Stop Bitching About Heroes

I've been a big Heroes fan since the show started. A show that revolves around people with super powers and has a plethora of hot girls as regular cast members? Yeah, I'm in. The first season was also surprisingly good. Decent acting with great storytelling and lots of plot twists made for some good TV. Then came the second season which, for whatever reason, just kinda blew. I don't know if it was rushed, or not well thought out, or just severely affected by the writer's strike, but the season was an absolute struggle. The plot was convoluted at best, the character development was non-existent, and the script was horribly uninspired. Seems like the writers and creators rested on their laurels and kinda just mailed season 2 in. The writer's strike, then, seemingly came at a good time for the writers of Heroes. It allowed them to re-group their thoughts and start fresh with season 3.
I had big expectations for season 3, and I have to admit that they have totally been met. The first season was unpredictable and addictive TV, and season 3 has been the same. You have new characters, some surprises that one would have been hard-pressed to guess, and tons of plot swings and mysteries that make for compelling viewing. I was excited that Heroes was back up and flying again, and I figured that other people shared in my enjoyment of the show. I was semi-shocked to see that the season has not been regarded well. Producers are being fired, rating are down, and reviews in general have been negative. Okay, what the fuck gives? What's with all the hate?
Now I'll be the first to admit that the story has got a bit convoluted at points, and with all the character and time switches happening, if you miss one episode you're pretty much fucked. But that doesn't make it a bad show. Here's what I think's going on.

1) How people view Heroes

I go into Heroes the same way I would go into, say, an X-men comic book. You enter into a fantasy world where people die and come back to life on a fairly normal basis, where characters switch allegiances all the time, and where parallel realities and time travel are not really questioned. I believe that the quality of any movie or show will be determined by the expectations that a viewer has going into the medium, and I truly think that this has a lot to do with one's enjoyment of Heroes. If you watch Heroes with already suspended beliefs regarding physics and the idea that people can have super powers, that is if you watch Heroes placing your mind into a 'super hero universe', you will find the show utterly enjoyable. If you watch Heroes with the same mindset that you watch say Law and Order, you're not gonna enjoy Heroes. With a comic book/sci-fi show like Heroes you simply have to block reality from your mind for an hour or the show will lose all its magic.

2) We have no attention spans anymore

Heroes is one of those shows you have to pay specific attention to. If you miss one scene you could miss something pivotal and be completely lost. We're a fast-paced, multi-tasking society. I don't think anyone will argue that this has, to a certain degree, dumbed down our cognitive abilities to the point where we find it difficult to sit still and focus. I often find myself browsing the web or doing a crossword during the show, then there comes a point where I realize that if I don't start paying close attention I'm not gonna have a fucking clue what's going on. Yeah, I guess you could say it's almost a form of work at that point, but when you've invested that much time and thought into a show isn't it worth it to just sit down and really try to watch the damn thing?

Heroes isn't perfect....but what show is? It has an interesting premise, a decent plot, good actors, and sweet special effects. Not to mention the plethora of hot chicks on the show (yeah, giving Nikki two other sisters was a little too convenient, but I support anything that keeps Ali Larter on my television screen). I mean, what else do you really want from a show? The season only seems to be getting better and if anyone tells me they know where they're going with the storyline I'd call them a fucking liar. And I get that some people don't like what they're doing with the characters themselves, but the way I look at it, the show shouldn't be about the individual characters; the characters should serve to further the plot and the story. The show should be about the entire 'Heroes universe' so to speak. That's how they do it in comics - you kill a character if it helps the overall story - and that's the attitude they need to bring to Heroes. Yeah, I get that a lot of the cast have become big stars now, but you have to kill people sometimes. Clearly there'll be fan backlash, but if they're truly fans of the show they'll understand that it's for the better.
So stop bitching about Heroes. It's still better than the majority of drivel that's on TV right now and all things considered, I think the show is getting better. So how about we give the season a fucking chance instead of dismissing it for a variety of non-critical reasons? It's still fun, it's still exciting, and it's still entertaining as all hell. And besides, even if the show gets to an unwatchable point, at the very least we can stare longingly at the getting-hotter-every-day Hayden Panettiere running around in leather and high heels. Scrumptuous.