Okay so I watched the season premier and within 4 minutes it was obvious I was going to have many MANY reactions to the show, so I figured I’d write them down. Skip this post entirely if you’re not a Lostie.

If you are though… here we go:

The plane is fine?
Desmond on the plane?!
The island sunk?
Dharma shark!!
Familiar eye scene – this time it’s Kate
And wait, she’s in a tree?
Here’s Miles.. where’s everyone
Credits show Dominic Monaghan – Hello Charlie!
Wait here’s Jack, wasn’t he just on the plane?
Boone!! (Ian Somerhalder’s name appears in the credits)
Back on the plane?
Arzst!!
I wonder if Hurley and Sawyer really sat in those two seats for the original Oceanic 815
Wait not Hurley’s lucky instead of unlucky?
Juliet’s alive?!?!
Jacob! Go Team Jacob!!
Wow they’re really wearing the same clothes for the Oceanic 815 shots
Damn you old Jin!
Hmm wonder if Locke can walk
You can’t kill Jacob!!
And hheeeerrree’’s Charlie!!
Why is Jack’s pen gone?
I never thought I’d be happy to see Juliet!
Best. TV. Couple. Ever.
SMOKEY!!!!!!
WHAT?!?!?!?!
How is Juliet even still alive?
: ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
This makes the Season 5 finale even sadder.
Greg Grunberg! (okay his voice) – you should’ve stayed on Lost instead of Heroes!
Nooooo!! Charlie is supposed to be redeemed!!!!
Nope. Locke’s still in a wheelchair
Christian’s coffin is missing?
New Others!
Why an ankh?
Again with the Lists?!!?
Sayid!!
Claire!!
After 4 seasons we see Zack and Emma again
Holeeeeshieeeettt what’s going on?!?!
Let’s not resort to name-calling!
DON’T YOU MOCK LOCKE!!!!
Terry O’Quinn is badass.
Miles knows something.. I’m thinking Sayid isn’t dead
Wow in the “other world” could Jack and Locke have been friends?
Maybe Jack even fixes Locke?
OMGWTFBBQ?!?!?!?!?! (Is it too easy to predict Jacob’s back in Sayid’s body?)

And that’s that. This show has really done everything. Time travel and now possibly alternate universes. So awesome. I definitely missed some thoughts on the new Others and on the Richard/Fake Locke interaction but those I wrote were those that really caught my attention.

John Locke Lost

I’m not so much concerned about where things are going right now and how two Jacks and two Lockes and two Kates can exist. I think Damon and Carlton know the story they want to tell and what will make the fans happy. At this point the big question I wanna know is what happens to Locke. I know some people hated the early character focus in seasons 1-3 but to understand where Locke IS you have to understand where Locke HAS BEEN. And this is true for any of the characters whether it’s Jack’s transformation, Sun and Jin’s relationship or Sawyer’s redemption.

On one level I want to believe that Damon and Carlton will give us Locke back and not let his entire life be a tragedy after all the signs of him being “special”, but some part of me wonders what if this is truly going to be the biggest tragedy of Lost – that Locke has indeed that sad and pathetic life who died confused and never amounted to anything?

Next Wednesday cannot come soon enough.

Fugitives

Four episodes of volume four of Heroes have aired so far, and I’ve caught three of them (A Clear and Present Danger, Trust and Blood and Building 26), and thought it’s about time to share what I think about volume four, after the trainwreck that was volume three.

First of all, I need to say that the “feel” of Heroes, visually, isn’t consistent at all in volume four. The directors of the first episode (Greg Yaitanes) and the third episode (Sergio Mimica-Gezzan) in particular, bring different camera angles and visual points of view to the series, that didn’t exist before, and the switch is highly jarring.

Plot-wise, if you ignore the unexplained motivations behind Nathan Petrelli’s current actions and just take it at face value, the idea of our Heroes getting hunted is not too bad, and the first episode starts off strongly. (Well, coming off volume three, almost anything would be a stronger episode). While the plot isn’t draggy like volume two, it’s also not overly sped up like volume three. That said, there is still very little proper characterisations and in particular Peter, Claire, Mohinder and Matt come off as terrible characters with terrible lines.

The next big problem I have, is the flip-flops of characters. The “I’m doing this for the family” angle of HRG is really tiresome, Hiro’s desire to be a hero equally so, Tracy Strauss’s attempts to be on Nathan’s side, then not, then on again is pathetic, and I can’t see anyone wanting to team with Mohinder after his numerous (and illogical) side swaps from season two till now. None of these issues are solved, and if anything, they seem to be worse in Fugitives.

Finally, some plot points are just stupid. Why would they capture Hiro who has no more powers, and leave Ando running around? Why would Matt, who already foresaw Daphne getting shot, leave her to be standing in the exact spot she was standing to be killed? It’s just utterly ridiculous. Also, now that the heroes are all split up, wouldn’t it be cool if Wireless were still around to be their communications network?

Sylar, however, seems to be back to his badassness and isn’t taking crap from anyone. He’s the only one who the soldiers can’t capture and is proving to be an awesome villain. I can’t wait for John Glover (Lionel Luthor from Smallville) to appear as his dad. He should bring some presence to the show, if nothing else.

After three episodes, my tentative verdict is that Heroes is still beyond hope. I’m watching it out of nostalgic reasons right now and while I do remember the days where I would watch every episode the day it was released, unfortunately those days are long gone, and it’s gonna be an extremely uphill climb for them to get back on track.

This week’s episode of Heroes – episode 9 of volume three: Villains – is definitely the worst episode of this season, and perhaps of all time (it’s a close call, comparing it to season two when Maya and her brother existed). How much do I dislike it? Let me count the ways:

1) Hiro and Ando’s story

Arthur is powerful enough to kill Adam Monroe and Maury Parkman without a thought and punch Usutu’s head clean off, but he chooses to… regress Hiro’s mind? It’s pathetic building Arthur to be this uber-badass, and he chooses to be “lenient” with Hiro, and for the rest of the episode we see Ando convincing Hiro he has powers, basically a role reversal of one of the first few episodes in season one.

Hiro and Ando’s story have been a complete waste of time this season (as well as last season) and while the sides are forming up, they’re left out in the cold.

Sylar - More Teddy Bear Than Terror

2) The absolute destruction of Sylar’s character

Season one, Sylar was a kick ass character. Season two was a waste of his time and season three has more twists and turns in his character than I can keep track of, none of which make sense. When Angela said he was her son, I was like “okayy”. When he “joins” the company as HRG’s partner “okayyy”. Goes to save Peter at Angela’s request “hmmm” and now claiming he’s been feeling remorse the whole time? What a load of bull.

Also, was the point of last week’s Elle/Sylar story simply to have their heartwarming “empathy” moment this week” Because it sucked. Not only was it hardly believable, but I don’t understand the choice to shoot it in the dark. What, Sylar goes in in “darkness” and after getting Elle’s power and the lightning crackles around him, he’s reborn in the “light”?

3) Peter and Claire’s “escape”

Okay what point did this serve exactly? Some uncle/niece bonding time while being chased by two psychos? Not to mention one psycho who maybe doesn’t think it’s a bad idea to shoot fire in a place full of pipes, nevermind whether he knows they are gas or not? It could have been done in one quick scene, but then it gets drawn out and wastes everyones time.

4) Mohinder and the “catalyst”

Mohinder has sucked since season two. And this episode in particular, he has reached new levels of sucktitude (yes, that is a word appropriate for Mohinder). All his science mumbo jumbo was even more aptly explained by Angela at the end, rendering Mohinder a waste of space. I don’t know what deal Sendhil Ramamurthy has with the network, but I hope they axe it quick.

Speaking of the “catalyst”, aren’t we forgetting that at least Nathan and Jessica, Nikki Tracy have synthesised powers? How come they’re alive and well with no side-effects?

5) Nemesis and Matt

Hiro And Daphne - What Could Have Been

I know her name is Daphne, but I liked her when she joined the show as Hiro’s nemesis. Anything’s better than this lovey dovey crap that’s going on between her and Matt. Matt falls in love with her from a dream and she falls in love with him in the span of what, a day and a half? Someone explain to me how that happens?

6) Tracy’s turn

This isn’t a big deal because we don’t know anything about Tracy and how she would behave anyway. But this was yet another waste of time for me. They cut a much more interesting character in Monica for this?!

7) The “assembly” of the sides

I’m sure the final scenes were meant to look like some “cool” standoff, but it was just lame. The Heroes writers need to watch the last four or five episodes of season five of Lost, and understand what it means to move the pieces and characters into play. Not “miraculously” having Matt, Daphne, Peter, Claire and Nathan hit Primatech paper at the same time, conveniently when Angela wakes up.

Does anyone on Arthur’s “team” even have a motive to be there? Knox and Flint are scumbags, Sylar is presumably going to betray the team, Elle went to Pinehearst to remove her powers, not join a team, and Tracy… well, who knows what’s going on with Tracy.

8 ) Absence of characters

HRG - Hardly Reappearing Guy

Speaking of Primatech paper, where’s HRG? His daughter has been running around getting herself into trouble the whole season (not to mention almost killed by Sylar) and he lets it be when in previous seasons he barely lets her out of his sight? What gives?

The one thing – the only thing – I liked was the throwback to Kaito passing Claire to HRG way back when, and using Claire as the catalyst. It was a nice reminder that things used to tie together, when they’re now going all over the place.

At this point, I’m really watching Heroes to see what a trainwreck it’s going to become. With two of the head writers fired, I’m wondering if the series can get any better. It certainly can get worse. My opinion is Tim Kring needs to go, and they need to bring in someone who understands plotting, pacing and characterisation, because all those elements are sorely missing in this comic book superhero genre show.

[Image credits: Sylar | Hiro/Daphne | HRG]

Inspired by Rayni, I’ve decided (albeit very belatedly) to post up the shows I will continue to watch this season. The series are in no particular order because some I can’t decide how much I like, and putting it in chronological order wouldn’t work cos I timeshift all my shows anyway.

1. Heroes (because I want to see just how bad it can be)
2. Prison Break (liking this almost as much as season one)
3. Life (better than season one)
4. Dirty Sexy Money (took awhile to bring pieces together, but it has)
5. Life On Mars (liking this more than I thought I would. Quirky show)
6. Knight Rider (critics hate it, I love it)
7. The Mentalist (fun and interesting)
8. Fringe (I’m three episodes behind but I need to see where all this is going)
9. Chuck (more than five episodes behind, but it’s a great show)
10. Dexter (better than season two, not as good as season one. yet)
11. How I Met Your Mother (huge disappointment so far, but hopefully it gets better)
12. Little Britain USA (sometimes the humour is too much even for me, but I enjoy watching this at the gym)
13. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (not particularly loving it, but can’t miss it as a Star Wars fan)
14. The Big Bang Theory (unlike How I Met Your Mother, every episode has been hilarious)
15. The Amazing Race (I can’t believe how much I am enjoying this series! It’s been awhile!)

Stuff I’m catching up on slowly:

1. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (not a fan of the Terminator series, but this isn’t bad)
2. Gossip Girl (haven’t gotten past season one, but I will, soon)

The list can only expand in 2009 with 24, Lost, Reaper and Dollhouse being released. Definitely looking forward to all of them!

How about you? What’re you watching or TiVo-ing? What’s caught your eye that isn’t on my list?

Saving Charlie

So the quote from earlier today actually came from the only Heroes book in existence (thus far) by Aury Wallington called “Saving Charlie“, which tells the story “in between episodes” way back in season one, when Hiro went back in time to save Charlie from Sylar (or as referred to in the book, Brain Man)

I quite enjoyed this book (though there was little chance of me not enjoying it because I’m such a big Hiro fan). I felt Wallington captured the character of Hiro perfectly, and his backstory with Kaito really added depth to the characters of both Hiro and Kaito.

I have to applaud Wallington on the research done on the book. From the beginning, the references to Japan, which I sense are generally correct from my own travels there, really add a sense or realism to the book. Heroes always had the premise of powers occurring in the “real world”, and reading about this story in the context of a geographically and culturally accurate world is definitely a good thing.

Hiro And Charlie

There are only two things I didn’t really like about the book, the first being that, well, it’s written by a female writer. I’m not being sexist, but even if I read the book without knowing the author, I would know it was a female writer. Some might argue the continuous emotional bits flesh out both Hiro and Charlie (and arguably they do), but it was a bit much for me, personally.

The second thing I didn’t like about the book, was the ending. We know from the TV show whether or not Hiro saves Charlie. But the reason for it happening, just fell a little flat for me. Perhaps that’s one thing that happens when you write about time travel, although the best explanation for changing (or not changing) the past comes from the Booster Gold comic book.

That said, given the mess that season two was, and the shakeups with season three, Saving Charlie might just be the best Heroes fix for Heroes fans right now.

My general thoughts so far on the freshman series that have debuted this year: Not bad, but waiting for better. An underlying trend in all of them is that apparently an overarching “mystery” or story arc is the way to go these days (a la Heroes or Lost). The shows in question? Knight Rider 2008, Fringe, The Mentalist and The Clone Wars.

Knight Rider

Knight Rider
I had no idea what this series was about going in, except it involved a car. Well, it doesn’t just involve a car, it’s a freaking transformer! (I use that term lightly). It’s a remake of a 1982 series, so if you were alive then (I wasn’t), it might hold some nostalgia value for you. I watched the pilot and within the first 8 minutes, decided I was going to love the show. It’s a campy show with a couple of agents and a support team, as well as an AI car, KITT. The interactions between KITT and the lead agents are often hilarious, and the mystery between what’s going on with Mike’s memories/history is fairly interesting. Don’t go in expecting too much. This is a fast car, weapons ablazing, hot female lead with clothes coming off kinda show. But it’s fun. My prediction: It’ll get picked up for a full season

The Clone Wars
Coming hot off the Clone Wars movie, Star Wars is back on TV! I need to say I didn’t manage to catch the Clone Wars animated movie because I was traveling, so I’m reviewing this independent of the movie. I am a huge Star Wars fan. About 1/3 of the books I own are Star Wars books. But this animated series just isn’t doing it for me. I get a kick out of seeing Plo Koon and Ashoka in action, but it’s not as fun as the previous animated cartoon that ran on the Cartoon Network. I don’t know if it’s the animation style, or the creators that are responsible for it. I guess essentially if you like the Star Wars franchise, you should watch this just for fun little short adventures in the corners of the Star Wars universe set in the Clone Wars. Just don’t expect too much. My prediction: It’s running for as long as George Lucas wants it to.

Robin Tunney

The Mentalist
I just watched this last night on the recommendation of Jason Gabe, and I was pleasantly surprised. First, the series seems like a serious take on the show “Psyche”, which is a comedy of a guy which superb observation skills that he seems like he’s psychic. Same thing, except this is a serious show. The main character, Patrick Jane, doesn’t really stand out as a unique person, but he reminds me of Charlie Crews from Life. Again, whether it’s the actor or the writing of the character, I’m not sure. The upside is, it’s nice to see Robin Tunney (Veronica from season one of Prison Break) back on tv. I’m not sure I liked her as Veronica, but she’s got a commanding presence on this show. Oh, and the Red John subplot that is going on is the most intriguing one so far. Not going to give too much away, watch the pilot to know what I’m talking about. My prediction: Hard to say. Solid series have been known to be overlooked from time to time. I’m going to say it gets picked up for a full season, but not necessarily renewed.

Fringe
I’ve already talked about Fringe earlier in the season. Suffice to say four episodes in and nothing is changing my mind. The latest episode, in particular was a very very weak effort to shove an explanation for Peter Bishop’s presence into viewer’s faces. Still waiting for it to get better, but for now I feel Lance Reddick is being wasted here and should be back on Lost. My prediction: It’s already been picked up for a full season, I’m betting it gets renewed. C’mon, it’s JJ Abrams.

Any new shows this season I’m missing? I know there’s 90210 and Sons of Anarchy, but there’s too much good stuff right now to start on them. Let me know if there are other hidden gems!

One more week and it’ll be a full month of doing the Weekly Reviews (WR). I must say it has definitely helped me work the week out in advance, the only problem is my attention tends to waver towards the end of the week.

So reviewing last weeks goals:

• 3/5 chapters studied for the Media & Pop Culture midterm, check.

• Assassin’s Apprentice done, check. Started on Saving Charlie, check. Review of Assassin’s Apprentice, this week.

• Rss feeds – trimmed.

• Making Nadnut’s potato salad – ran out of ingredients and no time to go to the store, postponed to this week.

• Multimedia theme – as you can guess, postponed.

1) Expenses Review
Actually didn’t spend a whole lot this week, so thumbs up!

2) Social Review
Exchange fair just happened tonight (videos soon) and May Jin’s birthday on Thursday. It’s Thanksgiving on Monday so it’s a long weekend, we’ll see what plans come up.

3) Learning Review
I did make it through another chapter of Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, but it’s proving more technical than I thought it would, so the pace is slow.

4) Goals For The Week:

• Prep workload for the next two weeks

• Plan & buy concert & train tickets for gigs (halfway done)

• Finish studying for the Pop Culture quiz

• Finish the postponed activities.

Two days down for the week already, time to get cracking!

After the disappointment that was season two of Heroes, I had hoped that they’d bounce back, and it seems like they did.

First, I love how practically everyone who’s been someone in the show has returned, (Elle, Adam Monroe, Linderman, Kaito Nakamura) and that Mama Petrelli and Ando are now regulars!

I’m not going to talk about all the plot points, but speak broadly about what I liked, and disliked

Likes:

Unlike last season where the plotlines were painfully drawn out, this season we hit the ground running, finding out who shot Nathan within the first two minutes of the show, and it keeps running from there. Good pacing all round.

Mama Petrelli’s dream. I found this to be the most interesting part of the show. I love it when the cast is assembled (like in the finale of season 1), and whether or not that “dream” happens, I’d like to see the vents leading up to it.

I liked Nemesis as well. She’s hot. But beyond that, I think she’ll be a very interesting villain for Hiro this season. That said, I really want Hiro to be tied into the larger mythology of the show, and I hope that happens. He already had to sit most of last season out thanks to being in ancient Japan.

Watching the countdown to Heroes, it seems we’re going to have a little bit of a 360degree show this season with the hints “Knox” and “Flint” flashing across the screen. I doubt I’ll actually play the ARG, but it’ll be fun to see what happens.

Zachary Quinto – Star of the show. ‘Nuff said.

What I didn’t like:

So… Season one is essentially undone? The whole premise was “save the cheerleader, save the world” right? Now that Sylar has Claire’s power, the very thing Peter, Hiro, Nathan, Matt and the rest sought to prevent, season one no longer means anything?
Where’s the Haitian, Monica and Micah? And dammit, bring Wireless back!

I’m not a fan of time traveling. I’ve almost never read or watched a story involving time travel that didn’t make my head hurt. It’s fine that the writers have gone down this path, but they’d better do it properly.

Enough of Nikki/Jessica/Tracy already, we get it. But it’s nice to see ice powers on the show.
Speaking of powers, is there anyone who doesn’t have powers?!

Maya and Mohinder. Micah and Monica have no screen time for this tired plot? Can Sylar please kill them both already?

Milo Ventimiglia still can’t act for nuts. Sigh.

I’m unsure about the final scene. It’s interesting, I like where they might go with it, but it’s too “Third Summers Brother” if you read the X-Men books.