Heroes in Hiding

I recently noticed that The House Next Door was pushing an article from the Guardian from a former TV hater who had seen the light: TV shows were better than movies was the basic claim. The writer conveniently passed on reality television, game shows or the like. I don't know how one can make grand pronouncements about the quality of an artform if you're ignoring huge swaths of it. That's like claiming that movies are generally filled with nuance are slow moving and deeply political whilst on your way back from a film festival (Try the multiplex and then get back to us). Anyway... though I've been guilty of it before I think it's silly to compare TV and Film. They are different mediums with separate weaknesses, strengths and goals.

So... I thought I'd stick a pinky toe into the TV water (more on pinky toes later) here and there. Not too much --this is still a film site. So, let's start with Heroes. I watched it on and off last season and found it plagued by the curse of Buffy Season 7. In the final season of Buffy the characters were always engaged in Dramatic Acts of Worrying™ and the dialogue often featured ominous chestnuts like 'something's coming' or 'things are bad... really really bad' as if the concerned faces and inchoate fear would convince us that something was indeed worrisome. and happening (!!!) If something was it was definitely happening offscreen. Like many a bad movie, some TV series forget the #1 rule of visual medium: show don't tell.

It's too early to state with certainty that Heroes second season is treading water until they think of some story to tell but it sorta feels that way. Still, the show works on the pop level. It continues to be a kick that they've embraced comic book aesthetics for so many of their visual choices be it the fonts used for credits or the camera angles chosen. And we should also thank the Heroes team for getting their men wet with some regularity. I'm for that.

Elsewhere things were less scrumptious. Hiro (the Japanese time stopper) is still in the past ---zzzzzzz time travel stories are a pet peeve of mine but this one is particularly tedious. Claire (the indestructable cheerleader) and family are still arguing about hiding their true selves. That exciting discussion was also featured in the last episode and i'm guessing we'll hear it a few more times, too. Wheee.

Northstar and Aurora. er... the Wonder Twins um, the Latino twin characters are still accidentally killing people with their black oozing eyeballs (sometimes when I watch this show I retroactively wish that Buffy the Vampire Slayer had been blessed with a budget this big). Their involuntary manslaughter bodycount was also featured in the last episode and i'm guessing we'll see that at least once more --maybe they'll get to their destination in episode 4 or 5.

Just as I was getting really annoyed with the placeholding narrative, the show finally got to the good stuff: an appearance by the show's best character: MR. MUGGLES (pictured, left)! I'm not the only viewer that thinks Heroes is overcrowded. The problem with huge ensembles like this is that you get so little time with the characters you love the most. And since Heroes is allergic to death (even the murdered people come back) there's no way to prune the cast. It's only going to get more crowded as new heroes emerge. Poor Mr. Muggles. This little guy is cuter than cheerleaders and politician's brothers put together. He also has the show's best comic timing. He's so underused. His superpower is that he makes me want a dog and I am a devout cat person.

Oh and yes. Just after Mr. Muggles made my night, this episode topped itself with its extro. Earlier in the episode Claire got curious about the regenerative abilities of lizards and whether they're a match with hers. She gets another one of her brilliant ideas...


Claire wants to test her limits and the healing process. I get that. But did it have to be with scissors? Ewwww. But then, the prettiest girl is always paired with the grossest images on Heroes --that incongruous marriage is still the show's best running gag.