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Experience the suspense, mystery, and electrifying twists
as this series follows seemingly unconnected, ordinary people
around the globe who discover they have extraordinary powers.
As they come to terms with their unique abilities, their risky
decisions will affect the futures of everyone around them...
and the world...
Heroes
was
an almost overnight success and it's not hard to see why.
The show follows a group of normal people from around the
world who suddenly discover that they've got unusual super
powers. None of these powers are duplicated amongst those
that have them. Some of the powers are welcomed by their owners,
but not all of them.
As
the series progresses, we discover that there are more and
more people showing signs of these powers and it becomes apparent
that each of them has, somewhere on their person, one of two
distinct marks. What can these marks mean? Do they belong
to two different groups? Is Armageddon about to be fought
on earth?
As
the first few episodes unfold we are introduced to the show's
main characters, although as the show's creator, Tim
Kring, has stated many times, don't get used to
this line up as not all of the characters we are introduced
to will stay as regulars throughout the show's run. These
characters include:
Mohinder
Suresh: An Indian genetics professor who travels to New York
in a bid to complete his father's research and uncover the
secret he died protecting. Suresh has no powers.
Peter
Petrelli: A young male nurse desperate to convince his politician
brother, Nathan Petrelli that he can fly. Peter is convinced
that saving a young cheerleader is the key to preventing his
nightmares becoming reality.
Claire
Bennet: A high school cheerleader who discovers she is completely
indestructible and has an adoptive father who is being very
secretive about his job at the mysterious 'Prima Tech Paper
Company'.
Niki
Sanders: A Las Vegas stripper struggling to make ends meet
to support her young son Micah and who is troubled by her
reflection in the mirror, which has a mind of its own and
holds a dark secret.
Matt
Parkman: A Los Angeles cop who realises he can hear people's
thoughts. This puts him on the trail of an elusive serial
killer named Sylar but also makes him a prime suspect in the
murder case.
Isaac
Mendez: A gifted artist whose drug induced paintings, predict
the future. This includes nightmare visions of the brutal
murder of a cheerleader, a flying man, and the obliteration
of New York City.
Hiro
Nakamura: A computer programmer from Tokyo, who finds himself
able to teleport and manipulate the space-time continuum.
Joined by his best friend Ando Masahashi their ultimate destiny
is nothing less than saving the world...
While
the first half of Season 1 (or "volume 1"
as the series likes to call itself) is about getting to know
the main characters and the fact that there are a lot of humans
out there with mysterious super powers, the second half is
basically the countdown to the season cliff-hanger.
I was surprised to see how shallow the storyline for the second
half of the series actually is if you strip it down. Basically,
and this isn't spoiling anything, we are building towards
a single, catastrophic event that will take place in New York
City - effecting the entire planet. And, in a nutshell, that's
it. The entire second half of Season One slowly limps
its way to this big show down (which happens rather quickly
in the last 10 minutes of the last episode, I might add).
Sure all the suspense and excitement of getting there is wonderfully
built, and to be honest Kring is a genius. He's built up so
many regular characters with so many twists and turns that
you never actually question the main narrative. So a simple
event, that on any other show (say The X-Files, or
Buffy for example) would have been over in a two-part
episode at a push, can carefully be stretched over 23 episodes
without it feeling like we are being cheated out of any real
story. Thread in-between this a lot of little mini-stories
to keep the audience from seeing where you're going, and there
you have it: Kring's masterpiece banged to rights.
Sounds
like I hate the show, far from it - I loved every second of
it. I even enjoyed the rather clichéd season ender
- yes even the bit with the manhole cover. The show does offer
something new to the sci-fi genre; it does have fantastic
actors; it does have incredibly high production values; and
it is a joy to watch.
There
are some incredible guest stars in the second half of the
season, including George Takei, Christopher Eccleston (who
plays an invisible man who is an Obi-Wan Kenobi like character),
Eric Roberts, Stan Lee, an almost unrecognisable Ellen Greene
(Little Shop of Horrors) plays Sylar's mother, and
Malcolm McDowell. There are more than a few surprises too
for a lot of the main characters. The great thing about having
so many main characters is that it's not hard to simply kill
off several as you go. I suppose it stops the actors from
demanding more money as the show goes on - as they know that
they are dispensable - but it also gives genuine jeopardy
to the events that unfold. You have no idea if any of the
characters will die at any moment and that really gives this
show a serious edge that you just don't get in TV programmes
these days.
Extras
include the unaired pilot (which is not really that different
from the finished show - there are a couple of terrorist plot
threads which were dropped; Greg Grunberg's Matt Parkman is
introduced a lot earlier; Sylar is revealed; and Isaac loses
his hand) with optional audio commentary with Kring; deleted
scenes; audio commentaries with cast and crew on all of the
last 23 episodes; Making of featurette (10 mins); Special
Effects featurette (9 mins);
Profile of Artist Tim Sale (11 minute interview with
Tim Sale, who provides all of Isaac's paintings - although
he doesn't colourise them as he admits to being colour-blind)
The Stunts (10 minute interview with stunt coordinator,
Ian Quinn, which looks at a couple of the stunts in the show);
and The Score (9 mins look at the use of music in the
series. Includes interviews with composers Wendy Melvoin and
Lisa Coleman and audio engineer, Michael Perfitt).
While
the episodes themselves are worthy of a finished mark of 10/10,
the fact that Universal Pictures are blatantly trying to squeeze
as much cash out of fans of the show as is possible is almost
criminal. The
Region 1 DVD (that's the American format if you weren't aware)
is available for $60 (around £30) and you get the exact
same extras. In this day and age, where almost everyone owns
a multi-region DVD player you've got to ask yourself why UK
consumers are having to pay more than our American cousins.
Fantastic
show, great episode, rip-off UK retail price. You're better
advised to buy the entire season box set, or better still
you might be better off purchasing the American box set from
Amazon.com.
Darren
Rea
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