Evolutionary Themes in NBC's Heroes

Last season, "Heroes" exploded. The highly anticipated, NBC original drama brought together a group of unassuming, highly intelligent, extremely dominate characters to bring us into a world of superhuman concepts. This season, "Heroes" continues to titillate our minds and force us to expand our ever evolving perception of humankind.

Some viewers may simply find this highly conceptual show to be merely mind-candy requiring very little thought (like Monday Night Football or the latest reality TV show), but as the show premieres many lingering questions take root. The main question for this viewer is - How do the Heroes assume their powers?

The opening monologue states that our Heroes were brought together by destiny. If this is the case does that mean that their capabilities are indisputable, not reliant upon one single common denominator other than simply being part of the chosen ones? But from last season we see that there were concrete ways in which certain characters acquired their powers. Some were born with their talents, others obtained them through extraction of DNA and lastly, some were able to attain them through absorption.

During season 1, Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) struggled with his emerging powers - how they came to be and how to control them. This was an ailment slightly different from his other hero peers. While Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) and Niki (Ali Larter) awkwardly discovered their phenomenal talents, they had an inbred understanding of them, unlike the two opposing characters - Peter and Sylar (Zachary J. Quinto).