Why was this show so popular?

It had an international setting (which was a pretty new thing before the Netflix shows,altough it wasnt the first show to do it),a great mistery (very important in the age of Lost),and a good soundtrack. And of course they casted good lead actors.

The first season was really good. It also was doing "realistic" superpowers - at least at first - where a mature take on the genre might have happened on mainstream TV, longform storytelling, and with great production values.

That said, even the first season was starting to tilt downwards. Too many people were getting superpowers, they clearly didn't know what to do with some of the plotlines, etc. I like Season One but it never compelled me to continue.

I was hooked the moment I heard the excellent soundtrack, and then there was the cheerleader and I knew I was in for the season. First season was amazing, the rest are still good. I need to go through the show again.

A great cast!

Storywise it seemed they made it up as they went along. But it had a great cast.

I liked the cheerleader character and maybe one other. Soon as I heard "Save the cheerleader, save the world," I quit.

The hype lasted for about two seasons. Once it became clear the show was in a precipitous decline from which it would never recover, most viewers left and stopped caring.

Great show - Season 1 especially.