Bryan Fuller – Thank You

Caught Heroes last night and to be honest, I would have stayed away had I not known the creative genius behind the episode. Without reading any spoilers I managed to figure out that the one and only Bryan Fuller penned last night’s episode Cold Snap, the best episode of Heroes since Company Man. And guess who wrote Company Man!

I posted a while back about Fuller and his short lived series Pushing Daisies so I won’t go too far into what his significance is on modern story telling, but I will say this – Had he not returned to Heroes, I would not be a fan.

With last night’s Cold Snap Fuller did what no other Heroes writer seemed to be able to do, he brought the series back to the core and told character stories rather than intricate conspiracy mysteries. Just like the first season, Fuller focused on the characters rather than the situation. He made bold choices that will not only save the franchise, it saved the story from deepening into the depths of nothingness that fans really don’t seem to care about anymore.

Company Man was brilliant for many reasons, but the one that sticks out for me was the focus on the HRG (Noah Bennet) and the development of his back story. Fuller took this, and told the story. Period. He didn’t meld in any ridiculous plot devices or twists and turns for the sake of a cliffhanger – he contained the story and told it well. Cold Snap wasn’t exactly the same, but the values of the writing remain. Stick with the main story, tell it well, and everything else will fall into place. I’m not going to spoil the plot, but I will say that Fuller has no fear when it comes to changing things.

For me, the highlights from last night’s show aren’t the CG infested scenes, but rather the moments where characters went back to their original selves. Peter is loyal, Parkman is blinded by dedication, Hiro and Ando are constantly striving to improve themselves as heroes and Tracy (Nikki/Jessica/???) is maternal. It was almost as if Fuller’s goal was to remind viewers that these “heroes” were once people and in order to believe in the show again, we need to believe that we’re looking into the lives of these real people. Cold Snap was the journey back.

Check out Fuller’s episodes when you get a free weekend and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. There’s neccessary writing, there’s good writing, then there’s writing that defines good story telling. Enjoy his work and if you don’t here’s a picture of Ando chucking a red fireball Streetfighter-style!