'Heroes' saves the network airwaves with doses of sci-fi and fantasy

By: Kimberly Lien

Posted: 4/26/07

Hiro Nakamura woke up one day to discover he had the ability to manipulate, travel and teleport through time.

As one of the main characters on NBC's series "Heroes," Nakamura belongs to one of a select group of human beings who possess supernatural powers.

The first episode of the series aired on Sept. 25, 2006 and has since amassed a die-hard audience.

"I started watching 'Heroes' because I love superheroes," said junior Renae Klein, "and I love the idea of normal people having extreme powers. I'd like to think we all have a special power."

Klein, a dance major, said she watches the show religiously.

While the plotline of the series follows an ensemble cast of characters through each hero's own personal life, the actions and events that occur around them separately are all related to one main theme - an explosion that could affect all mankind.

"I kept watching because of how they made all these different lives interconnected and different people come together to fight a common cause," Klein said. "In a way, the show is like a warped version of the (comic book) 'Justice League.'"

Part of the appeal of the show has been its similarity in story structure and character development that can be found in comic books.

"It's about superheroes," said senior Linda Lam, "kind of like 'X-Men' films, but you get to see the characters develop each episode, each week. Also, there are Asian actors on this show who get to do heroic acts and not be the stereotypical Asian."

Lam, an art history major, said she started watching "Heroes" because of its originality and diverse cast.

The cast includes actors of Japanese, East Indian and Venezuelan descent.

In the beginning of the series, Nakamura and Isaac Mendez - who has the power to see the future in what he paints - both experience the same premonition regarding the end of the world.

Nakamura was able to see an explosion occurring in the future that would be catastrophic to human life. Meanwhile, Mendez was shown to have painted the same scene.

The show returned on Monday from a six-week hiatus, with the last episode airing on March 5.

"It was hard for me to remember all the details from the last episode," Klein said. "I would have liked a recap, or maybe they could have shown the last episode before they showed the new one."

Derek Chen, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, also felt the hiatus was too long.

"I didn't like the fact that we had to wait another month for the next episode," Chen said, "because they already had a three week break earlier in the season for the holidays.

However, it was good for me because it allowed me to study for my midterms I had during the month they were on break."

The episode that aired on Monday was titled "0.07%."

The percentage was reflective of the number of people in the world who would die from a nearing explosion that could occur in New York in a future episode.

Nakamura and Mendez traveled five years into the future to a partially destroyed New York City to try to find out what went wrong and how they could save the world.

"I wanted more from it. I think we all know the characters well enough now to not be babied into the plot," Klein said. "I felt it went a little slow and nothing very dramatic happened. The only dramatic thing that happened was Peter dying, but you knew he wasn't dead for long because he has to blow up at some point."

As Klein mentioned, the explosion that would change the world would be the result of one of the show's characters - Peter Petrelli - being blown up.

Petrelli's heroic ability is the power to mimic other heroes' superpowers. He is also somewhat clairvoyant, and in one of his visions he saw himself exploding in downtown New York.

The complex and mysterious storylines that tie into the main plot of the series has been a large part of why the show has captured and maintained its core audience.

"I think 'Heroes' is a hit," Chen said, "because it's just a real life comic book; ordinary people waking up in the morning realizing they have a superpower. When I was a kid I wish I could fly, be invisible or even see into the future."