by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
Creator/writer/director, Tim Kring, whose credits include Crossing Jordan, conjured up this fascinating superhero drama involving ordinary people who intuitively realize they have special powers. They have strange feelings that they can’t explain and discover their powers in moment of trauma or an extremely violent event. It’s a tried and true premise that has been well worn on television with Lois and Clark, Smallville, et al.
Nonetheless, Kring has crafted an intricate story line with intelligently written dialogue that sets this drama apart from all the other superhero schlock. The show’s production values are first rate and the characters are played by experienced actors. Kring’s gradual method of developing each character over many episodes allows the viewer to understand each of the personality’s motivations and identify with these citizens turned superheroes. They wear ordinary clothes and not skin tight leotards, which makes the characters more down to earth and much less ridiculous.
In the pilot episode, a total eclipse of the sun allows a blind professor in India, Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) to uncover a secret theory which postulates that there are people with superpowers living in our midst. Right, and pigs fly. But wait, a regular guy, Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) has a strong feeling that he can fly, which he proves in a life or death leap of faith.
Meanwhile, a teenage cheerleader Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) goes missing but she wakes up on an autopsy table with her chest skin pulled back. When she puts the sides together they instantly heal. She’s indestructible! How she can utilize this power remains to be seen.
Cut to Vegas–a stripper Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) is barely making it on her dancing. She supports her son Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey) and discovers while looking in a mirror that she has an alter ego that has secret power with sinister motivations. While in another scene, a gifted artist, Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) whose drug addiction is destroying his life and his relationship with his girlfriend, Simone Deveaux, (Tawny Cypress) realizes he is painting future events.
On the west coast, in Los Angeles, a beat cop Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) can hear people’s thoughts, which puts him on the trail of a serial killer. But he is taken captive by agents with no initials in their names who are manipulating his powers. Over in Japan, a young Asian, Hero Nakamura (Mass Oka) discovers he can stop time with his will power.
So far, the various special posers people have not met. But we anticipate that, sooner or later, they will meet and collaborate to save the world. Well, that’s what superheroes do–or not. Kring has not given away his story or where it’s going. And, that is the intriguing part of the show. It’s the unknown that drives us nuts, like in the X Files, which also kept the sexual tension between Scully and Mulder simmering until it fizzled out.
What’s interesting about these characters is that most of them didn’t desire to have superpowers. Nathan Petrelli can fly but he’s not keen on accruing solo flying hours. In contrast, Peter is a hospice care nurse who wants to embrace his own power which is the ability to take on the superpowers of any other mutant he meets. But, he’s not too enthusiastic about this new life. Niki has the most obscure power which seems to be a split personality which scares her.
Clearly there are similarities between these superheroes and the premise of X Men films–a new world order of mutants, a highly evolved new species of human who have special powers. There are so many story possibilities with these characters, they can do anything or go anywhere. Niki’s husband has been mentioned but he made his debut on the Oct. 23 episode as D L Hawkins who has just broken out of jail. Niki is terrified that he has returned. Her special power has yet to be fully explained, but this is just one example of the subplots developing with these multidimensional characters.
So far the series is immediately addictive as it sucks the viewer into its strange world of a new advanced species of special humans who struggle with everyday problems complicated by their discovery of their powers. They seemed destined to meet. But for what purpose? Ah, that’s the hook.
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