Heroes: Season Three

Considering the enormous cost required produce any weekly television series on the air there is naturally an incredible amount of pressure on the cast and crew to make it a hit. When the freshman season becomes so popular that it immediately transcends ‘hit’ and moves right on to ‘phenomena’ what is demanded in subsequent seasons increases exponentially due to heightened expectations of the loyal fans as well as the always cash conscious sponsors. It can get to the point where anything they do after that initial season is bound to disappoint at least a certain percentage of the fan base. Some of this is the strange urge many people have to see the successful brought down. In the case of the NBC science fiction series ‘Heroes’ they found that a loyal fan base could turn on you in an instant. When this is supported by a general loss of quality and compounded by a Writer’s strike that drastically shortened the season and it is a public relation nightmare. In season two characters were introduced only to have their stories greatly reduced or eliminated entirely. As fast as fans became infatuated with the series the luster began to fade. Even the creator of the show, Tim Kring, admitted that the pacing was far too flow; instead of giving the fans the quick action they were expected to be patient for the story to unfold and the characters to develop. While the goal was admirable the particular circumstances the specific circumstances worked against success of the second season. With all this behind them the cast and crew set out to rectify the problems with the third season. It was not a complete success but it was a definite improvement from the lamentable second season. The series has managed to get a shot to go on to a fourth season and with the release of the latest DVD set you can catch up on the story so far before the new one starts.

The main aspect that originally propelled this series to such acclaim was how it emulated the greatest aspects of the superhero comic book. In this particular universe an increasing number of people are demonstrating amazing superhuman abilities ranging from flying to controlling the time-space continuum. As it turns out some of these people were born that way while other obtained their powers by means on experiment by a powerful, covert organization. While some vague, general information about this organization and its founders has been previously hinted at this season devoted a lot of episode time to elucidating the ‘secret’ origins’ of the individuals and the organization usually referred to as ‘The company’. The title for this volume (primary season story arc) was ‘Villains’ and it did take the characters down a much darker path with a disastrous potential future looming just ahead. This redirected the fundamentals focus of the series from the classic good versus evil to the much broader realm of secret organization, government covert black operations and the topical moral quagmire of suspending civil rights for the perception of security. This was very ambitious for a rebuilding season like this and did result in a continued decline in ratings. The stage was crowded with too many super powered individuals and the clear cut distinction between villains and heroes was clouded by a pervasive moral ambiguity on both sides of the line. While this is a common plot device in modern graphic novels the roots of this series are the traditional comics like most of us grew up hiding under our beds. In the initial successful season there was a clear line of demarcation between the principle heroes and the bad guy. Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) who can freeze time and teleport and Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) who duplicates any power he comes in contact with were completely altruistic. This was further diluted in its overall effect with the introduction of the government secretly going after the enhanced humans bringing in the all too recently over used plot devices as allusions to Gitmo and general abuse of power in the name of homeland security. This might have stood up better except fans on the genre will immediately be reminded on several themes exactly like this in the ‘X-Men’ universe. Also lost this season was the much needed symbol of innocence formerly held by the famous cheerleader, Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), although her story arc was one of the more interesting in the vein of the loss of innocence as she becomes convinced there is a social war of extinction coming and she has to be more proactive in the positive use of her powers.

What matters most about this season is although the series hasn’t gotten back to its former glory Kring as made a great strides in getting past the infamous sophomore slump. While there is still a need to return to the classic comic book influences that made the series a favorite the pacing is showing signs of improvement as well as answering some of the open questions and mysteries. Hopefully this will open up the story board for advancement in new directions. Like several of the characters this season; the series only looks like it has lost its powers, they will return.

Posted 09/09/09