Chapter One - Genesis

[yellowqueen22]

As a total eclipse casts its shadow across the globe, a genetics professor (Sendhil Ramamurthy, “Blind Guy Driving”) in India is led by his father’s disappearance to uncover a secret theory — there are people with super powers living among us. A young dreamer (Milo Ventimiglia, “Gilmore Girls”) tries to convince his politician brother (Adrian Pasdar, “Judging Amy”) that he can fly. A high school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere, “Ice Princess”) learns that she is totally indestructible. A single mother (Ali Larter, “Final Destination”) struggles to make ends meet to support her young son (Noah Gray-Cabey, “My Wife & Kids”), discovers that her mirror image has a secret. A gifted artist (Santiago Cabrera, “Empire”), whose drug addiction is destroying his life and relationship with his girlfriend (Tawny Cypress, NBC’s “Third Watch”), can paint the future. And in Japan, a young man (Masi Oka, NBC’s “Scrubs”) develops a way to stop time through sheer will power. Yet, unbeknownst to them all, their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world…

[chloefan]

I'm such a total noob to this show. I missed it when it was airing so I bought a dvd set and have just seen the pilot!

[goldengait]

Genesis Episode Review

Let’s get one thing straight: this review is of the aired pilot, not the long, unaired, evil-twin version. In my world that one doesn’t exist. Don’t talk to me about it.

I enjoy the Star Wars-esque explanatory crawl. I do. This show is such a strange concept in a world chock-full of America’s Next Top Model and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Top Model answer: no, they are not) that I think it needed a quick download for the viewer so they wouldn’t feel dropped in and disoriented. However, it wasn’t a novel. Short and sweet. And effective.

One more basic Heroes comment: I love the music. That initial haunting vocal by Shenkar is awesome (although they randomly credit him twice as ‘Shankar’), and so very “Heroes”. Very distinctive, and very fitting. And congrats on being able to strike the right chord (no musical pun intended) right off the bat in the very first hour. Most shows take a couple episodes to get into its groove.

The first person we meet is Peter. Cute nurse Peter. I love him as a nurse, I think it’s an adorable aspect to his character—I’m just sad, knowing what I know now, two seasons later, that they dropped this facet of him entirely. But: a great way to introduce the character. We also meet Simone, who I never cared for—not in a bad way, she just never held my attention much, aside from her impact on Peter and Isaac. She kinda functions as a prop for me.

And the miraculous accent change! This is really the only episode where we get full, Indian-accent FOB Mohinder. Which brings me to the portion of our program where I take a moment to congratulate the creators of Heroes for having such a diverse cast. Pardon me while I soapbox momentarily, but it’s so nice to see a TV show that rivals a Bennetton ad for number of continents represented. And not only that, but the different ethnicities and nationalities aren’t used as jokes, either (okay…with very few exceptions). Even just the casting of Niki and Micah (and later DL)… I love it. Good job. Let’s hope other shows catch on.

Speaking of Niki, the déjà vu moment in the mirror as she turns and runs out of the room while looking for Micah is a lovely subtle hint of things to come. Although even now, two seasons later, I still don’t understand Niki’s split perfectly. The disturbing part of Niki’s first scene, though, is Huggerz69, the internet “perv” watching her strip. As is revealed later, Huggerz69 is none other than Ando, and I just can’t see him being the type to call her ***** when the whole set-up is clearly pay-for-peek. He seems too docile and deer-in-the-headlights for that. Huggerz69, however, could not be more appropriate as an internet handle for him. Nice job.

WHAT’S WITH THE COCKROACHES?? Mohinder mentions them in his initial lecture (1), and then squishes one in his father’s apartment in New York (2). Stay tuned, the tally will continue.

Nice moment: the back-of-the-head shot of HRG the first time he puts the glasses on. And wow, I was so surprised when he turned out to be Claire’s father. I have moments of complete and utter gullibility, and this was one of them, so I totally didn’t see this one coming. But I loved it once it happened. :-)

Claire. I think her introductory scene is the best out of all the characters in the pilot. The handheld camera works, the stunt and special effects were great (and apparently much more low-tech than one would imagine—listen to the DVD commentary), and Hayden’s performance is perfect, too. Considering how passionate this character is over the course of the next two seasons, it’s interesting how nicely Hayden’s deadpan, almost defeatist delivery of her first couple lines sets up who Claire is.

Nathan and Peter’s chemistry in the pilot is fantastic, the two actors immediately feeling like brothers on-screen, between Nathan’s condescending attitude toward Peter and Peter’s child-like enthusiasm and desire for his big brother to play with him. Their banter in Nathan’s campaign office and later at the precinct is great, and I think I actually prefer their pilot chemistry to how they develop together over the course of the season, as the shoulder holding and long gazes get more prolific.

Hiro is adorable! Very cartoonish, but in a good way. The show is pretty serious most of the time, so his joyous, childish, woo-hoo-ing dash down the cubicle hallway is a nice light moment. The shaky face and the Star Trek references are hysterical, and it’s nice to see someone other than Peter who is gung-ho about the possibility of having an ability and who has some pre-existing knowledge about it. Plus, the back-story on Masi Oka makes the whole thing cooler. Impressive: hxxp: youtube. com/watch?v=ln8P8RqQG2o Hear Masi’s back-story and watch him beatbox for Carson Daly. (Aside: Carson is too skinny and doesn’t know the correct definition of ‘momentarily’. )

Next I’d like to take the opportunity to turn the conversation to Mommy Dearest, Cruella DeVille, the one, the only, Angela Petrelli. Fabulous job with casting, and the wardrobe people consistently put the cherry on top of that character. The only problem I have here is that once they develop Angela a little more, I can’t believe this woman who is so incredibly image conscious would have been so cavalier about being arrested for shoplifting. Nice Angela moments: her flippant wave to Nathan as he leaves, and Peter’s slap on the stairs (which apparently was improvised—this makes me like it even more).

Isaac! I’ve never loved a plot device more. The entire character is there as a magic mirror, a crystal ball, something to advance the plot, but it works so well I don’t care one bit. Santiago makes what could be a very boring character into one of the more interesting ones to watch. Or maybe I like him so much because I’m an amateur artist myself and I just respond to men who paint. That could be part of it.

Musical missteps: when Peter sees Simone hailing a cab, and later when everyone looks up at the eclipse. This show lends itself to a good score, not a popular song with lyrics. But it’s the pilot, so I’ll give you this one as a mulligan.

Sandra Bennet really bothered me when she was first introduced. I mean really pissed me off. I wondered how the writers could fill a series with such wonderfully complex and interesting characters and then drop the ball so much by giving Claire such a one-dimensional, borderline cartoonish mother with no personality. Oh, GoldenGait of little faith. I should have known better and not doubted they had their reasons…

I have ultimate appreciation for series that demonstrate forethought and planning. Too many shows seem to write each episode as they come, introducing things and contradicting themselves as needed. It’s refreshing to see a show that can set up several intertwining, complex season story arcs within the pilot episode. Lost is another smart-show as far as continuity goes, and I’ve been very impressed with Heroes so far. I hope they can keep it going.

Bits and Pieces:

* This is one of only the first three episodes that start with the episode name in block font and not the usual font based on Tim Sale’s handwriting. I think. Maybe I should check on whose handwriting it is…. maybe my memory is fuzzy.
* Nice moment: Claire’s impatient snapping of her fingers when asking for the tape.
* Nice Adrian delivery: “She got arrested. ” “Arrested for what?” “Shoplifting. ”
* For a TV show, and especially for a pilot, the amount of special effects in this episode was amazing. The burning train cars were very cool. The whole episode looked very rich, which most pilots don’t.
* Funny moment: Mohinder’s mad dash from HRG and the cab. All he needed was to flail his hands more and give a high-pitched scream.
* Nice reveal of the bomb painting on Isaac’s floor. And I love that it’s survived so far into the series.

Til next episode, or visit my site for more reviews!
GoldenGait

[KalEltheBoyscout]

I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I would like it at all, but I gave it a chance and loved it. There are so many wonderful characters. My favorite would have to be Hiro just because he's instantly likable. I can't wait to catch up on the rest of the series because I am loving it.

[lili123]

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 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Complete Series previews for upcoming episodes made me actually want more. If your not tuning in on Monday nights, you might be missing something spectacular.