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‘Heroes’ hits the restart button for season three
When the Writers Guild of America went on strike last November, one of its immediate casualties was NBC’s comic-book- inspired drama “Heroes,” which was in its second season of its tale of ordinary people who develop superpowers.
The show shut down after 11 episodes, with the last one airing Dec. 3, 2007. The strike lasted three months, but series creator Tim Kring and NBC decided to wait until this fall to bring “Heroes” back on the air.
Writing resumed in early spring, as soon as the strike ended, and the show went back into production in May.
So, on a Friday in mid-August, why are scenes being shot for the second part of the two-hour season premiere, airing at 9 p. m. Monday?
As befits the man who plays Noah Bennet, aka H. R. G. (Horn-Rimmed Glasses), who knows many secrets of the “Heroes” universe, Jack Coleman explains it all.
“Because we didn’t have Kristen Bell,” he says. “The scenes that she’s in, we’ve had to go back and do them.”
Bell plays Elle Bishop, an unstable girl who has the power to manipulate electricity. She’s facing off with the nefarious Sylar (Zachary Quinto), who can absorb the powers of superheroes he gruesomely kills.
In scenes with Quinto, Bell writhes on the hard floor, flips over several times and lets out a string of screams, most of which end in a bronchial croup.
After soothing her throat with a mint, Bell talks about having Elle and Sylar — both powerful but damaged individuals — in scenes together.
“I like that they’re brought together,” she says, “because it’s really interesting.”
“They do have a lot in common,” Quinto says. “There’s an exploration that we make this year. Elle factors prominently into Sylar’s journey of the season, at a certain point.”
Those who haven’t seen the show may be confused at this juncture. But that’s OK, because Kring says you can tune in this year and all will be well.
“In a weird way,” he says, “we are starting over.”
He can say this because “Heroes” is structured in “volumes,” much like a series of comic books. Season One was the 23- episode first volume, “Genesis.” The abbreviated season two was all of volume two, “Generations.”
The new season will be broken into two volumes: the 13- episode “Villains,” followed by the 12-episode “Fugitives.” The season starts at 8 p. m. Monday with a special, followed by the two-hour season premiere.
“Serialized storytelling faces a big obstacle,” Kring says, “that is, the longer you go, the more story you drag behind you, and the harder it is for new viewers to feel welcome to come in and watch your show.
“So what we’ve done is to tell this story in volumes, where we create a whole story that can be told in a short-order number of episodes. Literally 90 to 95 percent of the questions that you pose at the beginning of the volume will be answered at the end.
“Then you cliff-hang something that slingshots you into the next volume.”
With its large cast (which also includes Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, Greg Grunberg, Dania Ramirez, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar and Sendhil Ramamurthy) overlapping storylines and elaborate special effects, “Heroes” is hard to shoot. On this day, two units are working on different episodes on different soundstages.
As confused as the cast may occasionally be, Kring is confident that even first-time viewers will catch on fast.
“You could start pretty fresh,” he says, “and it was designed that way. The theme of this premiere is really, come on in, the water’s fine. You’re welcome here. Don’t be afraid. You can join us, too.”
On the cover: Milo Ventimiglia, left, Hayden Panettiere and Zachary Quinto.
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