Heroes - Season 1

Sometimes I will review things as a group - or series, but in certain cases things must be reviewed separately as they are simply too different to be viewed as a whole.

Season 1 was arguably the best season this show ever had. But the writer's strike during their second season is to blame for that, and that's a critique for another time. As for the season itself - some of the acting is well below par with people taking certain scenes far more dramatically than is necessary. I understand the purpose of the drama but I do wish that some of the characters had been instructed to play their roles a bit more like the actor playing Hiro Nakamura did. With a light edge of "Saving the world is important, but why not smile and take pride in the little victories and have a little fun while doing it?"His scenes are easily the most enjoyable because of the little jokes and ease with which his character embraces what's happening. Unlike most of the other characters Hiro is one who does not question his abilities.

I understand the need to question those abilities from other characters, and I understand that so many would either rebel against it or allow such power to go to their heads and demand to be treated and seen as Gods. This happens without abilities when someone gets too much money and power NOW - a person need not have a special ability above and beyond those of a normal human being in order to be corrupt and lost. But this is of course why this season was so good. The discovery of these abilities and what they did and how they affected a person, were identifiable, if you replaced the ability with a mental disease, or someone having won the lottery you could see it as a human aspect.

We as humans have always been fascinated with the idea of Superheroes among us. This show makes the concept even more real. Much closer to home than the idea of an alien race among us. These are regular everyday kind of people. Dealing with life on a 'higher level' because of their abilities that no normal human could do.

The basic story arc is that of these people finding each other in our world and learning about what it is they do and discovering what a true villain is. The real fun of the season is learning all the different abilities that the writers and FX department could come up with. Seeing both how these powers can go to their heads, and how they can make them into amazingly wonderful people. Some characters are easier to love than others - though I doubt this has as much to do with the writing than it does with the acting. The same lines delivered in a different way can change how you feel about the character. I want to love certain characters because of their inherit goodness, but the actors playing the roles do it so poorly it's hard to love them. However, there are only a small handful of actors that make the show not worth it. I would say 85% of the cast and crew make you love this show, or love to hate it as it is for some.

Over all - the show itself (if based alone on this season) was quite good.