead of garbage (Katherine Heigl is my idol, but she can’t do much with nothing). The times when Bailey got her fair share of screen time because she is the best character on the whole show. I could go on all night, but it just boils down to the characters. When did they all (except Bailey) become these deplorable people whose lives I’m expected to pity? As of right now the only characters that are still worth watching are Sloane and Bailey and they get no love from the writers!! Dear writers: take a lesson from yourselves circa 2005 and you’ll get your hit back.
Have “black hole guy” make a black hole in Isaacs loft with Mohinder in it(he’s still Mohindering my ability to enjoy the show), along with Maya, Micah . . . Oh just make it anyone not related to the Petrellis by blood, or related to someone who’s related to the Petrellis (that way you get to keep HRG)
You know, you’re all right. Let’s thin the cast. While we’re at it, how about we call Marvel and demand that the number of mutants available to the X-Men is way too damned high, and that they need to fix the fact that you have to go through 25+ comics (over several YEARS) before you find out the background of a single character.
The biggest problem Heroes seems to have is the fact it has all these fair-weather fans. Perhaps if they killed everyone but Ando off, and renamed the show “normal people.” There’d be fewer complaints.
No, people would then complain about Ando’s screen time competing with the tombstones. There’s just no pleasing people.
i jumped ship midway through the second season. yuk. Tried to watch the new season. yuk. i am done
Heroes needs to 1) cure Mohinder and have Nikki un-die; 2) get all the remaining season 1 heroes in one place at one time; 3) put all of the current plots on hold; 4) give them a a season of adventures as a team with each adventure lasting one or two episode tops 5) Kill Sylar in the last arc; 6) then add new heroes and a team of villians then resume some season long story next season
I really enjoy Heroes still. A few of friends don’t, but I think they are being awful picky. Heroes, for me, is a strong B+ show. It will never reach the heights of LOST or BSG, but for what it is, I think it does a good job.
My biggest complaints right now are:
1) A LOT of characters. I don’t mind a group of villains, but on the good guy side, there are too many people to care about.
2) Constant plot rip-offs. I know Heroes is a mainstream series, but they have to stop stealing every comic book story or sci-fi movie premise there is. Mohinder = Jeff Goldblum’s fly? Future Peter = X-men’s Bishop?
and 3) Character’s motivations are all over the place. I know the theme of this series is “VILLAINS”, but characters need to stop shifting from good to bad from episode to episode.
I am pumped that Robert Forster joined the cast. Max Cherry, Bail Bondsman.
Fixing Heroes – Nobody wants omnipotent heroes with virtually no vulnerability (e.g., two, count-em two Peter Petrellis and Sylar). The only things that keep Peter from killing everybody or driving everybody insane or swallowing everyone (and the whole world) into a vortex are stupic plot tricks (like bang on the head or a stern mommy). That’s why superman is a dud. Having an ominipotent hero diminishes the powers of everyone else (Hey, I can fly!) and ultimately takes away the basic premise of Heroes. Maybe the show should now be called One Real Hero, One Wannabe and a Bunch of Sidekicks. Talking about sidekicks, how about a new character that can turn into a gerbil, a la Sky High? Why not? Or a guy who gets really mad?
Although season 2 was lack-luster, I’m really enjoying season 3. I do think they are making one big mistake that comic book companies are also doing in that they are making things too fantastic and sensationalized. Return the characters to a sense of normalcy every now and then. Without it they don’t feel real.
I would like to see one story arc where the main characters are clearly devided into heroes and villians. I think Silar, Hero, Ali Larter’s character, and Nathan would be good for the heroes. It would also be good to see Adam return on that side. Put Peter, Claire, Elle, and monster suresh on the other. Then possibly a group trying to keep piece in the middle with Matt and Ando. Eventually culminating in a battle where characters die for good. There are way too many main characters to continually follow. Thinning the heard a little couldnt hurt and would be a great way to end a season.
Truth be told, I’m loving this new season. It zips along and is a lot of fun. As long as I’m not taking it too seriously, it’s my favourite show at the moment, which I wouldn’t have said of the first or second season. But I can see that the number of characters, most of whom often don’t feature at all in an episode, must be totally bewildering for anyone who misses even a single episode. And please, make Matt Parkman go away.
I used to work for an NBC affiliate and every Tuesday we would talk for hours about theory and how awesome this show was. But now it absolutely needs to be overhauled.
Too many characters, the main focus should go back to where it was – Peter, Claire, Hiro, Ando, Nathan, Nikki. I would be totally fine with less Parkman – he bugs me, and let’s use Mohinder for voice overs only (like the dead chick on Desperate Housewives). And would it kill the writers to bring some levity to this show – there’s no reason why we can’t be entertained AND occasionally have a chuckle.
What the show needs to do is getback to the basics. Trim the cast to make the characters more relatable. Like bring Monica back and have her, Claire, and Elle team up for a storyline. Kill Mohinder to drive one storyline and kill Nathan to drive to accent or take in another direction. Of course Maya must go along with Parkman, Daphne, and the new precog. Focus more interesting characters like The Haitian, HRG, Elle, and Sylar. Get rid of the time travel crap, the big bad should be able to steal some of the powers from Hiro, Sylar, and Peter; they’re just too powerful. Bring Micah back to help his aunt found about their origin and find the other triplet. the keyword is focus and stop being all over the place. They have alot of interesting characters like Angela, The Haitian, HRG, Micah, and well that’s it. Just get rid of a Petrelli or two. That is all.
I think the biggest one was number two on Jensen’s list. Everyone is doing things that justify the writer’s theme for the volume instead of what the character would normally do. The whole anyone can be a hero or villain theme has really hurt the characters because they had to make major changes overnight to fit into the plot. By focusing the theme on the current cast, it made a lot of them less likeable. Not because their choices like the writer’s would like, but because they’re no longer real characters anymore.
They also really have to come up with a set of rules for everyone, especially Peter’s power and stick to it. In season 2 he heavily relied on DL’s power including basing his entire escape from the company on it, which he shouldn’t even know he had because he only was near him once right before he went nuclear. This year he gets ‘the hunger’ from Sylar. How did he not pick this up in season 1 when he got his telekinesis? It’s lack of consistency that’s kills.
Make each episode 90% Sylar.
Get away from the future.
Please, please, stop with the future.
How many horrible futures can this show deal with?!
Also, focus, focus,focus on specific characters. Why else is Lost so successful? Even though the show has 14 charcaters, it always focuses an episode to 2 or 3 characters. Heroes needs to copy that formula, because it’s in need of any sort of balance.
While we’re at it, don’t make plot twists or character deaths for a cheap, shocking moment.
Here’s an idea: GET AWAY FROM THE STUPID FUTURE AND STAY IN HE PRESENT FOR ONCE.
and please, try to just focus on character development instead of an infinite number of shallow and annoying characters.
Put Maya in a bikini… a lot.