Heroes in Ireland

Warning : This post contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Heroes Season 2, but if you are not a fan of the show, your comments are still relevant


As mentioned exclusively on this blog, the second season of Heroes has set some scenes in Ireland. When a Heroes' insider gave me this scoop I had no idea which characters would be in the Emerald Isle and how many episodes would be set there. But five episodes in, County Cork is the basis of much Peter Petrelli action.

Irish people have had to endure decades of celluloid misrepresentation. Dodgy accents, drunken bowsies, international terrorists, it's not a particularly glamorous image. But those stereo types are waning. Thanks to Bono, Mary Robinson and Colin Farrell, we are sexy again, caring, saving the world (not necessarily in that order).

Still, I can't help being on edge when the Irish are portrayed on mass media. I don't know whether other nationalities feel the same about how their citizens and native land are displayed, but I am hyper-critical when an Irish person or setting is represented by Hollywood. Since I emigrated, I find myself constantly explaining to North Americans that Ireland is not part of the UK. I have had to reprimand colleagues for co-relating my homeland with excessive drinking. I was recently advised by a co-worker to carry my passport at all times as I was from a country of known terrorists. The misconceptions are not only absurd but often hurtful. Canada is a country built on immigrants, and the Irish are held in high regard as a nation. I shudder to think of how other immigrants are dealing with their stereotypes.

So let the hyper-criticism of Heroes: The Irish Adventure, begin, and remember that all of this is filmed in LA.

An amnesiac Peter Petrilli has found himself in a cargo container in the docks of County Cork. Is there an active dock in Cork? Is it not filled with designer apartments and wine bars like Dublin's docklands? The first people he encounters are thugs, gurriers, criminals (0 points). None of them have Cork accents (0 points). In fact they are slightly Northern Irish accents (-1 point). One of them is black with a northern accent (+ 5 points for not conforming to stereotypes)
The first thing they do is try to kill him (0 points). So much for a thousand Irish welcomes.
Tally so far : 4 points

There is a lovely Irish colleen. With a bad accent (-1 point). Her name is Catlin (-2 points, no Irish female is called Catlin, Colleen or Erin. Fact.). She works in a bar (+1 point) which has just three customers and regularly shuts up early(-10 points). The closed sign on the bar says "Dunta" (+2 points, Irish word for "Closed"). There is a massive wood burning fire at all times even when the bar is empty (-1 point, physical impossibility). It is often raining. (+2 points, this is unfortunately, very true). An Irish dock worker allows a beautiful blonde tourist to walk away without asking her what she's doing so far from home (-5 points, a woman, particularly a blonde one, is incapable of walking past a manual labourer without being hit on). Said blonde woman is corrected for thinking she's in Scotland (+ 5 points, Irish people don't even know what haggis is.) but barman failed to mention the delights of a toasted ham and cheese sandwich (0 points, the staple food of an Irish pub menu). A woman who generates electricity is sent on a mission to Ireland in a rain storm (incalculable, bound to cause problems)

Tally so far : - 5 points.
Verdict: Not bad. Producers of the show have grasped on to the fact that there is nothing more Irish than a lovable thug, and that is why so many of them are elected into government.

Exclusive (no, seriously!) - Heroes

Working in an ad agency can be unremarkable and the pay is just adequate, but the perks can be great. One such perk is that TV stations invite you to parties where you can drink for free and stars from their shows will pose for photos with you. In Ireland, the highlights of such events could be watching Fizz from Coronation Street hammer back vodka and Red Bull or spilling your drink over a leathery blonde who you later discover had a pivotal role in Footballer's Wives.

Last week I had the good fortune to be invited to one such party in Toronto with various members of the cast of Heroes. In attendance was Sylar (main villain), Ando (comedic sidekick), Mia (no idea, she hasn't appeared yet) and the kid that fixes things. As a 30-something woman I draw the line at asking a ten-year old for his autograph, or gushing over a woman I couldn't pick out of a line-up, but I did set the schmooze factor to maximum and pushed my way into the company of Sylar and Ando for a chin wag, in the hope they would reveal some exclusive Heroes scoop. And they did, in a way.

Ando, or James Kyson Lee, as his mother calls him, is a charming, very smiley man who seemed to genuinely enjoy all the attention. When I asked him what was coming up on the show, he claimed ignorance, that the actors don't know until they get the scripts. But he did let slip that some of the story takes place in Ireland. Every piece of the show is filmed in Los Angeles, so they won't be filming in the Emerald Isle, but I did make him promise that leprechauns would not be involved. I asked him if Ando would discover a power of his own, and, surprise, he said he didn't know. I asked if there is a particular power that he would like and he said he was very fond of animals and it would be cool to talk to them. What about morphing into them, I asked? He was very excited about that suggestion. I told him I'd talk to the producers and see what I could do.

Getting some face time with Sylar proved a little tougher so I segued my way via Jeff Loeb, a producer of the show. He revealed very little about future developments, but, being the pushy fan-geek that I am, he did reveal that Christopher Eccleston had a major plot sidelined because he had to return to the UK unexpectedly. He didn't elaborate but said that when he's ready to come back there is a place for him. And it seems that Peter Petrelli ends up in Canada when he finally returns from his explosive trip into the stratosphere.

Zachery Quinto, who plays Sylar, cuts quite a dashing figure in the flesh and I admitted to him that he smelled great. He told me that he worked in the Cafe Java in Galway for 4 months several years ago, which proves you should always be nice to your server; you never know when they will turn into a brain-eating mutant. And speaking of which, does he actually eat the brains or just absorb the power? He said that detail is yet to be explored but they are planning to do something cool with it. I talked to him about his role as Spock in the new Star Trek movie. I thought he'd enjoy my anecdote about Leonard Nimoy having to wear dozens of pairs of fake ears a day, which melted under the studio lights. He said he'd ask Nimoy, the next time they met, if that was true. Gulp! I hope my source stands up. He was divulging no further casting details about the film. Finally I had to ask him about Kristen Bell's arrival on the show. He proudly admitted he was responsible for her signing. She is a good friend of his and when Veronica Mars was cancelled, he knew that Heroes was one show she would be interested in joining. Ms Bell will make her debut in episode 5 of the show.

A few exclusive scoops, excellent voignier and some tasty canapes. I thought my first venture as official reporter for Media Cake was quite a success.