Heroes: Season 3

Heroes burst onto the scene as one of the most exciting and original TV shows in years, probably rivalling only Lost for sheer ambition and scope. Introducing a raft of characters with super-powers from invulnerability to mind-reading and flight, the first season established the Heroes universe. Sadly, the second season didn't live up to the promise of the first as it was badly hit by the writers' strike and somehow managed to feel both ponderous and rushed.
 
Season three continues immediately where two finished, with Nathan Petrelli's shooting at a press conference where he planned to announce that he was one of many with abilities. It's hard to say too much without spoiling anything, but the subtitle of 'Villains' comes into play with Sylar doing his best to establish himself as the best TV bad guy ever. Noah Bennet is still treading the line between dutiful father and amoral company man, trying to protect his adopted daughter whilst tracking down and imprisoning others with abilities.  Meanwhile, Dr. Suresh is trying to cure Maya and ends up developing a ability-giving serum and, before you can say 'Brundlefly', he develops extraordinary physical abilities to the detriment of his own health.
 

Split into two volumes: Villains and Fugitives, this season divides the Heroes into good and bad, with an über-villain pulling the strings. The second half of the season sees his plans come to fruition and Nathan directing a secret anti-hero organisation with new character Danko, a rabid anti-ability ex-serviceman, hunting the fugitive heroes who are aided by the mysterious Rebel.
 
This season moves along at a fair old lick which makes for gripping TV, but there is something superficial about the whole thing, despite the allusions to the War on Terror. One of the major drawbacks from such rapid pacing is the lack of character development - Parkman learns in a spirit walk that he and Daphne, a new character also known as the speedster, are happily married with a daughter in the future, but the narrative gives their relationship secondary importance so it feels under cooked and any developments don't have the emotional punch they should.
 
The one thing Heroes does have is great production values and the costumes, sets and CGI are terrific - even though the tricks behind the 'frozen time' effect were revealed in an extra feature on Season One, they still look amazing. With Sylar busy cutting open foreheads, Meredith throwing fireballs and Claire's healing ability, the effects are intrinsic to the story and never look anything but convincing.  There is probably a case of style over substance with the increased budget being spent on increasing/improving the effects rather than focusing on the story and characters.  Time travel is all well and good, but it is massively overused, eventually becoming tiresome. There are also a raft of guest appearances, including Robert Forster, Malcolm McDowell and even Breckin Meyer and Seth Green.
 
Heroes is a victim of its own success in that the first series was so good and exciting that it was virtually impossible to live up to expectations. Season two had an excuse but this should have been Heroes back to its best - it's not. I suspect they were too ambitious in trying to fit two seasons' worth of material into one and it would have been better off having Villains as one season and the next concentrating on Fugitives. If I sound like I'm being negative it's only because I'm judging Heroes by its own high standards and expected this to be of the same quality as the first season. It's still incredibly entertaining viewing and is very hard to stop watching once you've started but is just not fulfilling enough.

The Disc

Extra Features
Each episode has an audio commentary with a variety of members of the cast and crew and these vary from interesting to annoying depending on who takes part.  Some cast members are only interested in their own appearances whereas senior writers and directors, such as creator Tim Kring, have much more to add.
 
Each disc has a selection of deleted scenes and a variety of featurettes exploring the use of CGI, props and stunts.  There is also a gallery of Tim Sale's paintings, a commercial for the fictional company Pinehearst and a piece on the writers forum.  Disc 4 contains two 'alternate stories', the first of which is a 10 minute feature involving a hero who was obviously discarded though his ability does feature at some point.  The other is a continuation of where one episode finished and is probably better left on the cutting room floor.
 
Overall it's a pretty good package if you want to know what happens behind the scenes and how it was shot and compares very well against other television shows containing a selection of extras more comparable to a feature film DVD.
 
The Picture
Heroes was filmed (and broadcast) in HD and is also available on Blu-ray which will showcase the effect and excellent cinematography much better than the DVD.  Saying that, the picture quality here is very good with bright colours, deep contrast and only a slight amount of noise.  As I've said, the production values are high and it looks superb with seamlessly integrated CGI.
 
The Sound
A crystal clear Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is the only option but this is very good, presenting the dialogue well and using the surrounds to good effect.  The show is very well scored and even the occasional source music is carefully chosen to fit the scene.
 
Should you need them, there are well written English HoH subtitles which make the action easy to follow.
 
Final Thoughts
As one of the most entertaining shows around, Heroes isn't as thought provoking or challenging as something like The Wire, but is extremely watchable and it's almost impossible not to watch one disc right through and not put the next one on.  The actors know their characters and each other very well now and all put in fine performances. 
 
If you stuck with this through season 2 then this is a fine season and a set well worth buying.  It doesn't reach the dizzying heights of the first season but is hugely enjoyable with a good mix of sci-fi, drama and humour.