Jan
25
Despite being at the end of its fourth season – and enjoying its lowest viewing figures to date – Heroes is still yet to be renewed by NBC. In light of recent comments made by star Masi Oka, in which he declared the show “does deserve a proper ending,” we argue the case for and against keeping the series on air.
For:
Samuel
Season four brought us the enigmatic baddie Samuel. Played nicely by Robert Knepper, Samuel and his mystical circus have been a constant highlight in recent episodes. Wangle this character into season four’s finale and maybe the studio will take more notice.
Finality
If the show is to be canned in the near future, why doesn’t NBC just give Tim Kring and co a chance to wrap up events? We’re not saying a full season order, mind, just a reduced fifth season. That way fans will be treated to a condensed and more focused block of episodes, something that has been sorely lacking in previous seasons.
Superheroes
If Heroes departs from our screens the only superhero show left for us is Smallville. Not an exciting prospect at all.
Against:
It’s a mess.
Quite simply the show has become a convoluted mess. Whereas the first season played out like a televised comic, the following seasons have become self-important and have constantly barraged us with new – duller – characters.
Desperate measures
Yes she kissed a girl (and we’re pretty sure she liked it), but Claire’s short-lived lesbian was clearly a desperate ploy to garner more ratings. A show of Heroes’ quality does not need to lower itself to this type of Hollyoaks tactic – or does it?
Sylar sucks
Where Zachary Quinto’s conniving killer was a big draw in earlier seasons, he’s now been reduced to a former shadow of himself. This, in turn, serves a neat metaphor for the way in which the show has transgressed. Fancy that.
Our 
provides all the latest Sci-Fi news, reviews, previews, interviews and spoilers, while our 
fan page is the best place to communicate with other fans of the SciFiNow magazine.
provides all the latest Sci-Fi news, reviews, previews, interviews and spoilers, while our fan page is the best place to communicate with other fans of the SciFiNow magazine.
I hate to argue, but I am really enjoying Heroes at the moment! After some confusing episodes in season three, it’s good to see the series go in a new direction, and the inclusion of the carnival was a bold and brilliant move! I’m loving Samuel’s group of carnies and especially when he finds out about Sylar! Loving the Hiro storyline and I hope he doesn’t die – at least not for a few more seasons! Really interesting Sylar moments too – and it’s creepy to see Sylar starting to remember who he was! I love the deaf and dumb woman too and her ability – the haunting songs she was playing were brill! Oh, and Claire’s storyline is better this time around too, as is Matt’s!
Overall, season four has started much better than what I was fearing, and I can only hope the rest of the season pans out the same way! I agree though, if they do decide to cancel it, tie up all the loose ends – don’t do what they did with Reaper, Pushing Daises and Terminator: SCC! Has Dollhouse been properly tied up too? Loving season two of that aswell, despite some dodgy episodes and performances!
well im only in series 3 and i am having lots of trouble keeping up with the poor writing of the start of the season its tereble. what the hell has happened to sylar hes as wet as a drowned pussy cat
You have to look at the TV landscape as a whole not just the SF stuff and you can’t avoid the impact the Leno O’Brien debacle has had on NBC. The network’s now got five weekday hours of programming to fill. Seeing that the writing was on the wall for the Leno show, NBC ordered 18 new pilot shows about a month ago, the most they’ve ordered since 2003. But they haven’t left themselves a heck of a lot of time if they want to get their lineup ready for the May upfronts. So they’ll be looking to their existing portfolio to see what can be extended out for the 2010/11 season.
Heroes is a prime candidate. Despite poor ratings this season (and even poorer writing) it does have an established core audience and maintains a high public awareness. An *effective* shake-up of the show would attract a lot of the former viewers back, at least in the short term to see if it had improved.
It’s not the cheapest show in their roster but even with the annual increase in the actors wages it would probably be cheaper for them to renew it than commission an entirely new replacement. I think the Leno O’Brien fallout has increased Heroes chances of getting renewed, it might be a shorter season (possibly two or three mini-series) and I’ve no doubt there’ll be some budget cuts enforced. Let’s face it though, this is a show that needs to trim some fat, has anybody really missed Suresh for most of this season ?
Tighter, more focussed plots with a smaller cast could only be a good thing for Heroes and might well be the shot in the arm it desperately needs.