Heroes
Season one is perfect 2000s television. The fizzle is real, the strike happened, Sylar deserved better. Hulu, 78 episodes, judge the seasons separately.
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
Cast & Key People
▶
Our Review
Heroes (2006) is a drama and science-fiction series from NBC. Episodes run about 44 minutes. It premiered on September 25, 2006. Viewers rate it 7.5 out of 10. It is currently ended. It runs 4 seasons.
What Heroes Is About
This epic chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. As a total eclipse casts a shadow across the globe, viewers follow a genetics professor in India whose father’s disappearance leads him to uncover a secret theory—there are people with super powers living among us. A young dreamer tries to convince his politician brother that he can fly. A high school cheerleader learns that she is totally indestructible. A Las Vegas stripper, struggling to make ends meet to support her young son, uncovers that her mirror image has a secret. A prison inmate mysteriously finds himself waking up outside of his cell. A gifted artist, whose drug addiction is destroying his life and the relationship with his girlfriend, can paint the future. A down-on-his-luck beat cop can hear people’s thoughts, including the secrets of a captured terrorist. In Japan, a young man develops a way to stop time through sheer will power. Their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world.
What to Expect When You Watch
Episodes run about 44 minutes, which keeps the pace tight, spread across 4 seasons and it leans into its drama/science-fiction roots while leaving room for the quieter character beats.
Performance-wise the series leans on Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia to carry the emotional weight, with the rest of the ensemble filling out the world around them.
Cast and Creative Team
Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, Sendhil Ramamurthy and James Kyson lead the cast.
Key roles include Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet; Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet; Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli; Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura; Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh.
Why It Stands Out
Fans of drama, science-fiction and mystery have a clear reason to give this one a shot. It sits comfortably alongside NBC’s other originals, a 7.5/10 audience score puts it in steady company and it commits to its premise instead of hedging between tones.
Released in 2006 and carried by NBC with the series still ended, it lands hardest with drama and science-fiction viewers.
How Heroes Compares
If Heroes lands for you, the next stops are Breaking Bad, Firefly and The Wire, which share its drama/science-fiction lean.
Each of those sits at a different point on the same spectrum, so they make a natural follow-up once you finish the run here.
Where to Stream
Heroes comes from NBC. Check your preferred platform for current availability, since regional rights move around.
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On the whole Heroes is the kind of series that rewards a patient watch, with Jack Coleman and Hayden Panettiere doing the heaviest lifting, a tone that stays true to its drama/science-fiction roots, It has held up since 2006 and so if the premise sounds like your lane, the execution holds up.
The Bottom Line
Heroes is a safe bet for anyone already inside the drama and science-fiction lane, the audience score holds around 7.5/10 and so there is little risk in starting it tonight.
Verdict: 7.5/10. Watch it if you want drama/science-fiction you can settle into.
