Welcome to NBC’s live-action comic book…and say “hello” to the characters:
* Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimigliai) is a home health-care worker for a dying man who dreams of jumping off a building and flying…but, more realistically, he dreams of dating the dying man’s daughter. Naturally, she’s already seeing someone. His brother, Nathan (Adrian Pasdar, formerly known as TV anti-hero Jim Profit), would just as soon Peter not bother him with either dream, given that he’s pursuing a political career. You can therefore imagine that Nathan’s even less excited about his mom getting arrested for shoplifting. He’s so annoyed at it all that he essentially tells Peter that if he thinks he can fly, then maybe he should jump…but when he does, it’s Nathan who suddenly flies up to save the plunging Peter. Unfortunately, the episode ends with Nathan losing his grip on his falling brother…
* Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) is a single mom in Las Vegas who pays the bills – including those of her genius son’s private school – by gettin’ nekkid on a webcam. She’s got this strange problem where her reflection seems to have a life of their own. She’s also got some tough folks are after her, thanks to her having borrowed money from the mob to keep her son in school. They’re taken care of in quick order, however, when the aforementioned reflection seems to come alive…and kill the mobsters. Or has she done it herself, and the actions of her reflection are less a power than a psychosis? Hmmmmm…
* Claire Bennett (Hayden Panettiere) is a high school cheerleader who’s developed a tremendous increased healing factor – a la Wolverine, if you want to make the comparison – and is constantly testing the limits of her abilities…but, that having been said, she’s also really, really freaked out by them, so you half suspect she’d be just as happy if her last words were, “Well, looks like we found my limit.” She tries to get the assistance of a longtime school chum to help her in gauging her abilities, but the chasm of popularity between them starts gets in the way…until she lunges headlong into a factory fire to save several firefighters. By episode’s end, she’s only sure of one thing: she’s gotta be adopted.
* Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) is officially my hero…and he’s gonna be the hero of every geek who watches the show. He’s well-versed in science fiction and superhero lore, and he’s downright giddy about his newfound ability to do some crazy shit with the space-time continuum, including stopping time and teleporting himself. First stop: the women’s bathroom. (Where else?) But when he clears his mind, stares blankly at an advertisement for New York City, and suddenly finds himself standing in Times Square, his reaction is so authentic that you’re almost as excited as he is!
* Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) is a junkie artist…one who just so happens to be dating the daughter of the dying guy that Peter’s nursemaiding…and he’s going nuts because he seems to have developed the ability to paint the future. She wants to help him, but he’s too busy freaking out…so much so that he intentionally O.D.’s after filling a canvas with the image of an apocalypse in New York.
* And, lastly, tying the whole bunch together is Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). A college professor in India, Mohinder believes in the human genome project and feels that mankind may well be standing on the threshold of recognizing the heights human potential…but, then, he got that from his father, who feels the same way. Make that “felt,” since Mohinder discovers that his father has died mysteriously. Concerned that Pops might well have been in possession of important scientific information, Mohinder goes to his father’s residence in India and finds that it’s in the process of being raided; after swiping some of his papers, he then flies to his father’s residence in New York City and finds that his father had been tracking something on a map. He also finds a tape, but we don’t get any scoop on what’s on it. It must be pretty important stuff, though, because Mohinder decides to stick around NYC, getting a job as a cab driver…and not long after doing so, a fellow hops into his car, knows who he is, and freaks Mohinder out enough to jump out of the cab and make a run for it.
What’s coolest so far is how it all ties together, not least of which because everyone witnesses the same eclipse. I mean, Isaac is watching the news and sees the report about the fire where Claire’s rescued the firefighter, Mohinder picks up Peter in his cab, and the fellow who scares Monhinder to death…? That’s Claire’s dad. The preview for upcoming weeks would seem to indicate that the bond between them all is even stronger than we’ve seen thus far.
Wow. One week in, and I already want to know how it ends.
