I'm very happy to bring you another guest post here on Light Speed Gaming. This one comes in from James Ged, who is going to share his fondness for the TV show "Alphas" with us and explain, why he thinks it is actually in many ways the TV show that "Heroes" should have been.
Alphas (SyFy) is what Heroes should
have been. Everyone agrees that Heroes had a great first season, but
it quickly went to crap after that. Alphas, on the other hand is
stronger both narratively and structurally. Although these shows
share the same basic idea—there are people among us who have
extraordinary abilities and powers—they are very different in the
way they approach plot and style, and Alphas pulls it off where
Heroes failed.
Structure and Narrative
Part of the weakness of Heroes was that
it didn’t set itself up with a particular structure from the
beginning. That is, it set itself up as a free-for-all drama with no
real structure or regular plot elements, so when the show had to grow
and become something else in its second season, it had nothing to
fall back on, and thus fell apart.
Alphas, on the other hand, has
established itself as a procedural-type show with a plot structure
based on a team of “Alphas” (or people with enhanced physical and
mental abilities) who investigate crimes and track down other Alphas
who may be a danger to themselves or others. Although the show broke
with the procedural structure throughout the first series, the
writers regularly returned to it, giving a continuity and framework
to the show that allowed for good character development strengthened
the overarching storyline.
