Late to the party…. Heroes

Hey, Speaking of bad bloggers.. I’m way overdue for a new post. Been catching up on the series I should have already been watching, rather than American Idol, and possibly Prison Break. Still torn on that show, but now that Kellerman’s dead, my interest is gone.
Still love that magnificent bastard!

But I did watch the entire first season of Heroes, and loved it. It’s not my fave, that honour still belongs to BSG, but it is fast paced, wonderfully plotted, has offered some great surprises, twisted my expectations and kept me thoroughly entertained.

Why does it work?
It’s got a great cast of characters and they do a nice job of raising two questions, everytime they answer one. They layered in backstory beautifully, while keeping the plot moving forward.
Not all of the story lines are equally successful, the Nikki storyline seemed extraneous to me.
But every character, no matter how minor, has a purpose, one which often doesn’t come out until several episodes later.
And funny enough, my favourite character isn’t one of the heroes. Jack Coleman, the man we are supposed to hate in the first few episodes, became the most fascinating character on the entire show.
His backstory was the highlight of the entire first season for me and his scenes with Claire(the cheerleader) were really affecting.
I’m really trying not to give away spoilers here, because as writers, this show is great to watch, if just to pick up pacing and plotting points and how to integrate a large cast seamlessly.

So weeks after the season ended, I’m finally caught up, and really glad I did. Next on the list, Friday Night Lights. I’m a few episodes in and totally gripped..