The Heroes try to save New York City from a devastating explosion.
Heroes Season 1 just may be the most twist-filled season in television history. It seemed like every episode there was some new revelation that changed the course of the storyline. Whether it was the discovery of new powers, new characters, or even a Maury-esque paternity surprise, you knew the show was going to throw something shocking at you. In some ways, the constant barrage of surprises eventually lessened their individual impact. After all, the surprise itself was no longer “a surprise”, you were just left waiting to see what the new twist was. But overall, the writers did an excellent job of keeping us all on our toes during the show’s first run.
The good part about Heroes was that it seemed to get better each week. Initially the show dragged a bit as everybody learned of their powers. The early storyline progression was slow and the writers were very cryptic as to what was going. At this point, I began to wonder how much staying power Heroes would actually have. But after they “saved the cheerleader”, the show took things up a notch by revealing major plot points, pitting different Heroes against each other, and ultimately building to the season’s explosive finale. For a show plagued by several flaws, most noticeably its acting, Heroes Season 1 managed to pull things together to create an extremely intense, surprising, and satisfying experience. And I, for one, will definitely be waiting for these Heroes second attempt at saving the world!
Now it’s time for the character reviews. As I’ve mentioned several times already, the biggest flaw that Heroes has is its cast. This isn’t’ an “over the top” action show like 24. It’s also not a low-budget series like Prison Break. Heroes is possibly the flagship of the NBC lineup. The show is supposed to be an epic drama, along the lines of Lost. And when you go that route, it’s an absolute must to have the best actors possible working for you. So I apologize if it seems like I’m beating this issue into the ground. It’s just that the acting is the one thing that’s keeping Heroes from becoming a top-notch show in my book. To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, I’ll be attaching an acting grade to each of the cast members to go along with their synopsis.
Season 1 Cast:
Milo Ventimiglia
(Peter Petrelli)
Power: Power Mimicry and Retention
I understand that the writers wanted their main character to be a “Peter Parker”, someone with a good heart that was deemed “a loser”. The problem with Peter Petrelli is that he’s almost too much of a loser. There’s a point where you stop feeling sorry for someone and almost go the other direction where you think they’re pathetic and need to get it together. For me, Peter had reached that point. I just wasn’t sure that this series could survive with such an unlikable main character.
Thankfully, the writers made the needed corrections, most notably, ditching his horrendous haircut, and Peter grew a spine and actually bordered on “cool” by the time Season 1 was finished. His was a massive turnaround that unsurprisingly coincided with the improvement of the show. In fact, they’ve done such a good job improving Peter, things might’ve swung the other way. He’s almost too good now. Now that he has everyone’s powers, do bad guys stand a chance?
Acting Grade: B-
He started out in some serious trouble, but pulled it together at the end.
Hayden Panettiere
(Claire Bennet)
Power: Spontaneous Regeneration
So the girl from “Remember The Titans” has certainly grown up! And wouldn’t you know, she’s actually one of the best actors/actresses on the show. Saving Claire was the main point of the season’s first story arch. Only someone with her ability to regenerate could withstand the nuclear energy to stop the bomb from destroying New York.
In addition to being the adopted daughter of “Horn Rimmed Glasses” we were also surprised to find out that she’s the biological daughter of Nathan Petrelli. Is this a talk-show waiting to happen or what? And while making Nathan her father was a good twist, they may have missed the boat on a Peter/Claire romance in the future. Cause that’s pretty much out of the question seeing as he’s her uncle.
Acting Grade: A-
Second best on the show.
Masi Oka
(Hiro Nakamura)
Power: Teleportation, Time Travel, Time Manipulation
I think it’s safe to say that Hiro is basically everyone’s favorite character. He’s extremely likable, funny, has a cool power – he’s basically the total package. But Hiro’s impact on the show is much more than simply being popular. In my opinion, he’s probably the character that saved the show. When things were a little rough early on and the writers hadn’t figured out the right pacing and mix of characters, it was Hiro that kept everyone glued to their television sets. And even now, with the show really hitting its stride, Hiro is still the one character that stands out among the rest. Fittingly, it’s Hiro that’s the biggest Hero of them all.
Acting Grade: A
Mais Oka is definitely the best actor on the show. Although it can’t be too hard to play a Japanese stereotype.
Ali Larter
(Nikki/Jessica Sanders)
Power: Super-human Strength
I’m pretty sure that the writers are grooming Nikki/Jessica to be the leading lady. This could potentially be a good move as Claire is either too young or too genetically similar to pose as a love interest for our male Heroes. The major downside to this is that Ali Larter is definitely one of the weakest actors/actresses on the show. Now I understand that she’s got the looks, but don’t you think it should have raised some questions when she showed up to the casting call with “Final Destination” and “Legally Blonde” on her resume’? Those two films are giant red flags that scream “bad actress”. I honestly don’t know how you can look past that.
Also, has anybody figured out what’s going on with the whole Nikki/Jessica thing? Is that part of her powers? Is she simply out of her mind? I never really understood that part.
Acting Grade: C-
She’s actually come a long way from “Final Destination”, but let’s face it, that’s not saying much.
Adrian Pasdar
(Nathan Petrelli)
Power: Self-propelled Flight
Like Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar is another person who has “the look” but comes up short in the acting department. I get the feeling that Nathan Petrelli could really be an interesting character with a lot of moral dilemmas and a haunting past. But sometimes when I watch the show, I can’t help but feel that he’s as animated as a cardboard box.
What I do really like about Nathan is that his power is “only flight”. While being able to fly has got to be one of the most “fun” powers, he is right in saying that simply flying won’t do much when you’re faced with a super-villain. I thought that limiting the most powerful human by making him the least powerful super-human was a really cool decision by the writers. Even cooler was the fact that his “weak” power ended up saving New York City. See, I can be positive!
Acting Grade: D+
But I can also be negative when necessary.
There’s still plenty of more Heroes to cover in Part 2 of the Season 1 Review. So keep reading, and I’ll promise to lay off the acting… a little!
