Kring sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the show's weak ratings (compared to last year) and the problems with the series. Among the items he mentioned were the romances on the show that didn't work, the slow pace, introducing new characters completely unconnected to the ones we already know and getting to the central focus way too late.

He said that part of the problem is that they assumed that viewers would like the same slow unfolding of the story that they did in season 1 of Heroes... but that as it turns out we just wanted them to get on with the story since we already know the framework and the characters:

"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"


Kring also thinks (correctly) that they left Hiro in feudal Japan far too long. They definitely could have tied that up more quickly. He says the romance between Hiro and the princess didn't work, but I actually liked the way the relationship served as a catalyst for him to grow up and mature. One thing Kring didn't address was how obvious it was that Kensei is the big, evil villain behind the whole thing. Gotta say I saw that one coming a mile away.

Regarding how new heroes Monica and the incredibly annoying Maya and Alejandro were introduced into the story:

"[they] shouldn't have been introduced in separate story lines that felt unattached to the show."

Some of the new heroes won't make it past Volume 2, which wraps up on December 3rd. Hopefully Maya and Alejandro will be among the casualties.

And if you haven't already heard, the December 3rd episode has been tweaked so that it can function as a season finale if necessary due to the increasingly omnipresent writers' strike.