Since I gushed over the first season of Heroes so much, it’s only fair that I take the time to write about how awful it’s become. My wife and I have just caught up with the first half of Season Three and though it isn’t exactly the debacle that Season Two was, it’s nowhere close to the greatness that was Season One. It appears that the main lesson the producers learned from the previous season was never be boring. Things move along at a breakneck pace and there are plenty of action scenes through with hardly any quiet moments at all.

The problem is that the writers seemed to have been counting on the frantic pace and the more frequent display of spectacular powers to mask the fact that they have absolutely no clue about where the show is going. First, there is no consistency in the personalities and motivations of the huge cast of characters. The famed RPG reviewer Desslock put it this way on QT3:

I like the show, but am running out of reasons to defend it. It’s devolving rapidly – they’re just all over the map with the characterization.

– Syler – I’m not pure evil, I’m just hungry; I want to be good – wait, still hungry; Nope, I’m good now, and an obedient son; oh, wait, not so obedient, but still good, just needed to save brother; well, actually now feeling the need to be basically good, but a bit of an anti-hero; nope, good again, not going to eat brains; hey hey hey, wait a second, I’m pure evil, and don’t you forget about it.

Who the fuck came up the Claire’s arc:
– Hey, I’m a happy go-lucky invincible gal;
– Dad, give me some attention;
– Wait, what you tried to prevent to save the world in the first season – well, let’s just let it happen anyway;
– Dad, give me some attention;
– uh oh, I can’t feel anything – WHINE; hey, I want to be a hero, let me do what I want [Parents: well, you’re invincible, but we need to protect you with someone who fires fireballs];
– Dad, give me some attention;
– I’m evil in the future, and kill the only person who was always nice to me!
– I’m back in the present, and not evil, but whining because I don’t do anything, and can’t feel anything.
– Dad, give me some attention;
– get’s shot,apparently dies, wakes up: Dad, give me some attention.
– Hey, where’d my brother go? Nobody misses him?

Ditto Nathan – I’m a hero!, I’m a dupe!, I’m done being a dupe, I’m now a hero! Oops Dead. I’m back, and going to be a hero! Wait a sec, now seems like a good time to be a dupe! Opps, dead again. Back, and this guy saved me, so I guess he’s god and I’ll be a dupe again. Nope, that’s silly, just Dad, and I have to stop him, I’m a hero! I will go around the world to be a hero! My new girlfriend can’t stop me from being a hero! My brother has shown me that being a hero is good! hey hey hey, wait a sec – being a dupe was o.k., I might be wrong, back to dupe again!

Ditto Bennett, ditto Mohinder, etc. etc.

Just a mess.

It’s also lame that the only way the writers could think of to keep the plot moving was to not only fall back on Isaac Mendez’s 9th Wonders! from Season One, but invent a new version of that character just for this season and have him killed off right after he’s outlived his usefulness. Who’s willing to bet that with the comic books all tapped out, the second half of the season will have the heroes conveniently discovering that Usutu had made a series of rock paintings just before he died?

And how about how inconsistent the powers are? Does someone with regeneration really die if their head is cut off or if someone is jammed into the back of their heads? How does that jive with Adam Monroe and Peter Petrelli both being able to regenerate from explosions that presumably would destroy their entire bodies? Since Arthur Petrelli has the regeneration power wouldn’t his bullet wound just heal once the Haitian leaves the room? If Daphne can travel into the past by running faster than light, how does travel back into the present again?

More signs of bad writing: Noah Bennett choosing to shoot Elle and Sylar only after apparently waiting for them to finish having sex, and then missing with a sniper rifle; two superhumans running from a normal armed only with a taser; Clair being asphyxiated in the container when her birth mother burns up the oxygen in it but the mother not even breathing heavily.

Finally, if I had to give just one piece of advice to the writers of the show, it would be this: in order to make superhumans with powers dramatic, you need to have them interact on a regular basis with normal people. You need to have them save or help ordinary folks from time to time, to reinforce the idea that this is a show about ordinary people gaining extraordinary people. Otherwise, it just devolves into yet another soap opera except with superpowers.