Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
AIR-DATE: 25/9/06
Written by: Tim Kring
Directed by: William Waring
Starring: Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Adrian Pasdar, Tawny Cypress
The One Where: You’ll believe a man can fly.
Synopsis
Across the globe, a
group of individuals are beginning
to discover that they are no
ordinary mortals. Destiny’s about
to bind them together…
In New York, Peter Petrelli
vividly dreams of flying. When he
wakes we learn he’s a hospice
nurse, caring for Simone Deveaux’s
father. He later visits his brother
Nathan, who’s campaigning for
office. Nathan has no time for
Peter’s dreams: their mother has
just been arrested for shoplifting.
He offers Peter a position on the
campaign team.
Bombay: genetics teacher
Mohinder Suresh learns that his
father has been killed while
working as a New York taxi driver.
His father was also a geneticist,
and Mohinder suspects it was no
accident. Discovering an intruder
in his father’s apartment, he grabs
some research files and flees…
Las Vegas: webcam stripper
Niki Sanders is unsettled by
strange reflections of herself in
mirrors. She and her genius son
Micah are pursued by the mob,
chasing the money she owes
them. The thugs assault her, but
she wakes to find them dead, and
her reflection hushing her from
the mirror…
Texas: high school cheerleader
Claire Bennet makes her
boyfriend video her falling from
an 80 foot tower and miraculously
surviving. Invulnerable to injury,
she later rescues a man from a
blaze at a cotton mill…
Tokyo: geekish office worker
Hiro Nakamura tells his cynical
friend Ando that he has the
power to freeze time. Hiro later
teleports into the ladies’ room at
a club, and then finds himself in…
New York: Suresh is now
working as a taxi driver and gives
a lift to Peter. They talk of
evolutionary change and a
coming eclipse. Suresh then gives
a ride to a man in spectacles, who
talks of his father’s work. Fearing
for his life, Suresh runs… We later
learn that this man is Claire’s
adopted father.
Peter meets Simone’s
boyfriend, Isaac Mendez, a junkie
artist whose paintings seem to
predict disasters. One picture
shows Peter flying, another New
York in flames. Peter later stands
on top of the building from his
dreams and tell Nathan he can fly.
When he plummets, it’s Nathan
who flies to catch him. But then
Peter lets go of his grasp…
Review
Wow. It’s rare for a
new series to storm into Spoiler
Zone with a five star episode, but
this is blindingly good. Heroes
plays as a compelling mash-up of
Lost and Unbreakable, an
intricately plotted ensemble piece
that takes the comic book
tradition and casts a real world
light upon it. There are some
intriguing spins on the old
superhero archetypes – time-warping
X-Men fanboy Hiro is
simply genius – and enough
narrative hooks to make you beg
for more. I love this to pieces.
Dialogue
Ando (to Hiro):
“No one ever got laid by stopping
the second hand of a clock.”
Nick Setchfield
