THE PACE IS TOO SLOW: "We assumed the audience wanted season 1 - a buildup of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers. We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake."

THE WORLD-SAVING STAKES SHOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED SOONER: The premonition of nuclear apocalypse created a larger context that unified every story line last season. Kring now sees that Volume 2 (the first 11 episodes of season 2) would have been better served if Peter's vision of viral Armageddon had appeared in the season premiere rather than episode 7. "We took too long to get to the big-picture story," he says.

THE ROOKIES DIDN'T GREET THEMSELVES PROPERLY: New Heroes Monica (Dana Davis), Maya (Dania Ramirez), and Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) "shouldn't have been introduced in separate story lines that felt unattached to the show. The way we introduced Elle (Kristen Bell) - by weaving her in via Peter's story line - is a more logical way to bring new characters into the show." (That said, Kring says a few newbies won't make it beyond this second volume, which wraps Dec. 3.)

HIRO WAS IN JAPAN WAY TOO LONG: Hiro's (Masi Oka) time-bending adventure in 17th-century Japan - where he mentored samurai hero Takezo Kensei (David Anders) - finally came to an end on Nov. 5. But Kring says it "should have [lasted] three episodes. We didn't give the audience enough story to justify the time we allotted it."

YOUNG LOVE STINKS Kring regrets sticking Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with a super-dud boyfriend and forcing Hiro to moon over a cutesy princess. "I've seen more convincing romances on TV," he admits. "In retrospect, I don't think romance is a natural fit for us."

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Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint

We can't wait for the new season of Heroes to start. In the meantime, we've been checking out the mock documentary called Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint, which tells the stories of Japan's legendary (fictional) hero. Takezo Kensei is a hero to Hiro Nakamura and was the original owner of the smaurai sword that Hiro now possesses. The producers of Heroes have set up an entire website for the Yamagato Fellowship which has lots of interesting backstory. You can see the Yamagoto Fellowship's website here. The faux documentary is here.

The video documentary of Takezo Kensei's life is narrated by John Rhys-Davies (Gimli from The Lord of the Rings) and is presented in several three minute installments.

To our complete and unrelenting joy, Kensei will be played by none other than Mr. Sark himself (Alias), David Anders. He is, of course, not Japanese so we can't wait to see how they explain that. The premiere is on September 24th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC.

Posted on August 29, 2007
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