Last year I had two favorite shows in traditional fall-winter season: Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. (My two favorite shows on TV, Psych and The Closer, both come in the 'off-season' and are on cable, while Heroes and Terminator appeared on NBC and Fox respectively.) But I had very different relationships with each show.
Heroes was the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Super heroes have never been done particularly well on live-action television, with the possible exception of The Incredible Hulk (1978). The Flash (1990) I loved at the time, but I was 14 and would have loved anything attached to comic books.
So I watched Heroes 2006 debut with eager anticipation. I absolutely loved the first season. Compelling characters, comedy, cool powers, good acting. It worked oh so well, until the season finale, which was a little bit of a mess. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good.
And the bleeding continued into Season 2, which was interrupted by the writer's strike. That season was a mess. Nothing made sense, and they messed with every character so much (especially Sylar) that you had no idea who the characters were. That was kind of the point for Season 2, but it didn't work.
Season 3 was also flat. The basic plot was fine; but the individual elements of the plot fell flat. But then the last three episodes before the finale picked up. Sylar was gaining steam. The government conspiracy was falling apart. I was starting to enjoy it again.
Then came the finale. It was awesome. Cool conclusions, and cool character fulfillment. But the ending took a quick right turn into Suckville. Sylar was transformed into Nathan Petrelli? What? This was there only option? Nobody saw tragedylooming behind this decision? I decided then and there I may finally ditch this show after three years.
And then I saw the trailers for Season 3. They looked awesome. So yes, I will be watching tonight, eagerly anticipating again.
Why have I stuck with this show for three years when only a handful of episodes have caught my attention? Because it should be everything I want in television. It should be compelling drama. It should have great characters. It should have cool action. But the show rarely delivers on any of this. But I am still looped in because of the tease: it's a premise I want to see succeed, and enough episodes have delivered to not turn me off completely.
Terminator's debut in 2007 was totally different. I started watching because I liked the first two movies, and I love the premise, but I wasn't entirely sold on it. The first few episodes were OK, but the violence turned my wife off and I was getting a little bored. Then something happened: I began to care about the characters, and each episode was compelling. And my wife was so intrigued she came back and enjoyed the show almost as much as I did.
So here I was watching the Season 2 finale last spring, thinking that the show might survive despite low ratings. First, it was a very good show. Second, with the Terminator: Salvation movie coming in the summer, this might give Fox the juice to keep it going. And third, it was an awesome show!
But then two things happened to doom the show. First, the season finale sucked. It really did. I loved every episode of Season 2, except that one. They changed everything by throwing John Connor into the future, and it took the air out of the narrative. Second, Terminator: Salvation wasn't very good. The cinematography was awesome, but the story was pretty lame. So Terminator was not renewed at Fox, though there are rumors of a TV movie/mini-series to finish things off for the fans. Don't hold your breath.
So here I sit. The better show was canceled and Heroes will probably just tease me again and leave me flat. Maybe I should just rent some DVDs if 24 and Mad Men and call it good.
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