Heroes – the art of plotting
I have to admit that I was a bit slow in sitting down to watch the much-hyped Heroes. After the recent slew of Hollywood blockbusters revolving around mutants, government plots, and crazed criminals, I thought that I might give it a miss. After all, a cheerleader whose role is to save the world?
But when I finally sat down to watch it, I was utterly hooked. In fact, I whizzed through the first season on a Saturday—albeit an entire Saturday, I have to say! One of the strengths of Heroes is definitely its plotting. Few shows can so easily and neatly bring together such a wide array of apparently disparate characters, and link them together in a way that has meaning and that simultaneously helps to build the main plot-arc.
The plotting runs at an almost frenzied, manic speed, with new subplots and characters leaping into the fray at what seems like every episode. However, it never feels rushed or exhausting, and the way that all of the different arcs are weaved and braided together serves to strengthen the overall plot, as well as the stake we have in each of the characters. I found myself rooting for sweet, bumbling Hiro and Ando, whose importance was initially only hinted at, but who gradually revealed themselves as major characters, and in Hiro’s place, a major player in the show. In addition, the twists and turns around cheerleader Claire and her family (or perhaps make that families) was breathtakingly well-done, and I could only applaud at the way that, after what seemed like a labyrinth of twists, the truth about her all came together.
It’s great to see shows that don’t rely on the standard episode-by-episode fare that seems to have been gracing our screens of late—think of the recent slew of cop shows or sitcoms where everything is usually tied up by the end of an episode. Heroes, with its strong, complex plot arts, gives the viewer a reason to keep watching, and to make an investment in the show’s characters.
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