A group of disparate individuals all begin to manifest strange abilities. It’s hardly an original idea. George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series of books has a not dissimilar theme, as does The 4400. Marvel comics New Universe from the 80’s (shortly to be reborn as newuniversal) dealt with the emergence of super-powered humans on earth. Still, when a show is as entertaining as this one, who cares?
The opening onscreen text gives the show an epic feel, and the fact it’s billed as “Chapter One: Genesis” only enhances that.
The tale starts in India where Mohinder Suresh, a genetics professor, learns of his father’s death in New York. His father had been looking for the next step in human evolution and Suresh heads to the US not only to find out what happened to his father, but to continue his quest as well. He takes his father’s old apartment and gets a job driving a cab.
Also in New York are a male nurse, Peter Petrelli, who has a recurring dream of flying and his politician brother who is running for congress. Can Peter really fly? That’s a mystery the episode waits until the end to reveal. It’s an unexpected twist that nicely wrong foots the viewer’s expectations.
In Las Vegas we encounter single mum Niki Sanders who makes ends meet by stripping online. She has a serious money problem with members of the mob looking to collect. When a couple of the local hoods catch her they’re looking for more than monetary payment. Unfortunately for them, there is more to Niki than meets the eye and when she regains consciousness she finds them not just dead but slaughtered. Did she do it? Or was it something she sees in the mirror that looks like her? This is certainly one of the most interesting elements of this first episode and leaves you wanting to find out more about Ms Sanders and her unusually intelligent son.
Clare Bennett is a cheerleader in Odessa, Texas who appears to be indestructible. Falls can’t kill her (although they do dislocate her joints) and fire can’t either. There are plenty of mysteries surrounding Claire as well, not the least of which is how does a cheerleader discover she’s impervious to harm in the first place? And why is she getting one of the nerds from college to video her attempts at self destruction when she wants no one to know?
In an office in Japan, an employee is staring at the clock on his desk intently. Hiro Nakamura is attempting to stop time and he succeeds although just for a second on this occasion. By the episodes conclusion he’ll have not only stopped time but also teleported himself first to a ladies toilets in a nightclub and then to New York City.
The final person to manifest strange abilities is a painter named Isaac Mendez. He’s the boyfriend of Simone Deveraux (whose terminally ill father is being nursed by Peter Petrelli) and he has the ability to see the future or at least paint it.
Then there’s the mystery man who encounters Professor Suresh in the cab he’s driving. He seems to know far too much about Suresh and his fathers theories (we first see him snooping around Suresh’s father’s place in India). Who is he working for? That’s a question for another episode (although the US government seems a good bet) but we do discover he has a close relationship to one of the “heroes” ; he’s Claire Bennett’s father, though not her biological one as she’s adopted. Which of course begs the question: who are her real parents?
While there almost feels like too much story for one episode it somehow manages to gel together. It even finds time for some SF references for the geeks (of which I’m one) out there. Uncanny X-Men 143 gets a mention by (Super)Hiro when he’s explaining his theory of space/time travel. Star Trek’s Mr Spock gets a name check and there’s also a Matrix reference hidden in there as well.
By the surprising conclusion we’ve encountered some interesting characters that you want to find out more about. The acting is of a high standard as well with Masi Oka the standout. He’s so enthusiastic in his performance that you can’t help liking Hiro. All in all a great start to a show with lots of potential. It even feels like it knows where it’s going, as if the producers have taken the time to plan for the future and that’s all too rare these days.
