After a disappointing couple of seasons saw the ratings for Heroes steadily slip in their millions the fourth volume of the series Fugitives will be an attempt to rekindle the success of the show's first outing back in 2007. With volume three's ending giving the writers a blank slate, could they finally come up with something decent after almost two years of mediocre storytelling?
A big plus point from the start is the opening voice over - it's gone. They finally shut up. All that bollocks about gods and fate and whatever other bile they managed to make Mohinder spew in the opening thirty seconds of the show has been muted. No, it doesn't have massive ramifications on the overall quality of the show, but it's good to see that they maybe stepping away from the irritating pretentious qualities that they've had up until now. It also means I can kid myself into thinking that the big bosses at Heroes have been reading my reviews and taken it all on board. What do you mean "deluded"?
Apparently the plan Nathan pitched to the president in front of the green screen at the end of volume three went down a storm and now his operation is in full swing, starting with the capture of Tracy Strauss. Now this is the kind of thing that presses all the right buttons; who could turn their nose up at government cover ups, highly trained covert-operatives dressed as ninjas, hunting down super powered blondes wearing little but a slither of silk? It seems that Heroes has stumbled upon another decent concept and, while it has been done before, if it's executed right over the course of the next eleven episodes we could be in for a fairly entertaining season.
While the opening suitably sets the scene it doesn't quite prepare you for the excellent scenes with everyone's favourite super powered psychotic Sylar. As usual, Quinto doesn't disappoint in his portrayal as the series iconic villain, not only being strangely captivating in conversations with his estranged adoptive father but also being brilliantly ruthless when confronted by a team of covert-ops. As annoying as it is that all of Sylar's character development was binned in volume three, he's still the best of the bunch, and scenes involving him are easily the most entertaining.
And then, in typical Heroes fashion, the rest of the episode shows it up for the mediocre show it really is. As soon as Peter gets himself back on screen (he's decided that being a gun-toting action hero wasn't his kind of thing and has since returned to nursing) it all goes straight downhill, with Mohinder and Matt both making equally lacklustre and dull appearances. It would be nice on occasion if the actors tried even a little, but some of the scenes are so badly performed they almost seem dubbed. Maybe they've finally realised just how bad the writing is and stopped caring.
The episode comes to a close on what it seems to believe is a dramatic cliff hanger, although with Heroes being as predictable as it is it's not difficult to see where the next episode is going. Why they even bother with these cliff hangers is anyone's guess. We all know they're too scared of upsetting their fans to kill anyone off permanently - even Rafiki isn't properly dead, and he was decapitated - so who are they trying to fool other than themselves?
Aside from the few scenes with Sylar, the first outing of volume four chugs along clumsily. So far then, it's shaping up to be yet another clunky execution of a good concept with the occasional flash of what Heroes could be with the right minds behind it. It's just a shame that we're stuck with Tim bloody Kring.
2/5
On the plus side, I finally have something to write about on Mondays.
Should I do Desperate Housewives as well? - tomdoodle16@live.co.uk
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