Is it me, or has Heroes become a premium cable ripoff?

This season reeks of Dexter (Matt Parkman going to addiction support meetings), The L-Word (I knew where that Claire plotline was going from the get-go), and Carnivale (all right, now the writers are just being lazy).

I may be in the minority, but I thought the first half of last year’s season was really good. The best moments came during the exploration of Syler as maybe being a good guy who was shaped by circumstance. Remember him as a doting house-dad, and then as a happy-to-be-finally-understood boyfriend? Sadly, just as these character journeys got good, things suddenly changed back and all that growth was for naught.

I’m about to watch last night’s episode, and the summary about Claire’s female friend “revealing her true motives with a kiss” just made me roll my eyes. Because I saw right through that setup, from the beginning–in turn because of the other cable show ripoff moments. Heroes’ producers and writers think they can forgo character exploration like what they did with Syler last year, even though that’s what makes top premium cable shows great.

If you watch Heroes, do you agree? Are there other programs you think have fizzled out and should give up the ghost?