The first half of the first season was so good. The second half was ok. Every subsequent season gave the impression that it was handed off to a different writer every week, and that those writers hated each other.

They changed the rules constantly, except when they just ignored the rules.

The main character collects new powers as the show goes on, but he never uses them. He just completely forgets that he has them. Kind of like the time he completely forgets he has a girlfriend and never mourns her, mentions her, or even acknowledges that he lost her somewhere in an alternate timeline or something.

That's not much better than the villain. The entire first season is about stopping him from doing a specific thing, because a time traveler has foreseen that it'll result in the world ending. Season two opens with him doing that thing, and everything is fine. He has at least three heel-face turns, which are immediately undone when the next writer is up to bat.

One good character undergoes a terrible transformation and murders a bunch of people, but the next season he's suddenly good and everyone forgot. Again.

Constant retcons. This character is actually that character's secret brother! This one lady who died was actually triplets! It adds nothing to the story and makes no sense, but there it is!

(I'm not joking either. Secret triplets.)

They did a reboot of the show a few years later and did the exact same thing.

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Yeah, this show had potential, some cool ideas, but just couldn't figure out what the fuck it was doing. No consistency or direction. I think a big part of what really sent it off the rails was the Writer's strike in 2007. But it was already seeing plot issues well before that.

Feels like there were a lot of shows in the mid 2000s that were sold to the public entirely on The Hook™, a clear target or mystery that got you watching it. "Save the cheerleader, save the world." "How I met your mother". "What the fuck is going on this island? Is this like Purgatory or something?" "Guy gets terminal cancer, and decides to cook meth to make money for his family before he dies". Some managed to pivot from that hook into a new hook or a compelling narrative. Some just kept moving the goal post or compounding the mystery. And some just got really boring or contrived after the initial stuggle resolved or the mysteries just never panned out to anything.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

They did a reboot of the show a few years later and did the exact same thing.

I don't think I've heard of this. wild googling

All I'm finding is an up and coming remake.

'Heroes' Reboot in Development From Creator Tim Kring - IMDb. A new “Heroes” reboot series is in development from creator Tim Kring, Variety has confirmed. The reboot, titled “Heroes: Eclipsed,” is set years after the events of the original superhero series, as new evolved humans are discovering their powers

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

"Heroes Reborn"

[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Heroes Reborn, 2015.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

Cheers

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I thought the main character was only able to absorb one power at a time. Wouldn't make it fit better?

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

They changed it to that in season 3, with no explanation. Probably because the writers couldn't be bothered to actually watch the damn show to see what powers he'd had.

In season 1, he could use the powers of anyone he'd been near, but he had to be able to summon up the emotions that person had made him feel.

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 1 points 6 days ago

Ah okay. I need to rewatch it, been a while. Thanks

[–] emrys21@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember season 1 having a lot of potential, then there was a writer's strike that impacted season 2. Must have been piece mealed together from non union writers, and it showed.

[–] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

My understanding is that the creator wanted each season to follow a new set of characters, with season 2 being the previous generation that founded the organization that horn rimmed glasses guy worked for. But the network said no, and made him slap together a direct follow up. That was already an uphill battle before the writer's strike.

Kind of unrelated, but season 1 was also supposed to end with all the various characters converging in an epic battle avengers style, but they were over budget and the network weren't willing to give them more, so instead we got the poochy ending.

[–] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 1 week ago

The comic might be better for that, when it gets away from the show.