Heroes: Genesis

by Sara

A Soulful Spike Society Review
www.soulfulspike.com

Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
    Benjamin Disraeli

It struck me, as I began thinking about Heroes and what I wanted to say about it, that trying a new television show is a lot like dating. There are some shows you know from the get-go are simply not for you; no matter how intelligent and thoughtful they might be, you simply don't click together. With some you can immediately tell they have potential; they attract you in a lot of ways, but you need a few more evenings together to be sure of the long-term potential. And then sometimes it's simply love at first sight. Oh sure, you're aware of the other's flaws, but you don't really care: there's something ineffable about it that simply hits all the right buttons for you on a very basic, intuitive level. Alias was like that for me, as were Lost, My Name is Earl, and Buffy. Now, I can add Heroes to that list as well.

I think what appealed to me the most about Heroes was (and continues to be) the emotional honesty of the responses of the various characters as they recognized/discovered and explored the parameters of their abilities. Hiro delighted in the realization that he actually did have a super power and was more than ready to embrace his uniqueness, and Peter also seemed quite ready to believe he was "meant for something more," taking a very literal leap of faith in order to test that belief. On the other end of the spectrum, Claire's understanding of her gift and her desire to be normal seemed to grow in direct proportion to each other, Niki was confused and more than a little unnerved over what was happening to her, and rightly so given the way her doppelgänger redecorated her garage, and Isaac too seemed as much frightened by what he'd drawn as he was excited about the possibility he was predicting the future. Across the board, though, all of their responses struck me as very true to how I'd imagine myself or those I know reacting in similar circumstances, grounding the fantastic elements of the show in a way that I as a viewer could relate to and empathize with.

Between titling the episode "Genesis" and opening the show by telling us "these individuals will not only save the world, but change it forever. This transformation from ordinary to extraordinary will not occur overnight. Every story has a beginning," I think it's safe to assume we can consider these first episodes (and perhaps eventually the entire season) as our heroes' collective origin story—the bedrock of any ongoing superhero saga. If you consider the heroes that have grown beyond their genre to become pop-culture icons, what they tend to have in common is a compelling origin story that speaks to some emotion or impulse we all can understand: Superman, the ultimate orphan; Batman, who watched helpless as his parents were murdered, Spider-man, the kid who only realized that "with great power comes great responsibility" after he made a bad decision with tragic consequences.

Overall, I think it's safe to say that most superhero origin stories fall into two categories. The first type is when the hero was born with their special abilities, often seeing their gift or gifts emerge during puberty: Superman, the X-Men, and Wonder Woman are probably the best-known examples. The second is when the hero has some sort of life-altering experience, like Spider-man, Batman, and the Hulk. Interestingly, it appears that all of our heroes have a bit of both types of origin story working for them. Given everything we heard Mohinder say regarding genetics and steps on the evolutionary rung, we're obviously meant to understand that all of our heroes fall under Mohinder's definition of what it means to be extraordinary:

Some individuals, it is true, are more special. This is natural selection. It begins as a single individual, born or hatched like every other member of their species, anonymous and seemingly ordinary. Except they're not. They carry inside them the genetic code that will take their species to the next evolutionary rung. It's destiny.

However, it also appears that Nikki, Peter, Nathan, Hiro, Claire, and Isaac all remained unaware of their abilities until a week or so before the solar eclipse. A quick bit of Google-fu tells me most myths and legends associated with eclipses have little to do with transformation or bringing something latent to the fore; instead, eclipses were almost always considered bad omens or indicative of some dire event occurring among the celestial gods. Yet it certainly seems to me that we're meant to believe the eclipse acted as some sort of catalyst, particularly given how our attention was drawn to it during critical moments for Peter (as he conversed with Mohinder in the cab about specialness and destiny), Nikki (she was observing the eclipse moments before Punch and Judy took her to the garage), and Hiro (it was as he watched the eclipse that he stopped moving in synch with everyone else). Although I have a hard time coming up with a reason why an eclipse would have any impact on a person's genetic makeup, for good or for ill.

In addition to establishing storylines for the six heroes we meet, "Genesis" also gives us two other ongoing tales: Mohinder's quest to learn the truth behind his father's death and continue his work, which seems as if it will be part of the mechanism that draws our heroes together, and the introduction of our first villain who, in a delightful twist, is also Claire's adoptive father. Both men, it appears, will be attempting to use the elder Suresh's research to track down people with special abilities, and I suspect the closer we come to the day Isaac's mushroom cloud is destined to erupt the more intense their cat-and-mouse game will become.

Other random observations and notes:

—A second viewing of "Genesis" caused the repeated use of the word "special" throughout the hour to really jump out at me. There was, of course, the brief monologue by Mohinder I quoted earlier in the review, which itself was prompted by Peter asking "do you ever get the feeling like you were meant to do something extraordinary... No, I'm not talking about what you do. I'm talking about who you are. I'm talking about... being special." Hiro tells his buddy Ando "You don't understand. I want to be special." And Claire's mom says to her "My point is, you should know who you are and know that it's enough. 'Cause who you are is special." Don't know where exactly I want to go with that, but I thought it worth noting nonetheless.

—The show's creative team has obviously taken a page out of M. Night Shyamalan's book, using the color red as an indicator that something is important or contains superheroic mojo: Peter's sweatshirt, the color scheme of Niki's garage/studio, Claire's cheerleading uniform, the racing numbers behind Hiro as he teleports to New York City.

—The opening narration has to go. It smacks of pretentiousness, and isn't all that interesting to listen to to boot. Ditto the heavy-handed foreshadowing: did we really need to hear Mohinder mention tissue regeneration, teleportation, and levitation twice? Having Hiro spell out for us all the things a hero is supposed to do ("Every hero must learn his purpose. Then he'll be tested and called to greatness.") is more than enough, thanks.

—It was funny, after hearing him talk to his class about the creature that arguably embodies the pinnacle of evolution, to see Mohinder stomp on a cockroach. So much for God, huh buddy?

—If you're gonna have a dog that takes an interest in human blood/flesh, why does it always have to be a Pomeranian?

—The blue creature we saw appear on Hiro's computer monitor when he's trying to stop time bears a striking resemblance to the monster on the cover of the 9th Wonders comic book Micah was reading as he waited for his mom. And by "striking resemblance" I mean "looks exactly the same." What I wonder is which came first: did Hiro base his screen saver on the comic book, or did the comic book artist base it on Hiro's screen saver?

—It's interesting that in this first episode it's Claire, the one who best understands and least wants her powers, was the only one of our group to do something truly heroic.

—Milo Ventimiglia simply blew me away with his performance, particularly in the episode's final moments. The expression on his face, a perfect mixture of terror and exhilaration, spoke more eloquently to the emotions racing through Peter's mind as he prepared to take that final step than pages of dialogue could ever hope to.

Heroes certainly isn't a perfect show, at least not yet. But it's most definitely intriguing and engaging, well-cast and with tons of potential. The creators clearly have a long-term plan in mind, and generally demonstrate the high level of respect for their audience that I look for in any source of entertainment. So count me in for the long haul, as I have a feeling Heroes is going to be quite the trip.

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