Scorpion's Review of Heroes Marathon and Arena

The other day I wrote about a classic Star Trek episode(The Arena) and NBC's mini-marathon of Heroes, both showing this past weekend. Well I did manage to catch both and am glad I did. Productivity was down this weekend, obviously, but it was a nice break.

Trek, The Arena
I'd forgotten how much there was to this episode before Kirk meets up with Gorn. In fact, they don't start their battle on the planet until just past the half-way point of the show. For a bit I wondered whether this was a different episode entirely.

I was pleased to see a classic red-shirt moment: while they're on the planet's surface investigating the destruction of the outpost a red-shirted extra yells, "Captain! There's something over he-- AHHHHHH!" as he gets zapped into oblivion(complete with cool special effects). Twas a classic example of Red-shirted Extra Discrimination(RED). Good stuff! I recorded it all, too, so I'll have another look at it later.

Heroes (Mini-Marathon)
Excellent! I had only seen the premiere episode so I was looking forward to getting caught-up before the new episode tonight(Monday). On Sunday nights I usually catch new episodes of Cold Case and Without a Trace on CBS so I was in a quandry. Decided to record the CBS shows for later viewing and settled in for a 3-hour Heroes marathon.

I still wonder how they'll manage to keep this storyline going for more than 3 years(assuming it's even their intention), but I do love what I've seen so far. It's obvious that paths are starting to cross. It's also evident that some are having a harder time "accepting" their powers and, if they have, deciding just how they should be used. Hiro, in particular, seems ready to play his role as Hero and though he succumed to greed(gambling) he does seem to be trying to keep things noble. Missy Cheerleader figures out how to get revenge on Mr. Quarterback. Mr. Excuse-Me-While-I-Paint-While-High seems to be coming around to his destiny as saviour, though it'd be nice if he learns how to do so without the drugs. The younger of the Fly Brothers is genuinely interested in figuring things out while his bro plays classic politico. I could go on about all the characters but you either know what I'm talking about already or are just not interested. Which brings me to my next thought...

As they brought in the mind-reading cop it struck me how ADDish this show is. It seems most shows are going this way these days, but the multiple simultaneous storylines of Heroes really exemplifies it. During any one episode you have 4+ storylines going on. Now, it does seem they'll eventually consolidate things as the Heroes start crossing paths but it definitely makes for something engaging. Perhaps too engaging for some members of the audience. Add on top of this NBC's cross-medium promos(blogs, online videos, graphic novels, etc.) and you really have something catering to their target audience(18-40 year olds, I'd imagine).

In case you wanna know a little about tonight episode(9pm on NBC):

Chapter 5: “Hiro’s”
Confused after losing track of another block of time, Niki (Ali Larter) finds the police on her doorstep, searching for her fugitive husband D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts). Claire (Hayden Panettiere) confesses to her father. Hiro (Masi Oka) and his friend get jumped by some Vegas high-rollers. Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) receives a life-changing message from an unlikely source. Meanwhile, Matt (Greg Grunberg) secretly uses his mind-reading ability to anticipate his wife’s needs. Dismayed by recent events, Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) makes plans to return to India to lay both his father’s remains and his research to rest. (Lisa Lackey, Matt Lanter and Nora Zehetner guest star.)