‘Heroes’: ‘Kindred’ and an HRG interview!

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Now THAT is a setup. ‘Heroes’ is like a great running back that seems to get stronger as the game goes on. In the first 20 minutes, we finally find out what happened to Nikki/Jessica and Micah Sanders (RIP D.L.). Maya and Alejandro were separated (again), Sylar was on a desert isle, Mohinder and Matt and Molly reunited, Claire confronted flying kid at school, Peter was drawn into a big robbery scheme, and Hiro updated Ando about his adventures in the past with Takezo Kensai.

Let’s face it, some fans were ready to jump off the bandwagon. With the show’s more obvious product placement (iPods this time), two episodes that weren’t truly blazing and story lines of major characters being neglected, TV remote fingers may have been getting twitchy. But hopefully fanboys and new viewers can appreciate the paths that opened up in ‘Kindred.’

Story line quickies: A very Superman moment with Claire and the fly guy; Issac’s loft conveniently becomes Mohinder’s laboratory; Micah dropped off in New Orleans with ‘relative’ Nichelle Nichols/’Star Trek’s’ Uhura (got to have powers -- come on!); an uh-oh moment as Maya goes from fearing her powers to wantonly using them (again, I say uh-oh); another uh-oh moment when Peter kisses Caitlin, and something smoky happens (phermones?); Sylar is reintroduced and picks up where he left off as the ruthless killer he is; HRG and Mohinder find the first and last photo (of 8) that will reveal the big ‘save-the-cheerleader’ plot for the season. Oh yeah, and it looks like he’s going to die (gasp!).

Hopefully not anytime soon, though, since we got to interview him! A Duke grad and a descendant of Benjamin Franklin, Jack Coleman has a long list of credits but is probably best known as Steven Carrington from ‘Dynasty.’ We swapped e-mails:

It’s widely known that you were going to be a bit player at first. When your character hit his stride and became an integral part of the group ... what did YOU do to celebrate being added to the main ongoing cast?

When I became a series regular I took my wife and daughter out to dinner. Whoa, Nellie, right?! It was in the works for a while so there was no ‘Oh, my God’ moment where the only possible response was a lost weekend in Vegas.

Your character is always subdued, with flashes of what’s bubbling under the surface. How do you mix his ruthlessness with his protective-dad side?

HRG is a man who survives in a world of intrigue and super-powers by keeping one step ahead of his adversaries. That requires an enormous amount of self-discipline and self-control. In the flashback scene of ‘Company Man,’ where HRG takes the job, I tried to show how different a person he was when he came to the company as a younger man. A true believer with a mean streak, he was openly enthusiastic about his job. As time has gone on, that enthusiasm has given way to world-weariness and cynicism. But it has also given way to the love and devotion he has for his family and, particularly, Claire. Where once he gave everything to the company, HRG has now committed all his energy to the task of protecting Claire from the company. The interesting paradox is that it is his single-mindedness that makes him complex.

So with the generational theme and even more characters, do you think there’s enough on-screen time for everyone?

I think there’s enough screen time for everyone. It’s important to remember that this is an ensemble show about people and events all around the world. This volume, in particular, is quite global in scope and that would be hard to do with only a few characters. I also believe the audience has bonded with the cast from the first season and wants to continue to follow those story lines.

Choose one quality of the show that sets it apart and has made it the phenom that it is.

What makes the show stand out, in my opinion, is the combination of epic comic book themes (saving the world from evil-doers) combined with gritty kitchen-sink drama (the Petrellis and Bennets, e.g., who love each other but cannot get it together). Throw in lush, feature-film production values and you’ve got a show unlike any on television. That’s not one quality, is it?

If you could play another character on the show, who would it be? Why?

If I could play another character on the show, I think it would be the part so brilliantly played by Stephen Tobolowsky -- Bob, the shifty, glasses-wearing Company Man. Oh, wait ... the truth is, there’s no other character I would rather play than HRG.

Thanks, Jack. I’ll post Part II next week. Ponder this until then.

Photos: NBC.com and Wireimage

-- Jevon Phillips