MiloVentimiglia-related stories
Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:55AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E06) If there was a theme this week, it's about nurturing and guiding people with abilities. We followed up with Sylar, now in the nefarious embrace of the Sullivan Brothers Carnival, as well as Peter and Hiro, and by extension Emma. The quest to save Hiro's life from the brain tumor that's killing him even affords Noah the opportunity to atone for his cold past by providing support to a former kid he and the Haitian had "visited" back in his Company days.
We got some very nice character moments this week. I like Hiro in the role of mentor to Emma, as it gives him a focus for his crazy optimism. Plus, we got to see how stopping time makes a magic show even more awesome -- I know that's the kind of crap I'd be doing with that ability. Screw saving the world, watch me make this woman vanish.
Continue reading Heroes: Tabula Rasa
Posted Oct 13th 2009 4:15AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E05) I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but sometimes I wonder if we don't have more people reading TV Squad than
Heroes has viewers. And so I want to keep reminding fallen fans who may have jumped ship over the past two not-so-great seasons that things are going much better this season.
There's a better balance in each episode than there's been. In the past few weeks, we've been sticking to mostly three storylines per week. This time around, we checked in on Peter, Claire and Sylar (after his unearthing last week). They're allowing the characters room to breathe and be themselves, rather than just rushing into the next adventure.
It was character growth and development that I'd missed the most, and we're finally getting it. Zachary Quinto was fantastic this episode, and even Hayden Panettiere showed an inkling of range. Oh, who am I kidding, she was as wooden as ever, but that's why we like her ... right? That kind of looks like a cardboard cut-out up there, doesn't it?
Continue reading Heroes: Hysterical Blindness
Posted Oct 6th 2009 1:19AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E04) What are you doing with your life? Are you happy with what you do every day, 40 or more hours a week? If not, then you're not truly living
your life, you're living someone else's. Only when you realize that this life is a gift and it's so much shorter than any of us can possibly realize, can you truly start to live for yourself. Take a risk. Do what you want. Do what makes you happy.
That's pretty heady stuff, but it was apparently on the
Heroes writers' minds tonight, because that's exactly what this episode was about. And it turned out pretty well. There were moments of true growth for several of our characters, some good and some probably not so good.
Continue reading Heroes: Acceptance
Posted Sep 29th 2009 1:20AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E03) Let's talk candidly. After all, it looks like you and I are the only ones left watching this show. Remember the good old days when
Heroes was the top-rated show on NBC and all the talk at the proverbial water coolers? It feels like it was only three years ago.
It's a shame that it looks like this ratings erosion is a permanent one, as tonight was a good installment. Unless things turn around immediately, it's a pretty safe bet this will be the last volume of
Heroes. They need to sneak in some stunt casting or film a live episode or whore the stars out to all the talk shows relentlessly if they want to save the show.
If they want to.
Continue reading Heroes: Ink
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 2:45AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E02) Things are definitely getting interesting again. I'm glad
Heroes went with a two-hour premiere, because it wasn't until the end of this hour that we had enough to really grab our attention again. As expected, Samuel Sullivan and the Sullivan Brothers Carnival are right at the heart of the mystery right now.
There's another mystery brewing at Claire's college. Or maybe there isn't. Could what happened with Annie be as straightforward as everyone seems to want us to believe? But now that's the least of Claire's problems, due to her little impromptu experiment.
This episode focused primarily on four main storylines, and it progressed very smoothly for it. It wasn't too confusing, and I came out if it with a sense of confidence that there's a plan for the season. I'm still not sure if it's accessible enough for new viewers, but you never know. Maybe people are smarter than I give them credit for.
Continue reading Heroes: Jump, Push, Fall
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 2:12AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E01) Volume Five - "Redemption"
A new volume and new faces ... on the show, that is. At this point, I think it's a bit of a pipe dream by NBC to think they can nab new viewers. And as much as I was hoping they'd make this as accessible as possible, things are still pretty hopelessly complex. The situation with Nathan/Sylar alone is enough to make any new viewer change the channel. Maybe see how
House is coping with
life in the asylum.
On the other hand, Robert Knepper has joined the cast as Samuel, the leader of the Sullivan Brothers Carnival, and I couldn't be more excited. No matter how ridiculous
Prison Break got over four years, Knepper was just deliciously villainous as T-Bag. And he's just as enigmatic on camera here.
Tonight's premiere is a two-hour extravaganza, including the first two episodes of the new season. Look for my review of the second hour in a separate post.
Continue reading Heroes: Orientation (season premiere)
Posted Jul 26th 2009 12:42AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
Remember when
Heroes was about ordinary people with extraordinary abilities? Well, after the last few seasons of time travel, daddy issues and government interference,
Tim Kring and the team are taking Heroes back to basics. They'll have regular jobs an regular lives. In other words, they remembered why we liked the show in that first season, so they're trying to recapture lighting.
So you've got our cast trying to live regular lives after all the excitement they've been through. Add in a traveling carnival with an earth-moving leader luring other people with abilities into his troupe and you have the premise for at least the start of the season.
Oh, and that lesbian-esque relationship between Claire and her new college roommate we've been hearing about. Well, have to get buzz somehow, right? And make Claire interesting. Nothing else worked so let's try girl-on-girl action.
Continue reading Heroes returning characters to their "normal" lives
Posted May 4th 2009 3:00PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Web, Celebrities, Heroes, Reality-Free
Here's a question for the ages: Who would win in a real fight: Peter or Nathan Petrelli? Could the power-nabbing Peter kick Nathan's high-flying ass in a no-holds-barred brawl? Or would the older, slimier Nathan have the advantage?
It's a tough call. I'd have to vote for WHO THE FRAK CARES?!
But Peter Petrelli himself, Milo Ventimiglia, hopes that people care about such hypothetical battles. In his latest attempt to corner the geek market, the
Heroes star is co-producing
Ultradome, a web series "where passionate fanboys settle hypothetical disputes in a special effects showdown."
Expect to see such fanboys, including Ventimiglia, duke it out on the web series in scripted – yep, scripted – fights to settle stuff like: Which franchise is cooler,
Star Wars or
The Lord of the Rings, or is Han Solo tougher than Indiana Jones?
Continue reading WIll you watch Peter Petrelli's geek battle show?
Posted Apr 28th 2009 12:20AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E25) In my
early look at this finale, I laid a pretty broad hint as to the major twist at the end of this volume, and I was impressed with some of the deductive abilities of our readers. And the fact that one of you got it exactly right. Now that we've all seen the final cut of the closing chapter of the "Fugitives" volume of
Heroes, we can really look back at it and see how we think things have gone.
What was needed was to wipe the slate clean, resolve as many of the dangling plot threads as possible, and establish a tabula rasa for "Volume Five." Or as much of one as we can this far into a series. After all, these last two volumes have left some pretty sour tastes in many mouths. The set up for interesting things to come next year was definitely well done. I'm more interested in what's going to happen in "Redemption" than I was excited about what happened in this finale.
Continue reading Heroes: An Invisible Thread (season finale)
Posted Apr 25th 2009 6:30PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Early Looks, Reality-Free
After watching the penultimate episode of "Volume Four: Fugitives" on NBC's
Heroes last week, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when a dashing young man in a FedEx uniform delivered a surprise package to my doorstep later in the week. Inside was a rough cut of "An Invisible Thread," the season finale of
Heroes. Now this wasn't nearly as rough as the
X-Men Origins: Wolverine debacle floating around the interwebs, but neither was it the completely polished version we'll see this upcoming Monday at 9:00 PM ET.
Overall, I found myself a little disappointed as I've been with every volume finale we've had since the very beginning. And admittedly, I might just be wanting something a little bit more than what we're able to get here. As for deaths and new beginnings, those we do get. I'll tell you this: one person who I felt certain was going to die didn't. One person who I thought as a possibility to die did ... but sort of didn't. But really did. The only hint I'll give you is
Marvel's first Exiles series.
Continue reading Heroes: An Invisible Thread (season finale) -- An early look
Posted Mar 31st 2009 12:37AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E21) Melancholy, thy name is
Heroes. After an action-packed and exciting chapter last outing, we switched gears, and cast members, for a much mellower sojourn this week. I liked the early days when we got to spend shorter bits of time with the entire extended cast. I'm not sure if it's a budget thing, but these episodes that focus on only a third to half of the sprawling cast just leave me feeling kind of half-fulfilled. It also reveals, sometimes glaringly so, which storylines are a bit duller than others.
You'd think that a Petrelli-focused episode would be full of tidbits and information and secrets. Angela is a walking secret, after all. But despite focusing on Nathan, Peter and Angela, we didn't get any of that. We did, however, get promises of secrets revealed next week. But that's next week. This week was whining about regrets and trying to make amends with loved ones. Oh, and Sylar picking up another nifty new ability and Danko getting in bed with the devil.
Continue reading Heroes: Into Asylum
Posted Mar 3rd 2009 1:55PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E18) Now that's how you do it.
Heroes was founded on the idea of this multifarious cast running all over the place and getting into trouble. We skipped all around, checking in on everyone and the hours just seemed to fly by. After what was a slower outing last week, the adrenaline kicked back into high gear. Rebel made a return appearance, if by appearance I mean more text on various computer screens ... and that is what I mean? Is it Ma Petrelli? Nathan asked her that point blank tonight.
And poor Nathan. You kind of knew the Hunter was going to be a bit much for Nathan to control. After all, Nathan is wanting to round up those with abilities for their own good as well as for the good of mankind. He wants to protect them and the world at large. In a sense, he's doing a "good" thing, if only from his perspective. The Hunter, on the other hand, sees them as a threat that needs to be eliminated. They're dangerous, and after his close encounter last week he's gone and made it personal.
Continue reading Heroes: Exposed
Posted Feb 24th 2009 2:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E17) Well, the three stooges pretty much hogged up the entire episode, didn't they? In the end, it was Moe who had to come along and save the day because Larry and Curly kept bickering with each other to the point they were both captured. But who stayed captured? And what did they find out that was worth all the throwing around and breaking of mirrors? *yawn* Man, it turns out the stooges aren't nearly as fun to watch as I remembered.
The good momentum established in the first three chapters of this volume were completely squashed as the action ground to a screeching halt in this episode. We did learn that HRG is clearly a loyal lapdog to whatever cause he's behind. We know this because his memories as he sees them are in black-and-white and everyone knows dogs see in black-and-white ... yep, that's right. I just totally wasted your time with that lame-ass joke. You'll never get that time back. Hiro's lost his powers. He also lost the ability to appear in an episode, along with Ando, Claire and even Aquaman (who's still hiding in her closet, I guess).
Continue reading Heroes: Cold Wars
Posted Feb 10th 2009 1:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E15) The second chapter of the newest volume of
Heroes wasn't quite as strong as the first one, but it kept things moving in a positive direction. I guess the writers were wanting to keep the fugitive heroes as weak in power base as possible, based on the casualty we experienced in this episode. In a way, I can say I knew it was coming, but was hopeful that it wouldn't. While I agree that the cast had gotten a little sprawling and out of control at times thorughout the series progression, I never thought this character was a problem.
Continue reading Heroes: Trust and Blood
Posted Feb 3rd 2009 3:30AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E14) Now that's more like it! Yes, we're only one hour into this fourth volume ("Fugitives") of
Heroes, but already we're looking at a vastly improved product. We're no longer fragmented trying to keep track of a million different seemingly unrelated storylines. Everything's connected, there's a very common and familiar enemy that needs to be dealt with, and it's a natural progression from where we've come.
Nathan's progression to the point we see him tonight has been handled pretty well. From the beginning, he was always portrayed as kind of a dick who felt pretty differently than Peter about abilities and those with them. Now we see just how strongly he feels. The addition of Zejlko Ivanek (
Damages) as the man in charge of the hunter squads is a great casting choice. Already he brings an intensity to the role that's much appreciated. It's early to say, but this reminded me so much of the tone and atmosphere of the first season that I think we can declare
Heroes back.
Continue reading Heroes: A Clear and Present Danger
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