6 episodes into season 3 and honestly? The show still is not showing a single crack.
Well, that's because you haven't seen 7 and 8 yet.
Okay, I've just watched those two episodes. Here's how I look at it:
I (still) have absolutely no idea why there's so much controversy about this show. Those episodes were absolutely fantastic. Sure, they had a stand-alone quality to them. But they were extremely important and really served to develop the characters quite a bit. I don't see how you can praise an episode like Scar so highly and then shit all over Hero.
Hero, for me, has been on of the most enjoyable so far. Very good, and better than 50 percent of Season 2 I'd say. If Hero is one of the worst-rated shows of the series, then honestly that's just a testament to how great this series is. But, personally, (and I'm not directing this to you guys, though it's gonna seem that way) I'm starting to think frustrations with this show are based on two pretty common problems I notice with fans of anything: 1.) fans remember the last season as much better than it actually was and 2.) fans just being pretty spoiled as far as expectations go.
Also, this show seems to go through "Train of Thought" syndrome. That is, as people were following it week by week, every time a bottle episode like Hero or something would air it'd just be massively disappointing because people where hoping for something more substantial and because people were also worried in the back of their minds that the next episode would be similar. Meanwhile, people who've got into Dream Theater later have no problem digesting Train of Thought-- they know it wasn't representative of any kind of permanent change in the band's sound. There's no knee-jerk "the sky has fallen!" reaction to Train of Thought from newer fans. The same can be said about Falling into Infinity.
Same goes with me and Battlestar. I'm able to enjoy episodes like Hero because I can just instantly watch the one immediately after it. I haven't had to wait a week for this, nor do I have to wait another week to see the next one after it if the one I've watch hasn't lived up to expectations.
Anyway, can't wait to keep watching. Will keep you guys posted, but for now I really don't think I'll be ending up among the complainers.