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Heroes: Complete Season Two (4 Disc Set)Truncated to a slim 11 episodes as a result of the writers' strike that was ongoing in America during its production, Heroes' second season nonetheless packs enough in to keep the momentum rolling on one of the most exciting Stateside shows of the moment.
Heroes is, at heart, the comic book tale of a varied group of people, each with special powers that they struggle to come to terms with. With such powers, of course, come troubling foes and situations to face, and that proves to be the case here. So this time, we pick up four months after the events of the first series, and there's the small matter of the Shanti virus to contend with. This provides the main thrust for the series' story arc, and allows room for several interesting sub-plots to develop too. Yet while, in the world of Heroes, you suspect that this second series will never rank with the best, there's easily enough here to justify the asking price, and the show emerges easily with its reputation intact. Even when it's not at the top of its game, Heroes is exciting, interesting and polished entertainment. --Jon Foster |
Average User Rating: 60% (30 Reviews) | |
| 3 / 5 | Volume Two: Generations
Lilith's Lantern (England) - 11 May 2008 Heroes second season is shortened to 11 episodes due to the writers strike; the strike effectively crippled much of the television industry and Heroes fell foul like many shows this year to its influence. The strikes influence was felt in the writing, plotting and general pace of the season -- most significantly the ending of the finale was re-shot to accommodate a more definitive ending for the season until season three. The second Volume focuses upon the past Heroes like father Hiro and mother Petrelli, with their dark pasts coming back to haunt them. The very basic plot of season two is a debilitating virus festering among our interbreeding modern heroes is beginning to spread, and it will have far reaching consequences. Some latter revelations in the season also sheds light upon the possible origins of the heroes genes. I thought this to be a very interesting plot development -- it's not spelled out to the audience but is very subtly touched upon. Season two was not generally well received with complaints of too many characters, ill plotting, lack of a central cohesive story, asinine storyarcs and various other foibles. I have to fully agree with these assertions as the overall cohesiveness of season two is disjointed, awkward and the introduction of too many new characters often takes away screentime from those we learned to love in the first. As a viewer I'm just not plain interested in new characters; I want to watch the ones that I saw struggle through last year. So I was definately exasperated with the amount of valuable screentime lost to introducing newbies; screentime which could have been better spent relating the story and actually having it make some relative sense. In fact, the sheer amount of new characters (there are at least seven introduced) resulted in the relegation of characters like Nikki and Ando to all but backdrop cameos! There was a great deal of ridiculousness about Volume Two and I found myself slowly beginning to detest some characters. Claire became a whining irritating teenager, her romance with creepy West was beyond moronic; Peter and Hiro's story arcs quickly became too drawn out and purposeless in the context of the entire season. One of the main problems with season two is that it's very slow going and I think the whole thing would have benefited from axing around 4 episodes just for the sake of pacing. However, there are certain new characters I did love. Namely the electrifying Elle played to perfection by Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) whose character introduction coincided with the plot actually getting into gear, which I'm sure helped endear her to me. Bell successfully straddles a chasm of dark sadistic character-traits mixed with a sad childish innocence that presents Elle as completely involving. It seems to me that Elle was the only new character whom I felt the writers were actually invested in. I also adored two other new characters; the charismatic Kensei and Adam. The latter character comes off a little badly written in the final few episodes but I think the actor saves him from becoming cartoonish. The best episode of the season was 'Four Months Ago' which occurs around halfway through the Volume, and quite honestly, it could have done with being the first episode of the season. The pacing was absolutely dreadful this year and part of this was contributed to by the inane idea that what happened over the summer had to be hidden from the audience for such a prolonged period of time, it was really rather unnecessary. 'Four Months Ago' predominantly focuses on Elle, Adam and Peter. It benefits from focusing upon intriguing characters and allows Peter to interact with people who respectively, make him interesting! On another positive note there are some great plot twists throughout the episodes and fantastic acting as per usual. Watching unspoiled is the key to enjoyment methinks! The finale 'Powerless' is pretty underwhelming and rather sloppy at certain points, what with the changes demanded by the strike... although it wasn't horrendous by any means. I would venture to hope that Volume three is not as haphazard and ultimately slow moving as this one has been. Really, I think watching this season on DVD will not be as tiresome as watching it week to week was. Highlight episodes include: Four Months Ago, Out of Time and Powerless. ... Read Full Review » |
| 4 / 5 | it gets better i promise
Jennie (Edinburgh) - 29 May 2008 The first few episodes are a bit slow in this series, but after the reveal episode (about halfway) it does improve. Although I found this series a little frustrating, especially new characters like the twins and the lack of focus on much loved characters from season 1, there are some great aspects which give me hope for season 3. The mohinder/parkman/molly set up is interesting and Elle and Adam are fantastic, although loving the actors already from Veronica Mars and Alias does help. What I can't believe about this is the price of the DVD, its only 11 episodes long, yet the price is more like a series 22 episodes long. The studios should take their punishment and charge us a fair price for this much shortened series! ... Read Full Review » |
| 4 / 5 | Generation Effect
welshboy87 (South Wales, Uk) - 16 June 2008 Heroes season 2 (Generations), begins four months after the events of Kirby Plaza (Season 1 - How to Stop an Exploding Man). The main plot arc of "Generations" deals with the Company and its research on the Shanti virus, exploring the history of the Company's founder. Interwoven with the main plot are several secondary plots introducing a host of new characters. These include the journey of new characters Maya (Dania RamÃrez) and Alejandro from Honduras to the United States; Monica Dawson (Dana Davis) discovering her powers in New Orleans; Hiro's journey to Feudal Japan, where he meets his childhood hero, Takezo Kensei (David Anders) and Elle Bishop's (Kristen Bell) search for Peter Petrelli. After a extremely well writing and well acted first season, season 2 is a mixed bag. The introduction of a number of new principle and secondary characters leads to a neglect in the development of some of the original characters, most notably Niki Sanders. Episodes are also slow moving in comparison to the first season, again likely due to the secondary plots involving the new characters. The highlights of season 2 is the portrayal of Angela Petrelli by Cristine Rose, who frequently outshines the principle cast and the introduction of Kristen Bell as the sociopathic Elle Bishop. Standout episodes include; Four Months Ago... & Powerless.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | PURE CLASS
JAKE'S MIX ""SPAIN"" - 21 May 2008 Heroes is an absolutley fantastic and unique show. the whole take and storyline of 'super heroes' is brilliant. the first series was just amazing. Series 2 is excellent considering the circumstances. Sure, we could digress about the extra characters not being developed enough, or that we didn't see enough of some of the originals. Unfortunately that was out of the creators hands due to the high profile writers strike. Heroes along with many other shows have been affected by this, which in turn has caused the writers having to come up with as much creativity as possible in shortening already developed storylines. That taken into consideration, they shouldn't be penalised for having to condense what they had. OK, this would have been better if is was 20-24 episodes long - giving more character development for the new, and more screen time for the established. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, so PLEASE DON'T MISS OUT beacuase of that. It is still highly entertaining, and a must for every heroes fan. Well done for getting this out under the cricumstances, and I'm looking forward to the third series. Don't miss out just because of industry issues - a MUST for Heroes fans.... Read Full Review » |
| 2 / 5 | Overrated X-Men rip off
I. Thomas "iwanwyn" (Wales) - 27 May 2008 Seriously, don't believe the hype. Heroes is nothing short of average American television. Personally, I've always felt this about the show, but the second season just confirmed it. The truth is, it is a poorly written x-men rip off, and you shouldn't waste your time and money on it. If you want a show with intrigue and mystery, then watch Lost which has found proper form again this year. (Note: I'm adding one star just because of the presence of Kirsten Bell and Hayden Panettiere in the show)... Read Full Review » |
RRP
£35.00
Release Date
28 July 2008
Price Range
£22.99 - £34.99