james kyson lee

Though Heroes has fallen in the ratings, do not despair, my friends. I recently talked with James Kyson Lee, who plays Hiro's sidekick, Ando, and he assured me that things will pick up in the coming weeks. In fact, the upcoming chapter, "Fugitives," promises to give the series a reboot.

"I know there have been a couple episodes where people got a little confused in terms of the storylines," said Lee. "But overall, I feel like the writing has been really strong, especially the last three or four episodes. I think it's really starting to come together, and we're going to have a very strong rest of the run for this season."

(S03E09) It's a shame that nobody's watching this show anymore, because tonight was all about setting the stage for the battle to come. With "Volume 4" coming either in December or early next year, we should be moving fast and furious to the big confrontation between Team Pinehearst and Team Primatech. By the end of this episode, all of our major players appear to have chosen sides. The stage is set, after only nine episodes, to get to the meat of this volume.

Remember when we were told that there was going to be an examination of the generations of Heroes, and possibly struggles between them. It looks like the Writers Strike swept all of that off the table. Hell, the only people left from the "first" generation are Angela and Arthur Petrelli, and now they appear to be on opposing sides. It took awhile to get to this point, what with wasting all that time on Mohinder and Maya early on this season, but it looks like we're finally getting to the good stuff. Creator Tim Kring took pen to paper, or more likely fingers to keyboard, to write this pivotal episode. Is there anybody left watching to appreciate his efforts?

(S03E08) Maybe they should have done this one a little earlier in the season. There was only one scene set in the present era, but it was a good one. The rest of the episode was "One Year Ago," weaving and interlacing with the events we did see during the show's first season, showing us what a lot of the characters we either didn't know or didn't follow then were up to, like Ma and Pa Petrelli, Linderman, Gabriel, Elle and even Claire's mother and uncle.

I remember that the second season was supposed to explore the elder generation, revealing more of their connections to one another and their motivations. We were going to learn more about The Company and what they were up to in regards to Peter and the rest of our main cast. It looks like those aborted promises are finally coming to fruition. It's unfortunate that the last season and so much of the start of this season was so lackluster, as things are really coming together nicely. And we're gaining sympathy for almost every member of the cast by learning more about them.

(S03E07) Have you noticed how quickly an episode of Heroes goes by? It's not a bad thing, but it just goes to show you how much they pack into each episode. It helps that they're juggling forty to fifty storylines at any given time. It's one of those things where when you're looking at writing up a review of the show there's just so much that happens. Again, I liked this episode but there weren't any major developments as far as the bigger events.

We did have another de-powering as well as another death. Kristen Bell returned to the show as the troubled Elle, and Claire's mom again showed us what her power was by holding her palm up and having fire dance on it. Hey lady, we're sooo over it! Does Peter get his powers back? Does Sylar really just need a hug? Did Hayden Panattiere finally get any acting lessons so she can show more than "earnest" on her face?

(S03E06) Say what you want, but I think this episode continued the good streak established last week. It looks like, after a shaky start, the Heroes train is finally back on the track. All it took was some patience. That's a good sign for the rest of the season. Now if it could just get some of those lost viewers back. I hope NBC is factoring in downloads, DVR playbacks and streaming views online into their decisions regarding this show as I know it performs extremely well there.

(S03E05) "Suresh. Yeah, he's harmless." Nathan telling Tracy that maybe Mohinder can help them.

Ah, the irony. Those who were harmless are suddenly finding themselves much more dangerous. In fact, the three sweetest characters from past seasons, Peter, Mohinder and Claire, are suddenly three of the darkest characters as tonight's episode began. Especially if you factor in their future incarnations. A lot of critics are decrying the meandering plotlines and again overcrowded cast of this show, but I have to say that by the end of this episode, even those naysayers should be on board this train.

The reveal at the end brought together so many elements from the past and really paved an exciting future for us. I was always intrigued by the promise of more attention spent on the first generation of heroes, including Ma Petrelli and Pa Parkman, Linderman and the rest of the "old folks." It looks like we're going to finally see some of that promise come to light and I think it's going to really add something to the mythology being established here.

(S03E04) A lot of people have said in the comments that it appears as if I don't like Heroes. Believe me, that's not true. I'm actually a huge fan of the show. As a huge comic book junkie for more years and dollars than good sense will allow me to admit, the potential and general premise of this series is tremendously exciting. And the fact that it achieved such mainstream success right out of the gate was nothing short of astounding.

However, just like you'll tell your wife whom you love more than anything else that she has a piece of lettuce stuck in her teeth, I'm not going to just put on rose-colored glasses and pretend that every scene, line and moment of each episode is solid gold. If I see lettuce, I'm going to call them on it. Because the way I see it, it's just lettuce. It doesn't change how wonderful and beautiful she is in the slightest. It's just a little thing that needs to be taken care of because it's distracting me and it doesn't really fit the whole look her face is going for. Kind of like whatever's going on with Mohinder.

Cool news for fans of NBC's Heroes: it looks like the show is going to start filming a lot earlier than it usually does.

Shows usually start filming in July/August for the fall season, but according to Heroes star James Kyson Lee (Ando), the writers strike means that the show will start filming in June, and maybe as early as May. He says that NBC plans to really push the show this year, using the Olympics to hype the show.

That's the good news. The (possible) bad news is that TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Kristen Bell isn't signed for the new season yet.

James Kyson Lee has a job plenty of people would love to claim: starring on NBC's Heroes, one of the best shows of this season, and currently riding a wave of both critical and fan-based praise. However, if you'd asked him a few months ago if he thought he'd be where he is now, he wouldn't have been able to tell you. Unless he'd been able to peek at a painting or two by Isaac Mendez.

Although Lee started out playing sidekick Ando to Masi Oka's Hiro, he's definitely come a long way since then. He's gone from cubicle neighbor, to reluctant participant, to butt-kicking undercover security guard guy, all in the space of one season. He's also get even tougher before this season is over. It could be argued that of all the characters on the show, Lee has undergone the biggest change, that is if you don't count Future Hiro.

A group of us caught up with Lee during our visit to the set of Heroes, and they let us interview him in Isaac's New York artist's loft. Surrounded by piles of comic books and Isaac's paintings, he filled us in on what's been happening with Ando, what will happen in the future, and where his own career is going.

Warning! There be some mild spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk, because Hiro ain't here to turn back time. Plus you can click the images for larger versions.

TV Squad was invited to visit the set of Heroes last month, and it's just about time for the episode we saw them filming to hit the airwaves. Tonight's episode is the much talked-about Episode 20 'String Theory', where Hiro and Ando have journeyed five years into the future, and encounter "Super Hiro" -- who is basically normal Hiro with a ponytail, soul patch, Matrix-esque clothes, a flawless English accent, and much more control over his powers. However, something has gone wrong ... right? Because if he had total mastery of those time-bending and teleporting abilities, he could've stopped New York from going boom.

As we saw in the last episode, Hiro and Ando find some sort of mish-mash network of strings, photos, and more in Isaac's old loft, where Future Hiro has clearly set up shop and appears to be working out some problems with the timestream in a sort of A Beautiful Mind fashion. It looks like he's been charting connections between people and events, and I'm sure we'll see more of that. During our visit, we caught up with Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), Ando (James Kyson Lee), and Kaito Nakamura (Hiro's father, and Trek legend George Takei) while they were filming Episode 21 'The Hard Part', and we got to watch them at work and talk with them about their characters, the show, and what lies ahead.