A year ago, a hospice nurse and an office worker both took leaps of faith -- one jumped off the top of a tall building, the other traveled through time and space from Tokyo to New York.

By May, the adventures of Peter Petrelli, Hiro Nakamura and every other character in NBC's "Heroes" were all some viewers could talk about.

"Heroes," which returns for its second-season premiere 9 p.m. Monday on KING/5, would go on to be nominated for an Emmy for outstanding drama, and Masi Oka, who plays Hiro, received a nod in the drama actor category.

They were long shots to win, but the nominations speak much more about the way the show connects to viewers than whether it deserves a statue.

Scan the headlines: Our faith in the nation's leadership is low. We're in the midst of an unpopular war, fretting over a sagging economy and a mortgage crisis. For many, the American Dream is as attainable as, well, flight or X-ray vision or super strength.

While we can't be blamed for giving into the malaise, a hard-wired trait of American culture is the perpetual belief in the possibility of rising, of achieving the extraordinary. "Heroes" plays into the undying hope that the individual can triumph over the impossible.

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