Heroes Season One Retrospective

While working through my backlog of DVDs, a backlog that never seems to disappear, I finally got around to watching my Heroes Season One HD DVD (yes, HD DVD) box set. I purchased it a year ago and finally got around to watching it.

Well, considering that most of the people I know who still are watching Heroes is either out of habit or obligation, it's no surprise that I find a different show when I began to re-watch the first season. I'm struck by how solid the writing is. Few shows have such a solid story laid out, a plot that's actually well executed.

Heroes is an interesting look into a world where "super heroes" actually exist. This is different than the world that Watchmen is set in, where there was "one" super hero – and everyone else was a masked vigilante. No, this universe is one where normal people begin to develop extra-human abilities that manifest themselves in seemingly random people across the world.

Some are heroes, some are villains. The main story arc of this season is simply "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." The story revolves around the Petrelli Brothers, Peter – a nurse, and Nathan – a candidate for Congress; Claire, a teenager from Texas; Matt Parkman, a Californian cop; Mohinder Suresh, a doctor from India; and Niki, a resident of Las Vegas. The main villain of the series is Sylar, a serial killer out to kill as many "special" humans as possible.

It’s a wonder where it all went wrong (expect reviews of subsequent seasons expanding on that statement). My earlier review of this season back in May 2007 covers some of the weaker points of the season, many of which I am able to overlook now. How time changes.

**** out of *****