TV: In case you were wondering ...

The trailer for season four of Heroes is out. And it looks decent.
Unfortunately, it seems like the pseudo-deaths are going to be just as high this season as they were in seasons 2 and 3. But you know what? I really. Don't. Care.
HRG is (still) kicking ass and I'm pretty confident the story line with Sylar and Nathan (Sythan) is going to be good.

Whatever: Random Blatherations

In light of me having nothing coherent to say I've decided to spell out some things that have been cycling around in my head the past few weeks. And I'll do it all using the magic of bullet points!

• East of Eden is one of the greatest American books ever written. Hands down. And yeah, it's better than Grapes of Wrath. Shut up, it is. Now don't get me wrong, Grapes of Wrath is certainly an outstanding book. And if we're talking road novels here, it just might just be one of the best American books ever written. That being said, however, Grapes of Wrath is a bit overrated, especially when viewed in in light of the full spectrum of Steinbeck's later work. Steinbeck billed East of Eden as his epic masterpiece. The capstone of his career, and, well, it is people. It's his best writing. It's his best story. And the dialogue and characters are simply unforgettable. Thou mayest want to check it out, I think you'll enjoy it.
• Battlestar Galactica's ending didn't suck. (Spoilers ahead.) This statement is mainly prompted by Brad Templeton's ranting essay in which he makes the case that BSG's conclusion was, in fact, "the worst ending in the history of on-screen science fiction." I'm assuming Templeton said that just to incite tempers, and that's fine. But I mean really Brad? Really? The worst ever? Did you see Transformers? (To be fair, I didn't.) What about Hancock? Newsflash: They sucked hard. A lot harder than BSG. I'll even put my neck on the block and say BSG's ending was, in fact, pretty damn good. Yeah, you have to block a few things from your memory -- namely, the "150,000 years later" bit and the closeup cameo of Ron Moore's head. But here's some advice to all the haters: erase those scenes from your memory (I know it's tough). I'll always remember the show as ending with the panoramic shot of Adama atop the mountain surveying his new home and finally getting that much sought after rest. If you remember it there you'll have fond memories of the ending as well. Heck, you might even tear up a bit.
• Another TV thought -- season three of Heroes isn't as bad as everyone says. Let's get some perspective here. It's a show about people flying, shooting fire from their hands and sawing open heads using telekinesis. Stop taking it so seriously. Sure, some of the dialogue is cheesy. And the whole "But wait! (S)he's not really dead!" trope is annoying. But I'm still pretty interested in most of the characters. Well, okay, I really only care about Hiro, Sylar and HRG, but whatever. It's still a cool show. I'm glad it got renewed and I'm (sorta) excited about what's in store for season four.
  
• This month's edition of Fantasy and Science Fiction is one of the best I've read in years. I won't spoil any of the stories (I've posted a few blurbs about them here), but there's a lot of good writing this issue. Check it out.
• Summarizing random ideas in bullet points is a lot easier than trying to graft out a coherent narrative. I will remember this. Because I am lazy.
  

Heroes: Thoughts on season 2

So yeah, I'm still watching Heroes. And yeah, it's getting worse.
Like, it's not bad or anything, don't get me wrong. But I walked away from the Season 2 finale, which I just finished a few hours ago, and I'm still not really sure what the heck happened.

*Spoilers ahead*

Here's my first big problem. Season One had a really clear cut tension. Peter was going nuclear and he was going to take New York City with him. That's bad, man. Like really bad. We need to fix that. And that's what the heroes did. All of them, even the bad guys were motivated in some respects by that one single goal. It made for dramatic, easy-to-follow television. And it made for a great finale.

Season Two, in my opinion, anyway, didn't have that singular tension. Yeah, there's something about a "virus" (it's basically a nuke on steroids, threatening to take out the world, not just NYC), but it never really felt like this catastrophic pressing event. I mean really, couldn't Hiro just have just teleported into the storage safe in episode one, stolen the virus and the problem would have been solved? Yeah, he totally could have. And that bugged the hell out of me.
Then there was the whole thing with people dropping dead and rising and dying and rising etc. etc. It was cool with Claire and all, but now it's just getting out of hand. Nathan gets plugged in the finale and it's supposed to be all dramatic, but I'm just sitting there thinking, 'Oh neat so he'll be back like 10 minutes into the season 3 premiere, right?' (He totally is, by the way ...). Don't get me wrong, I love zombies and all, but dead is dead. Or at least it should be. (P.S. If you're going to bring people back, why not D.L.? I'm not holding my breath ...)
And what the heck was going on with Noah? The guy gets shot by Suresh for virtually no reason - other than to stage an epic slow-mo shooting scene - then rises from the dead (shocking, right?) and goes back to his family only to tell them he's alive but they'll never see him again. Uh, okay.
Why the heck would he do that? I thought his whole thing was protecting his family. Not putting them through unnecessary torture. Wouldn't he want to not, you know, completely screw with their heads and put them all in harm's way again?
And don't give me that Bob was manipulating him crap. Bob sucks. Plain and simple.

Anyway, there were plenty of things I liked about Season 2. The story with Hiro and Kensai Takezo was fantastic. And I liked how Sylar was still a huge dick (now with 50% more Mommy issues!) even without his powers to back him up. I'm excited to see how he develops into season 3.
And the Maya girl was pretty. Like really pretty. Show more of her, please.

Ascended Fanboys: Characters Who Say What the Audience Is Thinking

There's a great piece on this over at io9. Touches on several great sci-fi shows from Lost to Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Check it out above, but here's a taste:

TV: Why I've been gone for three days ...

The short answer? I've been watching Heroes. And I can't stop.
It's taken me roughly a week to tear through season one and I'm loving every minute of it.
While I've never really followed the show in the TV press, some of my friends who are fans tell me it takes a bit of a nosedive in season three, but I'm not too worried. Even if the show was only 10 percent as good as season one, I think I'd still be entertained.
Anyway, before I get back to watching Hiro travel through time and Peter kick everyone's ass let me drop one quick short story recommendation:


"Three Leaves of Aloe" Rand B. Lee Fantasy and Science Fiction (Aug/Sept 2009) - Fun read about an Indian computer technician with a daughter who can't stop getting in fights at school. The Vice Principal's solution? Outfit the girl with an emotion inhibiting chip, but the simple task proves to be more dangerous than it seems when a relative recalls her troubled past with the technology ...
The story touches on a lot of stuff - from Buddhist ideals of supernal recognition of nonexistence
to bullying - and does it all it a fun sci-fi package. Very enjoyable.

And now, I return to the television. I promise I'll be back in better form next week!