Heroes season 1 episode 2 review

This show started with an incredible premise. Everyday people starts to have superpowers. Each one discover their power and try to deal with it. There is also serial killer Sylar who discovers a way to kill these special people and take their powers.

Like the brightest of stars, they burn hottest but don't last. This show fizzled as the story got more and more complicated. The vast number of characters with unique superpowers gets out of hand. There are too many to maintain. Like a truck overloaded, it just couldn't continue and rolled over. By the 2nd or 3rd season, this show gets increasingly convoluted and becoming almost unwatchable. They try to reboot the 4th season by adding a whole new set of people and a circus. Of course, it didn't work and the show was canceled. The first season is a 9 or even 10 but it's a long slide into 4 territory at the end.

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6/10

Season One was amazing, then the writers were apparently replaced by marsupials!

Warning: Spoilers

I'd have to give the first season of HEROES either a 9 or a 10. It was brilliantly written and the characters were very engaging. However, apparently NBC thought that the writers were expendable and for season two and beyond, marsupials were chosen to write the episodes. My theory is that wombats began writing it, my daughter thinks they are Tazmanian Devils--either way, this is great stuff if written by animals with little gray matter in their primitive brains. If, on the off chance, humans are still writing the show, then they really should be ashamed. Why ashamed? Well, apparently what has happened in previous seasons ISN'T particularly important and characters do things from season to season that are inconsistent--making all the characters seem like they have schizophrenia! This is especially true when Sylar becomes "Mrs. Clever" for a while and Mohinder, fighting to cure everyone, then deliberately infects himself?!?!?! What were they thinking?! In addition, some characters began with such promise but the new writers of seasons two and three apparently forgot that the characters should grow and develop--not seem pathetic and stupid. As an example, I point to Hiro. He was very likable and naive as the show began but you knew that his character would evolve into something greater. But, in season two and three he was still pretty much an idiot with no growth and apparently not much common sense (I point to his letting the letter from the safe fall out of his hands so quickly as well as his letting his arch-enemy out of the coffin--two really dumb moves). Now, instead of cute, he's just annoying. In fact, by season three they ALL were pretty much annoying and week to week their actions varied so much you thought the writers were just picking plot points out of a hat or they hated their fan base so much they WANTED to alienate them!! My advice, then, is to watch season one and just stop. Season two is bad but don't even try watching it because three only gets a lot worse!! Geez, I hope that the show gets canceled soon! I hate it for pulling me in and keeping me watching week after week only to find that ultimately there is NO payoff!!

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6/10

Season 1 made me think this was going to be one of the best superheroes show...

The concept of this show is about people with special powers similar to mutants in the Marvel universe. And how the characters cope with it and what they decide to do with it. The main drive of this show isn't necessarily the the superpowers, but the subconscious and the philosophical aspects that revolve around power. Unfortunately this is one of those shows that has a very captivating and entertaining first season, but goes downhill from there. It probably has to do with the fact that after the first season it was first planned to introduce new characters with brand new main characters with just Suresh (who is sort of the Beast character from the Marvel universe without the furriness). Which didn't go into effect because they wanted to keep the main cast that become dis-likable and annoying as the seasons drags on. The writer strike could have been a big factor why the show started to go downhill after season 1. I think season 2 was the most boring season of all. Season 3 it sort of picks up, but just about everything is so inconsistent with the story and the character that it takes away a lot form the experience. The 4th season revolves around a mutant carnival and they just seemed to drag that on way too much. And the constant love, hate relationship between Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) and Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) gets really really annoying...Like super annoying and irritating. As a matter of fact most of the chemistry that starts out strong in the first season goes downhill. The story gets poorly written for each season after one that even the characters decisions and motives makes no sense sometimes. Especially the villains in the shows, including Sylar. And to increase the running time of the show, it has multiple story arcs that doesn't go anywhere. One of the most disappointing part about the show is the showdown between Peter and Sylar. The constant plot-holes and tons of time paradoxes when it comes to time travel doesn't make things better. Overall this is a show that has a good start but gets worse and worse with each installment. Who knows, maybe just maybe the fifth season could have been a boost with the world knowing about super humans and might go in the direction like "True Blood" except people with super powers going out into the public. And Sylar's redemption might have been cool to watch. To sum it up it's one of those shows that soars skyward with the first season and spirals downward. I give this show a 6.4/10 because I found some of the philosophical aspects to be intriguing.

6.4/10

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7/10

Superheroes

I was awestruck watching the way it took off. One character at a time, it kept developing. The fantasy was top-notch, plot like never before. It gave the traditional save-the-world genre, a new look. Season 1 was magnificent. Few characters, mostly Hiro, were impeccable. It did look stretched in the second half. The first 4-5 episodes of season 1 were exceptional. Soon, it started slowing down. Episode 10 was the greatest of them. However, yet again, it started slowing the pace and awesomeness. Only the last couple of them were magnificent after the 10th. The climax was stunning. I enjoyed the complete season 1 and it was a package full of fantasy, emotions, creativity and wonderful characters.

Season 2 never looked the same. It couldn, even for once, keep up to the level of the first.

I eneded in the middle of season 2 until things started making no sense whatsoever. Hiro wasn't hiro either.

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7/10

Unfortunate Writer's Strike Mid-S2.

Season One was excellent, but the writer's strike Mid-Season Two made for a clumsy unanticipated finale. Unfortunately, the series suffered as a result and never fully recovered with many writing inconsistencies that followed. My rating reflects the goodwill and potential based on the first season and took -1 per season that followed.

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5/10

Great start but season 2 & 3 goes downhill

I loved the first series - innovative, good story, slick cgi, great cliff-hangers. Sadly season 2 seemed to lose it's way (story wise), and it all started to get messy - worse still it was full of moments when you say "what the... why would you do that?!!!?!" for example, you've had a major fight within your arch nemesis & for once he's on the floor unconscious - now is your chance -finally! - so what do you do - would you a) pick up the gun on the floor and take the 2 seconds to shoot that person, or b) leave & then come back later..... let me see now...

Let me give you another example - you are a Dr, and the former most dangerous man in the world, who you know murdered countless people & almost brought the city to the edge of destruction, comes to visit - but you find out he's lost all his powers. He "thinks" you can help him get these powers back with an injection, do you a) give him the injection - knowing he'll probably be unstoppable & continue to murder his way through humanity, or do you b) give him an injection of something like saline, or even better some sort of poison - which he wouldn't have known you were doing as he had no medical knowledge??? Again, let me think....

Too many moments like this made it silly and unbelievable, which is a shame....

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7/10

Whole package

I have to agree with another reviewer that wrote that the show starts off good. I have to disagree with the notion of only rating and reviewing a show based on a couple of episodes or even just one season. You have to see the whole package. Something that is also true of our heroes on display here. The variety at the beginning is something that is great to see.

The fact it gets predictable and jumps the shark quite early (even season 2 one might say). There are too many coincidences, too many convinient things happening, too predictable, too much hoping and giving the viewers all the characters almost all the time. And then there are character developments that are just plain ... well not good to say the least. Flipping and switching to serve a narrative or artificially heighten the tension.

You may accuse me of being too harsh and you may not care for some of those things. But I am laying them out there for you, not that they are hard to spot. So it is up to you to decide what weight you see in certain things and what matters most to you. I always follow through with watching stuff, even when I lose interest. But I want to able to know where something is going ... clearly the makers didn't think the last season here, would actually be the last season. I have not researched but there may be a continuation in comic books, something Buffy and Angel did for example. Whatever the case, it will leave you with an uneven feeling ...

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1/10

A painful fall from a 10/10 S1 to a 1/10 S4.

This must by far be the worst butchering of a TV series ever. It is almost impressive how they totally trash a tremendous show along the way until only a burning wreck remains. The writers responsible should quit their jobs and live in shame for the rest of their lives. This is a painful display of inconsistency and incompetent writing. I was actually excited when I heard about "heroes reborn" but now that I have just finished s4 I am not so sure anymore. Maybe I will watch it out of pure curiosity and I am telling myself that it can not get any worse. This show desperately needs Hiro to go back to the start of s2 and bitchslap everyone around the writingtable.

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2/10

Make your own "Heroes" plot generator

Warning: Spoilers

If you love "Heroes", but don't have time to watch it, you can save that time by making your own "Heroes" plot generator. Just take a bunch of poker chips, and write the following plot points on them: Sylar kills somebody. Sylar's dead. Sylar's alive. Mohinder is trying to figure out who the good guys are. Claire cuts herself with a knife. Claire jumps off a building. Claire's dad appears to be good. Claire's dad appears to be bad. Hiro jumps in the air with his hands up and yells "We did it!", Peter's hair is in his eyes, Nikki is wimpy, Nikki is kicking butt, A character has a new power, Adam is doing something jerky, etc. Now put the poker chips in a bag, shake them, and lay 10 of them out on the table. You've got yourself a "Heroes" episode.

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1/10

It's hard not to feel betrayed.

Warning: Spoilers

It's impossible for me to find a rating that reflects the overall quality of the show. It started out strong; the first season was far from perfect, but it had an energy and a message that simply felt good. There were incredibly fulfilling episodes, such as Homecoming, Company Man, Five Years Gone, and heart-warming character moments not just for a few, but for most characters. I felt safe with this show. Anyway, one of the show's biggest problems became obvious in th finale, when all the character came together for a mostly underwhelming showdown. Somehow, Heroes was best when it did not follow closely to a plan, but allowed its characters some room to develop naturally. The best moments and characters of Season 1 are thanks to the writers having enough sense to use the opportunities that opened up. When Noah Bennet proved a more interesting character than previously hoped for, his role became bigger. The same for Sylar. The enmity between Mohinder and Sylar. Molly. It all grew naturally, and lost its momentum only when everything was yanked back into the intended showdown.

The second season put a damper on the mood. What fans wants to wait a whole season only to find out one of their favourite characters died between seasons? I'm one of the few who didn't mind the new characters. They felt fresh and gave new impulses, showed us new perspectives on their power. What really slowed the series down to a crawl was the need to force certain other characters back into the plot, even though they no longer had any purpose, and should in fact have died in the season finale. Since the writers could not think of what to do with these characters (Nathan, Peter, Claire mostly) they simply rehashed their previous story lines. But there was still enough to keep me interested, and I thought that if I could see the problems of Season 2, then surely the writers could see them as well.

Sadly, Season 3 came and was a nightmare, a disaster. Characters were written off, other characters had their backstories and even basic motivations retconned. The once international cast was suddenly down to three (two of which are the Asian comic relief), and all the characters who had already run out of steam by the end of Season 1 were now front and centre, source and solution of the problems. Showrunner Tim Kring now declared that Heroes was actually about the Petrellis and the Bennets. Had I known that from the start, I wouldn't have bothered - I started watching when he described the show to be about "ordinary people across the globe". Instead, Heroes is now about a bunch of upper-class New Yorkers ensuring one another that it's okay they started a genocide. Heroes did the impossible with Season 3: they made a show that bears little to no resemblance to Season 1. They also managed to make Sylar into one of the most obnoxious characters on TV. They shed all pretension of being interested in diversity. Consistency and continuity have been tossed overboard, not just in regard to previous season, but even with things established just an episode earlier.

I chose the rating to reflect this disappointment, too. If I was to judge only the first two seasons, the rating would be considerably higher. But in the end, the complete product shows a disrespect towards the audience, a hatred for its own characters and story lines except a few precious upper-class New Yorkers, like I've never seen it before. It leaves a foul taste in my mouth. As a viewer, you're lost. Can I grow attached to this character, or will he die, or will the next episode forget he existed, will this storyline be dropped or will his entire personality be switched around? Probably. What reason is there to watch?

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Laborious Plot Hole

Warning: Spoilers

When Nathan sacrifices himself saving brother Peter Petrelli and flying of to explode in the sky. They could have simply stuck a knife / or shard of glass in the back of his head. As per earlier episodes with Peter and Clare Bear. And 'froze/killed' him. Actually why couldn't Peter fly? Just no need for Nathan to die, unless there is moral statement regarding salvation or redemption and it just ain't that deep. There seems to be a new breed of serialised drama which follows a basic pattern of lots of characters and little air time per person as in soaps. Little character depth or plot development. As entertaining as the series was there could never be a real ending, and ultimately this just falls flat.

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6/10

Interesting premise ruined by pandering to the masses

Warning: Spoilers

The first year of this series started out as a 10, but the series declined as the seasons went by. One of the biggest problems was the self-destructive need to maintain actors and actresses that were becoming popular outside of the series well beyond their relevance to the series. For me, this was greatly exemplified by the continued presence of the Petrilli brothers. Their sacrifice at the end of Season 1 crowned that season and, if they had died as it was thought they would, the two characters would have been remembered as glorious examples for future "Heroes" to emulate. Instead, Peter's character became an unwieldy plot point because his powers were truly as ultra- powerful as Superman's. Likewise, Nathan's character vacillated between corrupt and good. I had heard that the original plan was that many of each season's characters were supposed to die at the end of each season.. This would have greatly helped the series for me. I can only imagine that this idea was rejected by the producers of the series. No new characters were ever allowed to stay for long, and so the fun of each good character's journey to Hero was removed. The Villains were usually a mixed bag, and the one good Villain, Sylar, was bound to the same overly extended stay on the series that the popular Heroes were, to the point where his fans began to lose their taste for him. Let this be a lesson: let the writers rule. If necessary, have them write a series Bible that details all plot lines, but don't have them re-write to adjust to what the producers think that audiences want. Producers are usually to insulated to know that answer.

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9/10

1 episode and I'm hooked....

I first saw the teaser commercial for Heroes at the end of Medium's last season and started salivating. And now that I've tuned in I'm hooked. The premise of super-humans has been done before and most recently in Mutant X. And I've been around to check these shows out. The misfit one with Courtney Cox was an old favorite. But none of these shows garnished the pure mystery that Heroes had going for it all the way to the end of the pilot. Plus a killer cast should make it a surefire hit.

I've loved Adrian Pasdar since he chewed up the screen in Profit and while he seems to be playing a similar role here, he is balanced by Milo Ventimigilia as his kid brother with a more human heart and dreams he can fly.

But the real scene stealing of the show belongs to the ladies. Ali Larter creates a believable single mother with serious money problems. Her strange gift is actual scary and has yet to have been fleshed out. The sequence where she awakes to find things have gone horribly wrong in her favor are chill inducing.

And on the flip side Hayden Panettiere's discovery of her gift is grueling, bloody, and refreshingly ironic as a modern day Supergirl. All her stunt work in a cheerleader's outfit made me smile. And by the show's end a revelation comes about her family life that made the show even more interesting.

With a painter who creates art that sees into the future and a comedic turn by Masi Oka and his abilities it's hard not to enjoy heroes. It twists and turns in only an hour and keeps you grounded to the characters and the situations they fall into. The previews for upcoming episodes made me actually want more. If your not tuning in on Monday nights, you might be missing something spectacular.

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10/10

Not at all ordinary

Warning: Spoilers

"Heroes" is similar to Marvel's "X-Men," in that its characters discover they have different powers. But where "X-Men" is driven more by action and plot, "Heroes" is more character-driven.

The show focuses on an ensemble of eight characters, each of whom have a different power. Claire Bennett is a high school cheerleader with the power of spontaneous regeneration, DL Hawkins has the power to phase through matter, Isaac Mendez is a brilliant artist who can paint the future, Hiro Nakamura is the office worker who can bend and travel through space-time, LAPD Officer Matt Parkman has the power of telepathy, Nathan Petrelli is the ambitious politician who can fly, his brother Peter is an in-home nurse with the ability to absorb others' powers when he is near them, and Niki Sanders has super strength.

But what separates "Heores" from most shows and movies is that each of our heroes are uniquely flawed. Claire, like most high school seniors, frequently forgets who her real friends are. DL is running from the law. Isaac is addicted to heroin, and can only see the future when he is high. The wonderfully geeky Hiro used his power for personal gain. Matt is dyslexic and has marital problems. Nathan cares more about his career than his family, particularly Peter, who suffers from depression. And Niki, a single mom and internet stripper, has a brutally violent alter-ego.

Parents be warned: "Heroes" deals with some very mature subject matter, including rape, infidelity, drug addiction, and mental illness, and the show is rather graphic. But it is smartly written and very well acted, with deep characters you'll actually care about.

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5/10

From very good to very bad

Warning: Spoilers

Many Spoilers be aware

As the series went on I could only but be disappointed from what was a very good start. I would say that for the first 2/3rd of the series it really deserve a good 8/10, for its originality, the efforts made in creating different heroes and a real nasty and evil Villain. Then it turns into a family affair where every character is in relation of some sort with the other, with vague mention of a secret society that is not even fully exploited nor explained. Also there are more and more inconsistencies in the power of Peter Petrelli (replicating other's power) which is automatic when needed by the script (regeneration, be invisible, becoming radioactive etc..) and inoperative when really useful (replicating Sylar's powers at first, second or even third encounter, time travel from Hiro and so on) and not to mention that he never uses the ones he really need when he needs them (unlike Sylar), why did it take him the last episode to listen to anyone's mind (aside from the accidental encounter with Parkman), and why does he need his brother to fly him and play the firework while he can fly all by himself (his first ever duplicated power).

So as you can see I'm really upset that a very good start turned into such an anti-climax. The cheap fight against Sylar, and the first few images of the teaser of the second season don't reassure me with the potential disappearance of Sylar's body in the sewage (how the Hell could anyone let him move even an inch) or Hiro in Medieval Cliché type Japan....

Watch it when you really don't have anything better to do and watch Battlestar Galactica instead if you look for the best TV series ever (who said I'm subjective)

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1/10

Dropping the ball

Warning: Spoilers

How they could've ruined such a wonderful thing is beyond anyone's imagination. Season 1 was magnificent, with an addictive plot, great character development and a slow unveiling of what's to come.

Season 2 was so so but slow, and take any 20 minute segment in Season 3 you understand the show has gotten unbearable. They don't explain a damn thing and the plot is too convoluted to care. Instead you see how the writers using their now totally uninteresting storyline as an excuse to make all the good guys become the bad guys and vice versa. Do this enough times and you're going to loose an audience. It's like trying to keep a child with ADD interested with flashy magic. The little side adventures with the vortex guy or mind controller guy were completely uninteresting.

There are many flaws with the script, but off the top of my head here's one: They build up Adam as this super powerful/influential guy and beside the healing ability they don't even explain how, and then he gets easily killed to make room for the next big villain.

Cancellation is coming soon! Quit while you guys made some money.

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9/10

The Best pilot this season...so far

Heroes, in this writers opinion, is probably the most compelling pilot I've seen this year. Yeah there's "traveler" "Jericho" "Kidnapped"... they were good, but nothing that wasn't predictable. I must give credit to "Tim Kring" the creator of this series much credit for not treating the viewers like idiots. Superhero TV shows always have tendency to be wannabee big-budget Jr. movies. "Heroes" will have none of that! From reading the outline one would an expect "X-men" rip-off. Such is not the case for "Heroes." It is completely original in it's presentation. It would be a crime for me to give away plot details. I just hope the rest of the series continues to be this smart.By the way, it's nice to see "Ali Larter" given a provocative role like the the one she plays in this series, that's demonstrates her range as an actress. Kudos to all involved! Now only if NBC gives this darn show a friggin' chance!

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8/10

IMO THIS SERIES IS WHAT INVENTED THE WORDS "GREAT SERIES".

SAVE THE CHEERLEADER.... SCREW THE WORLD! SHE ALL I NEED BRO!

Let me tell you a little bit about why we have great series today like Stranger Things and Game of Thrones and all that...

Back when, in case a lot of you forgot, and I know even I almost did, there was a deserted wasteland called "TELEVISION", and it was usually only visited by braindead, unimaginative zombies, with rarities like the original Star Trek series starring William Shatner being the only standouts, so much so that shos like it remain legendary to this day for good reason. Anyone with real sense waited for good movies to hit the big screen, and TV was reserved for laugh-track sitcoms and the news. Many series came and went, and vast majority were garbage no one alive today either remembers or has ever heard of.

Amid this clutter of eye-gougers was Heroes, something that hadn't particularly been attempted before: portraying people with superhero-like powers in a modern light, complete with the implications such powers would have on the world around them and their social lives. It was an incredible start, you had engaging characters played by compelling actors in Peter and Hiro right out of the gates, and not long after, ONE OF THE GREATEST UNDISPUTED VILLAINS OF ALL TIME: Sylar, played by Zachary Quinto. How undisputed? Well, it scored him the role of Spock in the latest Star Trek trilogy of films, where he did another fantastic job. BUT, all was not well in the kingdom of the idiot-boxes...

The entire industry went on strike. What had started off with a huge bang in season 1 of Heroes, already a well-known tv phenomenon in its first season, turned into a fading spark as production of season 2 was cut short (amazingly, despite which, turned out to be another great, engaging season, brimming with promise). In a time where working in TV series was a tough living due to limited market and viewership compared to today's mire of streaming services and screen-time, they had to work within constraints to shorten what they had originally planned, condensing a story that was still very strong, but had untapped potential. So they wrapped it up, and TV series were literally not a thing for quite a few months, if not the better part of a year, as TV production of that variety was halted, not even quite sure how it happened, let alone whether it would be possible for it to happen in today's market, and all that furious momentum the series had already built up was utterly lost, since, in those days, going more than a few weeks without seeing a series meant that the series died in your mind, since on-demand wasn't a thing.

So then, the industry started up again, and the show came back. But they tried something a bit off the beaten path of the previous two seasons, something involving a carnival, I can't remember what, but basically a little bit too much of a freakshow, and not familiar enough for fans of the first two seasons, and it kind of Petered-out, pun intended (the main character's name is Peter, yes), and neither of those seasons lived on in the memories of fans the way the first two had. Sure it had the familiar goodness of some of the same characters, who all remained stalwart and faithful to what we expected of them, but just weren't faced with situations or drama that interested us anymore.

Later they even tried to bring it back again, with Heroes Reborn, but the bread-and-butter of the series had moved on, and the very few engaging characters who remained weren't strong enough to pull the weight, if anything only doing further damage to the series, never once regaining the glory of the first two legendary seasons, which were really only a season and a half because of season 2 being cut short by the strike.

And now we find ourselves here today, with the Disney+ service offering the full catalogue of Marvel films and coughing up mediocre spin-off series, Netflix struggling more often than not to create engaging content, some notable entries like Powers and The Boys and Peacemaker, thank goodness. And yet, a lot of people forget, before the Avengers and X-Men films got lit, a lot of that superhero momentum was already generated by this series from out of left field, Heroes, and the grand-daddy of the Marvel film universe, starring, yes, a black dude: Blade, starring Wesley Snipes.

So if you're a supe fan (and who isn't these days), you owe it to yourself to go back a little farther and see where it all started.

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8/10

What the hell happened?

Warning: Spoilers

This is truly sad: when something has so much potential and then it just fades away and dies. Heroes was the rose in the desert of NBC and then it lost it's bloom so quickly. It began with the characters waking up with the question of what purpose do they have in the world and the quest to search for that meaning while these individuals realize that they have supernatural powers: Peter Petrelli, the kind hearted and gentle nurse has the ability to absorb powers; His brother, Nathan, a politician, has the ability to fly; Matt Parkman, an LAPD officer with marital and career problems is telepathic; Nikki Sanders, a Las Vegas showgirl and single mother with a dual (and deadly) alter ego; Her son Micah, a young prodigy with the talent of manipulating technology; Hiro Nakamura, a Japanese nerd who can time travel and teleport; Isaac Mendez, a NYC artist and heroin junkie can see the future and depicts them through his art; and of course, Claire Bennett, a teenage girl and high school cheerleader who has the amazing ability to heal and even come back from the dead. While these individuals slowly begin to realize their awakening powers and that their destinies will meet there are also evil shadows lurking from the giant company led by Noah Bennett (Claire's adopted father) that wants to control and harness their powers to the soulless villain, Sylar, who kills people with special abilities and acquires them for himself. The first season of Heroes had me hooked and the show came at the perfect time when people wanted to see a show about heroes and escape from war and a looming economic recession. But then I saw Season 2 and I was disappointed but I didn't give up because of the Writer's Strike. And I waited for Season 3 and I stopped caring. The characters went from three dimensional to one dimensional; Plot holes were laid out to trap clichés; Too many new characters were introduced and viewers were never allowed to get to know more of the characters we knew from Season 1. The writers killed off key characters like Isaac Mendez, the prophet; And some and interesting characters from Season 1 and Season 2 disappeared (what happened to little Molly, the little girl who can pinpoint the location of others like herself); Why did the show become so dark so quickly? It seems that the writers and creators of the show stopped caring and so did I. It's a shame and it's sad. I loved this show and I miss it for it was...so has it's fans.

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7/10

Wildly uneven, but getting back on top

Heroes is one of the most controversial shows of the decade, but not for the reasons you may think. When Heroes premiered, it was one of the most popular shows on television. Fanboys were created around the world, but disaster struck: Heroes, for reasons unknown, started to suck after a wonderful first volume. Fanboys were in denial everywhere: Was their precious Heroes really going down the drain, or was it just a hiccup? People expected old Heroes to come back when volume three came to us, and.... Heroes was awful. People stopped watching, but as they stopped, the old Heroes we loved slowly came back in volume four. Now the show is in volume five, and did the show returned to form? Read on...

VOLUME ONE: GENESIS - Here's the thing about Heroes: Instead of having "seasons" like normal TV shows, it has "volumes" to be more like comic books. Volume One is where everything starts. In it the Heroes must stop a nuclear bomb from exploding in NYC, but all of the Heroes are scattered around the world and none of them except one knows about it. We're introduced to the main cast that has remained with us up until recently. The best part about superhero stories has often been said to be the "discovery" phase, and the whole first season is devoted to that. As the volume progressed, the characters become more accustomed to their powers, showing the natural stages of average Joe to superman. The magic of real people having superpowers captivated the world. The only major downside to this volume was the average finale. People expected a grand finish for the volume, but one wasn't delivered. Maybe I wasn't disappointed because I watched this volume after the fact, but fans were just plain angry. Despite the sub par finale, expectations still soared for volume two...

VOLUME TWO: GENERATIONS - Volume Two dealt with heroes from the past, and the heroes also had to stop a virus from being released. Sounds exciting... at least on paper. In execution however, this volume was horrible. Nothing happened in the first 4 episodes. It was BORING. These people have superpowers, but they aren't doing anything. Things started to pick up, but none of it seemed to be planned out. As the volume started to be interesting, the volume was cut short due to the writer's strike. What we're left with is a boring mess that made fans want to tare their hair out. Tim Kring apologized for the show's 180 degree turn in quality. Fans laid the blame on the writer's strike, so expectations soared yet again for volume three...

VOLUME THREE: VILLAINS - Volume three had the heroes trying to stop a formula which gives normal people superpowers from being mass produced, and would therefore destroy the world. This season started out by introducing new characters to us and created exciting new twists that should have been awesome. After the premier though, things started to suck. Instead of things being too slow now, they were too fast. Random things were happening left and right, the plot was spinning out of control, and fans everywhere gave up on the show. Thankfully, this volume was only half the season, and Heroes then segued into volume four...

VOLUME FOUR: FUGITIVES - After the events in volume three, the show rightfully decided to ignore most of volumes two and three. This volume had the heroes on the run from the US government. After the madness of the last two volumes, people had given up on the show. Something happened which I started calling the "Heroes effect". The Heroes effect is this logic: The last two volumes of Heroes were so awful that Heroes is bad forever no matter what. This of course is not true. With this volume, the plot slowed down and the heroes started doing rational things. We started to actually care for them again, and they did things logically again. The magic of the show started to return, but by this point there were only about 10 people left who cared enough to notice. The volume also slowly drifted away from most of the show's usual tropes, and fans started to actually look forward to next week's episode. With Heroes starting to get back on track, we now have the current volume...

VOLUME FIVE: REDEMPTION - This volume, aptly titled "Redemption", shows how the writers have learned from their mistakes. The cast aren't bouncing off the walls like in Volume Three, but they aren't sleeping like in Volume Two. The heroes did things we can relate to again, the new villains this round were the most interesting since the first volume, and most of the stuff they did was logical. It started off a bit slow, but takes off with episode 4. After that most of the episodes were awesome up until episode 12; then the volume became really boring. Almost Volume 2 boring. It kills all of the momentum it built up. It's like this for a while, but then the last 4 episodes are fantastic. This volume, unlike all of the others, actually has a satisfying ending. If it didn't have those really slow episodes in the middle, Volume Five would be just as good as Volume One. It's certainly more entertaining than the previous three volumes.

Looking back, it's a miracle how the show got back on track. Heroes promised so much in volume one, but didn't deliver any of it. Heroes had fallen so far that the turn around in quality doesn't even matter now. Most people who watched the show are now biased against it, and the ratings are so low that the show's future is in doubt. Luckily NBC's ratings suck this season, and Heroes is still one of its better performing shows, so Heroes might get lucky.

If you plan to watch Heroes for the first time, skip volumes two and three. They'll make your brain hurt.

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3/10

a storyline to thinly spread that ends up in an even weaker ending

Warning: Spoilers

When I first heard about heroes I liked the idea very much. It wasn't original in any way (Basically X-men brought more realistically because of low Special Effects budget), but it managed to peak my interest. The beginning wasn't bad, original cast members who were well suited for their roles.

unfortunately that is were the good ends. The build up is way to slow, and often mainly filler material to get to a full season. Things get dragged out, and become boring. Basically, the only reason I stuck with it was on the hope of getting a spectacular ending.

The ending however, was even worse. The writers throw out all logic for their convenience, and there is not 1 exciting or spectacular moment in the entire confrontation with sylar.

Peter spends the entire series learning new powers, and what does he do with them. You guessed it, absolutely nothing.

Sylar, who has basically been doing the same thing, does what he always does: he uses his telekinesis, and only his telekinesis. Boy, it sure was good he robbed all those powers! And apparently, his super-hearing gave out, as he was surprised by both Niki and Hiro.

Niki, finally joined with her alter ego Jessica, puts her great strength to good use. She hits Sylar over the head with a parking meter, before Peter tells her to back off. Else, the makers of the show might have had to spend some money on special effects. Another character who turns out to be a great help! Clair? Well, basically, she stands around a lot. Doesn't do anything. Didn't see that one coming.

Parkman thinks it's a good idea to shoot Sylar. Something simple as a bullet must do the trick right? Wrong, since Sylar uses his Telekenesis (didn't see that one coming either) to bounce the bullets back to Parkman. Let's keep our fingers crossed, and hope he dies.

And then of course, Hiro. All those valuable sword lessons by his father really payed off, since Hiro now understands that with a sword, the best fighting technique is to point the pointy end of the sword towards your opponent, and then run toward your enemy screaming until you impale him. This must have been the most idiotic part of Sylar Season 1 demise. Apparently, their was no money for fight choreography either The only conclusion you can make: very disappointing indeed. Living proof that even complete rubbish can be a big hit (Lost syndrome perhaps?)

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9/10

A very good start to a show that only promises to get better.

Although the show's concept is sort of a ripoff of the X-Men concept of people evolving to have super powers, I have to admit it was enjoyable. The acting was all very well done as were the slices of life that introduced you to each character. The effects are kept very low-key making it more believable than the typical super hero show. There is a great underlying darkness that permeates as well, giving one the feeling that some very bad things are about to happen. My mom even liked it, and she usually just sticks to shows about cops and politics (like West Wing, Law & Order, and CSI). If you haven't seen it give it a try. It's a very good show so far and only promises to get better.

I will definitely be tuning in for the next episode myself.

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5/10

Sometimes frustrating, sometimes brilliant.

Warning: Spoilers

Think 'X-Men' crossed with 'the Matrix', a splash of 'Buffy', a touch of 'Crash', a little bit of 'Lost'... and you still haven't quite got it. Somehow, Heroes manages to come across as refreshing and original, despite the fact that it does NOTHING new! Sprawling interconnected story lines, stopping bullets, superheroes who are regular Joes, persecution of said superheroes, an evil and mysterious corporation... you name it. But there are touches of humanity throughout the show that somehow keep it all from being lame.

The most obvious example of this, of course, is Hiro. His adorably geeky, big-hearted character was my favourite. Claire Bennet was also surprisingly three-dimensional as the invincible cheerleader, and her relationship with her father was sensitively drawn. Micah, the precocious child of two 'heroes', and Niki/Jessica (with some astounding subtleties of acting) were my other reasons for watching the show. For some reason, I never found Peter or Nathan Petrelli too interesting, nor Mohinder, nor Isaac. Sylar frankly annoyed me. He was neither vague enough to be mysterious, nor fleshed-out enough to be interesting. Sorry! Characters aside, the show had its weak points. The immensely long 'Previously on Heroes' voiceovers were obnoxious, and Mohinder's soothing quasi-scientific, quasi-philosophical burblings about 'evolyution' were repetitive to the point of tuneout. The special effects were nicely done, but fairly unimaginative; and there were one too many Neo-esquire bullet-stopping shots for my taste. But my biggest gripe has to be the Season One finale. Very underwhelming! *spoilers* I know Peter was busy blowing up and all, but why exactly did he require his brother to fly him up out of harm's way? He could have done it himself, easily. By the same token, why was Claire so distraught about the prospect of shooting him? He had her ability; presumably he could have 'died', allowing him to calm down and not blow up, and then renegerate moments later. Unfortunately, these aren't the kinds of plot holes which one thinks of six months later. They're the sort of thing you say out loud during the scene, expecting it to be explained or at least addressed... but no. It was a shame, because that really pulled me out of the moment, and made the entire last episode seem rather shoddily-done.

Whether or not I'll continue watching Season 2 is debatable. On the other hand, my husband loved it and couldn't wait to see what would happen.

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10/10

A contender for Best Show Ever!

When I saw the trailer for this in the surprising best movie I've ever seen, The Descent, I knew it looked unique, different, and fantastic, but I had no idea just how great it would be.

"Heroes" prevails without a doubt in the area of character development. The show is not reliant on constant action but rather an incredible relation to the realistic characters and then a mind-blowing release. "Homecoming" is a favorite episode of mine because of the way it sealed up the whole "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" deal. I'm sure the season finale will be absolutely extraordinary as well, as it should all lead up to an amazing concluding episode. One could only imagine my joy when it was officially announced for a second season. All of the characters are interesting, intriguing, and well-written, and my favorites are Peter and Claire.

Not only is "Heroes" a perfect character drama piece, but also a mesmerizing tale of what would happen if real people with real emotions got superpowers. The images are stunning and vivid, and the special effects are subtle and realistic. This is what a good superhero show should be.

After nearly an entire season, I already rank "Heroes" second among my favorite TV shows of all time—it ranks second just under "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." There isn't a single negative thing to say about the show except for the fact that after the passing of each episode, you only want more, more, more! This is, quite honestly and truly, the most addictive show ever on television. Be sure not to miss even a single episode of "Heroes!" You should check out one of the highest rated new shows—you won't be disappointed!

EDIT: After all of season 1 has completed and the finale aired, Heroes is still one of my favorite shows. The finale was my favorite episode of the entire season as every storyline reached its peak and all of the characters finally met face to face. I loved every minute of it.

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Starts great but then just falls apart

The basic idea was great. We all love superheroes with special powers. We love how they are above everyone else and can do what they want.

When I first saw the previews I could not wait for the show to start. It seems like finally some fresh wind in the genre. And at first it seemed like it. Great visuals and great filmography with a cool narrator. But then I started noticing how the story was not moving anywhere, how the narrator started getting annoying and sometimes had the dumbest of lines. Then there were numerous plot holes, we started getting way too many heroes(for the writers anyhow, they were not capable of properly incorporating them into the story so they became a nuisance) and the worst of all in my book, because of too much material and inability to tie it all in with the story, the viewer never gets to see the proper development of the heroes and accepting their powers and using them while not constantly b*tching about it. Basically all of the heroes acted very unrealistically. Except Sylar, who was a really well portrayed bad guy, everyone else was just a mess. I did not buy the story nor the motivation of the characters. And do not get me started how some of the characters are so annoying I actually always skipped their segment (Niki and the little kid anyone? ).

The seconds season and afterwards is not worth mentioning. The stupid pictures and all that just seemed forced. They should have finished with that. Though in any case the writers just mess it all up. The story becomes unwatchable and the characters behave even worse I thought possible.

All in all, the series starts great, great idea, great visuals. But then we have too many characters, story starts slowing down to a crawl, plot holes and loose ends, stupid confusing story, stupid heroes with unrealistic behavior who constantly complain about everything and as a viewer one does not get the satisfaction of seeing his favourite hero really embracing his powers and acting normally. Etc..

How good was Heroes Season 1?

Critical reception. During the series' first season, the American Film Institute named Heroes one of the ten "best television programs of the year." Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "the show's super strengths are its well-developed filmmaking, smooth pacing and a perfect cast.

What happened to the TV show Heroes?

Faced with committing a sizable budget to a series whose ratings had fallen in successive seasons, NBC made the decision to cancel the series after the end of Season 4. Kring would later share some of his own insights about the factors that made Heroes a tough show to spread across an indefinite episodic format.

How did Heroes Season 1 end?

What happened to Sylar at the end of Heroes? Ando appeared in an attempt to stop him and revealed a comic book showing Hiro killing Sylar. Sylar dismissed it and headed off to face Peter. But it was Hiro who stabbed Sylar and seemingly killed him in the Season 1 finale, just as Isaac's comic had predicted.

How many episodes are in s1 Heroes?

23Heroes - Season 1 / Number of episodesnull