With Volume 3 of Heroes coming up in just under a month’s time, and the recent revelation of the title of this Season’s second volume i.e. Volume 4 as ‘Fugitives’, I began to think of how Heroes has evolved even in its short life two seasons.
The plotline of Heroes has been, as far as I think, constantly evolving. I say this in light of the fact that a lot of things that were revealed by the creators about the direction of the show have changed. No program can forgo change entirely, audience reaction, current events, etc all play a part in the development of the story.
Heroes Season 1 was a breakthrough, it appealed to a mass audience instantly. Season 2 however did not. I still believe that season 2 was superior in many respects to season 1, better acting, better plot, better dialogue… everything. If you see the extended pilot episode of heroes, you see many scenes and plot lines that would have given heroes an entirely different story in its first season.
While Season 1 was still airing, the creators had said that heroes would have a very dynamic cast; each season would mostly have different characters. People however fell in love with the characters, and thus Season 2 was written ‘around’ them. I don’t know what direction the story would have taken if they had kept a varying cast, but based on the fact that rumours about Hiro ending up in the past were circulating a long time before season 2, I am inclined to believe that season 2 would have focused mostly on Hiro in the past, and his encounter with Kensai. I think the show would have then explored more into the source of powers.
People complained that season 2 did not have convincing romances, and that the threat that the world faced was revealed a little too late. The fact that the story was cut off due to the strike did not help. The shows format was changed again, the complaints of the audience would be taken into account.
Volume 3 had till then been titled ‘Exodus’. Now exodus comes from the ‘Book of Exodus’ which tells about the escape from slavery of the people under Moses. Exodus means ‘A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment’. Taking this into consideration I think season 2 would have dealt with the revelation of super powers in individuals, and the reaction of people. I guess the villain in this case would have been a much larger general populace. This is just what I think of course.
The new path that Volume 3 takes as ‘Villains’ is one in which we see the dual sides of everyone, as both hero and villain. Which mean not only that you might see Peter or Claire as a villain, but also Sylar as a hero! ||SPOILER — In fact, I read at a spoiler site that Sylar is shown in the future as a normal guy, with a son named… guess….. Noah! –END SPOILER||.
While many people were wondering or hoping that the original story arc planned for exodus would come up in a later season, it seems it won’t be this season.
So what happened to the bigger picture of heroes?
Does Heroes even have a bigger multi season storyline (anymore), or are they just taking it wherever audience demand takes it?
Even in the beginning Heroes was said to have a storyline for five seasons, and recently one of the people involved in heroes made a comment with a reference to season 7! With Heroes the concept of seasons is a little different, so did they mean 5 volumes or 5 seasons? Does season 7 mean the 7th year of the show, or the 7th volume (which could come next season if they plan to have 2 volumes again).
Many facts points to the fact that heroes may indeed still have a bigger story, such as:
- Even if the story from the extended pilot had been developed, the basic plot would still have been the same. That New York has a nuclear threat.
- Rumours that Hiro adventures in the past in the second season were present even before the creators decided to keep the old characters.
- Volume 3 Villains will have ||SPOILER – a disturbing image of the future brought about due to the revelation of super powered peoples, and a substance that induces powers in ordinary humans — END SPOILER||. This could be just be a different take on the exodus storyline.
- Volume 4 ‘Fugitives’ could also refer to exodus. Meaning that after the exodus villains, people with powers are now fugitives. (Or merely that the villains who escape in Volume 3 are fugitives! I mean 13 episodes and 13 villains, they can’t finish them all up especially since the break out probably won’t even happen in ep1 or even 2). Meaning Volume 3 and 4 could be an extended Exodus storyline.
So what do you think? Is Heroes still on track? Does it even matter? It hasn’t disappointed me yet…
