Heroes Season 2 (finished)

I just finished Heroes Season 2 on DVD.

I loved Season 1 of Heroes.  I thought it was a masterpiece.  Naturally, I looked forward to Season 2.

In the interim, as I was waiting for Season 2 to come out on DVD, I heard a lot of negative talk about how Season 2 was really bad.  I hesitated to watch it because of this.

Recently, because I had the time to indulge my DVD watching, I borrow Season 2.  I liked it.  I really did.  It wasn't as good as Season 1 but it certainly wasn't terrible like the Amazon people were saying.

SPOILERS AHEAD.  SPOILERS AHEAD.

Strengths:

The story with Peter Petrelli was engaging.  I liked his relationship with the sister of the Irish thug.  And I liked his surprise at the discovery of his own powers.

Kristen Bell, playing Elle Bishop was done really well.  Note, I do have to admit, I loved Veronica Mars.  My affinity for Veronica Mars may be partially responsible for my proclivity to Elle Bishop.  I thought that it was interesting that deep down inside, she was just a little girl who wanted her daddy's love and approval.

The Haitian is just cool.  I love his character.  I love his silence.  What is he thinking?  Do I like him because he's a mystery and I'm a sucker for mystery?  I don't know.  

Weaknesses:

The nightmare man was initially a strength but turned out to be a anti-climatic.  He was initially portrayed as some kind of horrible monster but as the story progressed and he was developed as a character, he character turned out pedestrian.  Also, he was too easily defeated.  How did he get into that room?  (Yeah, I know Matt brought him there, but how was he able to if his father was so powerful)  And he's stuck in that room because of his psychological inability to move past that part of his life for some reason.  Ultimately, a weak resolution to this character's arc.

The entire story of Maya Herrera was weak.  Initially, I was interested but it just didn't hold my attention.  To make her story line worse, it was coupled with the story of Sylar.  Sylar was a brilliantly frightening character in the first season.  In the second season, instead of pushing his character forward or giving him something new, the writers recycle Sylar, an insipid, hackneyed version of him.  In my opinion, they should have killed him off at the end of the first season.

I'm going to include Adam's story in the weakness section.  In the beginning of season two, his story is engaging and I liked his transformation from a drunk to a almost hero with the help of Hiro.  But, this part was weak, Adam becomes a meglomaniac monster because essentially, he catches a girl that he barely knows kissing a guy that he doesn't know too well either.  And I didn't like how naive Peter Petrelli was in trusting Adam.

The foolishness of Claire Bennett in her new high school, I found irritating.  And I didn't like the budding romance between her and flying boy.  Although, I did like how the Dad's love for his daughter (a good thing) turned into something irrational and almost psychotic in trying to ensure her safety and future.

I found that I could enjoy the story much more by just fast forwarding the story portions that I found to be uninteresting.  One of the benefits of watching a TV show on DVD is that you don't have to let the TV dictate to you how fast you have to watch it.  For example, by the middle of Season 2, every time Maya or Sylar showed up on the TV screen, I just fast forwarded.  NOTE:  I watched this season essentially in one sitting from 10 pm to about 4:00 am.  Around 6 hours.  11 episodes at 40 minutes a piece should be around 7 and a half hours.  I fast forwarded about 90 minutes of the show.

Overall, I liked season 2.  At times the show was very engaging; at times it was just plain stupid.  Watch the show with a remote, fast forward anything that you don't find interesting AND don't expect the masterpiece that Season 1 was.  Keeping these things in mind, I think that you'll enjoy Season 2 of Heroes.