Well, the television show Heroes has finally been cancelled.
I don't think anyone can really say they are surprised.
Hearing it was cancelled is like hearing that someone finally put that old, blind dog to sleep.
However, with it cancelled, it means that the vague hope that many of us had that the show would return to something of its former glory is gone forever.
Heroes, as everyone knows, started off very well.
While Season One moved a little slowly at points, and while the plot ripped right out of the Watchmen was a little implausible (even in a world of super heroes), the story was overall very tight, with interesting heroes and an even more fascinating villain.
Unfortunately, the cracks started to appear even in that very finale.
Nathan Petrelli flies off with his brother Peter to save New York - except that Peter can already fly! Whoops, plot hole.
When asked about this, the producers said that we need to "suspend our disbelief," but this misses the point.
We're already suspending our disbelief in believing that a man can fly.
We don't need to also believe he suddenly forgot he can fly.
That's just bad writing.
Over the next two seasons, the plot holes just became ridiculous.
Anything involving the time-travelling Hiro, for example, is just one big plot hole.
No matter what happens, he can always fix it.
Claire's blood can resurrect the dead, yet somehow she seems to constantly forget about this power.
The list goes on and on.
There was literally a plot hole in every single episode.
Worse, though, was the gradually increasing stupidity of Peter Petrelli.
As he became more and more powerful, they offset this by making him a bigger and bigger idiot.
Not only was Peter Petrelli incredibly stupid, he was incredibly violent.
He would go off on a murderous rampage with only the barest shred of evidence, trying to assassinate both his brother and his father, almost helping to unleash a plague that would have killed billions, and freeing a serial killer (more than once).
Despite all of these failings, many of us hoped that Heroes would return to being the great show it had been.
Or rather, that it would consistently become the great show it was occasionally.
Even as late as Season 4, there were some truly great moments.
Parkman's decision to kill Sylar made a lot of sense, and the character of Samuel was a very convincing cult leader.
However, in the end, it just got dragged down with crummy plotting and stupid lead characters.
The writers seemed genuinely confused between suspending our disbelief for the sake of maintaining a premise and suspending our capacity to notice a plot hole.
It's sad to see this show burn out.
However, there were some good moments, and now we have a "how not to" for future television shows about heroes.
I don't think anyone can really say they are surprised.
Hearing it was cancelled is like hearing that someone finally put that old, blind dog to sleep.
However, with it cancelled, it means that the vague hope that many of us had that the show would return to something of its former glory is gone forever.
Heroes, as everyone knows, started off very well.
While Season One moved a little slowly at points, and while the plot ripped right out of the Watchmen was a little implausible (even in a world of super heroes), the story was overall very tight, with interesting heroes and an even more fascinating villain.
Unfortunately, the cracks started to appear even in that very finale.
Nathan Petrelli flies off with his brother Peter to save New York - except that Peter can already fly! Whoops, plot hole.
When asked about this, the producers said that we need to "suspend our disbelief," but this misses the point.
We're already suspending our disbelief in believing that a man can fly.
We don't need to also believe he suddenly forgot he can fly.
That's just bad writing.
Over the next two seasons, the plot holes just became ridiculous.
Anything involving the time-travelling Hiro, for example, is just one big plot hole.
No matter what happens, he can always fix it.
Claire's blood can resurrect the dead, yet somehow she seems to constantly forget about this power.
The list goes on and on.
There was literally a plot hole in every single episode.
Worse, though, was the gradually increasing stupidity of Peter Petrelli.
As he became more and more powerful, they offset this by making him a bigger and bigger idiot.
Not only was Peter Petrelli incredibly stupid, he was incredibly violent.
He would go off on a murderous rampage with only the barest shred of evidence, trying to assassinate both his brother and his father, almost helping to unleash a plague that would have killed billions, and freeing a serial killer (more than once).
Despite all of these failings, many of us hoped that Heroes would return to being the great show it had been.
Or rather, that it would consistently become the great show it was occasionally.
Even as late as Season 4, there were some truly great moments.
Parkman's decision to kill Sylar made a lot of sense, and the character of Samuel was a very convincing cult leader.
However, in the end, it just got dragged down with crummy plotting and stupid lead characters.
The writers seemed genuinely confused between suspending our disbelief for the sake of maintaining a premise and suspending our capacity to notice a plot hole.
It's sad to see this show burn out.
However, there were some good moments, and now we have a "how not to" for future television shows about heroes.
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