Prime-time's hottest new show plans to leave us wanting more
12/04/06 12:03 PM
By ED BARK
It's getting better all the time on Heroes, even as things grow ominously worse.
NBC's magically mysterious comic book epic has a stunning 11th hour Monday night (Dec. 4) before leaving fans hanging until Jan. 22. You'll be dying to find out whether one of the series' most appealing characters indeed is dead. And if not, wouldn't he/she be far better off that way knowing what he/she knows now?
Oh the intrigue, much of it lately between Odessa, TX superteen Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) and mild-mannered Manhattanite Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), who are pictured above. He'd been hell-bent to "Save The Cheerleader, Save The World." But now he's been jailed for the murder of Claire's cheerleading nemesis, mean girl Jackie Wilcox (Danielle Savre).
Monday's night's episode (8 central, 9 eastern), subtitled "Fallout," returns to the present after last week's six-month backtrack. You'll learn more about what drives the serial killer Sylar (Zachary Quinto), formerly a nondescript watch repairer named Gabriel Grey. Claire's duplicitous but possibly well-intentioned father (Jack Coleman) finally has Sylar at his mercy, or so it seems.
Meanwhile, apocalyptic painter Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) journeys from Brooklyn to Midland, TX to meet his time-traveling acolyte, Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), at the mouth-watering Burnt Toast Cafe. NBC is spending considerable time in West Texas this season, with Friday Night Lights set in fictional Dillon, a pseudonym for Midland-Odessa. Better yet, the townies aren't all a bunch of broadly drawn hicks. Those are pretty much network TV firsts.
Heroes is the only new serial drama to build a strong following this season. It's moved all the way up to No. 6 with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, outranking the likes of CBS' Survivor: Cook Islands and CSI: Miami and ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Terrifically cast and beautifully shot, it bends viewers' minds without getting totally obtuse. Following along is fun, even when it's not easy. In a season of otherwise underappreciated new NBC series (Friday Night Lights, Studio 60, 30 Rock), give Heroes credit for paying the rent and keeping the Peacock from collapsing under the weight of too many critically praised ratings losers.
Monday's episode, the last new one for seven weeks, delivers one of those big twist endings that have become Heroes' trademark. Internet chat rooms no doubt will be humming deep into the night. Feel the buzz, NBC. It's been a while.
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