Heroes (II) (2006–2010)

They thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities.

Creator:

Tim Kring

Stars:

Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 26 wins & 79 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jack Coleman	...	Noah Bennet (74 episodes, 2006-2010)
Hayden Panettiere	...	Claire Bennet (74 episodes, 2006-2010)
Milo Ventimiglia	...	Peter Petrelli (70 episodes, 2006-2010)
Masi Oka	...	Hiro Nakamura (66 episodes, 2006-2010)
Sendhil Ramamurthy	...	Mohinder Suresh (63 episodes, 2006-2010)
James Kyson	...	Ando Masahashi (62 episodes, 2006-2010)
Adrian Pasdar	...	Nathan Petrelli (61 episodes, 2006-2010)
Zachary Quinto	...	Sylar (60 episodes, 2006-2010)
Greg Grunberg	...	Matt Parkman (59 episodes, 2006-2010)
Ali Larter	...	Niki Sanders (53 episodes, 2006-2010)
Cristine Rose	...	Angela Petrelli (53 episodes, 2006-2010)
Ashley Crow	...	Sandra Bennet (40 episodes, 2006-2010)
Jimmy Jean-Louis	...	The Haitian (32 episodes, 2006-2010)

Storyline

They thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities.

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Plot Keywords:

super powers | villain | birth parents | death | internet chat | 

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Taglines:

I'm here to save your life!

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

G4 NBC [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese Spanish

Also Known As:

Heroji

Filming Locations:

Freeway Park, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tailwind Productions, NBC Universal Television, Universal Media Studios (UMS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Katt, who starred as a reluctant superhero in The Greatest American Hero, has done voiceover work for several superhero animated shows, and has his own comics imprint, appears as a reporter in season 3.

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Quotes

Thompson: What am I thinking now, Parkman?
Noah Bennet: [puts gun to Thompson's temple] Your last thought
[Executes Thompson]

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Connections

Spin-off Heroes: The Recruit (2008)

User Reviews

It's hard not to feel betrayed.

It's impossible for me to find a rating that reflects the overall quality of the show. It started out strong; the first season was far from perfect, but it had an energy and a message that simply felt good. There were incredibly fulfilling episodes, such as Homecoming, Company Man, Five Years Gone, and heart-warming character moments not just for a few, but for most characters. I felt safe with this show. Anyway, one of the show's biggest problems became obvious in th finale, when all the character came together for a mostly underwhelming showdown. Somehow, Heroes was best when it did not follow closely to a plan, but allowed its characters some room to develop naturally. The best moments and characters of Season 1 are thanks to the writers having enough sense to use the opportunities that opened up. When Noah Bennet proved a more interesting character than previously hoped for, his role became bigger. The same for Sylar. The enmity between Mohinder and Sylar. Molly. It all grew naturally, and lost its momentum only when everything was yanked back into the intended showdown.

The second season put a damper on the mood. What fans wants to wait a whole season only to find out one of their favourite characters died between seasons? I'm one of the few who didn't mind the new characters. They felt fresh and gave new impulses, showed us new perspectives on their power. What really slowed the series down to a crawl was the need to force certain other characters back into the plot, even though they no longer had any purpose, and should in fact have died in the season finale. Since the writers could not think of what to do with these characters (Nathan, Peter, Claire mostly) they simply rehashed their previous story lines. But there was still enough to keep me interested, and I thought that if I could see the problems of Season 2, then surely the writers could see them as well.

Sadly, Season 3 came and was a nightmare, a disaster. Characters were written off, other characters had their backstories and even basic motivations retconned. The once international cast was suddenly down to three (two of which are the Asian comic relief), and all the characters who had already run out of steam by the end of Season 1 were now front and centre, source and solution of the problems. Showrunner Tim Kring now declared that Heroes was actually about the Petrellis and the Bennets. Had I known that from the start, I wouldn't have bothered - I started watching when he described the show to be about "ordinary people across the globe". Instead, Heroes is now about a bunch of upper-class New Yorkers ensuring one another that it's okay they started a genocide. Heroes did the impossible with Season 3: they made a show that bears little to no resemblance to Season 1. They also managed to make Sylar into one of the most obnoxious characters on TV. They shed all pretension of being interested in diversity. Consistency and continuity have been tossed overboard, not just in regard to previous season, but even with things established just an episode earlier.

I chose the rating to reflect this disappointment, too. If I was to judge only the first two seasons, the rating would be considerably higher. But in the end, the complete product shows a disrespect towards the audience, a hatred for its own characters and story lines except a few precious upper-class New Yorkers, like I've never seen it before. It leaves a foul taste in my mouth. As a viewer, you're lost. Can I grow attached to this character, or will he die, or will the next episode forget he existed, will this storyline be dropped or will his entire personality be switched around? Probably. What reason is there to watch?