Why 'Heroes' Keeps Me Enthralled

When the trailers began running for "Heroes," I felt an excitement reserved for children. This fantasy type television program has developed a cult following amongst 18- to 49-year-olds; it is also the top Monday night series on any network among this age group.

Of course, it's wonderful to be included in this demographic, but here is why I record, and watch over and over again "Heroes."

First of all, the script writing does what a good script does, it engages the viewer--causing you to question the actions of the characters. Not only will you question their behavior, you will also become inquisitive as to why the character has suddenly become a good-bad combination one. One of the characters, "Sylar" is pure evil. However, when Sylar had the opportunity this week to kill Claire (a good Hero), he chose not to, rationalizing he had gotten what he wanted from her and that there was no need to kill Claire.

For all of you familiar with Sylar, you know he is evil incarnate, and for him to allow Claire to live, was an about face for his character. This is another example of good script writing, it will permit you to accept something that may have been unbelievable.

The production is tight. Being a student of film and television production, instinctively I try to identify edit points in a film or television show. It's almost impossible to tell where chroma key shots are and real action ones exist. Techniques like these are expensive to use, and are seldom used in weekly television shows.

But, most of all "Heroes" allows me to enjoy television the way it was meant to be enjoyed: sheer entertainment.

It's an escape from all the troubles of the day, of the job and from life. For 60 minutes each Monday (minus commercials) I can retreat into a make believe world where reality is as real as we want it to be. Psychologically, it is healthy to allow your mind to wander, to daydream periodically. Similar to sleeping, it allows for rejuvenation of the mind an a refreshing of ideas.

This new season has already opened up new plot possibilities.

The scientist, Mohinder has discovered the secret behind the "Heroes" super human abilities--in that it lies in the chemical adrenalin. As with any self respecting scientist, he must test his newfound knowledge out. And he does, on himself. At the end of the show, we find Mohinder with super human abilities himself--after injecting the adrenalin from Maya into his own veins.

There are so many plot turns and twists in this show, one must really pay attention to everything going on, or else you, the viewer will become confused and lost as to where 'all this is going.'

As for me, I can't wait until next Monday at 8PM--I'll have popcorn popped, a glass of wine, and I'll turn the ringer off on the phone, all so I can retreat into my favorite brand of escapism: "Heroes."