Heroes came upon us in 2006 as one of the freshest and unique TV shows we had ever seen. The cliffhanger each week kept everyone who enjoyed it in anticipation of the next episode. Who couldn't live in fear of the evil Mr. Bennet? - true evil didn't need a superpower! Who couldn't laugh at Hiro and his bizarre antics? And what male could not have fantasized about Claire even though she's only seventeen or something?
While the show had plenty of action, some very cool special effects and extraordinary acting talent, these were all secondary in comparison to the exceptional storyline, that while exceedingly complex; never seemed to loose itself like say.. Lost, ironically!
I will say that I wasn't 100% impressed with the final episode but that couldn't have prevented it from taking it's place as my favourite show, knocking Battlestar Galactica off it's perch (although a light breeze would have done that to BSG after it's woeful 3rd season). I also regret to inform you that my disappointment has carried over into Season 2 of Heroes. It's like NBC realised they have a hit on their hands and now don't have a fucking clue what to do with it beyond it's one-year plan. Gone is the level of anticipation of the next episode that was there and the storyline is not up to the pace and level of it's previous year.
***SPOILER WARNING*** Don't read past here if you've not seen Heroes Season 2. Now I've stomached a lot of stereotypical depictions of Ireland over my years of watching US TV, but so far in Heroes Season 2 I've seen stuff I've not seen since the days of Murder She Wrote when Jessica Fletcher was supposed to be in Ireland and the Garda Inspector was played by Harvey from Cagney & Lacey!!! Now I have no problem with the awful generic Irish accents spoken in the Bars and Docklands of "Cork" during Peter's story arc (and you all know they sound nothing like our own true Cork accents), but what I don't get is what little research went into the Cork setting.
-"30 L 90000" was a number plate on a parked car, this would have been the 90000th car registered in Co.Limerick in the year 1930 - was there even 90000 cars in the whole USA back then? Let alone Co. Limerick!
-Nowhere I've been in Ireland does steam come out of manhole covers in the road. This would cause a panic and the Army would be called in to investigate. When on holiday in New York I even took some photos of this phenomenon to show people back home that this actually happens and it's not just a special effect in movies!!
-No pub anywhere in Cork City is ever that empty.
-No Private Security Guards are licensed to carry guns, even our own police force don't carry guns.
-At least they got the amount of rain almost right- it's been raining for the past three episodes stopping only on order not to get Kristen Bell's hair wet.
Despite this, Heroes Season 2 is still substandard and not what I was hoping for. There has been some minor rumblings towards a plot in 5th/6th episodes (and thankfully they've left "Cork" and gone to Montreal (if you live in Montreal please tell us how inaccurate it is) but only time will tell if this pans out. They have an awful lot of work to do if they want to see their series last.
I must also report that NBC has dropped the Heroes: Origins mini-series that actually seemed like a stupid idea to begin with. It's not been officially shit-canned but it most likely won't happen according to insiders. It's unclear if it was the drop in ratings for Season 2 or the impending writers strike is the cause.
-The Colonel
