TV Review: Heroes 3.6 – Dying of the Light

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 22, 2008

Heroes, NBC, Airs Mondays 9/8c

Episode: “Dying of the Light” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Synopsis: Impressed by his sudden ruthlessness, Villains Knox (guest star Jamie Hector) and Daphne (guest star Brea Grant) bring Hiro (Masi Oka) — among others — into the Pinehearst fold, and give him an assignment. With Angela (Cristine Rose) and the Company paralyzed by recent events, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) goes directly to Pinehearst for answers, and irrevocably changed by the shocking meeting. Meanwhile, Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and her mother Sandra (Ashley Crow) attempt to free Meredith (Jessalyn Gilsig) from the thrall of escaped Villain Doyle (David H. Lawrence XVII), who has the ability to take mental and physical control of others. Later, Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) brings Tracy (Ali Larter) to Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), hoping he can shed light on the surprising origin of their abilities.

Review: As you may well know if you’ve been following along, Adam Sweeney normally blogs on each week about Heroes. But due to a computing catastrophe, Adam is off this week and like Tom Berenger, I am the perfect substitute. Because while Adam has been casually enjoying season three of Heroes, I am one of those folks who thinks that the series has completely ‘nuked the fridge,’ as the kids are saying these days.

This week’s episode only proved what I had previously theorized, that the show’s writing team has absolutely no idea where they are going with any of this. What they do know is that they had to make up for last season by adding the almighty intrigue back into the plot. What they missed is that fans don’t need more complicated storylines piled upon storylines, they want to see a little action. Season one was all about the promise of an epic final battle, and that was a relative letdown. Season two was just an incoherent mess of sorts. And season three was supposed to be a return to form. And at this point, I am struggling to figure out what form to which they should be trying to return.

But those are just my broad stroke opinions, lets talk about this week’s mess. Of course, it all starts by clarifying that Ando isn’t dead — something they could have waited a little longer to tell us. That was one of the only worthwhile parts of last week’s episode, why not string the audience along a bit. Also, we see more situations where we don’t ever feel as if Claire is in peril. For those of you who watched along this week, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Also, while they’ve been doing a better job of bringing the new characters, such as speedster Daphne, played by the delightful Brea Grant, their storylines still aren’t enough to help ease the pain brought on by the continued need to beat the other characters, the classic fan favorites, into the ground with storylines that just don’t make a whole lot of sense.

Though, I have a feeling that the writers are banking on Arthur Petrelli’s big return being the cure-all for season three, but to me its just a band-aid over a bullet hole. Like Sylar and his catalog of powers and Peter and his ability to acquire powers, it makes absolutely no sense to have a villain who can just touch people and strip them of their powers. Who is going to stop this guy? And what a way to deal with Adam Monroe — why take one of the show’s most interesting characters and just end it like that? Its like saying, ‘Hey fans, we know you thought he would be a cool character, but we don’t care what you think. He’s dead.’ But, such is the legacy of Heroes, a show that is only worth watching if you enjoy trainwrecks. Its only direction this point is down the tube. That, and Kristen Bell returns next week — so I am in for one more, at least.

Up Next Week: Trapped and terrified, Nathan and Tracy fight for their lives against a much-changed, monstrous Suresh to free themselves, Maya and the doctor’s other “test subjects.” Elle returns, with a shock for Claire and her family. Meanwhile, aware of Peter’s ruthless take down by her rivals at Pinehearst, Angela reaches out to convince Sylar to save his brother. Since he won’t sign up with the Villains, Daphne is ordered by her boss to go back and kill Matt — or be killed herself. While in awe of the African precog’s power, Hiro still questions Usutu’s advice on how to best face his gathering opponents.

For more coverage of your favorite shows, check out the Control Freaks Archive.

Did you watch Heroes this week? If so, feel free to share your thoughts below…

Read more articles by Neil Miller