Heroes 4×14 “Close to You” review
January 14th, 2010
The following contains spoilers through the episode “Close to You,” originally broadcast 1/11/10.
NBC was up to some schedule maneuvering this week, and the topic of ‘Heroes’ came up. Everyone’s sort of been expecting that the series is going to be cancelled pretty soon, but at least for the moment, the network is still standing by it. Maybe, like someone suggested, it’s only to maintain the small audience that’s still hanging in there, or maybe NBC still sees real worth and/or potent ional in it. It was only last season the “Villains” arc prompted a significant promotion from the network, and “Redemption” may still prove, in some way, to serve as the storyline that gets everything back to where the fans are happy. There’s a chance the fans might come around again. This was a night that saw the arc progress back in a forward direction, after the mini-climax several episodes ago when the Sylar/Nathan situation was finally resolved.
Fringe 2×11 “Unearthed” review
January 14th, 2010
The following contains spoilers through the episode “Unearthed,” originally broadcast 1/11/10.
If you were a little confused as to why ‘Fringe’ had an episode on Monday (for those of you who don’t know because you might watch the show via the Internet, it’s usual night since the fall has been Thursdays), it’s an infrequently publicized fact that there were twenty-one episodes produced for the first season. Thanks to the events of the first few episodes this season, it became increasingly complicated as to when the “lost” episode would air. Fox did a good job of reminding viewers that ‘Fringe’ was going to be airing twice this week, but kind of emphasizing that the “new” episode was on Thursday. “Unearthed” was free to be seen or not by those who ended up watching.
HYGOTS No. 65
January 9th, 2010
One of the great things about the DVD era is that it can make it exceedingly easy to catch up with TV shows you skipped on original broadcast. Now, I know a lot of programming is also available on the Internet, but I’m, well, just a tad old-fashioned. It may be why I was still thinking of a show called ‘Day Break’ at all, why I was excited to learn it was finally released on DVD, even though I had never watched it before. Now, I can’t imagine having ever overlooked it.
Heroes 4×12/4×13 “Upon This Rock”/”Let It Bleed” review
January 5th, 2010
The following contains spoilers through the episode “Let It Bleed,” originally broadcast 1/4/2010.
Somewhere in the two hours broadcast last night was uttered the sentiment that burnt bridges can be rebuilt. No doubt, that’s the sentiment the creators are hoping for, because at this point, ‘Heroes’ has lost virtually all its good will. Certainly all its buzz, anyway. Retail stores are still convinced that it’s a hot seller, and no doubt it is, and maybe that’s the best the series can hope for at this point, that it’ll be rediscovered after its original broadcasts. It’s not like now isn’t a good time for something like that to happen, whether you consider the Internet age (which might be considered the method by which it became popular in the first place) or ordinary word of mouth (by which the show can sustain the storm of withered expectations from those same fans), which have mingled so thoroughly in this case that it’s just as possible to find someone still trying to find out what all the fuss was about without having to worry too much about the disappointment that set in when things stopped going the way those original fans expected. I’m a DVD fan who was lucky enough to convert to TV fan in what may be the show’s final days. At this point, I don’t really care. Next week will mark the longest continuous arc since the first season, and the slow build has been paying off exceptionally for the past few episodes.
HYGOTS No. 64
January 1st, 2010
This was supposed to be a transition year. Everything about January 2009 said as much. Heroes & Dragons, the comics shop I’d been visiting since I moved to Colorado Springs in November of 2007, was moving. I didn’t know if I could depend on Bargain Comics to deliver quite the same experience. Everything about it had contradicted Heroes – sure, there were always comics I could find there I couldn’t at Heroes, but Heroes was always more reliable. On top of purely logistical concerns, Batman was going away, Geoff Johns was leaving virtually every series I’d been following him in, from ‘Action Comics’ to ‘Justice Society of America.’ I didn’t even know that Superman was going to be abandoning Earth for New Krypton. And I didn’t know that I’d be switching from Bargain to Midtown Comics.com at the midpoint of the year. I’d truly believed I’d be reading far fewer comics in 2009 than I had in 2008, or 2007, or 2006 (the year I started writing about comics and began what became the QB50) or even 2005, when I was taking my first steps back into the medium and all the rules were gone. And heck, the economy was officially terrible, not terrible as in the presidential candidates were talking about emergency stimulus ideas in their campaigns. I mean terrible in that jobs kept getting lost even as everyone was talking about a theoretical recovery. I mean that there were rumors that although Marvel was in a position to weather the storm relatively intact, DC might have to eliminate virtually every title not including the words “Superman” and “Batman.”
But somehow, I just kept reading comics. I started reading in 1992, snatching what I could from my brothers. I started buying in 1993. I became a serious reader in 1994. I had to give it up in 1999. I dabbed my toes around in 2004. Then, yes, I started writing about comics. I began the QBs. I mean, I’m no authority today, but the QB50 has begun to take on a life of its own. Comics don’t dominate my life – I’ve been desperately trying to finish my second book the whole time this year’s ranking finally came due – and I now write a column that only occasionally handles the subject. But finally, it’s time for the 2009 QB50.
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