"One of the fears going into it for a lot of people that I heard was 'Aren't you afraid you're going to run out of story?' And the idea is really the opposite," he said. "Rather than it being like a tank of gas where you use up story, these twists and turns and reveals and cliffhangers actually generate more story. So it's an engine that feeds on itself."

A SHOW THAT KEEPS ADDING more and more characters will, inevitably, have to subtract some as well. And Kring has made no secret of the fact that some of the "Heroes" will die.

"People will come and go. That's the nature of this kind of storytelling," he said

But, again, you can't just keep adding new characters or the cast would have 200 people in it.

"Stop reminding us," said Sendhil Ramamurthy (who plays Mohinder Suresh).

"That is why we race to get the next script," added Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman).

"I've actually died already," said Santiago Cabrera, whose character, Isaac Mendez, was seen dead in a scene set in the future.

"I die all the time," said Hayden Panettiere (invincible cheerleader Claire Bennet). "I feel like Kenny in 'South Park."'

"You just have to keep your head focused on the page and the work of the day and make sure that it's your best work possible because it may be the last scene you're ever in," said Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli).

"But there's no pressure," added Leonard Roberts (D.L. Hawkins).

But death isn't always final on "Heroes."

"I like to think as long as Hiro is alive he can go back in time and make everyone alive again," said Masi Oka, who stars as Hiro.

AT THE SAME TIME, word is that Zach Quinto — who plays Sylar — is talking to the producers about returning next season.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com