Heroes: The Complete First Season

With its sprawling ensemble cast, comic-book mass appeal, and instantly catchy taglines ("Save the cheerleader, save the world.") Heroes swooped in to become the biggest hit of last television season and an addictive, satisfying fan favorite. The premise is simple–ordinary humans discover they can do extraordinary things"”but with each explosive episode the plot gets deeper and more captivating.

Heroes doesn't employ your average superhero gimmicks. Sure there are traditional themes of destiny and good versus evil, but the characters are relatable human beings as they struggle with their identity and ultimate purpose in the world. Taking a page out of Lost, their stories become more and more intertwined and we find out surprising ways in which each of our "heroes" is connected.

Each character has their own unique ability, and some prove more interesting than others. Break-out star Hayden Panettiere brings a sweet sadness to Claire, the high school cheerleader with the ability to heal herself. Ali Larter is riveting as the single mother with a dangerous split personality. She handles her dual roles beautifully, being desperate and vulnerable one moment than switching to ruthless and vengeful at the drop of a hat. The Emmy-nominated Masi Oka brings humor and heart to Hiro Nakamura, the giddy Japanese office worker with the power to teleport. And Claire's foster father (Jack Coleman), the mysterious man known as HRG (it stands for Horn Rimmed Glasses, which the character always wears) gets progressively more intriguing and complex as his connection to the heroes in revealed.

No superhero saga would be complete without an evil villain, and Heroes has Sylar, a former watchmaker with an obsession for fixing things who transforms into a power-hungry (literally) psychopath. He kills other "special" humans in order to absorb their abilities (presumably by eating their brains). Played with sinister, twisted perfection by Zachary Quinto, Sylar is the ultimate contradiction"”the handsome bad guy you love to hate. You want Sylar to be stopped, but at the same time you still want him on the show. His chilling unpredictably injects the show with tingling suspense .

Sylar's evilness does not go unchallenged. He has a formidable, though not as vicious, opponent in Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), an idealistic hospice nurse who realizes he is meant for something greater. He has the power to take on other people's abilities and his character gets stronger and more defined with each episode.

A few characters, however, fall a bit flat. Peter's politician brother Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) is so self-involved and greedy, I never got a chance to actually like him. He does learn the meaning of self-sacrifice towards the end of the season however, though too late for me to change my opinions. Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), an Indian professor researching genetic evolution, doesn't have any powers to speak of and sadly this makes him a bore.

Throughout this first

season, the main focus is placed on a foreboding warning from a drug-addled painter named Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) who has the ability to paint the future. A bomb is going to destroy New York City unless it can be stopped. Many obstacles, revelations, and shocking twists occur along the way and it all leads to a final showdown between the good heroes and Sylar.

One particularly stellar episode is "Fives Years Gone" in which Hiro travels five years into the future and sees what would happen if the bomb does indeed go off. Another great episode is "Company Man" which reveals HRG's backstory. His season long mystery (Who does he work for? Can he be trusted? What are his real intentions?) finally comes to head. This is the episode where I felt like Heroes really hit its season peak. It was revelatory, poignant, emotional, surprising"”all the ingredients for a truly impressive episode.

The Special Features on this beautifully packaged 6-disc set include a brief making-of, where the stars and creator Tim Kring reflect on fan response and reaction. "Special Effects" (where they show how they make it look like Hiro freezes time) and "The Stunts" (which gives a look at how they film fight scenes) are both fun to watch. The effects and the stunts of Heroes are a huge part of the show but they are done so flawlessly that it allows you to get lost in the fantasy of it all.

"Profile of Artist Tim Sale" reveals the real artist behind all of Heroes' comic book drawings and "The Score" takes a look at the show's musical accompaniment. Tons of audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a 73-minute version of the pilot episode round out the extras.

Putting together a show this good is quite a heroic feat. Here's hoping that season two soars to new heights, but in the meantime snatch up this well-worth-it DVD set.

Season Grade: A

DVD Features Grade: A

Overall Grade: A