Heroes is a profoundly stupid show, even more so than Lost. The first season was comic book stupid, but was great fun. This third season is verging on self-parody. The characters are at their most inconsistent; you’re right that they’re sometimes totally out of character from one scene to the next. It’s as if the writers want to create complex characters, missed that course in Screenwriting University, and now just turn everyone into a schizophrenic ball of confusion. In particular, whoever’s writing for Mohinder, Sylar, Angela Petrelli, and Peter seem either not to have watched the previous seasons or are trying to win a bet for how much dicking around they can get away with…
However, with all that said, I’m fascinated by the trainwreck, and it’s still entertaining as silly popcorn fare.
Although this could be explained by the fact that (especially in S1) he really struggled to control any new power that he got. He had just manifested and wasn’t really adept at using his powers yet – he hardly even understood what was happening to him. If he were, he could have controlled his radioactivity and not exploded in the first place; as it was, not exploding immediately was taking all of his concentration (and he even said as much in the recap episode in S2). If he’d devoted any focus to flying away, he would have lost it before he got 20 feet. Boom.
Also, in his fight against Sylar, I got the impression he was trying to escape while invisible, not fight. He was trying to sneak out. Sylar killed him with glass flung into the back of his head, remember. Peter was moving away from him.
It may even still be true that he can’t split focus well enough to control two abilities at the same time. Most of his active powers seem to require a great deal of concentration to control. It’d be nice if he would learn to switch gears quickly, so he could use multiple powers in a short span of time even if he can’t simultaneously. But maybe he impulsiveness is keeping him from learning that. He’s not so hot with the thinking-on-his-feet.
I agree with everything you just said, aside from being fascinated by the trainwreck. I’m pretty sure I won’t be tuning into Heroes tomorrow or any longer.
Season 1, when he was fighting Dr. Who (Eccleston) on the roof, he stopped a quarterstaff using TK while he was still invisible. The perspective then switched to both of them being visible, but I definitely got the impression that he was using both powers at once.
We the viewer (and a few characters on the show) might think of it as his “I’m a superhero!” press conference. Most characters, including Tracy, do not know the content of his intended announcement and would not immediately place it in that context.
She suggested him because of the good publicity surrounding his shooting at a press conference… not because he called a press conference to announce he had superpowers.
Or up until he acquired Claire’s power and became immortal, he was working against time. Now that he doesn’t have to worry about dying, he can move at a more leisurely pace. Fits in nicely with the clock motif.