Heroes vs. Lost: The Debate Continues

Question:
Enough is enough. I'm tired of hearing people compare Heroes' second-season mediocrity to Lost's second-season lull. The latest was in this week's Cheers & Jeers: "Jeers to Heroes for getting Lost with too many new characters." I would say: "Cheers to Heroes for finally showing just how wobbly a mythology the show is based around, and how the next Lost is yet to come." The new characters Lost introduced in its second season were vastly superior to the ones introduced on Heroes this season. I'd take Eko and his scripture stick over the Wonder Twins and their Exxon eyes any day. People hated Ana Lucia as a personal, but that's a much stronger reaction than we've gotten to Kristen Bell's lightning girl. And need I remind you that Ana Lucia's story ended with one of the most shocking moments in recent TV history? I love Kristen Bell, so I really wish she had made the move to Hawaii, where her skill as an actress might have been tested (and been more appreciated) in a more compelling narrative. Also, Lost fans complained about the new characters because they were taking time away from characters we loved. Heroes has taken everything we loved away from its old characters: Of the returning characters, only one has any fire left for me, and that's Nathan Petrelli. And that's mostly because Adrian Pasdar is pound-for-pound the show's most charismatic actor. But what happened to everybody else? Claire's masochistic precociousness is gone. Peter Petrelli seems to only employ Milo Ventimiglia's one facial expression: slack-jawed inquisitiveness. Hiro has lost any sense of joy or humor. And Sylar is playing the same mustache-twisting note. The final straw in this whole ridiculous comparison is the idea of direction. People who still debate whether Lost knows where it's going are either not too bright or stopped watching before last season's OMG conclusion. You can't pull off a twist like that without very careful, intricate planning. It's clear to me, however, that the emperor of Heroes has no clothes. Lost has a very clear idea of its own mythology, and that's something Heroes clearly doesn't have.— Phil R.

Matt Roush:
Having watched last week's episode in a stupor, once again marveling at the lack of follow-through from episode to episode (but hoping for much more in the sweeps episodes to come), I welcomed this lengthy and well-argued rant, although I'm not willing to give up on Heroes quite yet. I'm still hoping the midsection of the second season will be as compelling as the show became midway through its first year, but I can understand anyone having doubts. The defensiveness regarding Lost also rings true, given what a beating that show has taken — although the real problems kicked in during the misbegotten fall "pod" of Season 3, it seems to me, when too much time was spent away from the beach and with the captives of the Others.

Source: TV Guide