by Daryl Barnett

Created on: December 10, 2006   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

There is more to HEROES than meets the eye under casual observance. At this point the show has reached the mid season break of season one; we are experiencing the first true cliffhanger of the series and now is good time to reflect what all that has happened all means.

I consider HEROES to be a show burgeoning on attaining the magnitude of popularity of BUFFY. It is a show about ordinary people and the relationships they develop with each other while dealing with abnormal situations in their lives. BUFFY opened doors for many viewers to develop interests in varied fields of study; religion, mythology, symbolism, but it went even further than that. It made people meditate upon their own lives and their own mortality.

HEROES stirs an inner awakening in viewers that an awareness of this potential the human being has to excel is actually true. Strangely, the power of this message is dumbed down slightly through the mechanism of the characters being comic book characters (or super heroes), but this literary mechanism also works exceedingly well in how it may attract a larger, more diversified audience to watch the show. I suspect that many people would pass up watching this show because of the comic book nature. Those people should give it another chance and look a little more deeply into the complexity that lies within this building masterpiece of a series.

I missed the first season of BUFFY and only jumped in half-heartedly during season two. After that though I was a committed fan to the end. I don't know how many seasons that the writers could stretch this story line out through but the complexity seems to still be building and there hasn't been a dud of an episode (or a character) written yet.

The feeder-line for the upcoming episodes (which will air in January) was one of the best I've ever heard to entice viewers to become more and more loyal fans of any show I've ever watched. "ARE YOU ON THE LIST?" Referring to the list the Indian professor had calculated of who the potential HEROES to-be are. You and I, fellow viewer, could be on the verge of discovering that we have unique powers that are hidden inside of us. And do you know what? Watching a show like this, contemplating these questions and yearning to experience a greater life is what literature is all about.

In summary, HEROES is a piece of great literature for our age. Study it, and grow.

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