They don't make bad boys like they used to

James Dean was already dead years before I was born, having lived fast and died young, leaving behind a mangled corpse. Nonetheless, I nursed a crush on him through most of my teens. As far as I knew, none of his work was scifi, but I was entlightened this afternoon when I was catching up on my cheesy television with an episode of Tales of Tomorrow ("The Evil Within," 1953, which incidentally starred Rod Steiger) and I realized the awkwardly cool lab guy was James Dean. It's a small thing, but it put a bright little spark in my day.

Speaking of bad boys, Heroes returned this past Monday with two episodes, "Upon This Rock" & "Let It Bleed." Through some ridiculous oversight, Sylar wasn't even in the first ep. Hmph. "Upon This Rock" redeemed itself, however, with Hiro's continuing adventure. The effects of his tumor are manifesting in wonderfully appropriate ways, and I think he's going to save Charlie before he dies.

I like the character of Samuel, but I'm a little bored with his story. It doesn't help that he reminds me of a petulant kid sometimes. The carnival setting is cool, though, and I enjoyed the build up in the first half of the season. The setting and melodrama remind me of an attractive and square version of HBO's show Carnivale*.

Well, it's been a decent ride so far this season, with a few highlights but little that's really been spectacular. I loved watching Sylar in Parkman's brain. Parkman was an okay guy, but it was silly of him to think he could actually take out Sylar. Overall, though, the many stories continue to have lots of action while not going much of anywhere, and the characters keep banging their heads on the same old walls. However, I like Sylar so very much that I'm willing to overlook a lot. In fact, he pretty much carries the show for me (making his absence from "Upon this Rock" quite a drag). I'm curious to see where his story is going, and through what convoluted means everyone else gets pulled along.

*Being reminded of Carnivale inspired me to watch the show again and I was glad I did. It's two short seasons (twelve episodes each), and pretty damned great. I recommend it for the amazing atmosphere, and the high level of weird. Point of interest: Robert Knepper, who plays Samuel on Heroes, appeared in several episodes of Carnivale as radioman Tommy Dolan.