Heroes in Love
Heroes in Love
Aug 12It’s always sort of interesting when we nerds try to diagnose what, exactly, is going wrong with a certain TV show. The season unfolds, the wrongness unfolds, and we climb all over each other (and our piles of remotes and nachos) trying to say why. We usually get it almost right. Not entirely. But there are times when I think we really miss the mark, especially if we’re so focused on Why This is Not What I Want and begin every sentence with “they should…” (and end at least 3/4 of them with “pay me big stacks of money to tell them how to do this show because I know everything and people on the internet think I’m smart”). Like, remember when everyone tried to theorize about what was wrong with Alias at varying points in its tumultuous life? Too much Rambaldi, not enough Rambaldi. Too outlandish, not outlandish enough. Too complicated, too dumbed-down. Maybe the fucking problem was that J.J. Abrams got a bunch of stupid notes from the network that were just as confusing and contradictory as all the armchair criticism. You know?
All this is a lot of build-up to talk about the recent rumblings about romance on this season of Heroes. (Some potential SPOILERS in that link, FYI.)
When they tried to do romance last season (Hiro/Pretty Princess, Peter/Random Chick, Claire/SuperTeen), a lot of folks — Tim Kring included — thought it didn’t really play and said so. So now there’s word that there’s going to be some coupling on the show this season and you’ll notice that a bunch of the E! article’s commenters are quick to say that Heroes can’t do romance and therefore shouldn’t even try. And Kring, in the above link, basically says that he doesn’t think romance is “a natural fit” for the show.
I’ll concede that the romances they attempted in season 2 were no great shakes, but why does that mean they shouldn’t go there at all? I would argue that a show like Heroes, with its big, epic broad strokes and its life-and-death situations and its penchant for well-crafted melodramatics should absolutely go there — that it is, in fact, a perfect fit. They just need to give us a watercooler couple worth rooting for. Sticking various regulars with random guest stars who were obviously there solely to fill the Love Interest purpose…well, I think that’s why it didn’t work in season 2. Just do it well, do it organically — remember how you introduced Elle? Nearly everyone who hated all the other new regulars still liked her, and it’s because of how you introduced her (and OK, because she’s Kristen Bell).
I guess what I’m saying is, don’t dismiss something wholesale just because it didn’t work when you did it…well, kind of badly. The execution matters more than the idea. I think whatever Alias was trying to do with Rambaldi would have worked if it was woven into the series in a consistent way — the general idea of Rambaldi wasn’t wrong, but the execution sometimes was (I choose to blame those aforementioned network notes, even though I don’t know if they actually existed).
And by the way, Heroes — when I say “organic,” I don’t mean “have Peter and Claire find out they aren’t related and MAKE OUT.” That’s just skeevy.
The problem with Alias, IMO, was not necessarily that they moved away from the Rambaldi plot, but that they moved away from the long arcs that made the plot and characters compelling and moved to inconsequential done-in-one eps. I don’t know whether that came from the network or from Abrams, but I have to think it’s the former. Though, in that direction’s defense, Liberty Village is a really fun episode.
As for the prospect of more Heromance, I agree that the show needs some massive melodramatic pairings going on. I don’t know that the couple they mention is going to be able to measure up to that standard, unfortunately. However, I’d be all over Peter/Elle or Claire/Elle or whatever. I mean, let’s be frank: it is Kristen Bell.
Yeah, I wasn’t just referring to Rambaldi, but a lot of the changes the show went through that seemed to be responses to various criticisms. Like the moving away from arcs seemed like a response to the “too confusing/hard to follow” criticism. I think if it hadn’t always been in ratings trouble and Abrams had just been allowed to do the show he initially set out to do…but really, who can say? Considering the ratings, I’m glad we got what we got.
I wanted Mohinder/Elle, but it sounds like that’s not gonna happen. So yes: how about Elle and anyone? 🙂
You know, an Elle/Mohinder/Maya triangle could be interesting.
And fandom could call it ElMoMa, which is fun to say.
That said, Elle/Mohinder = ElMo = Win.
Jeez, I feel like a sixteen year old girl rereading this.