NEW YORK -- NBC won Monday night in the adults 18-49 demographic despite an inauspicious premiere for its new drama "The Black Donnellys."

"Heroes" (14.3 million, 6.4/15) gave another winning performance at 9 p.m., despite stronger ratings for ABC's "Supernanny" and CBS' "Two and a Half Men." "Heroes" was up compared to last week's 14.1 million and 6.0/14. "Two and a Half Men" (16.7 million, 5.5/13) was up over last week's 16.5 million and 5.3/12 although "Rules of Engagement" (13.7 million, 4.8/11) was down slightly from its 4.9/11 last week. "Supernanny" (10.1 million, 4.1/10) was up signfiicantly from last week's 8.9 million and 3.5/8.

Tonight is episode 17. It’s a beautiful and powerful episode. It is unique for us because it has one story and one story only. True, that story is told over 15 years of time – but it is, specifically, the story of the Bennet family. Matt Parkman’s story definitely progresses as well – but it is, fundamentally, about the Bennets.

Allan Arkush directed the episode. He is, of course, the other director/producer on staff. Allan, in my opinion, did a spectacular job with difficult material. Don’t get me wrong, Bryan Fuller’s script was great… evocative, chilling and poignant… But at the end of the day, the purely mechanical directorial challenge is that more than half the script takes place between 6 characters in one three-room set. Think about it -- On a purely mathematical level, having 6 people in a scene adds numerous more shots to every scene than, say, having two people in a scene… But to have six people in EVERY scene – well then… Much of the other parts of the script take place in the past where the characters we know are either recast or have to be made up to look younger. Then, to top it off – we take the set that we shoot day in and day out and burn it down. And not all just in one go – in stages!!! To keep escalating the tension and to make clear the various nuances of performance under those circumstances is quite a challenge.

Typically, but not exclusively, Allan concentrates on post-production issues with the show, and I, typically but not exclusively, concentrate on prepping the episodes and getting incoming directors up to speed. Whenever I direct, I’m unavailable to prep the next director. For that reason, I prefer when Allan directs the episode directly after mine. All of which is a long way around saying that I was not very involved with this episode personally.

For that reason I’ve chosen, this time, to use this blog to interview episode 17’s editor, Donn Aron. Donn is one of three excellent editors we have on HEROES. Each editor rotates through the episodes, working on every third show. Donn cuts his show together from the vast amount of film we shoot. And he toils with the film continuously, making it work through all the stages, working first with the director, then with the producers and Tim Kring, then taking and implementing notes from the studio and network – all the while finessing the material and making it better and better. He also lays down a temporary sound and music pass with the film – which is not the final version, but which serves as an important guide to the music composers and sound designers. Donn’s film cutting is excellent, as is his sound work.

At least with Heroes, the linking point right now is mutant DNA, which has some logic, but that doesn't explain why half the characters revolve around each other, while most new characters with powers that are introduced are the equivalents to the red shirts on Star Trek – basically fodder to be killed.

For much of this season, I've been torn between my belief that H.R.G. was a bad man and the possibility that he genuinely loved his family. And it's been pretty much confirmed that, true to life's complexities, he's fully both.