Heroes 5th Episode – “Hiros”

Heroes airs Mondays on NBC at 9

I was afraid I was going to have to give up on this show, and maybe I will after all, but the fifth episode was (finally) a satisfying watch.

Every previous episode was dragged down by molasseses pacing, unsympathetic characters, wooden acting, and virtually none of the titular subject; heroes. Hell, it took like two episodes to see anything out of the ordinary happen, and then the next episode the characters all deny that anything took place. The audience is left betrayed as the character who can fly denies his ability to his brother, the girl who can heal very quickly denies saving a man from a burning train, and the man who can travel through time has his power treated as an idle daydream. PHOOEY.

This episode laid it all out though. Hiro, the Japanese time traveler, appears from the future to let the dopey young doctor character, Peter, know where to go to get the plot rolling. Peter’s brother, Nathan, actually uses his power of flight to escape from men from an unknown organization trying to steal his brain. The psychic druggie paints the future, and finally shows someone who knows what his pictures mean. Without revealing too much, it was much more exciting, and actually had people doing things in it! Plots progressed! People talked to each other about meaningful things instead of hiding them! It’s a goddamn miracle.

I really want this show to be good. I want to watch a show on prime time that deals with nerdy questions I’ve been wondering about my whole life, like “if I could fly, what would I do?” (the answer is: run for office in New York) One of the things that still bothers me about the show is that all the people who aren’t completely evil, or at least manipulative jerks, are complete idiots. Yes, all the people with moral fiber are depicted as naive, plodding, emotional wrecks with no direction. Who gave these people powers?

All in all, an exciting FIFTH episode. What took so long? I hope I don’t drag on watching this show longer than I need to. I refuse to accept it because “I enjoy the concept.”

CONCEPT: 4/5 – I enjoy the concept.

INNOVATION: 3/5 – Superheroes are nothing new, but a prime time TV show with Heroes treated with respect? Well, it’s not that creative, but it’s been a long time coming.

SATISFACTION: 4/5 – This episode was particularly satisfying, lots of action and some actual foreshadowing that didn’t make me go AW, COME ON.

EXECUTION: 3/5 -Even the cinematography seemed a bit better this go around, and the special effects aren’t bad. But I expect better from a high profile show. Maybe it’s not high profile yet. All I can hope for is better effects than Buffy I suppose.

FUN FACTOR: 4/5 – Fwoosh! Zooo! I’m a Superhero!

OVERALL: 8/10 – Not disappointing like I was made to believe I would always be with this show.