TV Shows I'm Watching - Heroes (Eps. 12 - 13)

Episode 12 – Godsend - ** out of 4

When we last left our heroes they were dealing with a new problem; they realized that the cause of the huge, New York destroying explosion is going to be an exploding man. Two weeks later flashes up on the screen at the start of this episodes and…well…our heroes really haven’t done all that much to fix the problem, and don’t do that much in the following 42 minutes. You’ve had two weeks! Jack Bauer, sans superpowers, fixes twelve of those problems in 24 hours!

This episode basically follows the heroes as they go back to moping, the national pastime of most superheroes apparently. They talk a lot about the exploding man, and Hiro tries to steal a sword that will help him focus his powers, but really it’s a return to the mope-tastic first few episodes. The Sylar plot goes nowhere, the exploding man information feels like everyone’s saying, “Previously on Heroes”, and there’s only one or two exciting new character revelations. Ladies and Gentleman, Matt Parkman’s wife finally knows about his telepathy. That’s the highlight of this episode.

On the Niki front we can now add abused prisoner, possible death row candidate (if only they go through with it), and straight jacketed psych patient to her list of “achievements”.

This is a disappointing episode all around especially considering the leaps and bounds Heroes had taken before the hiatus.

Episode 13 – The Fix - ** out of 4

Well, after two episodes, I’m officially calling out Heroes on its midseason slump. Every show has a midseason slump sooner or later, and most often it tends to be in the first season (since most writers don’t know for sure if their show will get picked up for a full season the second half is usually thinly plotted).

But here it is in all its mediocre glory. Once again, very little happens in The Fix. Sure there is a nifty revelation in the Claire subplot surrounding her birth parents, and now there’s an angry invisible man yelling a lot at Peter, but that’s it….

How mediocre is this slump? Case in point - After revealing to his wife his telepathic powers Matt Parkman now deals with the biggest threat yet, faulty plumping in his washroom! Yeah, there’s a plumbing subplot on a show called Heroes!!!

The end of the episode provides a few tantalizing hints suggesting it may be a short lived slump (Sylar’s back, Sulu shows up), but frankly it can’t come soon enough. I’m waiting to see something heroic, even if it’s just helping some lady across the street.