Originally posted by entil2001
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Those anticipating the new writing staff regime at "Heroes" will need to wait a little longer. The outgoing writers were still in control of day-to-day operations through the next several episodes. Tim Kring didn't bring back Bryan Fuller in any meaningful capacity until more than halfway into this latest volume, so in effect, he was brought in to fix whatever mess is about to unfold.
Not much happens in this episode, which is surprising to say. One can see how the writers attempted to streamline the series and give it a more manageable scope. In essence, in the wake of the Pinehearst debacle, Nathan has turned on his own kind and created a special task force for rounding up the metahumans. It's essentially a federal version of the Company (looks like everything is being nationalized these days!).
As a plot device, this is all well and good, but I'm not sure that it makes sense in terms of Nathan's motivations. Is the idea that metahumans need to be controlled for the safety of the world such a new one? Isn't that precisely what the Company had been doing for decades? The only difference now is that the government knows all about them. Nathan may find himself regretting that choice.
This is all still going in familiar "X-Men" directions, especially now that it's clear that a plane crash will give the metahumans a chance to escape and become the titular fugitives of the volume title. This now promises to become a retread of the second season of "Prison Break" with superpowers. This might work if the writers had any interest in maintaining continuity, but we are still seeing bizarre power shifts and poor story logic.
Does it make any sense at all for Matt to inherit the ability to see visions, ala Isaac? It serves no purpose in this episode at all, and seems to happen to make that available to the writers in the future. Peter's ability, however, is a lot more confusing. Exactly what power did Peter get from that injection in the previous episode? Was it some variation on his father's power? Or was it his original ability? It would be nice to know why, if Peter was shown flying long so long ago, he was so worried about getting sucked out of the plane at the end. Wouldn't it be safer to be out of the plane before it hits the ground?
It also seems to defy logic that Nathan would send his hit squads to retrieve mostly metahumans he already knows from former exploits, including foreign countries, rather than target metahumans known by the Company in local circles. Exactly how did Nathan manage to justify operations in Japan to retrieve Ando? Did the United States government coordinate internationally? That has massive implications that are just plain ignored.
Meanwhile, Sylar is on a personal quest to find his true father. Is his survival after the previous episode's events addressed at all? Of course not. He's simply out there, hunting down a new parent to seek approval from, despite having more power than any other current metahuman known on the planet. As fun as it is to see Sylar tear apart Nathan's hit squad, the writers really need to give the character some stronger motivations.
This wasn't a horrible premiere, but it certainly seems to continue the mediocre trend that has been in effect for the season to date. Unfortunately, the show is facing stiff genre competition. "Battlestar Galactica" and "Lost" are once again proving themselves to be the best shows in the genre (if not across the board), and in comparison, "Heroes" is a mindless pretender. At this point, I have no confidence that Bryan Fuller will be able to right the ship. After all, Tim Kring himself wrote this episode, and it's certainly no better than what the outgoing writers managed to produce.
Not much happens in this episode, which is surprising to say. One can see how the writers attempted to streamline the series and give it a more manageable scope. In essence, in the wake of the Pinehearst debacle, Nathan has turned on his own kind and created a special task force for rounding up the metahumans. It's essentially a federal version of the Company (looks like everything is being nationalized these days!).
As a plot device, this is all well and good, but I'm not sure that it makes sense in terms of Nathan's motivations. Is the idea that metahumans need to be controlled for the safety of the world such a new one? Isn't that precisely what the Company had been doing for decades? The only difference now is that the government knows all about them. Nathan may find himself regretting that choice.
This is all still going in familiar "X-Men" directions, especially now that it's clear that a plane crash will give the metahumans a chance to escape and become the titular fugitives of the volume title. This now promises to become a retread of the second season of "Prison Break" with superpowers. This might work if the writers had any interest in maintaining continuity, but we are still seeing bizarre power shifts and poor story logic.
Does it make any sense at all for Matt to inherit the ability to see visions, ala Isaac? It serves no purpose in this episode at all, and seems to happen to make that available to the writers in the future. Peter's ability, however, is a lot more confusing. Exactly what power did Peter get from that injection in the previous episode? Was it some variation on his father's power? Or was it his original ability? It would be nice to know why, if Peter was shown flying long so long ago, he was so worried about getting sucked out of the plane at the end. Wouldn't it be safer to be out of the plane before it hits the ground?
It also seems to defy logic that Nathan would send his hit squads to retrieve mostly metahumans he already knows from former exploits, including foreign countries, rather than target metahumans known by the Company in local circles. Exactly how did Nathan manage to justify operations in Japan to retrieve Ando? Did the United States government coordinate internationally? That has massive implications that are just plain ignored.
Meanwhile, Sylar is on a personal quest to find his true father. Is his survival after the previous episode's events addressed at all? Of course not. He's simply out there, hunting down a new parent to seek approval from, despite having more power than any other current metahuman known on the planet. As fun as it is to see Sylar tear apart Nathan's hit squad, the writers really need to give the character some stronger motivations.
This wasn't a horrible premiere, but it certainly seems to continue the mediocre trend that has been in effect for the season to date. Unfortunately, the show is facing stiff genre competition. "Battlestar Galactica" and "Lost" are once again proving themselves to be the best shows in the genre (if not across the board), and in comparison, "Heroes" is a mindless pretender. At this point, I have no confidence that Bryan Fuller will be able to right the ship. After all, Tim Kring himself wrote this episode, and it's certainly no better than what the outgoing writers managed to produce.
shame it didnt happen 
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