TV is the New Reading

‘Heroes’ third season blends storylines

into new creation

Monday’s third-season premiere of “Heroes” reminded me a bit of “Your Show of Shows.” As it has evolved, the show has assumed established sci-fi plots central to other shows. And in this case, I think it has drawn them in beautifully.

“Heroes” traces the interweaving storylines of ordinary men, women and children who spontaneously develop extraordinary abilities. It isn’t explained perfectly, beyond a dark suggestion it’s the next stage of human evolution, but in an effort to understand what’s happening, a shadowy cabal has organized called “The Company,” which worked for years to track down and contain the most problematic manifestations of these abilities – flame-throwing psychopaths and so forth – and neutralizing others.

As the new season – or “volume,” as it’s called, to more closely mirror the comic-book structure of the series – got under way, I noticed a couple of interesting twists.

The first twinge of resonance I noticed with other series was a scene in which biologist Mohinder Suresh – long a defender of emergent abilities – synthesized the adrenaline of a frightened Latina named Maya Herrera whose ability sucks the life force from everyone around her when she gets upset. The idea was that if he injected the adrenaline into someone else, that person would also develop abilities.

This reminded me of the final season of USA’s “The 4400,” where people could take an injection and – if it didn’t actually kill them – they would develop superpowers. Since that storyline ended so abruptly, it’s cool to see a version of how that might have gone playing out on this show.

As for how it’s playing out so far, after injecting himself with the concoction, Suresh first developed super-human strength and agility, then a powerful sex drive that coupled him up with Maya, and then ... scales all over his back. His transformation reminded me of what happened to Jeff Goldblum in the 1980s remake of “The Fly.” And Suresh didn’t even have to go through a transporter pod with a fly or anything.

And after a scary encounter with a psychopathic mass murderer, quick-healing cheerleader Claire Bennet discovered she was numb to pain, and she wondered if she was even human anymore. That reminded me heart-breakingly of Buffy Summers from the sixth season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” who feared she’d lost her humanity in the wake of a painful resurrection.

These ideas occurred to me as the storylines unfolded concerning old enemies gaining new abilities, exciting chase sequences between a man who can stop time and a woman who moves at supersonic speeds. There are power shifts as villains from future timelines confront their heroic counterparts in the present, new leaders take over The Company and new abilities streak across the screen in glorious special effects.

But mostly what I enjoyed was the time I was given, as a viewer, to take it all in. The writers didn’t feel they needed to cram everything into the first two episodes. It seemed like a remarkably well-paced, wonderful evening of storytelling.

“Heroes” is an occasionally dark, scary and violent show, but also an exciting action-adventure sci-fi series. It’s off to a great start and well worth your time. Check it out Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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