Heroes
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Heroes Season 2- 
Overview
Full SeasonEpisode 1: Four Months Later |
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Brief Review
In all fairness, Heroes Season 2 was one of the worst shows hit by the crippling effects of the writers strike but Season 2 of Heroes had so much promise and its a shame that none came to fruition. Season 2 unfortunately fails on almost every level to provide even a hint of the genius eminating from Season 1 and consequently becomes a mess of ideas and characters. Not a good season at all.
Full Review
Heroes Season 2 was not only one of the most anticipated follow-ups to such a well-received new series, it was also the biggest disappointment. The acting is average all round and the story is not only boring but ultimately pointless in the grand scheme of things.
The overall story arc revolves around a villain potentially worse than Sylar (which he isn't) and ultimately about a potential devastating viral outbreak that could wipe out humanity. Its an interesting idea, albeit one that's overdone, but annoyingly one that isn't fully realized due to the abrupt nature of the writers strike. This means a forced and abrupt ending where the virus doesn't spread and makes us question what the point of the previous episodes leading up to the outbreak were for.
The new characters to the series range from the very good (Ellie and Adam Monroe) to the mundane and just plain dreadful (Maya and Alejandro). I'll start with the latter first.
Maya and Alejandro not only clock up the most airtime on the season, they are also the worst characters in the Heroes universe. Their pointless trek to the US to find Mohinder Suresh is boring to watch and leaves you eager to get back to the main story and to the more important plot lines. The only saving grace to the pair's dreadful and ultimately pointless pursuit is that Sylar tags along with them. He alleviates some of the tediousness of watching the siblings and makes us yearn for him to kill the pair on the off and steal the dreadful power of bringing forth a plague.
Ellie and Adam Monroe, on the other hand, are both interesting to watch and well fleshed out. Ellie, the lightning queen, is a sinister and twisted young woman that not only has a slight soft side, but also has an unpredictability surrounding here. This unpredictable nature helps to drive her scenes forward and makes her one of the standout actors in this season and one of the more interesting newbies to the universe.
Adam Monroe, aka. Takezo Kensei, is also very very good and although not quite on par with Ellie, his acting and fun nature brings a welcome relief to the dark and tedious nature of the whole season. Him and Hiro work well together and produce the only half decent plotline in the whole season and may well help keep the season going to a third.
There really isn't much more to say as Season 2 dies out after 11 episodes of tedious, going-nowhere plot holes that ultimately ends the season on a downer. Even the climax to Season 2 feels oddly out of place and rushed in the grand scheme of things and I can't help but feel that Season 2 would have been a very different story had the virus outbreak actually occured.
Tim Kring said in an interview he didn't want to "sell-out" the fans by introducing a 'To Be Continued' part-way through the viral plotline (with the vial smashing) but I feel what he may well have done is shot himself in the foot. Had he bit the bullet and done the 'To Be Continued', Heroes Season 2 could have been saved from the dreadful mess it turned out to be. Roll on Season 3.