5 Ways Heroes Could Go Out with a Bang
It's become a yearly tradition at NBC: Heroes gets a last-minute renewal, the creators apologize and promise that the new season will be better than the last, viewers realize it isn't, and ratings continue to fall. This time, however, NBC may have run out of patience. Vulture reports that the network likes its new pilots so much that it may cancel Heroes outright, or at least bring it back in a severely truncated form. In case the show does get a reprieve, here are 5 things the writers could do to make it worthwhile.
Actually kill off characters
Part of what gave Lost its high stakes and watercooler buzz was its willingness to off main characters at any time, during any season. Heroes, on the other hand, steadfastly refuses to kill its most important characters, and when it does (in the case of Ali Larter), it brings them back over and over, negating the moment. Hell, even the supporting characters on Heroes are abruptly dropped instead of suffering a spectacular death. If Heroes gets another chance, it should start thinning out the cast, post haste.
Deliver a final battle that matters
Most people began to sour on Heroes during the first season finale, where the good vs. evil confrontation packed a whimper, not a wallop. That's become typical for the show: it'll build up to a major battle all year long, then wuss out of actual pyrotechnics. Series creator Tim Kring may want to rewatch old episodes of Buffy for tips on how to do a season finale smackdown properly.
Stop leaning on Sylar
Look, we were all intrigued by Sylar in season one, but the show really should have killed him off then. By dragging him into each season, he's been drained of his supervillain mystique, and his presence on the show is no longer required. Yes, Zachary Quinto has become the breakout star of this ensemble, but it's at the expense of developing a really interesting villain in his place. Go let the man make Star Trek 2!
Cliffhangers!
Remember when every episode of Heroes would end with a wild, "how will they get out of this" cliffhanger? What happened to that? Even if all the show gets is a two-hour wrap-up movie, the least they could do is cut to commercial on some whoppers.
Go all out with powers
It's clear now that Heroes gave its characters too many powerful abilities in the first season, as they've been backpeddling and limiting them ever since. I say, embrace the problem now and go all out with it. Have Hiro time-jump all over the place! Have Peter unleash a CG-palooza against an equally formidable villain! Have Claire get sawed in half and survive! Go nuts, Heroes. What do you have to lose?
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Comments
Kill the cheerleader, save the series.
Have a 13 season finale with a meaningfull conclusion.
Wait, this show is still on?
Change the channel, save your brain.
Kring has stated that the "spectacular final battle" for the finales "is too much work", so how about FIRE TIM KRING and get a new showrunner who is willing to take a chance by killing off CLAIRE! and a few others (Ali, even ZQ), won't hobble Hiro and Peter with stupidity, fires any squabblers in the Writers Room, and PLANS OUT MORE THAN FOUR EPISODES AHEAD!?!!
The show really needs to end by having a $90 million special effects extravangaza mega-battle which culminates in destroying the planet Earth. It's been prophesied; let's see it! (And yes, the show still has fans and loyal viewers, though apparently not in the media. Tim Kring must have pissed off the wrong person... First Entertainment Weekly, then the rest of the house of cards collapsed, and when the reputation of a show is this battered, there's really nothing that can be done to get viewers back. And it's a shame, because it's an entertaining TV show that simply doesn't deserve this level of backlash.)
They need to kill Claire.I use to always fast forward her scenes because i got tired of her whining, being stubborn, and being so ungrateful. Then I realized, I only end up watching 10 minutes of the episode. I agree with that guy ^^. Kill the Cheerleader Save the World
I hope we get an 'ending'. I think it's and entertaining series with a good story. Maybe it was great on season 1, but hey, the rest was enterteining. As Mistery Sock says, it doesn't deserve that level of backlash. So I think, that fans deserve an ending (call it volume, miniseries or TV movie), and good effects (although I can't agree about destroying the planet), and an epic story.
I always wonder, if there were like 10 people in the world with special abilities like me and I knew who they were, would I like, never see them and be surprised by their visits once in a while, or would we be pretty tight, considering the whole world is after us?
Now that this show is cancelled, I hope they do actually put out a miniseries or two-hour wrap-up episode that the creator has been speaking about with NBC. If nothing else, I hope they restore Peter Petrelli's original power, and show respect to this fantastic superhero character and concept they've created and destroyed due to bad writing, early on in season 3. Heroes is my favourite show ever, but that said, Season 4 was a travesty. I truly hope for a true to season 1 wrap-up film, where we forget all about 1-power-at-a-time Peter, the carnival, the fat puppet man, and all the other things and characters that inexperienced 26 year old former coffeeboy writers introduced to this once-fantastic series. I believe that given the profundity of season 1, its downright disrespectful to viewers to do what they did with the characters. Back when the show first aired, we waited for months to watch Peter master his powers so he could stop an assault with his telekinesis, and then fly. Since then I've been waiting for years for our Peter to return.