‘Heroes’ hasn't learned from sophomore slump

We haven't seen a face yet, but there appears to be a new super in "Heroes" town. He or she seems to be impressively powerful, with the ability to increase an object's gravity, making it heavier and more lumbering.

Or maybe it's just a sinking feeling. Coming off of a strike-truncated second season so woebegone that show creator Tim Kring actually apologized for it, "Heroes" season three has, after five episodes, given every indication that rather than shaping up, the writers have taken leave of their senses.

It could be that they're just the victims of yet another new character. But when the folks responsible for "Heroes" aren't ignoring the lessons they were supposed to have learned after the season two fiasco, they're adding elements that go beyond hackneyed and nudge up against total apathy.

Same old, same old
Remember the first season of "Heroes"? How it was pretty good? The writers obviously do. And they're trying to copy as much of it as possible in the hopes of recapturing some of the same magic.

Why else would the show trudge through so many frustratingly similar storylines? Niki may indeed have died last season, but with the introduction of ice-queen politico Tracy Strauss, Ali Larter once again gets to play a character coming to grips with powers she can't control, she doesn't want, and which serve as a metaphor for her personality.

Add to that the major identity crisis of discovering that she has a doppelganger (mirroring trip-twin Niki's split personality), and her affair with Nathan Petrelli, and it's the exact same character arc that Larter went through in season one. And if the show lasts long enough to introduce a third triplet, she might be lucky enough to go through it yet again.

Invulnerable cheerleader Claire is also stuck in her season-one rut, once again at odds with her morally gray father, HRG, over issues of trust, this time involving his current partner. The superlative "Company Man" episode seemed to have resolved those problems when he made a substantial personal sacrifice to keep her safe from the sinister Company. But Claire seems doomed to repeat the cycle ad infinitum, her moony brattiness apparently as indestructible as she is.

"Heroes" has tried to disguise some of the repeated storylines by switching the characters. Psychic Matt Parkman (and his African spirit guide, Usutu) and a badass time-travelling Peter Petrelli are both trying to prevent a tipping point that will cause the world to descend into a dystopian future. But neither of them has honed their powers enough to see that painter Isaac and a sword-wielding Hiro have walked these exact paths before.

It would be a mistake to assume that the writers were hoping the entire audience underwent a Haitian mindwipe, though. In fact, they're counting on viewers remembering, if the pale echoes of some of the more resonant first-season dialogue is any indication.

"I've walked through fire, and I haven't gotten burned," Claire said to her flamethrowing biological mother, Meredith, who later told her "You gotta learn to save yourself before you can save the world," as if reminding the audience that this show was once fun and cool.

MORE FROM TELEVISION

Television Section Front

‘Desperate’ Susan does time on chain gang Dobbs says CNN departure was ‘amicable’ Univision to make shows available on YouTube Ian McKellen rules in remake of ‘The Prisoner’ Ian McKellen on his new show and Shakespeare Owen reconnects with an old friend on ‘Grey’s’ Ask Ausiello: Answering 20 TV questions NYT: Few women have write stuff for late-night John King to replace Dobbs on CNN Reality TV section Television Section Front   Add Television headlines to your news reader: