Heroes...?

For those still hanging on, "Heroes" has made its yearly return to network television clearly going out on a limb to recapture the attention of everyone from Buffalo to Wasilla (How could I resist?). The premiere was billed as a 2-hour extravaganza of epic proportion, but proved to be nothing more than a cry of shameless desperation from a once-ambitious show that has, in my opinion, been traveling down the artistic toilet since the finale of season one.

Sure, they've shown flashes of genius since, but nothing to really excite me enough to think that last year was only a minor gaffe.

I understand that it's difficult to maneuver around a strike-shortened chapter and even forgive them for spending a preposterous amount of time following Hiro around the monotonous landscape of Medieval Japan. What I can't get past is the fact that every week I'm forced to maintain the slightest morsel of optimism (mostly unwarranted) for a show that used to command my interest with very little effort.

The reason for this is simple: Too many characters and not enough time to justify their presence.

Here's the way I see it -

Hiro and Ando - What once served as comic relief has now become painful stupidity. Their desire to save the world is being undone by one bonehead decision after another and I find their naivete extremely hard to buy into considering what they've gone through in previous episodes.

Parkman - I could go on forever about how his storyline is contributing the show's sluggish death march, but is it really worth it? He used to be one of the characters you could count on and has now been relegated to a 2008 version of "Lawrence of Arabia" (Wandering around the desert?).

HRG and Sylar - Their pairing is unlikely to say the least, but I'm hoping they at least provide something to reward me for my patience with Kring's creative stalemate. The Petrelli Family - TBD

Maya and Mohinder - For those who read my blog last year, you'll undoubtedly know how I deemed Maya and Alejandro to be completely redundant to the plot and I still support that claim.

As for our favorite dim-witted geneticist, I think he needs to go ASAP. For someone so knowledgeable about science, he seems to be pretty inept at approaching a problem with any sense or objectivity and injecting himself with the serum further solidfied my assertion that he's no Jeff Goldblum (See David Cronenberg's 'The Fly").

Are there other characters to discuss?

Sure, but I just don't see the point of exhausting so much hate for a show that doesn't seem to get the message.