"HEROES"
TV Series, 2006 -
Airs Mondays on NBC, 8 p.m. CST

THE STORY BEGINS in 2006 when Mohinder Suresh (played by Sendhil Ramamurthy), a geneticist in India, travels to New York to investigate the death of his father.

Among his fathers papers he discovers a secret theory: There are people with super powers living among us.

"Heroes," a vividly imaginative science fiction epic that airs 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC, tells the stories of these evolved humans.

Tokyo computer programmer Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) can bend time and space. Texas cheerleader Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) can heal from any wound (the scene where she comes back to life on the autopsy table is particularly memorable).

New York hospice nurse Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) absorbs any superpowers he is exposed to. His brother Nathan (Adrian Pasdar), a New York politician, can fly.

Struggling single mom Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) has multiple personalities, one of which is inhumanely strong and violent.

These are just a few of the heroes we meet over the course of the show. But, of course, there are those who use their powers maliciously. Sylar (Zachary Quinto), like Peter Petrelli, can absorb the powers of others but he has to take their brains to do so. Not all the characters have special powers — or at least, not initially.

All the characters are very human. It is easy for a teenager to relate to Claire, the cheerleader, while parents can relate to the efforts of Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) to protect Claire.

They also deal with everyday problems. Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), a policeman who can hear people’s thoughts, deals with a divorce. Isaac Mendez, an artist who can paint the future, battles a drug addiction in the first season.

The heroes are not always in control of their powers. "Heroes" explores how these people adapt to the changes these abilities bring. For most it's initially disconcerting, but one, Hiro, is happily enthusiastic from the start.

Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli, a hero who has the ability to absorb the powers of the people he meets.

It is hard to discern who and what are good or not. Should they be working for or against The Company (an association that promises to help those with abilities)? Alliances shift, with friends and foes at odds or sometimes working together.

The fast-paced and action-packed plot of the first season’s "Genesis" revolves around a series of prophetic paintings by Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera), in which New York is blown up by a human super power.

It is not certain who will cause the explosion or whether it is on purpose. The heroes who have been mobilized at this point know that it will happen unless they are able to prevent it.

In the second season’s "Generations," a whole series of people who came before our characters are introduced, many of whom are the parents of the main characters.

The previous generation was involved in something sinister about 30 years before. Whatever it was that they did ultimately led to the problems the heroes are currently confronted with.

Unfortunately the second season was cut short by the writers strike. Originally, a vial of the Shanti Virus was to be released setting up the next volume, "Outbreak."

Sensing that writers strike was looming, Tim Kring, the creator, decided to change the ending and have Peter Petrelli catch the vial just before it was to hit the ground. This enabled them to scratch "Outbreak." How will this affect the third season? Will we now ever find out what became of Caitlin, Peter’s Irish girlfriend?

Although it was enjoyable, the second season seemed to drag. Maybe the (now useless) build-up to "Outbreak" is to be blamed.

Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, an evolved human who can bend time and space.

Other irritating aspects of the second season were that the loveable Hiro spent too much time in feudal Japan. Besides meeting Takezo Kensei, who regenerates and is still alive 400 years later — as Adam Monroe (David Anders) — it seemed to have little point.

New characters were introduced too soon — we were still getting to know the established characters. The introduction of Maya (Dania Ramirez) and Alejandro Herrera (Sahlim Ortiz) didn’t seem to advance the plot, and I couldn’t help but sigh when episodes seemed to focus on them.

Some characters, however, were welcome additions. Elle Bishop’s backstory seems intriguing, and West Rosen (Nick D'Agosto) and Monica Dawson (Dana Davis) are kind and interesting characters.

I hope to see some changes in the third season. It would be good if Sylar becomes more two-dimensional. Being purely evil becomes tedious. Hiro’s friend, Ando (James Kyson Lee), is too great a companion to be left behind in Tokyo — he should rejoin Hiro on his adventures. Hopefully, Monica will stick with her cousin Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey), because his mother, Niki, is too unstable to do so.

The third season of "Heroes" returned to the air Monday on NBC. The new season will be broken into two volumes. First is "Villains," which will comprise 13 episodes. The theme will be choosing between good and evil and finding the right path. Naturally not all the heroes choose wisely. The second volume, "Fugitives," follows straight after with 12 episodes.

In the first two episodes viewers will learn who shot Nathan and what exactly Sylar does with the brains he extracts from his victims. We will also see a few characters wield new powers for the first time.

Season 3 promises to be as good as Season 1 was. Kring believes that something good came out of the writers strike — it allowed time for a reinvigoration of the creative team.

Generally serials have a lot of story behind them, which can make it hard for new viewers to join. However, given that the series was cut short by the writers strike, this is not the case. The premiere episodes of Season 3 will wrap up the rest of Season 2 and continue with Season 3, making it easy for new viewers to follow.

The show has also become one of the best examples of providing bonus content to Web fanatics without overwhelming the casual viewer. NBC releases online graphic novels on Tuesday. They are usually first person, and focus on a specific incident in a character's life. There are other Web extras and phone messages for extra clues for the truly obsessed, if you have the time.

So for those of you looking for something new to dive into, "Heroes" is definitely the way to go.