Great review. I agree with Raissa that Season 2 has been frustrating. On a separate note the Alejandro/Maya storyline has been awful for 8 episodes and should just be written out. I just don’t see the fit to the rest of the story. No matter what happens I just can’t seem to get into it.

It will definitely be interesting to see Hiro go back into the past and track down Adam/Kensei and connecting the dots.

AND I see that you raised the question that I commented last week regarding the immortality-regeneration connection and if it applies to Claire and Peter as well.

Speaking of Claire, she is very annoying. Her new superpower is her amazing brat-like prowess. Has she completely disregarded her relationship with her father? Her character development has taking a step back this season even after finding out about her father.

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Maybe that’s it. There were problems with S1, but I let them slide for the most part, because all S1s have issues and most of the other stuff worked. But, now we’re in S2 with its own problems (see previous posts), and they still haven’t dealt with S1s issues, so everything’s compounding. Truth be told, the bad romance complaint could be applied to Peter/Simone/Isaac, as well as Claire/West and Hiro/Yaeko/Adam. Hiro/Charlie was the only one they got right, and we may very well have to consider it a lucky fluke, unfortunately cheapened by Hiro’s S2 storyline. Niki, DL, and Micah had the weakest storyline in S1, and that’s still true in S2. The Elder Supers were developed through hints and innuendos in S1 and that’s still true in S2. Oh, the virus will be the central point, but we’ll still be in the dark about almost everything else around that. On top of that, they’re still doing the shouty/sulky expositional dialogue in S2. It’s like no one’s ever happy when they review things on this show.

It’s not that S2 sucks outright or is consistently mediocre. I could actually live with that. It’s the fact that shafts of brilliance shine through amid elements that kind of work, but not quite. It’s frigging frustrating. As for narrative falling through the cracks, there are a couple of issues: New characters weren’t written properly (West, Yaeko). The twins should have been one Origins ep. and out. Returning characters (Sylar, Niki) should’ve been written out, as they’re stories are done, imo. Removing them would’ve given the newbies room to become who they were, while retaining the stronger original characters.

Also, I do blame Kring & Co. for the narrative falling through the cracks in relation to the strike. They knew it was coming; the writing was proverbially, if not literally, on the wall. They shouldn’t have had to ram through scripts that needed at least half a rewrite. They should have assumed that 11 eps. would be it and spent a little extra time polishing those fewer scripts. Also, if the strike was going to affect the amount of time given the newbie characters, Kring & Co should’ve put together a storyline that didn’t rely so heavily on newbies until S3, after the strike.

As for the visuals contributing to the narrative, I see your point. However, I would argue that artistically filmed bat dung amid diamonds is still bat dung.

I have to disagree with you about TPTBs focusing on the visual aspect of the show before the narrative; the visual aspect of the show is informed by the narrative. Everything you mention — lighting, angles, frames — stems from the story. This volume is visually darker because the stories and the characters are darker.

On a logistical level, the stories and scripts are written months ahead of production. You know this! So I’m not sure why you’d think “stuff falls through on the overall narrative or dialogue level and the writers aren’t as focused for whatever reasons.” A couple of lines are changed on the set, but most of the narrative is planned very far in advance. The story has always taken priority over everything else — even the characters. That’s where the whole “The Story Is King” mantra came from.

tree1138: I hear you, someone’s story was going to suffer no matter how the volume was structured. If it had been chronological, we probably would have had five episodes of Matt recovering in a hospital and arguing with Janice, and almost everyone would have hated it.

KellyH: word. I would’ve liked to see the Matt/Janice/baby story resolved too. How Noah approached Mohinder and recruited him would also have been cool. Do you think they’ll ever show these backstories?

With Shanti, check out Michael’s post: Shanti died in 1974, according to Thompson in “The Hard Part.”

I think Kring & Co. definitely remembered Paulette when they wrote D.L.’s funeral. It could be that the actress wasn’t available, like you say; but besides the “Ooh, good continuity!” kick, would it really have mattered to the story? I mean, the focus in the scene was the family’s grief, and Niki’s fear and guilt driving her to accept Bob’s offer. Emotionally, I think bringing Paulette into the scene would have pulled that focus in a different direction.

Nana Uhura is not venomous because she’s played by Nichelle Nichols, who is awesome and incapable of being venomous.
I don’t think you’ve been “missing” the continuity errors; I think they’ll start to appear more often as the show’s universe expands. I don’t see that as a failing — it’s an inevitability. But so far, the show’s done a good job of keeping the plotholes to a minimum. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.

Timothy, Michael, you guys seem to be on the same page about the Haitian “allowing” certain abilities within a radius. I’d say it’s unclear either way; the fact that Matt got a bleeding nose trying to get past the Haitian’s ability when the Haitian had no idea he was even trying to suggests it’s a “permanently switched on” ability. But it’s possible the Haitian can intentionally “shut off” the blocker when he wants to, which is why Elle can use her powers around him.

Susan, I like your point about whether Peter himself exploded, or whether he just ended up at the center of the explosion which he set off. If his physical form stayed intact then I can buy into the whole “protective aura” concept. If he literally blew apart, I don’t get how his clothes could stay on. Probably just for decency on TV.

Great review. You enjoyed the episode more than I did (last week’s was bette), but even so I can’t stop watching it. It’s very weird.

I have no problem with how they showed Peter immediately following his nuclear detonation. I’ve always believed he’d survive whether or not he has Claire’s regeneration. Ted’s nuclear power always seemed more like it radiated off of him instead of causing him to literally explode.

One thing I don’t get is the Haitian … how is he back working for The Company after what happened in Company Man. That was the one variable I couldn’t figure out in Peter’s backstory.

Regarding Peter not passing out in Kirby Plaza, he was kind of distracted. Also, that may have added to him going nuclear.