Heroes Regurgitated
If you missed it when it was on, you can probably see it on demand. But don't. Once upon a time, there was a TV writer who took a whole mess of comic book tropes, added conspiracy theory, sprinkled in a thrilling serial killer plot, and came up with a serialized drama that was original, funny, and compelling. The characters were multi-cultural and multi-generational, and their powers ran the gamut from traditional (flight, super speed, invulnerability) to awe-inspiring (teleportation through time and space, as well as the ability to stop time) to ridiculous (the serial killer could take on the power of every hero whose brain he consumed, so that by the end of the series, he was so invincible nobody could figure out what to do with him). Over the course of its four-season run, it fell victim to convoluted conspiracy-spinning and the kind of bombastic stakes-raising that has become de rigeur for movies in the Marvel universe ( Antman blessedly excepted). How many times ...