Spoiled
I finally got around to watching the new season of Heroes, and I couldn't get over how many characters didn't die. There were like 3 people who were supposed to be dead who popped up again. Well, okay, one might be a hallucination, and one was seen in a vision, but still! And last season, they almost killed off Noah Bennet, but then he got brought back by miracle blood. And now Nathan gets brought back in basically the same way, although I guess we don't know exactly what the miracle was this time. But that's the second time someone has actually died and then bounced back.
Okay, yeah, it's a TV show, and yeah, people being resurrected is probably one of the more believable things. But it's gotten to the point where when you see someone thoroughly killed, you just think to yourself, "Hmm, wonder how they're coming back" rather than actually being worried about them. I suppose some minor characters seem to be gone for good, but the major ones just keep coming back! It worked in the first season, like when Peter was dead for a while with a shard of glass through his head, but by now, it's become obvious that the main people are sticking around.
I think I read somewhere that the original plan with Heroes was to introduce completely new characters in each season, and I think that would have been better, because they would have been free to do whatever they want since they're not really coming back anyway. But of course, when you have a big hit like that you're not going to throw it all away, I guess. And I have to say, I'm glad Sylar is back in action.
But this character non-death thing is something that really loses its punch when it becomes obvious that they're bluffing. And that's where I think I've been spoiled by Joss Whedon. That man is not afraid to kill anyone or anything, usually with a sharp thing right through the chest. He is an absolute, horrible monster, and it's even worse because he creates really interesting characters that you fall in love with before they get Death-Ray-shrapnel'd or Reaver-spear-thing'd. In Serenity, where just before the climactic battle, one of the main characters just gets killed mid-sentence, no time for a final speech, didn't go out heroically, just dead. Bam. That's not only really powerful, it makes the big fight even more intense. He just killed someone like it was nothing! What's he going to do during the battle, when it's even more likely? For the characters, death is a very real possibility, and now it is for the audience too. When someone gets hit, you really wonder if they're going to make it. It bucks the movie norm that the actors live to film another sequel, that everything comes back full circle.
There were some other things that bugged me too, mostly Mohinder, and the fact that pretty much everyone are idiots when it comes to their powers. (Why didn't Claire just jump out a window when Sylar was horror-movie-style hunting her down? She's not going to get hurt. Nope, much better to hide in the closet, that's what always works in the horror movies!) Why the heck does Mohinder need super powers (except to teach him the lesson of "Be careful what you wish for") and why does he want them at all?! The whole time he's talking to (and having random sex with...sigh) a woman whose super power is basically uncontrollably killing anyone she's close to and he wants in all of a sudden? Come on, he's smarter than that. Not to mention how he saw first hand in the first season how someone's out of control powers nearly killed millions of people.
Yeah, I think they've pretty much jumped the shark (Sylar, I am your mother zomg!), so to speak, but they're jumping it in a very flashy way, so I'll probably keep watching. Like I said, Sylar's back to being a badass, and even got a hilarious line ("Eat your brain? ...Claire, that's disgusting." In fact, that was pretty much the best line of the series.) And of course, everyone loves Hiro.
/me really doesn't watch that much TV...honest...