I need a Hero

This is going to be sad news for Ms. Rackow, but hopefully good news for Heroes. The cancellation of Pushing Daisies means that Bryan Fuller will return to Heroes as a consultant.

Here is the full article.

Here are my own thoughts on what they need to do to fix heroes.

Stop fake killing people!
I would list all of the characters that have died, only to not be dead. I’ll make it simpler: all of them. There are the mind-controlling-fake reality deaths, the cut to commercial falls and gunshots, time-traveling trickery deaths. And there are of course, the alternate future deaths, and if you count the ones where Peter or Sylar blow up, everyone has died.

Stop killing the wrong people!
They never should have killed Adam or Elle. Elle is one of the only characters who seemed morally cloudy in a season emphasizing on characters choosing sides. Both characters were charmingly wicked, surrounded by too many characters who are evil but not interesting (Arthur Petrelli), or sickeningly well-intentioned (Peter, Claire, Hiro). Mohinder became morally murkier this season, but by the time they show us if he’s turning into a fly or a spider, I won’t care. It’s too late to fix this though, because if they bring them back, it will only add to the fake death toll.

Kill someone important!
The show needs to grow a pair, and kill one of the following: Peter, Hiro, Nathan, Claire, Mohinder, Noah Bennett, or Parkman. They don’t have to go “24” and kill three major characters in one episode, but a real, important, shocking death in the near future would show that anyone is expendable.

Enough with the time travel!
Too many people have the power. Hiro having the power was fine. He learned that he couldn’t prevent every last thing from happening. Then Peter got it; Peter, the nurse, who wants to help everyone and fix everything, and thinks he’s the only one to do it. With the power of time travel, Peter can change even the things that have already happened.

Arthur Petrelli then stole that power, among others, from Peter (phew!). Did he ever do anything with it? I can’t remember, because with all these people jumping in and out of time, I can’t keep track of what has happened, what is just an alternate present, what was supposed to happen, and if the things I do remember are still coming. There’s a reason Doc Brown wanted to destroy the DeLorean (even though he then created a time-traveling train-what the hell was that about?)

The time travel angle seems to be a “get out of jail free card” for the show’s creators. The characters can rewrite the course of the show for them when things go wrong story-wise.

Fight!
Heroes was my new nerdy fix for a serial drama, hopefully with some intense action and fighting! In order of most to least whimsical, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, to Xena, Buffy, Angel, and 24 all gave me my fix for a spot of violence. Occasionally there are some fight scenes, but most involve standing 20 feet apart comparing who has stolen more powers, and then trying to saw each others’ foreheads open.

The only real violence usually involves a gun. For a show where the characters all have powers, guns come into play too often. Guns are only threatening when I believe that characters won’t dodge the bullet, freeze the bullet, or heal the wound it causes. There needs to be more hand-to-hand combat. The X-Men have powers, but they could win a fight without them. Niki was always good for that, but she died so that they could introduce her sister, who makes ice.

A big finale!
The finale would be a great time to execute any of these plans. Even the first finale was a little lame. The characters all came together finally, to face Sylar. Watching them take turns seeing which of their powers was most useless against Sylar wasn’t that thrilling. With more characters on each side this season, there is potential for a great finale. I envision the episode cutting back and forth from many dramatic showdowns. The body count should be higher. No one should fly off into space or end up in feudal Japan.