Georgius the Peasant

Heroes: Going Postal

Saturday, 16. August 2008, 01:11:41

Jade, doomed optimism, Non-Whedon-Television

I've never had high expectations to webisodes spun off of TV-shows, and while I've seen many worth the bother, I've seen few to none that actually impressed. Heroes: Going Postal is a recent series of such webisodes, and while it doesn't quite impress, it get's a darn sight closer than most.

Refreshingly short at only three very quick episodes, the somewhat unoriginally named story is about a postman in the Heroes-universe who has the ability to shout at super-loud intensities. The webisodes pick up the day where he is first approached by The Company, and chronicles the events following that, and has an ending which seems to promise that it'll actually do something I judge to be very important for webisodes to really hold much interest - it seems to be enlightening for what I assume will at least be a small aspect of the upcoming season 3, Heroes: Villains. This, being relevant for the main series without being necessary, is something other shows often fail a little at managing, and I hope that I'm not wrong in thinking Heroes might have broken the norm a little with this.

If you haven't seen it, and you are a viewer of the regular show, it's well worth the less-than-fifteen-minutes it'll take out of your day.

Dexter, season 1A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning & The Reptile Room

Comments

Amrasananas # 16. August 2008, 19:08

I was so disappointed with season 2 of Heroes that I downright stopped watching it some six or seven episodes into the arc. I have hopes that it'll get better with season 3, but I'll await your (and others, obviously) say-so before I even consider giving this show a second chance.

Georgius the Peasant # 16. August 2008, 20:46

Season 2 was weak, yeah, but honestly, if you ask me, season 1 is way, way overrated - the gap between them isn't that big. It took season 1 almost half the season to get really good, and season 2 never got much more than half a season, thus if it followed the same slow build-up pattern, we only got the boring part of what they'd planned with a rushed attempt at ending it (which worked out decently, the last handful of episodes were good.)

So I have low expectations to season 3 - but I had low expectations to season 2 as well. Striking gold with Company Man doesn't mean they're a consistently awesome show, and they've got a long way to go to get to the level of most shows I watch. Oddly, though, they seemed to do the same in season 2 as they did in 1 - slowly get better, by the end of the season being among the best shows I watched. Of course, the tendency was weaker in season 2, but it was also, as mentioned, cut short and amputated. I'm thus not expecting much different from season 3.

Also, fans complained loudly during season 2, and they claimed they listened (and the show did indeed improve again afterward, though as mentioned, that was the pattern from the previous season anyway), so if they've still got that in mind, we could be lucky and get a less-than-sucky opening on this new one. I'll not be too disheartened if it's unimpressive, though. By the tenth one, they'll probably be built up into something quite interesting once again, just like before.

Amrasananas # 17. August 2008, 18:14

Oh, I don't know - I kind of liked the beginning of season 1, save the pilot of course. And while I'll admit that the quality of the individual episodes in season 1 was a bit more shaky than I'd normally like, the show and the concept it was delivered in still felt more than fresh enough to keep me coming back for more. I'm quite sure a re-watch would change this, but since I haven't done that and don't plan to, I can't bring myself to care.

Season 2, however, didn't do anything for me in any regard.

Georgius the Peasant # 17. August 2008, 19:44

The aesthetics, looking comic book-y but not cheesy, was fresh. The concept, not so much. X-men, The 4400, Smallville, the concept had many precursors and didn't offer a particularly new take on it. It's a decent incarnation of it, but it's anything but fresh.

Amrasananas # 17. August 2008, 21:21

Of those I've only watched "X-men" (and those were in another format, too), so it felt fresh to me even if I knew it wasn't in the bigger scheme of things.

Georgius the Peasant # 18. August 2008, 11:01

There's been X-men TV-shows (animated, but I don't see why that'd matter when we're talking concept) for ages and ages, dude, and even if you haven't seen one you should be at least vaguely aware of the pathway thus being well trodden.

Amrasananas # 18. August 2008, 19:26

Which Norwegian channel did they air on? I can't remember ever seeing 'em.

Georgius the Peasant # 18. August 2008, 19:34

Wouldn't know, I've never seen one. I'm assuming they've been on TV3 or something like that, but even if they haven't, that's irrelevant to whether or not the concept is fresh in a show that's produced outside of Norway.