NBC held a press conference last week, and our very own moderator wolfbro7 was able to participate! His question is first the first one under "General", about the helix symbol.
Here is a the final part of the Q and A session.
I've tried to group the questions into a few basic categories, and put the more "spoilery" info at the end.
General / Season 3:
Q: the helix, the eclipse, the double helix of the (Pinehurst company) is going to be introduced in this Volume 3. I was wondering how much of that is going to be explained and explored in the upcoming volume?
A (TK): Again, some of these symbols, you know, they morph their meaning as we go a little bit. The helix is an example of that and clearly it’s been revealed now as the - as a part of the double helix of a DNA strand which plays into the themes of the show and was always intended to be revealed as that.
But there are deeper meanings to these - to both of the symbols of the eclipse and the helix that we have plans to reveal along the way. Its one of the very few things that we wanted to have as question marks that carried you through the series.
We wanted - we set out to be a show that answered questions along the way in a very, kind of regular and quick way but we always wanted to have a few mysteries that carried through the length of the series that would change and morph just enough to keep you guessing as to what the new meanings would be.
And both eclipse and the helix are both, you know, the two real major examples of that.
Q: Tim, I wanted to go back to the question about having to sort of abandoning what you were originally planning for Volume 3.
In doing that, what sort of other opportunities opened up for you and what, if anything, kind of stayed intact for it at the start of the season?
A (TK): Well, you know, it’s interesting. I mean, I don’t know that I’ve had a lot of time to really think about what opportunities it opened for us. We closed some doors that we would have obviously had to, you know, explore and that’s always, you know, complicated.
We had actually shot a fair amount of content already and that lives on as DVD extras in the second season that people can actually watch and see where we were planning to go with the next volume.
You know, again, what it - what the truncated year did for us was allow us to do a kind of reassessment of how to, you know, tell a story in a very adrenalized way.
I mean, clearly the audience is really not very interested in a very - you know, in a slow build on this show. They want to hit the ground running. And so it gave us a little time to figure out just how to do that and in many ways how to do a - how to tell a story without an act one - to start basically in act two.
And we think with Volume 3, Villains, that we sort of we figured that out, how to hit the ground running in a really quick way that has a tremendous amount of adrenalin.
We had a lot of concern in Season 1, I know, when you know, I actually went online just to sort of see audience reaction in Season 1 about eight episodes in. And it was just very eye-opening.
The audience was very frustrated with the show and had no idea where it was going, and no confidence in us to be able to figure it out. And three of four episodes later when I logged on, suddenly they were all hooked.
And so clearly we experienced that same idea in the second season as well. And so this third season we’ve sort of figured out a way to hopefully avoid that initial frustration that the audience has.
Q: And are there pieces that survived from the initial plan?
A (TK): Well not from the volume that was jettisoned - no.
Q: Or from the volume that was planned to be Villains?
A (TK): Oh yes. The - and again, it’s something that the audience, I don’t think, has really figured out because of the nature of the way we’ve aired. The first season just happened to be - the first volume just happened to be one season long.
The second season, the audience would have figured this out, that we were - that we air in these volumes. They would’ve been very familiar with it by the time the season ended.
This year they will hopefully really catch on that we air in volumes. So - and it’s a very important thing for us to do because we want to figure out a way to not get caught in a lot of the problems that most serialized storytelling has where you become impenetrable to the audience after years and years of one continuous story.
We’re now trying to do this - you know, we created this paradigm where you can create a volume, answer 95% of questions in that volume, and move on to another storyline for the audience so that we can keep energizing the story and potentially get new viewers.
Q: I was wondering what the biggest challenge you’ve faced in making the third season was?
A (TK): Well, in many ways, you know, there’s a continuum on this show for us that the audience doesn’t experience. The audience experiences it in seasons; we haven’t.
We have sort of experienced it as one long production. So in many ways it’s the same challenges. We’re making a very big, logistically complicated show by all accounts - maybe the biggest, most complicated show that there is.
So the, you know, the challenges are, you know, are many fold. And for me as a writer, it’s keeping it fresh and keeping the - we have set a kind of bar for the audience of expectations of surprise and unpredictable storytelling.
And that bar gets raised, you know, often by our own - we sort of raise the bar ourselves. In other words, we’ll do an episode that is filled with twists and turns, and we’ll really, you know, blow people away.
And then the next week we have to find some way to top ourselves. And in many ways it’s a very challenging game to play to keep topping yourself. You sometimes you get in a situation where you just simply can’t do - you know, top an episode from the week before.
And so that for us is a continuing challenge to be fresh and new.
Q: we just mentioned Kristen Bell and she was a famous guest on the series. Do you have any other plans to bring any other famous faces on for an episode or two? And Zachary, if you could throw in your two cents, who would you like to work against on the screen? (Note from idallia: the part about Kristen Bell is found at the end in the Spoiler section.)
A (TK): As of right now, we really - this particular volume really does focus very much on the core characters. And so in this particular volume it’s really not about bringing in a kind of stunt-casting idea.
And in many ways in the show, it’s never really been about that. To the - you know, with people like George Takei that came in, they genuinely were the right person for the part and it was really never about a stunt cast idea.
And Kristen Bell - well I guess that was sort of a stunt-casting thing, but that was a series of events that led to her coming on the show. She was available. She was friends with several of the cast members on the show.
And so it was really not a matter of us trying to go out and find that. It, in an odd way, sort of came to us.
(ZQ): And as far as my end of that goes, I feel like I’ve always been, you know, more than satisfied with the guests that have been on the show. And I feel like - you know, I’m more interested in working with good actors than working with someone that gets a job because of, you know, because of that stunt thing.
ZQ on Sylar:
Q: I wanted to find out if you could maybe tell me in your eyes, in the third season episodes you’ve shot so far how Sylar has further grown and developed as a character? And along with that, some of the acting challenges for you.
A: Well, you know, this is the longest time I’ve ever spent playing one character on a show and I think there are unique challenges that come along with that - the idea of just being on a show and playing a character in an open ended kind of way, especially in the serialized nature of the way that we tell our stories.
So for me, this character grows and evolves in so many ways this season. I mean, primarily I think he’s put in situations and he is, I think in some ways, manipulated to employ a kind of restraint against his instincts and his impulses that we’ve never seen him have to employ before.
And that’s really a fascinating - been a fascinating journey for me and also, equally challenging. When you come to settle into a character and, you know, there are certain aspects of this character in particular that people respond to and people come to sort of expect.
And there’s a lot of unexpected turns this year for my character and it’s been - you know, every time I open a script there’s just a different kind of challenge, you know, whether it’s a either physical challenge in terms of a fight sequence or a stunt sequence that we’re doing, or a special effects sequence that we’re doing, or emotional challenge in terms of what he’s coming up against in himself, and what he’s coming up against outside of himself with the people that he’s interacting with.
I think the tapestry of that has been incredibly rich this year for my character, in particular. So it’s been really - it’s been a ride for sure.
Q: Could you ever see Sylar becoming a good guy? And would that be any fun for you? And what do you think would have to happen for that to occur?
A: Well again, I think it goes back to a little bit of what Tim was saying before and what I was sort of saying about this character. I mean, I don’t really look at him as, you know, absolutely good or bad.
I think that he is constantly walking a line of ambiguity within himself and uncertainty within himself that defines the way he acts - the way he behaves. And so I feel like there are colors of this character that are possible, that are maybe a little less violent and a little less dark than we’ve seen him in the past.
But as long as it’s rooted in a connection to the character’s psychology, then that’s what’s fun for me. So I have nothing but faith in the fact that that would always be the case no matter where this character is taken on the show. And that’s certainly held true so far this season.
Graphic Novels
(Note from idallia: If you have not read the graphic novels, now is a perfect time to catch up!)
Q: Most of your fans are pretty hardcore and love the extended content, so what are the tie-ins with the graphic novel and do you think the average viewer will be a little bit less behind if they just watch the series?
A (TK): Well the whole idea of the online extensions of the show was always to be additive to the show. In other words, if you just watched the show you would never have any - you could have a terrific experience and not really need to find out more.
But if you are inclined to dig a little deeper and to dive a little deeper into the mythology of the show, we have all of these various ways that you can do that on NBC.com.
And it becomes additive to your experience. It’s literally just - is the one or two, or three, or four more things that you will know that someone else may not know.
And it just deepens your experience and your sense of fandom to the show. This year we have all of the same, you know, the same - many of the same ideas that we’ve had for the last couple years in terms of the comic book and various online.
But we are adding a very exciting new element of these - of a web series that’s going to run concurrently with the show. We’ve done three of them so far. We have another pod of, I believe, six that’s going to come up in the fall, and then another pod of six or seven in the spring.
And they will be storylines that run concurrently with these volumes that we’ll add to and fill out the whole idea of the mythology, and everything feeding the cannon of the show.
So I think it’s a very exciting way for you to add to your experience as a fan.
Q: Isn’t the next volume of the graphic - the second graphic novel coming out this fall?
A (TK): We’re planning the second volume of that to be released in the fall. I’m not sure when.
(Note from idallia: I'm checking to see if there is a release date for this.)
SPOILERS:
Q: Tim, I had a question for you about Kristen Bell. I thought she was such a great addition to Season 2 and I know she’s coming back. When can we expect to see her and can you tell us anything about how she’ll kind of be (integrated) into the story?
A (TK): Well, you will see her in the second hour of the first night back.
She is integral and plays a very large part in the entire volume. So yeah, you’ll see plenty of Kristen.
And what’s interesting is you - we get to sort of - you know, one of the fun things of this - doing this kind of show with this big of a cast is that you - I think the audience will be really surprised at how many kind of pairings up of people that will be new.
Characters that have never really even crossed paths with one another will cross - will actually have some very unique pairings of characters. And for the cast it was really a lot of fun because while they all know one another and get along with one another, and enjoy one another, there are several of the actors on the show that have literally never been in scenes with one another.
And so finding those combinations, I think, keeps it really fresh and, you know, not only behind the scenes but for the audience as well.
Q: Hey Tim, this one’s for you. During Season 2 you introduced the group of 12 and in one episode Hiro’s dad said there were 8 of them left.
And then a couple later Matt said that they were all dead. So are we going to see any more of group of 12, or are they all dead?
A (TK): You actually will see more - yes, you will see a few of them. And that was referring to the idea of the kind of previous generation. The second volume of the show was called Generations and explored the idea that there was a whole series of people who came before our characters and acted in ways that our characters then had to go and, you know, it’s basically the idea of the sins of the parents had been visited upon their children.
And we will see that some of those people survive in very interesting and curious ways in Volume 3. There’s still some remnants of that previous generate.
Q: There’s this battle coming up in the second part of the opener with Elle. It says epic battle in the notes. And is this going to be a Sci-Fi extravaganza, you know, huge effects battle or is it more of a personal battle? And how much did you and Kristen enjoy shooting it?
A (ZK): Well I just love Kristen all around. I love working with her. I love hanging out with her. I think she has a really great energy and a novel actress. So any time I get to work with her is a good time.
Yeah, it’s a pretty epic battle. You know, some things go down. There’s definitely some special effects elements to it. There’s some stunt elements to it.
Q: Hi. This is a show that’s clearly not afraid to kill off key characters which can be kind of tough on fans. But I’m wondering what the benefits are for your in terms of dramatic possibility and if you regret killing anyone off? And is it possible for any character to feel safe?
(Note from idallia: I'm not quite sure which show this person has been watching. ;))
A (TK): You know, the truth is when you do a story that has any kind of stakes involved -- and stakes of life and death -- you, you know, you absolutely have to have some casualties along the way, otherwise the audience begins to really become very suspicious of whether you ever really mean it when you raise these stakes.
So, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, we exist in a world where we actually have to do that in order to maintain some authenticity. You know, the good thing about Heroes is that nobody is - nobody is ever really as dead as they seem to be on our show because of the ability to time travel, to go back in time because of the flashback nature of the show.
We’ve been able to find characters that, you know, return in interesting and new ways. And so in terms of people that you regrets, we have found ways of - when we have regretted it, we have found ways to bring those characters back in these sort of new and interesting ways.
Q: And what would be an example?
A (TK): And I don’t know that it’s regret, but it’s - some of it was just, you know, planned or actors’ availability, that sort of thing. You know, someone like Malcolm McDowell, who, you know, we loved working with and found a way to figure out how to have that character return in an interesting way this season.
