SCayr

Imagine you could stop time, walk through walls, fly, control a computer with your mind or hear peoples thoughts! Would you be a villain? Or a Hero?

I mentioned Heroes in my Top 5 - Sci Fi earlier this week and thought I’d give you all some more information in the hope you’ll go and check it out, it’s a great show! I’ll give an overview of the characters whilst trying not to give any major spoilers.

The show’s basic theme is people are being born with superhuman abilities through a quirk of the genetic code (evolution or engineering?) and a nuclear explosion in the heart of New York. In the course of trying to prevent this catastrophe the Heroes paths cross, questions get answered, new questions are raised, alliances formed (and broken). This is one compelling drama! The “To be continued” text at the end of each episode always seems to come too early, the next episode too far in the future! Oh for the ability to control the flow of time - just to see next weeks episode sooner.

• Hiro Nakamura - A Japanese office worker who can bend space and time, allowing him to transport himself to different places, freeze time, and travel to the future or past. We see two different Hiros (so far) - the nerdy one of the present, just came into his powers, and the mysterious, sword wielding, older Hiro from several years in the future. Hiro’s adventures are in part led by a prophetic comic book called 9th Wonders, drawn by
• Isaac Mendez - Isaac is an artist and an heroin addict based in New York. When he is high, he has access to his amazing power, drawing the future. His works include 9th Wonders, portraying Hiro and his friend Ando, the apparent death of a cheerleader, the destruction of New York in a massive explosion and a young man who can fly.
• Peter Petrelli - Thinks he can fly! Also based in New York, Peter is a nurse looking after terminally ill patient. After trying to convice his brother Nathan that he can fly, and a stay in hospital, Nathan tells him they both can. Peter is met by (future) Hiro, told to “Save the cheerleader, save the world”, and that he must talk to Isaac. Whilst with Isaac, Peter appears to be able to draw the future, suggesting he can copy others powers.
• Claire Bennett - The indestructible cheerleader lives in Odessa, Texas and seems to be able to heal herself of any injury. She has her friend Zach film her injuries and regenerations, Zach thinks it’s cool, Claire thinks she’s a freak. The video tape is found by
• Mr Bennett - the cheerleader’s father, who seems an ordinary businessman but in reality is involved with an organization intent on controlling the Heroes. He doesn’t have any powers of his own, but uses mysterious coloured gentleman to (at the very least) block others powers, such as those of
• Matt Parkman - a bumbling LA cop, with a history of failing the exam required to become a detective. Matt discovers he can read other’s thoughts, which gets him seconded to the FBI to try to help catch a serial killer called
• Sylar - he appears to have telekinetic ability and a penchant for removing peoples brains. I’m sure he will play a major part of the unfolding saga.

There are many characters, including important ones, that I haven’t mentioned in order not to spoil anything, and the relationships between all the characters is much more complex than i could convey in such a cursory overview. If you’ve access to any of the channels showing Heroes, I suggest you check it out. You can see it from the beginning on SciFi - 19th May for example. Or wait till it’s released on DVD, which I hope will be soon.

I won’t recommend watching this from anywhere apart from episode one!  The story builds on every previous episode and a lot would be lost starting somewhere in the middle.

Here’s a couple of nice pages on the subject - Wikipedia (extreme spoiler warning), TV.com (extreme spoiler warning), 9th Wonders (guess what, extreme spoiler warning)

Anyone got any superpowers or know how I can get some?

Sphere It