Blu-ray of the Day: Heroes – Season 3

Cast: Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto, Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, Robert Forster.
Creator: Tim Kring.
Score: Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin.
Cinematography: Nathaniel Goodman, Charles Lieberman, John B Aronson.

The cheerleader who was meant to save the world turns into a cold stone killer in the opening minutes of Heroes: Season 3. And that’s just the start of a startling U-turn against type for all of the protagonists who, in the volume entitled Villains, find their souls locked in a battle between Good and Evil. It makes for frustratingly schizophrenic and, even by this show’s standards, illogical viewing, but does introduce a Faustian character played with creepy aplomb by Robert Forster. Moreover, the writers largely redeem themselves with the much stronger Fugitives volume, which unites the heroes in a season finale with a shocking twist that sets the scene for the fourth and final season that’s due on Blu-ray in August — except here, where fans will have to wait until C4’s aired it. At least the Blu-ray of Season 3 allows you to see it in HD for the first time and it’s packaged with the best extras yet, including a picture-in-picture commentary on each of the 25 episodes. There’s also a 13-minute writers’ forum in which creator Tim Kring and his collaborators explain why they’re not the real villains of Season 3.

Season: 😀 😀 😀
Image: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Extras: 😀 😀 😀 😀

Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Jack Coleman (HRG), Zachary Quinto (Sylar, foreground)