You rarely appreciate the significance of a moment while you are still living through it. But that is exactly what happened to me, 20 years ago this month, when a show called first aired.
As you may have gathered from the title, it followed ordinary people whose genes have blessed (or cursed) them with extraordinary abilities, from time travel to telepathy. Made in the wake of the Human Genome Project, it was an elaborately plotted mystery, blending comic book aesthetics with a glancing interest in evolution. And for the past two decades, it has had the dubious honour of becoming a byword for failure: after a stellar first season, Heroes limped its way through three more outings of questionable quality.
The minute I saw Heroes, I knew I was changed. It was the first TV series to set a fire in my head, at age 10. If I wasn鈥檛 watching it, I was talking about it; if I wasn鈥檛 talking about it, I was thinking about it. Chances are I was probably dreaming about it, too. But the extent of my obsession, combined with that notorious drop-off in quality, has stopped me from rewatching it or its spin-off, Heroes Reborn, in the years since.
Advertisement
That changed last month with the sad news that Hayden Panettiere, who played the show鈥檚 most iconic character, Claire Bennet, had died. Since then, I have been revisiting that almost-perfect first season 鈥� and you should do the same.
Even before its narrative spiralled out of control, Heroes had a sprawling ensemble of leads. Claire, a 16-year-old cheerleader living in Texas, was the most consequential. Her body rapidly regenerates its cells when injured, making her practically indestructible 鈥� and attracting the attention of Sylar, a superpowered serial killer. Meanwhile, geneticist Mohinder Suresh seeks to complete his late father鈥檚 work by contacting similarly gifted individuals, such as Peter Petrelli, a hospice nurse who dreams of flying, and Isaac Mendez, who can paint the future when under the influence of heroin.
Heroes, like Isaac, had a knack for striking images. Its first season is full of them: a cracked pair of horn-rimmed glasses; an office worker from Tokyo teleporting to Times Square in New York; a nuclear blast that Claire, somehow, can help prevent. 鈥淪ave the cheerleader, save the world,鈥� time traveller Hiro Nakamura tells Peter. This uncanny ability to distil essence and theme into potent symbols or phrases was the series鈥� own superpower. Not to mention the music: a whirling updraft of drones and chimes, featuring ethereal vocals from L. Shankar, it became a landmark score in television history.
It鈥檚 easy to dismiss Heroes as a Lost-alike: it was perhaps the best in a flurry of shows trying to emulate that legendary series, right down to its characteristic blend of science fiction and mysticism. But like Lost, Heroes explains a lot about what high-concept TV has become today 鈥� and has admirable qualities that its successors are thoroughly lacking.
It is a wholly original idea from creator Tim Kring, albeit one inflected with the tropes of classic comic books. It is also stuffed with action 鈥� certain plotlines, like psychic cop Matt Parkman鈥檚 collaboration with the FBI in the hunt for Sylar, could have been a show all on their own. And it proves that a show that captures true brilliance, however infrequently, will always be worth watching.
So I implore you to watch (or rewatch) the first season of Heroes. You may be averse to starting a series known to nosedive, but, as I have explained to many sceptical friends over the years, it is worth the hurt. And upon rewatching with an adult鈥檚 eyes, I have appreciated just how special Panettiere was as Claire. Her performance deserves to be remembered as one of the best of the 2000s.
