Heroes Wednesday: Year in Review

For a show about a flying man, an indestructible cheerleader, and a secret agent named Noah, Heroes didn't do that badly. According to PopMatters, Heroes was the most watched new show of the entire season and 23rd overall, averaging 13.5 viewers a week.

As you can find out by searching all the writing I did on Heroes this year, I was quite enamored with the show. I found the plots interesting and the way that things played out to be well done also. I wasn't completely happy with the finale, especially when compared to the apparently completely mindblowing ending of Lost, but well done, Island Dwellers.

Even though I know Sheryl won't read this because it'll be too long (love you, babe!) , let's run down the characters and where they came from in the course of the season...

• Hiro - Someone who really went on the hero's journey. I loved how he developed from the office geek to a true hero who possibly wanted to save the world because it enabled him to be a hero into someone who wanted to save the world and became a Hero as the result of it. (And who doesn't love Ando?)
• Nathan - The real question is did he plan all along to do what he did for Peter at the end or was it Claire's biting comments and then tres cool jump out the window? We'll either never know or find out next year. I thought the character overall was well played, although how he changed didn't have as much to do with his power as it did with gaining power, as pushed by his mom and Linderman.
• Peter - He was obviously the other one that we watched go through the Hero journey. We still don't know how powerful he will be if he survived his explosion (which I have to assume that he did, even if Nathan didn't), but it was very interesting to see him work with his power through the course of the season with his various mentors, Nathan on one hand and Claude on the other, who I really hope we see more of.
• Mohinder - Mohinder's best scenes were honestly with Sylar on the Road Trip of Doom. Him as the great Daddy avenger was not bad and good initial motivation, but I did like how he got more and more intertwined into the story. His scenes with Molly were nice at the end too.
• Parkman - On one hand, I'm really glad they dropped the wife storyline. It got tiresome, particularly in the face of saving the world. On the other hand, it grounded him and gave him some anchor, even if his wife was annoying and probably cheating on him.
• Niki - Oh thank goodness. I was so, so tired of her whiny "I'm not strong enough" tripe and when she finally admitted that she was strong enough and started whupping up on Candace and then Sylar. I'm looking forward to seeing new Niki next week.
• Micah and DL - Ummmm, except for getting a bullet in the gut, did DL change at all? And Micah might have rigged an election, but he was pretty static as well.
• Claire - Talk about embracing your destiny. She went from deeper-than-Jackie cheerleader and wanting to just be normal to having no issue with walking into a miniature nuclear holocaust to being willing to shoot her uncle in the head. Her next steps are going to be the most interesting to me.
• Bennett - I'm not sure I can ever call him Noah. He'll always be Bennett to me. I've got to say that Jack Coleman did some of the best acting on the show. He started as a guy that pretty much everyone assumed he was really evil to slightly evil with a strong love for his daughter to a morally gray guy working for the bad guys to a good guy with a slightly sociopathic streak. Still my favorite character on the show.
• Sylar - Aw poor Gabriel Gray. No one knows him except his "crazy" mother, so now he goes bad. And seriously bad. I'm not sure when he'll be back, but I'm positive that he will. Also, very well played by Zachary Quinto.

So there we are. All we really know about next season is that Hiro is stuck in the past and Claire and Bennett are heading "home." It's a long time until September but it was a great first season that I hope can keep it up.