Chuck and Heroes, Week 1
Sep. 25th, 2007 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteSpoilers!!!
Chuck is lightweight, disposable and entertaining. It's really not worth the time it would take to analyze it, and I think it won't stnad up to it, anyway. All you need to know is that Chuck is a nerd, has had (for reason unknown) vast amounts of intelligence data uploaded into his brain by a former roommate turned rogue (and dead) CIA agent, and will be working with a knockout CIA agent and Adam Baldwin to stop Bad Things from happening while still working at an electronics store. The lead actor is capable, even if the character he played is too broadly written. The script was good, the pop culture references were amusing, and this could be fun. But it's far from must see TV. I might watch it again, or might not.
On to Heroes. And I apologize to its many fans for being this way, but as much as I liked some of the premiere, the plot holes are getting bigger.
Matt? I am glad he's alive and taking care of Molly and is a detective with the NYPD. But how on Earth did he get custody of her, while getting divorced? How on Earth did he land a job at all with the NYPD when he was fired by the LAPD?
The "Butlers"? I like that Noah and Claire are trying to start over. I like that they are a family again. But where did he find the rest of the family? How can they afford to buy Claire a car on his Kinko's salary? How did he manage to relocate all of them? Why didn't they change their entire names and appearances (like Claire did in "Five Years Gone")? (Butler? You changed the name but not the letter. How very David Banner of you.) And how on Earth didn't he get fired for that stunt?
See what I mean? Crazy thing is, I LIKED those scenes. Claire and Noah are two of my three favorite characters. Jack Coleman is still the best actor on the show. But after the credits roll, I can't hold it together. There's just too much sloppy or lazy or otherwise incomplete writing here.
Beyond that, there is a lot to like, even if I didn't want to see Papa Nakamura killed. I like the more mature Ando. I like that Mohinder and Noah have a plan. I like that the creepy middle-aged man from the Company is able to alter matter like Element Lad. I don't like that two marriages have fallen apart, but I'm sure that we will see Matt's unborn child and Nathan's kids later - powers are genetic. And I am reserving judgment on the Honduran Nikki and her brother the Honduran Simon till we learn the full story. And the virus? Can anyone say Leagacy Virus with me?
Lastly, the adventures of Hiro feel like another show entirely, one that seems to be a bit obvious in the direction it's going but that feels like it will be fun. I don't buy that Kenzei hasn't been thrown out of Japan, and I am surprised that Hiro doesn't see that the legend is a pack of lies, but that's never the point with Hiro. It is and always will be the Hero's Quest with him. And that distinction between him and all the reluctant heroes on the show. No one else seems to like being a hero (except maybe Claire). They might be realistic, but I like to think that more people would embrace their destinies than shun them. It's good to have Hiro doing that all the time.
Chuck is lightweight, disposable and entertaining. It's really not worth the time it would take to analyze it, and I think it won't stnad up to it, anyway. All you need to know is that Chuck is a nerd, has had (for reason unknown) vast amounts of intelligence data uploaded into his brain by a former roommate turned rogue (and dead) CIA agent, and will be working with a knockout CIA agent and Adam Baldwin to stop Bad Things from happening while still working at an electronics store. The lead actor is capable, even if the character he played is too broadly written. The script was good, the pop culture references were amusing, and this could be fun. But it's far from must see TV. I might watch it again, or might not.
On to Heroes. And I apologize to its many fans for being this way, but as much as I liked some of the premiere, the plot holes are getting bigger.
Matt? I am glad he's alive and taking care of Molly and is a detective with the NYPD. But how on Earth did he get custody of her, while getting divorced? How on Earth did he land a job at all with the NYPD when he was fired by the LAPD?
The "Butlers"? I like that Noah and Claire are trying to start over. I like that they are a family again. But where did he find the rest of the family? How can they afford to buy Claire a car on his Kinko's salary? How did he manage to relocate all of them? Why didn't they change their entire names and appearances (like Claire did in "Five Years Gone")? (Butler? You changed the name but not the letter. How very David Banner of you.) And how on Earth didn't he get fired for that stunt?
See what I mean? Crazy thing is, I LIKED those scenes. Claire and Noah are two of my three favorite characters. Jack Coleman is still the best actor on the show. But after the credits roll, I can't hold it together. There's just too much sloppy or lazy or otherwise incomplete writing here.
Beyond that, there is a lot to like, even if I didn't want to see Papa Nakamura killed. I like the more mature Ando. I like that Mohinder and Noah have a plan. I like that the creepy middle-aged man from the Company is able to alter matter like Element Lad. I don't like that two marriages have fallen apart, but I'm sure that we will see Matt's unborn child and Nathan's kids later - powers are genetic. And I am reserving judgment on the Honduran Nikki and her brother the Honduran Simon till we learn the full story. And the virus? Can anyone say Leagacy Virus with me?
Lastly, the adventures of Hiro feel like another show entirely, one that seems to be a bit obvious in the direction it's going but that feels like it will be fun. I don't buy that Kenzei hasn't been thrown out of Japan, and I am surprised that Hiro doesn't see that the legend is a pack of lies, but that's never the point with Hiro. It is and always will be the Hero's Quest with him. And that distinction between him and all the reluctant heroes on the show. No one else seems to like being a hero (except maybe Claire). They might be realistic, but I like to think that more people would embrace their destinies than shun them. It's good to have Hiro doing that all the time.
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(no subject)
Date: Sep. 25th, 2007 02:34 pm (UTC)I'm not saying your criticisms aren't valid. Just saying that this is a serial show, as far as narrative goes -- miss an episode and you're lost. And while that's irritating if you do miss an episode, it allows them to play fun tricks with narrative structure, and I think the potential for getting lost is a small price to pay for that.
(no subject)
Date: Sep. 25th, 2007 06:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Sep. 25th, 2007 06:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Sep. 25th, 2007 02:35 pm (UTC)Shades of X-men, Batman!
(no subject)
Date: Sep. 25th, 2007 06:04 pm (UTC)Yeaaah. I love Noah- he's one of my fave chars, and his job just made me want to cringe. (Even with the threatening of his boss.) Maybe he had some money saved up from working for the Company- but money is one of the easier things to trace and track, if they were running. (And showing dogs is NOT cheap. Even if Mr Muggles started earning some stud fees.) Claire's mom will have to start looking for employment herself, really.
And, the divorces. Nathan's marriage ending, as well as his whole life falling into shambles? That, I can see. But Matt's marriage seemed to be doing better, specially with the pregnancy. Eh- His getting shot, and dealing with the hospitals and recovery (and the MEDICAL BILLS- he had been fired, recall? No insurance) may have done it in. And while part of me giggles at the idea of the Matt-Mohinder-Molly household, it is a little disheartening to start writing off "secondary female characters" in this way.
(And I LIKED Nathan's wife. Learning to live in a wheelchair AND be a politician's wife? She didn't NEED powers.)
(no subject)
Date: Sep. 26th, 2007 01:33 pm (UTC)I strongly suspect some serious assistance for Parkman. Both medically and, as you point out, jobwise, he needed it. Perhaps the FBI pulled some strings on the latter; I don't know how he survived point-blank x 4.
As for not getting fired, it's entirely possible that he's got some sort of persuasive mind-control ability (which would go with the personality and the ex-job). After all, we've now seen that the Company DOES hire supers.
Speaking of whom, all we know is steel or silver to gold. We don't know the extent or flexibility of the transmuter. And shouldn't the exercise of that power throw off all sorts of nasty radiation? (Or is that part of the power itself; suppressing same?)
Two gets you seven Nakamura-san returns, live. No bet at ALL on actually seeing him again; with the twisting they do of the timeline, we're certain to see him in at least one backstory episode (and likely many; remember, this arc is called "Generations").
Have we seen duplication of powers before, aside from the ones who borrow or steal them? If not (and I don't think so), does flight suggest a genetic link to Nathan Petrelli? (And will the teens in love find out in time, or will we see a serious breach of the social mores?)
Hiro will come around in time. Either he has upset history, or, more likely, this is the twisted way it all worked out already. But he has to actually DO it. (Have I mentioned I hate time travel, yet? Love Hiro, but oh, that power...)