Immediate Heroes impressions
Sep. 30th, 2008 01:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenUm?
It probably says something really bad about me that I'm genuinely sorry that bad-ass Sylar seems to be gone and that I prefer him to the Gabriel-with-a-reason-he's-evil. Show, this is not how you do it. The reason people like Sylar so much is that he's a credibly creepy threat with no compunction against doing the absolutely most horrifying things. It is not because he is a secretly cuddly man at the mercy of his impulses. Who writes this shit, thirteen-year-old fangirls? Sylar is not Niki, damn it. He is not a wubbie! He's a slobbering psycho AND I LIKED HIM THAT WAY.
(And no, I'm not fooled at all into liking it just because Zachary Quinto played some scenes like he was an overgrown puppy. And I don't forgive it just because he had the fluffy-wuffy hair of cuteness doom. Nope. Not even for a bitty second.)
I'm absolutely stymied. I almost bought it, at the beginning. Sylar was giving Mr. B enough Sylar-patented sly looks to make it seem as though he were only pretending to swallow Mrs. Petrelli's story. But then he seemed genuinely captured by the idea that Mrs. Petrelli was his mother and therefore he wasn't matricidal, which is worse to him than being simply homicidal for reasons that simply boil down to Mommy. Issues. So I could sort of believe that, too--that Mrs. Petrelli was working her convincing mojo on him and forcing the reform while he was also striving to prove that he could live up to Mommy's expectations. (I don't care what the show says her power is, Mrs. P has to have the power of persuasion, like Eden did. It makes more sense with all that she's done.)
But you can't have it both ways. Sylar can't be really, truly, despicably, soullessly evil and just playing at being a house pet and be just a confused boy who needed his mother to tell him how great he was and who wouldn't hurt anyone if she had just hugged him harder. What the shit is this "hunger" nonsense? Sylar has gone after powers with a hunger, yes, but his driving motivation is his narcissistic belief that he's more special than the special people and that he deserves powers more than they deserve to be alive. He's a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who happens to have an ability to back up those delusions. He is not a pawn or a slave to his ability. He loves his ability and how it gets him more power. I get why they want Sylar on the good guys' side--it changes things up! It's wacky! He's Mr. Bennet's partner!?! WTF TIMES TWENTY MILLION BILLION TIMES!?!? But it's just really, really stupid.
FOR THE LOVE OF NATHAN PETRELLI'S GOD, THEY HAVE SYLAR KISSING MR. MUGGLES IN THE PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK. This is the "pet the dog" ploy to really convince you that Sylar's not all that bad. GUESS A-FUCKING-GAIN. PET THE DOG: UR DOIN' IT WRONG. Need I remind the show that Sylar went after an eight-year-old girl? I probably should, seeing as they've forgotten Molly Walker ever existed.
It heartens me, however, that Mr. Bennet is the best goddamned actor on the planet. (Jack Coleman's not bad either.) He played resistant/hostile-towards-Sylar-as-partner well enough to avoid arousing suspicions when he caved to the set-up OF MAJOR RIDICULOSITY, but he's still totally pissed off underneath. (But never loses an ounce of his cool.) That redeemed every little scene where he didn't try to kill Sylar. Because it's all for the Claire-bear. (awwwww!) That's how you make what's an apparent dramatic character shift make sense. Also, yay the Haitian! They're almost as cute together as Mr. B and Claude. Speaking of the Doctor, though, how very Who it was for Mr. B to walk into a situation where he was unarmed, going up against people with superior abilities while having a psychotic killer behind him, and he came through it. The collateral damage? Still very Doctor Who. (The Doctor turns strangers into his friends; he turns his friends into heroes; he turns heroes into martyrs.)
I would be very happy, especially after the Sylar character assassination, if this Mr. B found Sylar's weakness and killed him. Have the balls to do it, show!
One thought about Peter: Milo Ventimiglia is the last actor on this show whom I would overburden with the responsibility of playing extra characters. His dearth of acting ability doesn't exactly recommend him for multiple parts.
Also, I think something happened to his face that his jaw now permanently gapes open in a half-sneer all the time.
It probably says something really bad about me that I'm genuinely sorry that bad-ass Sylar seems to be gone and that I prefer him to the Gabriel-with-a-reason-he's-evil. Show, this is not how you do it. The reason people like Sylar so much is that he's a credibly creepy threat with no compunction against doing the absolutely most horrifying things. It is not because he is a secretly cuddly man at the mercy of his impulses. Who writes this shit, thirteen-year-old fangirls? Sylar is not Niki, damn it. He is not a wubbie! He's a slobbering psycho AND I LIKED HIM THAT WAY.
(And no, I'm not fooled at all into liking it just because Zachary Quinto played some scenes like he was an overgrown puppy. And I don't forgive it just because he had the fluffy-wuffy hair of cuteness doom. Nope. Not even for a bitty second.)
I'm absolutely stymied. I almost bought it, at the beginning. Sylar was giving Mr. B enough Sylar-patented sly looks to make it seem as though he were only pretending to swallow Mrs. Petrelli's story. But then he seemed genuinely captured by the idea that Mrs. Petrelli was his mother and therefore he wasn't matricidal, which is worse to him than being simply homicidal for reasons that simply boil down to Mommy. Issues. So I could sort of believe that, too--that Mrs. Petrelli was working her convincing mojo on him and forcing the reform while he was also striving to prove that he could live up to Mommy's expectations. (I don't care what the show says her power is, Mrs. P has to have the power of persuasion, like Eden did. It makes more sense with all that she's done.)
But you can't have it both ways. Sylar can't be really, truly, despicably, soullessly evil and just playing at being a house pet and be just a confused boy who needed his mother to tell him how great he was and who wouldn't hurt anyone if she had just hugged him harder. What the shit is this "hunger" nonsense? Sylar has gone after powers with a hunger, yes, but his driving motivation is his narcissistic belief that he's more special than the special people and that he deserves powers more than they deserve to be alive. He's a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who happens to have an ability to back up those delusions. He is not a pawn or a slave to his ability. He loves his ability and how it gets him more power. I get why they want Sylar on the good guys' side--it changes things up! It's wacky! He's Mr. Bennet's partner!?! WTF TIMES TWENTY MILLION BILLION TIMES!?!? But it's just really, really stupid.
FOR THE LOVE OF NATHAN PETRELLI'S GOD, THEY HAVE SYLAR KISSING MR. MUGGLES IN THE PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK. This is the "pet the dog" ploy to really convince you that Sylar's not all that bad. GUESS A-FUCKING-GAIN. PET THE DOG: UR DOIN' IT WRONG. Need I remind the show that Sylar went after an eight-year-old girl? I probably should, seeing as they've forgotten Molly Walker ever existed.
It heartens me, however, that Mr. Bennet is the best goddamned actor on the planet. (Jack Coleman's not bad either.) He played resistant/hostile-towards-Sylar-as-partner well enough to avoid arousing suspicions when he caved to the set-up OF MAJOR RIDICULOSITY, but he's still totally pissed off underneath. (But never loses an ounce of his cool.) That redeemed every little scene where he didn't try to kill Sylar. Because it's all for the Claire-bear. (awwwww!) That's how you make what's an apparent dramatic character shift make sense. Also, yay the Haitian! They're almost as cute together as Mr. B and Claude. Speaking of the Doctor, though, how very Who it was for Mr. B to walk into a situation where he was unarmed, going up against people with superior abilities while having a psychotic killer behind him, and he came through it. The collateral damage? Still very Doctor Who. (The Doctor turns strangers into his friends; he turns his friends into heroes; he turns heroes into martyrs.)
I would be very happy, especially after the Sylar character assassination, if this Mr. B found Sylar's weakness and killed him. Have the balls to do it, show!
One thought about Peter: Milo Ventimiglia is the last actor on this show whom I would overburden with the responsibility of playing extra characters. His dearth of acting ability doesn't exactly recommend him for multiple parts.
Also, I think something happened to his face that his jaw now permanently gapes open in a half-sneer all the time.
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Date: 2008-10-03 03:19 pm (UTC)The one that Heroes is currently on is "Have good ideas, have crap execution." There's enough good about what they want to do that it kills me how badly they're implementing it. The one that you think it's on is "have no clue, try everything." I don't think they're that desperate, but that's not an unfair assumption given the way things are going.