HEROES Review

[MovieManiac226]

Usually I tend to agree with the reviews on Joblo, but this one really pushed me hard. While I'm not going to insult the writer, I will explain my complaints.

"It was the closest thing to a substitute for LOST, which by its third season, had started to become somewhat of a laughable mess."

Wow. From there, I was already gone. Season three was one of the best reviewed seasons in the entire SERIES, not to mention the phenomenal feedback received by new cast members Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) and Michael Emerson (Ben).

"The fact that HEROES actually unveils the answers to its questions on a regular basis—i.e., the polar opposite of LOST—certainly helps matters"

Go to any real Lost site and you will see that questions get answered in nearly every episode whether they are bigger ones or smaller ones. Not only that, but almost all answers from season one have already been answered, aside from the bigger ones that need to be around until the end.

Heroes, like most shows, doesn't take that risk. No one is willing to aim for an audience that watches every week to keep on track. After shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives debuted in 2004, shows began to have continuity, a continuing storyline that sitcoms and shows like CSI and House do not do.

In other words, Lost is like a book. You can't just read the first few chapters and skip to the end. Or as the writers state, it is a mosaic. Each episode puts in place one square that builds up over time and will be clear once you can see every square.

Now onto MY complaints about Heroes. And yes, I have watched it. In fact, I watched about half the first season until I started to regress. First off is the dialogue. This is the one that really made me stop watching. Every word that comes out of a character's mouth feels unreal, like a comic book, you could say. Some of it tries to be dramatic but comes off as 'laughable.'

The characters. I can honestly say that I would not care if Hiro, or Nathan, or anybody else died. They do not feel like characters you can love and feel for, they feel like two-dimensional characters from what? Yes, from a comic book. Lost, on the other hand, dwells deep into it's characters' feelings and weaknesses. Right away, I could tell you that Jack is insecure. He is a control freak and cannot handle situations under pressure. Kate runs away from problems rather than dealing with them. And so on. But most importantly, the characters become the show itself. You attach yourselves to them and cheer them on. Lost has a theme: Redemption. But when I watch Heroes, the only theme I can spot out is entertainment.

As sad as it was to see the Golden Globes snub Lost this year, it's the fans who count. Don't believe me? Check out E!'s recent TV awards in which Lost won 11 out of the 14 catagories it was nominated in.

Heroes, as Lost once was, is simply in the spotlight. And with a whole new lineup of shows this year, I'm sure the same thing will happen again.

[sirdizzy]

As a fan of both, I would say I love Heroes more

I am sorry I think they do a good job of developing their characters, I would be devastated if Hiro or Peter died. Hey kill of Nathan or even Parkman I am not that big of a fan of either of them.

I don't think enough people realize but its not Nathan or even Hiro who the story is about, its Peter. Peter is the Superman, he is the one who will in the end have to save them all. Hiro is like Batman. And they delve quite a bit into Peter, they don't need to delve into Nathan, hes more of a one dimensional character anyways.

[mutesaint]

Im with SirDizzy in that I like them both, but I am of the opinion that lost is better. Im just more attached to the characters and their situations(yes I realise Lost has a two year head start). Lost has always been a show that I love(since I caught it on dvd and started watching it in season 3) and I dont really get the hate for it.

[hoojib127]

Right on. If anything, "Heroes" seems to represent an ever-so-slightly watered down version of "Lost." I still don't think one can pass full judgment on "Lost" until they've seen the entire series from beginning to end, because, unlike "Heroes" or "24," each season is NOT self-contained. Sure, each season has a sort of significant theme/focus (season 1 was mostly about getting to know the Losties; season 2 was mostly about the hatch; season 3 was mostly about the Others), but the basic story is nonetheless ongoing. That -- and the fact that the show tends to focus more on character and atmosphere often at the complete expense of plot -- has led to much frustration among many of the more casual viewers. (All I can say is, I hope those people never try to watch any Antonioni films. ;) ) But because it takes risks and is challenging and has more going on than most shows, for me, "Lost" is far and away the best thing on TV right now.

[Quigles]

Hey, Quigles here. The guy who reviewed HEROES. Hopefully I can explain some of my feelings more thoroughly to clear up any issues.

Originally posted by MovieManiac226
Usually I tend to agree with the reviews on Joblo, but this one really pushed me hard. While I'm not going to insult the writer, I will explain my complaints.

"It was the closest thing to a substitute for LOST, which by its third season, had started to become somewhat of a laughable mess."

Wow. From there, I was already gone. Season three was one of the best reviewed seasons in the entire SERIES, not to mention the phenomenal feedback received by new cast members Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) and Michael Emerson (Ben).
You misunderstood my comment. I said BY the third season. Meaning, the actual season I was referring to was the second.

Personally, I think season three of LOST started weak, but improved the more it went on. About halfway through, it really kicked into gear, until eventually hitting its amazing climax with the final episode. Hopefully I'll get the season to review, so I can express how much I still love the show more clearly.

Also, I originally had some additional lines in my review that I decided to remove because of length (and the fact that I was reviewing HEROES, not LOST). Basically, they said that while HEROES started strong and LOST started weak, come their finales, the roles had been reversed.

"The fact that HEROES actually unveils the answers to its questions on a regular basis—i.e., the polar opposite of LOST—certainly helps matters"

Go to any real Lost site and you will see that questions get answered in nearly every episode whether they are bigger ones or smaller ones. Not only that, but almost all answers from season one have already been answered, aside from the bigger ones that need to be around until the end.
I disagree with this. I think the average episode probably throws out ten new questions for every one question it answers.

In other words, Lost is like a book. You can't just read the first few chapters and skip to the end. Or as the writers state, it is a mosaic. Each episode puts in place one square that builds up over time and will be clear once you can see every square.
I so hope you're right about this, because truthfully, I'm getting the feeling the writers don't even know what they're doing anymore. As much as I love the show, the thing just keeps getting more and more ridiculous.

I'm curious to see if J.J. Abrams and co. can reveal all the mysteries behind LOST in a way that doesn't make viewers want to tear their hair out.

Now onto MY complaints about Heroes. And yes, I have watched it. In fact, I watched about half the first season until I started to regress. First off is the dialogue. This is the one that really made me stop watching. Every word that comes out of a character's mouth feels unreal, like a comic book, you could say. Some of it tries to be dramatic but comes off as 'laughable.' .
I addressed this in my review.

"Generally, the show's dialogue ranges from decent to good, but there are occasions where I sat back in awe at how awful some of the lines were ("What am I thinking now?" "Your last thought!"). Most of these occur during emotional or philosophical moments, sporadically forcing the show to feel like a low rent mix of a soap opera and THE MATRIX."

[MovieManiac226]

Thank, you Quigles, and I completely respect your views. But as a loyal Lost fan, I had to explain where I was coming from.

I guess you need one of three things to not get really pissed off at Lost. 1: A love for mystery and long-term suspense. 2: The devotion to watch every (or nearly every) episode . Or 3: Patience.

Lol I guess I have a combination of all three :D

[sirdizzy]

Originally posted by MovieManiac226
Thank, you Quigles, and I completely respect your views. But as a loyal Lost fan, I had to explain where I was coming from.

I guess you need one of three things to not get really pissed off at Lost. 1: A love for mystery and long-term suspense. 2: The devotion to watch every (or nearly every) episode . Or 3: Patience.

Lol I guess I have a combination of all three :D

So what I gather is as a loyal lost fan as you put you feel you need to rip on anyone that enjoys anything that is different than lost. Heroes has a huge fan base because it is enjoyable.

I am starting to get that star wars prequel vibe from Lost. I feel that for the most part yes they did have a definite timeline for the show but a timeline that was lacking in details. Its kind of feel in the blanks as you go, like I feel Lucas had a general idea of what happened in the prequels when doing the original trilogy but when he went back and did he filled in a lot of blanks.

I think they know where they are going but they are getting watered down by the studios. They are doing more episodes than they originally planned (they have announced there will be 3 more seasons but they will all be short seasons of 16 episodes) to fit a demand by the network to cash in. The Lost producers wanted to end it in 1 and half seasons thats about 32 episodes and they are now ending it in 48 episodes. I mean that is a lot of feel in the blanks right there.

I can't wait to see where they are going with it because each seasons did focus on an aspect of the story like previously stated but how watered down is going to be by the time we get there.

Battlestar Galatica did the smart thing season 4 will be there last, so no watering down there, I mean cmon eventually they got to find earth right.

[mutesaint]

Originally posted by sirdizzy

Battlestar Galatica did the smart thing season 4 will be there last, so no watering down there, I mean cmon eventually they got to find earth right.


To be fair, they pretty much would have gotten four seasons whether or not they wanted too. Sci Fi has been trying to cancel that show quite alot lately, so they pretty much just said "Fuck it, were gonna end it this season."

[sirdizzy]

which is sad because Battlestar might be the best show on TV right now.

[mutesaint]

Originally posted by sirdizzy
which is sad because Battlestar might be the best show on TV right now.

Amen to that. I will maintain (probably for a very long time) that Battlestar Galactica is the best tv show that I have ever seen.

[ChickFlick]

Why do the two have to be compared on every level and aspect of the show? Why can't you just enjoy Lost for the show it is, and Heroes for what it is? They're not the same shows, they don't have the same characters....

I learned that I tend to enjoy things more when I'm not constantly comparing them to something I whole-heartedly love.

[JCPhoenix]

Originally posted by Quigles
I so hope you're right about this, because truthfully, I'm getting the feeling the writers don't even know what they're doing anymore. As much as I love the show, the thing just keeps getting more and more ridiculous.

I'm curious to see if J.J. Abrams and co. can reveal all the mysteries behind LOST in a way that doesn't make viewers want to tear their hair out.


The thing I'm always curious about when I see people talking about Lost is when people think the writers don't know what they're doing. How is it possible that someone could still believe that after all the setups and payoffs we've gotten over the course of the past few years. So many times they set something up in Season 1 and resolved it in Season 2 or 3. The fact that there is so much foreshadowing in the show makes there no doubt that the show has been planned out very carefully from the beginning, and the fact that they have an end date in sight also points again to the fact that they know where they're leading up to.

I'm not ragging on your whole review - actually, other than the digs at Lost, I really dug your review overall and agreed with a lot of the points as well as your 4/5 rating for Heroes. I just still find it shocking that people don't see the careful setups and payoffs they've been doing from the first episode of Season 1 all the way till now.

About Heroes vs Lost, this is essentially how I feel: Heroes is like that summer popcorn movie I like to go see - diverting, entertaining, and but not very stimulating (The Fast & the Furious, Rush Hour, etc). Lost is the intellectually entertaining fall film (Children of Men, The Prestige, etc) that stays in my head.

Originally posted by sirdizzy
I think they know where they are going but they are getting watered down by the studios. They are doing more episodes than they originally planned (they have announced there will be 3 more seasons but they will all be short seasons of 16 episodes) to fit a demand by the network to cash in. The Lost producers wanted to end it in 1 and half seasons thats about 32 episodes and they are now ending it in 48 episodes. I mean that is a lot of feel in the blanks right there.

Do you have a source for that? I'm very curious because this is the first I've heard they wanted to end it in 1 and a half seasons (so four and a half seasons in total?). Every single thing I heard from the beginning had always said they could run and had planned for five seasons which is exactly what they're doing right now (since the three shortened seasons of 16 eps is equivalent to two 24-ep seasons)...not trying to dispute your facts or anything but it's just an interesting thing if what you say is true.

[sirdizzy]

I read it in Entertainment Weekly, 4-6 months ago in an article they wrote about Lost. I sometimes keep the issues that long since it takes my wife that long to read them ussually, I'll go back and look.

[MovieManiac226]

Okay, about the "fill in the blanks" issue.

The writers have stated that they have one rule to introducing a new mystery: they have to know the answer. Whether you believe that or not is up to you, but I completely do.

Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse have turned down multiple offers to write other projects just because they want to focus on Lost until it's completed. Not only that, but these guys don't just sit in an office until their hours are up: they actually have a "Lost boot-camp" for two weeks after each season so they can plan what the next season will be about. They have stated that in their last boot-camp in June, they mapped out the rest of the show.

The big scheme of things does stay the same, but all the little details that will not have an effect on the rest of the story are not as intricately planned.

Why am I so sure? Well here are some examples:

- In season one when Boone is in the beechcraft, he grabs the radio and says "we are the survivors of Flight 815." After this, someone says something else. Many fans argued that what was said was "No, WE are the survivors of Flight 815." Halfway into season two, it's discovered that this was in fact said by Bernard of the tail section.

- On Danielle's map, shown in season one, there is a smaller island off the coast of the main one. It wouldn't be for three years that this island is actually shown. The writers said that they knew that there had to be at least one smaller island and included it in the map.

- Desmond's picture at the beginning of season two would not not be explained until the season finale.

These are just some of the countless pieces of evidence that they (at least somewhat) know where they are going.