Heroes - Season 1 (DVD, 2007, 7-Disc Set)

It's odd in that Heroes was probably the one new show of 2006-2007 season that I watched from start to finish, having not missed a single episode. Whereas other great shows like Friday Night Lights are critic-adored-yet-audience-deprived or the Nine which was cancelled prematurely, Heroes became a huge hit and a critical favorite. While it initially has some issues, the further the show continues the more confident it gets and while it might not have everyone's ideal finale, it was surely the capper to what's a pretty stellar first season.

What would you do if you found out if you had a superpower? That's the basic for the start of the first season where ordinary people suddenly find they can do amazing abilities; from a regenerating cheerleader to a time-travelling Japanese desk worker to a mind-reading cop. But that doesn't mean that they will all use their power for good as some don't know what to do with it, others want to get rid of it and some might use it for something destructive, such as destroy half of New York. All of these stories interwine as they try to stop a major disaster.

Heroes, like many other shows, as an ongoing arc throughout the entire season, making it feel like one gigantic story split over 23 episodes rather than a series of mini-stories a la CSI or Law and Order. This can be a problem since it might not have a lot of replay value but it also means you just get hooked faster. But luckily the writers know how to make individual episodes stand out, thanks to great drama (the entirely Claire-centric "Company Man"), stellar cliffhangers and characters. But then this is still their first season so we have a case of them trying to do too much in one episode making it feel kind of scattered.

One of the strongest aspects of the show, aside from the intrigue, are the characters who manage to be distinct without being one-note. Ali Larter is effective in switching personalities right in the same scene and Hayden Panettiere nails that "wishing to be normal" feeling when she knows she's not. However the obvious scene stealer is Masi Oka who initially starts out as overly enthusiastic and almost giddy but progresses as the show continues without it feeling forced or unexpectedly sudden. Then we also have Zachary Quinto who plays the season's main villain who has such creepiness and menace when he's around (although he was probably strangely more effective when he was obscured in shadow with a baseball cap on).

In the day and age of TV shows on DVD, it's hard to get a stellar DVD package. Unlike Simpsons or 24 with multiple episode commentaries, most of them are kind of skimpy. Heroes thankfully has pretty solid bonuses with several commentaries, the original unaired pilot as well as some making-ofs as well as tons of deleted scenes. As for the commentaries, while it's kind of disappointing there isn't one for the suspenseful "Homecoming", they get more frequent as the season progresses and there is more variety rather than the same writer/director/actor combinations.

With a great sense of pacing, well-written characters and cool superhero moments, it's sort of a show where you can find geekiness yet find something of substance at the same time. Might not be the absolute best show on TV, but it's probably one of the more consistently entertaining.