The writers’ strike completely changed Heroes volume 3. If you’ve already purchased and watched the Heroes season 2 DVD, you know that’s not an understatement. Among the highlights of the set is an altered ending to the season 2 finale “Powerless,” several scenes from what were supposed to be the next two episodes, and an in-depth discussion with the executive producers about where the show was going.
What follows might be considered a spoiler. Though Tim Kring and company state these unaired scenes will not appear in the new season, there is always the chance that some of the events or storylines may still be used. So if you want to go into Heroes season 3 knowing absolutely nothing, it may be best to stop reading now.
The single change that altered the entire story was that rather than Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) catching the Shanti Virus vial, it dropped and released the virus into the town of Odessa, Texas. From there, as Tim Kring explains on the DVD, the majority of volume 3 would focus on Peter, Nathan(Adrian Pasdar) and Matt (Greg Grunberg) trying to stop the outbreak of the virus. This makes sense, as earlier in the season Peter went into the future to see the effects of the virus, but now, that whole jump forward in time is pretty much a lost cause.
The fascinating thing about the DVD is they’ve included footage from episodes 12 and 13 of season 2, which were written and partially filmed prior to the strike. Kristen Bell fans should be disappointed, as a rather sizeable subplot seemed to be Elle being assigned to track down and recapture Sylar (Zachary Quinto). The unaired scenes include several deaths which result in Sylar getting cool new powers like impenetrable skin and the ability to turn himself invisible.
If there’s only one reason to get the Heroes season 2 DVD, it’s a short scene of one of Angela Petrelli’s dreams. In it, she travels through the corridors of the Company to see our favorite heroes, dead. Hiro was impaled by Kensei’s sword, Monica and Micah are dead, as are Parkman and Peter. We also see Sylar crush a dead HRG’s glasses as Sylar cuts off Claire’s head. Angela is captured by Sylar and sees his band of villainous minions.
Who’s in Sylar’s Evil League of Evil? There’s Adam Monroe, Niki, Matt’s dad Maury Parkman and a new face, but one we’ll get accustomed to, because he’s played by The Wire‘s Jamie Hector, who will be playing a guy named Knox in the real season 3. It’s about as cool a scene as I’ve seen on Heroes, and I hope season 3 delivers on the amount of awesome shots of super villains united.
The real season 3 of Heroes premieres on Monday, September 22 at 9pm. While the virus is contained and Elle won’t necessarily be going after Sylar by herself, the season 2 DVD features provide an exciting look into what could have been.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
