The Racialicious Roundtable For Heroes 4.2
Hosted by Arturo R. Garcia
As Heroes continues to crawl out from under its’ own wreckage — both on-screen and creatively — we turn to our Roundtable of fans to see how the latest reclamation projects are going.
[Writer's Note:As we head deeper into the season, I continue to be surprised at the controversy surrounding Claire's apparent wig, mostly because I never notice it. Rest assured, there will be a reckoning with this hairpiece.]
Anyway, on to this week’s topics!
Hexy: It used to fit his character, or at least the story arc his character was going through. I’m not sure if it’s writer laziness, or a badly done attempt to refer back to previous characterisation to show that he’s going through a completely new search for his role. Either way, I found it stilted and annoying.
Clara: I just rolled my eyes because I was kind of expecting this sort of dialogue from him. Perhaps Hiro feels the need to compensate for his lack of powers. I would like to see more variety in his lines though, because the destiny/hero/warrior stuff is getting a little old. Plus, Hiro IS CEO of his own company, in Japan too. He has plenty of resources to draw from, but I guess the writers forgot about that again.
Erica: All the dialogue between Hiro, Mohinder, and Matt was very, very uninspired. “I am a hero.” “This isn’t your fight.” “MATT FIND DAPHNE!” Really? Here’s a tip, Heroes — in addition to interesting new plots, you should have some deep conversations. Speculate on their fear, conflicted emotions, confusion, anger, and all that. If I can predict what each character will say, I’m not entertained. Hiro’s “I am a warrior” variations were just plain bad writing.
Now, I actually dug the little bits of gray they shaded onto Nathan and Noah. It wasn’t done quite so melodramatically as in years past (even though we did get yet another Pete/Nate argument). But, I can also see why people would be upset at the show “taking back” Nate’s Big Bad status. Your take on this?
Clara: Nathan did the “oh making decisions is so hard” puppy eyed look a lot this episode, I noticed. I’m actually happy for the shades of gray in Nathan. I thought the transition from good to bad was very abrupt, and this treatment is smoothing some edges out at least.
I’m kind of annoyed by Noah’s “It’s more complicated than you think, and you’re just a little girl so you wouldn’t understand, so go back to being a little girl” speech. It’s the same excuse he gives to Claire every time she (rightly) quesitons his actions. She’s a big girl now! I think she and her blonde wig can understand whatever “complications” there are.
Erica: I found them surprising, because those moments were fairly well done while everything else was just awkward. It’s odd that Nathan seems to want to be very hands-on with this project, rather than simply setting it in motion. (I realize that’s so there’s all this dramatic tension about “will Nasty Hunter Man learn Nathan can fly”, but it just feels implausible. Rather like kidnapping Hiro in Japan.)
Hexy: I think it’s fairly clear that they aren’t trying to make Nathan ANY big bad… they’re trying to build a Magneto. You know, clearly reprehensible actions, but morally grey rather than pure evil when looked at in the context of his intentions and experiences? He’s supposed to genuinely feel that what he’s doing is the best thing for the world, and to eventually go through a process of revelation and horror when he realises what he’s actually been doing.
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