Holding out for a Heroes...that doesn't suck.

It doesn't take a genius to see that most people have given up on Heroes. This season it's been averaging about 6 million viewers, down from 16 million in it's first season. Yikes. That's...substantial.

Every year it's the same old story and the same old questions. Can Heroes recapture the promise of it's first season? Can it halt the hemorrhage of viewers? Will people at least agree that the show doesn't suck anymore?

And every year I hope that this will the season, that this time the show will be more interesting than boring, deep rather than shallow, and actually say something meaningful.

So far, I'm not impressed.

To be honest, I'm not even sure why I'm sticking around. So many other people have given up on Heroes, I don't know why I continue to subject myself to the heartache of watching a once promising show flop around in never-ending death throes.

Because here's the thing. Here's the dirty secret nobody is saying out loud. Heroes was never great. It was barely even good. From the beginning it had pretty production values, pretty people, and occasionally surprising cliff hangers (remember Claire waking up on the autopsy slab?), but it was never great. The best that could be said of it was that it was promising. Sure we thought Hiro was adorable, but there have always been too many characters wandering around unconnected to one another, too many dropped storylines, and frankly, too much time travel and other ridiculous plot devices.

I think the core problem is that the show's writers and producers have been much too impressed with their own cleverness. They act like their show has Jesus magic or something, that it has the power to change lives and heal the sick. When all it really is are a series of confusing plots recycled from better sci-fi comics and movies. Sure it has good looking people and a handful of talented actors, but...for all that happens, nothing seems to happen. The producers are so in love with their actors that they can't bring themselves to actually kill any of the characters off. I mean, for god's sake, how many times does Nathan need to die? And yet, HE'S STILL ON THE SHOW. And as much as I love Zachary Quinto, it's time for Sylar to go away. These characters are just not interesting anymore.

But despite all this...I'm still watching. Maybe it's because I hate quitting. Or that I can't shake my love for Zach Quinto's eyebrows. But it all just makes me really sad at this point, to see so much wasted potential. While the carnival aspect of the current season is kind of cool, I just can't bring myself to care anymore. Watching Heroes makes me feel like I'm just going through the motions.