See Spot Fix: Heroes

I don't think any television show of recent history did as complete a 180 as Heroes, NBC's once praised and now oft-maligned drama about humans that have developed special abilities. The first season received mass critical acclaim; the second took a terrible nose dive and was cut short due to the writer's strike. Ever since then, Heroes has been unable to reclaim the glory of its freshman outing. This most recent season, however, was definitely a step in the right direction. And after coming to a serviceable conclusion this past Monday night, I am left with a few ideas, ripped straight from the comic books, that may help Heroes fight its way back to the top of every viewer's DVR [SPOILER ALERT- I will talk in some detail about what happened at the end of this most recent season, so if it is still on your DVR and you want to be surprised, stop reading now]:

1. Superhero Spectacle: what's the point of having super-powered humans if we never get to see them do anything truly breathtaking? Perhaps this is a result of budgeting issues, with only a limited amount of cash available for flashy special effects, but we have yet to see a fight scene that comes anywhere near being comic book worthy. For example, last season concluded with a big battle between Sylar and the Petrelli brothers, a moment that a long-standing viewer like me yearned for since Peter first met Sylar in the halls of Claire's high school. But the entire battle unfolded behind closed doors. What a rip off! The conclusion to this most recent season was similarly underwhelming. With a villain like Samuel Sullivan who create earthquakes that can bury whole towns, his battle with Peter where the two simply pushed the ground back and forth between them seemed like a cop out. If this were in a comic book, Samuel would have gathered the earth around him, becoming a giant rock golem, and the heroes would have had to band together to stop him. Claire could have worked as an indestructible distraction while Hiro teleported Peter close enough to steal Samuel's powers and dismantle the monster. Yes, I've put a lot of though into this. But wouldn't that have been soooo much cooler? Viewers crave spectacle, and a show about super-powered humans should be able to deliver it.
2. Teamwork: and this brings me to my second point. One of the driving forces that kept viewers coming back during the first season was the build up to the inevitable moment where all the heroes realized they were not alone and banded together to, well, save the world. The conclusion to this past season reminded me of that, and this is a theme the writer's should return to. I mean, let's be honest. Cyclops and Wolverine are cool, but aren't they so much cooler when fighting alongside Colossus, Storm, and Gambit as part of the X-men? Would Mr. Fantastic be as awesome if he wasn't the leader of the Fantastic Four? I say keep the specials together, or at least some of them. Now that Claire has revealed her ability to the world, it wont be long before more specials start revealing themselves, and it may be up to Peter, Parkman, Hiro, and Sylar (?!) to keep the peace between the humans and the more Samuel-esque super-powered.
3. Origin Stories: another part of the Heroes universe that always kept my attention was new characters realizing their new abilities as they developed. For example, one of the (only) high points of Season 2 was the introduction of Monica Dawson. I thoroughly enjoyed watching as she slowly realized she had a special gift: the ability to copy any physical motion she witnesses (adoptive muscle memory). I similarly enjoyed observing as Emma from this most recent season learned to cope with her ability to see and manipulate sound waves. However, many of the other new characters introduced in the recent seasons were given no back-story whatsoever, and many of their powers were rehashes of old ones (super speed, seeing into the future, memory wiping, etc). Bring us more new characters, but don't just toss them into the action all willy-nilly. Let us watch as they first realize they have an ability, learn to master it, and then make the decision whether to use it for personal gain or the greater good. Isn't that the eternal superhero question?
4. A Company Man: the end of this past season hinted that "the Company" may be reforming, and I am all about it, so long as it is handled correctly. As mentioned before, with Claire's coming out, Noah's predictions about a war between the normal humans and the evolved humans may be on the horizon. How better a way to deal with it than to have Noah enlist the help of the "good" heroes, and instead of bagging-and-tagging, let the company function more like S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel Comics, using a mix of humans and specials to create a kind of uber-SWAT team to keep the peace. It would be a good way to achieve both step 1 and 2 of my list in once fell swoop.

Perhaps I want to make Heroes too much like the comic books I love so much. But is that really such a bad thing? People rush to the theaters to watch the newest superhero movies because they encapsulate what is so entrancing about their source material. And right now, next-to-nobody is watching Heroes. I say, give me more comic book awesomeness, or just put me out of my misery and kill the show so I stop watching with unfulfilled hopes that it will one day reclaim the glory of its first season. The Spot fades back, swoosh, and that's the end of the game.