Heroes: An Extraordinary Beginning
On the NBC drama Heroes, a diverse group of ordinary people suddenly discover they have abilities bordering on the supernatural: the capacity to fly, bend time, become indestructible and even foresee the future. It seems that nature has provided an evolutionary response to the modern threats of mankind’s existence.
It also seems that the success of Lost has paved the way for television shows that delve into the supernatural, and the similarities between these two series abound. For example, there is no opening credits sequence on Heroes, just a simple spinning-world emblem emblazed on the screen for a few seconds. And in the very first shot of the very first episode, we see a close up of a human eye, mirroring the first shot of Lost.
That is not to suggest that Heroes is some sort of Lost knockoff. All creative artists have borrowed, after all; Bono of U2 implied as much when he sang the line “Every poet is a thief” on Achtung Baby. Someone even once commented that there are a limited number of stories to be told and that William Shakespeare wrote them all, yet the Bard himself pilfered from his predecessors. That’s because storytelling, regardless of the medium, is about execution. It’s about taking a basic premise, even a narrative that has been told before, and making it one’s own. And it is here that Heroes excels.
On Lost, both main and peripheral characters continuously pop-up in the flashbacks of other characters, demonstrating a connection between the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. Heroes likewise connects its main characters: Hiro Nakamura’s (Masi Oka) friend, Ando Masahashi (James Kyson Lee), is a regular customer of internet stripper Niki Sanders (Ali Larter); future painter Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) and “I-can-fly” Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) share the same love interest; Peter hails a taxi cab driven by Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy); and on and on. But while Lost leaves one wondering why its characters are connected, Heroes actually offers an explanation.
In an early episode, while Peter takes his taxi ride with Suresh, he notices an eclipse in the New York skies. When he wonders out loud if it will be a total eclipse, Suresh answers, “Not here, no. Some other part of the world, yes. A global event. Makes one appreciate just how small our planet really is.” The scene then transitions into a montage showing the other characters, spread out from Las Vegas to Tokyo, looking up at the sky and witnessing the same eclipse, suggesting that connections are not merely a case of fate or destiny—they’re simply the nature of the universe.
Heroes also develops, as does its predecessor, at a deliberate pace. This is a series that believes in character and plot, and is intent on telling its story on its own terms without being rushed. Although there are multiple characters, spread out geographically, each episode is not overly packed with plot twists or quickly burned-through storylines. Yet despite this tempo, or maybe because of it, one cannot help but feel captivated by each “chapter.” This is storytelling on a grander scale: one is not viewing a collection of short stories, but instead sitting back to enjoy a long novel.
Heroes has a better “flow” to its narrative, and the episodes do not feel as disconnected as they often can on Lost. And despite its comic-book premise, Heroes is actually more relatable, mainly because it is grounded in a common thread of the human psyche—the desire to be unique and have some sort of destiny and purpose in life. After all, myths throughout the history of mankind have reveled in ordinary people having the power and ability to “save the world.” We’ve all had this desire, even if we lost sight of it as we grew older. But we can still relate to it nonetheless.
And the heroes on Heroes are indeed “ordinary,” from the Los Angeles police officer who has failed the detective exam multiple times to the high school cheerleader from Texas. Not only do they have to deal with the regular problems of every day life, but they now have to struggle with their new powers. Do they want these powers? Can they live up to the responsibilities? Do they dare to be different? Heroes asks these questions.
In the first episode, “Genesis,” time-manipulator Hiro reverses that last inquiry when he asks Ando, “Why do you want to be the same?” His friend replies, “Because that’s what I am. The same. It’s what we all are.”
Fortunately, that’s not the case with all television shows, as season one of Heroes has certainly proved.
Anthony Letizia (September 3, 2007)
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