The Heroes Dilemma

This, uh, is a tough subject to write about. First of all, since its inception, it's been hands down my favorite show on television. And up until recently, I was convinced I was going to get a tattoo of a montage of imagery from the show...

I'm glad I decided to wait.

The truth is, though, this show is in trouble. Ratings are wayyyy down (1.2 million less viewers than last year's season), and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, two of the executive-producers for Heroes, were recently given the blame and the axe. The problem is, they're already shooting episode 21... that only gives 3 episodes for there possibly to be an impact.

So the question is, what went wrong? And how can they make it better? Well, as the saying goes, you don't know where you're going 'til you know where you've been, so I'll examine what went right, what went wrong, and what possibly could be done to make the series better.

What Went Right*Please note that any reference unless otherwise noted is taken from Season 1

- Grounding the Show in Reality

Sure, the show had people that can explode (Three and counting) and a girl that dies seemingly every episode (too many to count) - but the fact that it made us believe that this could possibly, nay, actually - happen drew us all in. People with powers? A different DNA code. Bodies that can heal? No, it's spontaneous regeneration. People with different abilities? "Each person's DNA is different, like a fingerprint." (Note: Season 3 Premiere). Point is, for such a foreign and frankly, otherworldly concept of a show they made us believe.

- Lots of Intrigue

One of Heroes' championed tactics is the "To Be Continued..." mock-up that has ended every episode since its inception. Whether it was tracking down the serial killer only known as Sylar (at the time) or exactly what Peter's power actually was, they knew how to pace reveals. Perhaps clichéd, but it has been undeniably effective. Every week they managed to have a quota of reveals, usually answering one old question but making twenty more. Producers of television shows will tell you that that's how you build a show with legs, and for the most part that's true. Heroes did it well, key word there though is did.


- Characters You Care About

Once upon a time, you actually felt a connection with the characters on screen. You felt the love and brotherly connection between Peter and Nathan. You felt the inner turmoil that HRG went through having to lie straight to his family's face in order to protect them. You felt the anguish as Ali Larter pranced around on screen as a stripper and ripped people apart to give her son the life he deserved. Wait... what? Well, at any rate, it worked.

- Catchy Slogans

Okay, this may have been a one in a lifetime thing but the main reason that Heroes ever made anyone care was "Save The Cheerleader, Save The World." Anyone who's ever (and a lot of people who haven't) seen the show has heard that slogan. It had everyone asking: "Why does she need to be saved?" "How will that save the world?" "Will Hayden Panettiere ever escape playing a cheerleader?" More importantly, it had everyone watching. It was so enthralling that no one complained that they used a sham alternate future plot to explain why Hiro traveled back in the first place. Oops! Spoiler Alert. Does anyone even care about those anymore?

What Went Wrong

- Too Many Characters

In Heroes' debut episode, there were nine main characters introduced. NINE!! Since that episode, eight more were introduced, three were written off the show, and four were killed. That's tough enough for me, an admitted huge fan of Heroes, I can only imagine what a random person tuning in would think of this montage of pretty people with powers (hooray for alliteration). Right now, as it stands, there are ten main characters. By the end of this volume, my guess is two more will die. Hopefully the creators of this show will wisen up and do some addition by subtraction and keep it that way.

- Ridiculous Plot Devices

On a show with the premise of ordinary people discovering they can do extraordinary things, one could argue that anything is possible. While that may be true, it doesn't necessarily translate to good TV. There's too many easy outs, and the writers (some of whom have been given the ax) used them a little too often. When there's a character that can change history and go back in time, a character that put any thought into anyone's head, and five characters that can't die (that's right, five) - they essentially have a bag of whammies to get them out of any plot. Which would actually help them a lot right now, because...

- Lack of Internal Consistency

This is probably the show's biggest problem, and it's a problem that's been aggravating and driving away fans for months. Characters on serialized programming succeed when there's growth involved with their plotlines. Viewers gain attachments to these characters watching them as they change through time, for better or for worse. Yeah, it sounds like a marriage but when you're a fan of a show sometimes that's what it is. That's why it's such an egregious failure of character development when at the end of season two Hiro vows to never travel back in time again, yet in the premiere of the very next season, he's messing around with a clock and GOING BACK IN TIME. And what about Angela Petrelli? In the episode "Villains" (3.08), she had a huge revelation that her husband, Arthur, was evil and that the plan to let .07% of the world's population go the way of Hiroshima wasn't worth the price to cleanse the world. Yet, all through season one she had no problem standing idly by as her cohort Linderman manipulates his way into almost making that future a reality. Some may say that the gift of hindsight is 20/20, to that end I say if these same writers wrote season one (which they did) they ought to know what goes on inside a character's head. In the mighty words of Gob Bluth "Come on!"

How To Fix It**Outside of not doing what they're doing wrong

- Stop Making the Stakes Higher

Season one's nuclear explosion set the stakes at .07% of the world's population. Season two's strain 138 of the Shanti virus then raised the bar to 93%. Although season 3's first arc isn't over yet, it seems that they've placed the pike at the world exploding. What's next? The universe collapsing in on itself?

- Get Brian Fuller Back

At some point in every episode this season I've cringed at something somebody's said, whether it be an offhand comment or out of place one-liners. Yeah, I understand that this show has firm comic book roots but that doesn't mean that the dialogue sounds like it's written by a fourth grader. As previously mention, execs at NBC took a step in the right direction with firing Loeb and Alexander. Now they have to be careful with who they choose as replacements. If they're smart, they'll hire Bryan Fuller, who's current show Pushing Daisies is a critical darling, but unfortunately no one knows because no one watches it. Assuming the show gets canned (and all indicators point to that it will) - they need to get Fuller back. Back I say? That's right, before his Daisies gig he was one of Heroes' most heralded writers, penning the only episode to actually be acclaimed for its writing - "Company Man" (01.17)

- Change the Timeslot

This is a risky double-edged sword. On one hand, changing a show's day and/or time usually signals it's in trouble, and not many shows recover from a move. On the other hand, a move would benefit because the show is it is right now buts up against the Monday Night Football juggernaut. That being said, if NBC still wants to make Heroes its trademark drama, which they still can, a move has to happen. Maybe Wednesday nights? Or Friday? Tuesday and Wednesdays are out because American Idol dominates those days like a lion playing with its almost-dead prey. At any rate, a move would help get the show to new viewers, which the show sorely needs.

Whatever may come, Heroes still needs to be fixed. No more moral ambiguity (who do you root for?). No more extraordinary people wishing they were ordinary (stop whining you evolved person... you!)... I'll still be watching, but it won't be the same.

So it goes,
The Max