Kill the Absorbing Dude Save the Show...

... Actually, I am not even sure that will save the show anymore.

There was a lot of talk this season about Heroes being in a sophomore slump, but I was in the camp that the first season was vastly overrated. Aside from Hiro, Ando and the Bennett family, none of the characters were all that likeable and Absorbing Dude, Hearing Guy, and Split Personality Chick were down right cringeworthy. What made this worse were the secondary characters were much more interesting and I’d take Radioactive Man, Invisible Fellow, Mind Erasing Chap, Shape Shifting Girl and Eve over anyone in the main cast. Then everyone came around to my thinking after the completely lackluster and poorly planned finale.

Like millions of people who already did so as the first season rolled on, I was ready to jump ship until the show went and had to sign up Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell. Granted that should have made me want to watch the show even less because watching Ronnie recite bad dialogue while surrounded by bad actors would be watching Pulse every week for two months. Well, actually it is worse that watching Pulse every week because instead of being in almost every scene, on Heroes Bell has to share screen time with fifteen other cast members most of which are even worse actors than the dude from Lost. And watching Bell kiss the Absorbing Dude was the most disturbing image in my head this year that did not involve Larry Craig and an airport bathroom.

Then not only did the show didn’t solve the problems leftover from the finale they compounded the problem with letting Sylar and Peter survive the finale and added evem more characters to the already bloated cast. Speaking of the bad idea of bringing Sylar back, the actor who plays him really showed this season why the most impressive thing previously on his resume had been So NoTORIous. And I know I am not breaking any new ground by saying this, but the Wonder Twins didn’t bring anything to the story and Hiro stayed in feudal Japan way too long.

And so we trudged along to the second season finale which I really can’t say was disappointing because you need to have even moderate expectations to call something disappointing, so instead the finale pretty much met expectations. I guess I should be happy that Split Personality Chick when down in a blaze of glory, but with Absorbing Dude and Hearing Guy still wandering around it is hard to celebrate. And the finale hinted for the twelfth time that Absorbing Dude could die when he absorbed the ash remains of the Shanty Virus, but I gave up on them having the fortitude finally kill off the worst actor of our generation once and for all a long time ago.

As for the other promised death, are we actually supposed to believe Flying Gentleman #1 is going to stay dead? All he needs is a blood transfusion from his brother or daughter to reverse that. Granted we shouldn’t underestimate the stupidity of Absorbing Dude who may actually not think of it. And there in lies one of the two biggest problems with the show you can bring back anyone at anytime. What is stopping Mohinder injecting Split Personality Chick’s charred remains and bring her back?

The other big mistake was bringing back Sylar and Absorbing Dude for another season. They had gotten too powerful last season and even though they neutered Sylar and gave the Absorbing Dude amnesia, the chapter Villains will just fall into the doldrums that plagued the end of the first season with the two of them going at each other with neither being all that successful. And speaking of Sylar getting unneutered, when did he actually get the cure and how didn’t the notice the cure was gone and gone after him?

And the rest of the finale, and the season as a whole was ripe with other gaping holes. Like why, when getting a call from Sylar, did Mohinder not call his roommate, the gun toting, mind controlling guy instead of going to the apartment alone and unarmed even though he knew it was being inhabited by some evil, sadistic person? And the whole last half of the season was about The Company getting Claire’s blood yet how did no one for thirty years think to use Adam Monroe’s blood as they had him locked up for that time? I used to think Heroes could turn thing around, but it may be time to jump ship myself.

Heroes: Generations gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.