Heroes: The Full Experience

This weekend, I discovered that NBC was trying to create a two screen immersive television experience with Heroes. And as a fan of the show, I generally zone out and watch the show sans interruption. But I took exception this week and decided to dive in. For the first 20 of so minutes I had some technical difficulties, but I finally got to play. Throughout the show polls, questions, and facts are streamed in live. And you can see what percentage of people feel the same as you.

I am on the fence as to whether I would do the 360 again, but I will continue to watch the show. The story follows a comic book-like rhythm with scattered character storylines building the overall show. And the writers keep the viewer guessing. Much of the story follows standard heroic archetypes, with some twist to fill the gap between a completely fantasy world and the modern world we exist in.

The online graphic novels further tighten the story beyond what the television viewers sees. I had read about Hana's backstory before she made her onscreen appearance this evening. Because the writers and artists (comic, director, actors, etc.) are confined to 60 minutes a week, 42 if you take out the commercials, they needed a way to develop the characters offscreen for the viewer to have the chance to see. While not necessary, it fills the void. They are like the deleted or extended scenes on a DVD.

Unlike Lost, which is very similar, perhaps due to overlapping writers, Heroes appears disjointed as it bounces from character to character. There is no clear character story throughout one episode. Lost relies on a flashback sequence to tie an episode together as the present adventures on the island progresses.

Tonight's episode of Lost featured the legendary Stan Lee, the father of the first mutants, the X-men. The "heroes" would face the same biases that his X-men if discovered and fight to save the world that does not understand them. And as they unite in one common cause, we will see how their stories tie together. And how powerful any group of people resolved for change can be.

38 days, 38 runs...