Heroes - aka - Woohoo, One More Week until Kristen Bell shows up! Plus: Chuck!

Oh man -- Tuesdays. Does anyone actually LIKE Tuesdays? Unless Tuesday has some particular signifigance to you, it is mostly known as being Garbage Day, a day that falls ridiculously early in the week - thus reminding you just how far away the weekend is, and as a day in which you're still tired and cranky from the only day worse than Tuesday -- Monday. But anyways, I digress - and while I have a few moments I wanted to offer up some thoughts on ... TV STUFF: HEROES: Heroes last night took some baby steps in the right direction, but still felt kind of held back by the crazy structure that has shaped this season so far. I mean, no matter how many good scenes are in an episode, it's just hard to tie it all together into an entertaining hour when you have to quickly cut from one unrelated storyline to the next every few minutes. It may be a tried and true formula, but there's a reason why most shows stick to an A plot and a B plot, with maybe a C plot thrown in for good measure. Some shows, like 24, manage to juggle a ton of subplots together by having them all tied into one larger, overarching plot. Others, like Lost, tend to push lingering subplots into the background while each episode puts the spotlight on a particular story arc or character. But the rigid, over-loaded and decompressed storytelling style we've seen so far this season with Heroes is simply not ideal, and tends to make each plotline seem to move along at a snail's pace, with little payoff in a given episode. In fact, it almost feels like the creatives behind Heroes are "writing for DVD" rather than a weekly episodic format, which can be a huge drag for the majority of us who are watching on a weekly basis. That being said, it was nice to finally see some of the storylines begin to converge and there were also a few nice twists here and there. However, the downside is that a lot of these new turns seemingly came out of nowhere. I mean, Sylar joining up with our Black Oil Teenaged Runaways was a nice little shot in the arm for that formerly-boring-as-hell storyline, and yet, them literally running into his beat-up body on the side of the road was one hell of a coincidence, even for a show where everyone is supposedly connected. Meanwhile, it was pretty cool, in a way, to have the big bad "Nightmare Man" be revealed as Parkman's father. If only we had heard mention of his father before - the twist may have had a bit more impact. Still, it makes Parkman a lot more interesting now that he has a potentially interesting backstory waiting in the wings - I just think it's a bit on the lazy side to introduce a major character like this with no previous allusions or hints. Speaking of which -- this whole Nightmare Man thing seems a lot like Randall Flagg of Stephen King's The Stand. Might Heroes be adding The Stand to its inspirations alongside such canonical works as Watchmen? Hmm ... About Micah's newly-featured cousin, Monica. I have to say her scenes were uber-cheesy, walking the fine line between just plain lame and so-cheesy-they're kinda cool. I mean, the girl's power is that she instantly learns by watching. So after watching a WWE match, she suddenly develops the ability to perform a 619 a la Rey Mysterio, and promptly uses said lucha libre maneuver to diapatch a would-be criminal? Wow - that was both semi-awesome and semi-stupid all at once. I can't wait to see her break out the Stone Cold Stunner or the Big Leg Drop. Honestly though, the dialogue in Monica's scenes was often pretty clunky - she went to college yet works in a fast food joint? She's planning to move her family into a new home on her fast-food salary? I'm sure I make more than her and can barely afford my own apartment, let alone a new home for my whole family. Similarly clunky were Claire's scenes. Her new BF is annoying as hell, and there is just this blandness about Claire's current storyline that makes it flip-the-channel material. Claire is the big action-hero of the show - she should be out there kicking ass and taking names in a cheerleader uniform, not lying to her dad about going on a date. I realize it's kind of a slow build, but it's been four episodes already and we're still stuck in this endless loop of Claire being stuck in a really bad WB teen soap. Make it stoooooooop. I will say though, nice cinematography on the flying scene. So, I'm intrigued with the big, epic storyline stuff. I want to know more about Parkman's dad and his nightmare man persona. I want to know who is killing the old Heroes, and what's up with The Company and this weird virus. But there is sooooo much filler in between all this stuff. Get on with it already! And it can't be a good sign that despite how over-stuffed this ep was, I barely missed Hiro, Peter, or Nikki being MIA. But you know what? None of that really matters, because next week KRISTEN F'N BELL is on HEROES. I mean, holy crap, she already kicked the ass of nearly every other actor on the show from her brief appearance in the preview clips alone! Kristen Bell freakin' rules it, and, even if she is given lame dialogue to say or little to do, I am pretty confident she will make the most of what she is given. I mean, we're talking about Veronica Mars here - the girl can do no wrong. As for this episode ... some nice twists, a few nifty plot points to keep me barely hangin' on after a few solid eps of uneven uneventfulness. But man, as others have said, they are tres lucky that Kristen Bell's super-power is making us hurtin' Heroes fans feel compelled to watch next week, lest we miss Ms. Bell's big debut. Talk about a savior for a sagging show! My Grade: B - CHUCK: Chuck, meanwhile, continued to impress with its fourth ep. I felt this one wasn't quite as hilarious or tightly-scripted as the last two weeks', but I still found it very enjoyable. I mean, I'm not sure that placing so much emphasis on a budding romance between Chuck and Sarah is the right hting to do at this early juncture. It seems too early and too forced. But man, that Josh Schwartz - if anyone can make you buy into unlikely star-crossed romances, it's him (Seth and Summer, anyone?). On the plus side though, Adam Baldwin continues to be great, if a bit ineffectual as a super-spy this week. Good stuff - watch Chuck. My Grade: B+ ALRRRRRRRRRRRIGHT, gotta run. Later.