OK, now that I've actually watched the two-hour season finale of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?", I can finally write a bit more about it.
I'm presuming at this point that anyone who cares about who won has probably either watched the show in some form (either on the TV or through the Sci Fi Channel's website), so I won't have to worry about spoiling it.
When last we left our intrepid heroes, we were down to Hyperstrike, Hygena, and The Defuser. Since I'd read that Hyperstrike and Hygena had appeared in the WWTBAS panel at San Diego, I assumed that one of them had to be the winner (did I just miss reading that the Defuser was there, too?), and I'd guessed that Hyperstrike would be the winner.
Oh, and the Evil Stan Lee clone that had given the heroes bogus orders had grown to giant-size, and was starting to wreck the city.
Now, I was hoping that somehow, we'd be treated to seeing the heroes somehow fighting Giant Turtle Boy Stan Lee (sorry, I couldn't resist), but instead, they had to go out to the main power plant and shut off the power that Doctor Dark was using to power Evil Stan Lee. In order to do this, they had to get through Doctor Dark's three evil attack dogs and make a human chain to cause a short-circuit.
They did something similar to this last year... except that they just had to get through the dogs to save someone. It may have even been the same dogs.
Like what happened last year, the heroes had protective gear to wear (although at least the Defuser did get some minor wounds when attacked). Hygena offered herself up as bait, because she knew she would go down, and figured Hype and the Defuser could accomplish the mission if she distracted the dogs. The plan worked, more or less... although the Defuser did have to fend off two dogs himself (I don't think they even bothered Hyperstrike). Without three of them at the power base, they couldn't form a complete human chain, but Hype found a cable to provide the missing link, and they were able to destroy Giant Evil Stan.
Aside here... You know, given that two seasons in a row the heroes have had to face dogs, I hope that next year's contestants will at least look into learning how to deal with dogs before entering! Jessi even asked me why nobody tried any Caesar Milan tactics to get the dogs to back off.
Next up was a lesson in dealing with the media, as the heroes went to be interviewed by Kennedy (formerly of MTV) on her talk show about reality shows (which I'd never heard of before). All three heroes, despite being warmed, blabbed away way too many secrets that could lead someone to figure out who they really were!
Stan was full of praise for the three with the dog mission, and verbally slapped them a bit for blabbing away at the talk show... but still, when the first hour ended, and it was time for someone to go home, he decided all three were going through!
I may be getting some things out of order here, but I hope you'll forgive me.
Next on the agenda was some one-on-one time with Stan for each hero, as they told Stan more about themselves, why they were here, and why they wanted to win. I was impressed with what they had to say, but you know, they did spill some very personal secrets on-camera when talking to Stan that are now known by everyone who watched the show... so we know the Defuser's sister was doing drugs for a time, and that Hygena had a miscarriage (I don't recall Hyperstrike saying anything that he might've later regretted). But they all three had very personal reasons for wanting to be there, and, I think, valid ones (at least, for them).
Next up for the heroes was some fight training... again, this was like last year, where a stuntman taught them some basic stunt stuff (some of which was done before a green screen so it could be used later on). At the end of their training, they said goodbye to their teacher... and then Doctor Dark appeared!
We did get a bit of a fight with the three heroes defeating the bad Doctor (it went way too easily, though... it could've been much longer and still have been interesting), and then it was back to the lair again!
The final announcement, as happened last year, took place at Universal Studio's Citywalk, where quite a crowd had gathered. Stan, on a big screen, introduced the heroes, played some video messages from home from friends and family, and had their friends and family come out to greet them for the first time in quite a few weeks. Oh, he also showed some cheesy video featuring each hero's stunts with some stuff matted in (I don't know why all three of the heroes were shown flying, by the way... I don't recall getting the impression anywhere during the show that their characters were supposed to be capable of flight).
Then it came down to making the final decision, and you know what? I'm perfectly happy with The Defuser being chosen. After this was announced, the family and friends congratulated the heroes, and then there was a mini-reunion of sorts with some of the heroes who had been eliminated before (I saw Miss Limelight, the mental powers guy, and Basura, but I don't recall seeing any others... which was surprising, because I would've thought at least Parthenon would've shown up for that... I suppose those were the heroes who were local enough to show up without a plane trip). Feedback accompanied them, as well.
Final Thoughts:
OK, these may not be my final, final thoughts... but let's see where this takes me, shall we?
Next year, I'd like to see the heroes be a bit better defined. By at least the second or third episode, let's get a rundown of exactly what the heroes powers are (as well as how those powers originate... i.e., from tech, mutant abilities, magic items, etc.), and let's get an origin of the characters, too. Oh, heck, let's just make the first episode two hours long, and get all that in from the beginning!
So, here's my idea of how the two-hour premiere episode should go next season: Open with clips from a bunch of the auditions, and then let's see Feedback and the Defuser arriving at the new contestants' homes or workplaces to let them know they've been chosen. After each person is contacted, let's get in footage of that person introducing their character, their powers, and origin, and their catchphrase, if they have one.
Next, they arrive at the lair and get to know each other before Stan sends them on their first mission, whatever that may be (ideally, they should get an introduction to the villain or villains they'll be facing during the season... I still like my idea of having a separate "Who Wants to be a Super-Villain" thing happening to pick one or more villains for the show).
And so forth.
Once the series has progressed enough that they've eliminated enough heroes that they can all fit in one vehicle... I say give them a REAL super-vehicle to drive around in! Not one of these SUVs that can be bought from a dealership, but something to at least try to rival the 1960s Batmobile for sheer coolness. (This would also give them something else to tour around the country's conventions along with the current year's winner)
I'd also like to see some more interesting challenges thrown their way... not that this year's challenges weren't interesting... but let's see the heroes doing a bit of detective work somewhere along the way, following some real clues to solve a mystery.
I'd also like to see the Lair updated a bit, too... make it look a little more "Hall of Justice" and a bit less "Big Brother." Let's have a meeting room with a big table, and chairs around it with each hero's insignia or logo on it, and a really big screen tv there for the heroes to see Stan on, as well as the news alerts (assuming they keep that aspect going... which I liked, so let's see more of that).
Here's another thing I'd like to see them do, as a mission: Go to a local hospital and visit the children's ward. Arm the heroes with glossy 8x10 photos of themselves with special effects PhotoShopped in for the heroes to autograph for the kids, too. This is something we used to see Superman and other superheroes do in the comics, and I think having something like that happening in the show would be cool, too.
I'd also like to see the special effects either have an increased budget, or get some better work done on them.
Here's another idea for a challenge: Assuming that all the heroes would have some kind of ranged attack, put them through a gauntlet of sorts. Remember the shooting gallery sequence in "Men in Black"? Give the heroes some kind of Laser Tag kind of thing to simulate their powers, and have them run the gauntlet, shooting the bad guys and gaining points for hitting the bad guys, and losing points if they shoot innocent bystanders. Have some sneaky stuff in there, too!
Well, that's probably enough stuff thrown out there, at least for now. Yes, I've got lots of opinions on this show and how it could be improved, but that's only because I've enjoyed it so much. If someone who works on the show happens to find this blog and read my ideas, and would like some more of my thoughts and so forth, I would love it if you contacted me! I'm sure we could work out an extraordinarily fair consultation fee! :)
Jon
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