Heroes: Cautionary Tales

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

Noah is dead! Holy crap! (well maybe...; but more on that later) Not only did I think they would end up changing the future from what was portrayed in Isaac's paintings but I never thought it would come about so quickly. I'm so used to the stories playing out over a long season that it never occurred to me that any of this would materialize as soon as it did. Unfortunately for Noah it did and if you're looking for someone to blame then look no further than Dr. Suresh. For a smart guy he is extremely naive and stupid most of the time. You'd think after everything that happened last year and everything he knows about the company he would take what Bob has to say at face value so easily. Well, he did and the immediate implication turned out to be the death of Noah while the more important implication appears to be an outbreak of the virus which he started when he and Nikki were there fighting Maurey. So there we have it, Suresh chose the company over everyone else and killed Noah. Terrible...

Now, if we're talking about people who have done stupid things then we have to talk about Hiro next. If Suresh is to blame for the current turn of events then Hiro should be just as blameworthy. He is the one that created the person we know as Adam and he is the reason that a vendetta has been burning inside of Adam for 400 years. So we can't point the finger at Suresh and totally let Hiro off the hook. And this week, Hiro almost changed the future again and probably not for the better when he went back in time to prevent his fathers death. In the end at least he listened to his father and decided not to mess with things that should be left as they are. It was touching though to see the two of them pay respects to their mother at her funeral again. I think most people would like to have such a personal moment with a loved one before saying goodbye once and for all. Speaking of implications of your actions, Hiro may have finally learned his lesson when he discovered it was Adam who threw his father off the roof. This might very well be the turning point for him and what turns him into that future Hiro we saw a lot of last year. Personally, I'd like to start seeing more of the kick ass Hiro than the softy Hiro.

So what could we expect in the next two episodes? Well, I think Parkman is going to have a big role to play. Now that he knows what he can do his powers seem to be growing much faster. He's already starting to control peoples thoughts and actions which can only mean it's just a matter of time before he'll be able to control what his father was able to do by placing people in a prison inside their heads. Also, this episode really showed Claire growing up, at least a bit. She's definitely more forceful and she knows what she wants. Plus she's very smart; she saw through Bob's disguise even though it was extremely surprising that he'd make such an obvious mistake.

Like last year, Claire will probably have a lot to do with the outcome of the season.

We learned the most important piece of information tonight - that Adam is looking to kill everyone in the picture simply because they locked him up. Although I'm sure he'll be looking for Hiro when he's done too. As I said at the beginning of the review, Noah may not be dead after all. It appears that Adam hooked him up to an IV with his blood in it which as we know should bring him back to life very quickly. The last second shot of Noah's eyes would seem to indicate this is exactly what happened. With Noah on his side as well as Peter, Adam may have assembled an unstoppable team. Oh, and lets not forget that Maya may be a source of the virus and Silar likely won't be idle for too long. I can't wait to see how this plays out. Until next week enjoy the review!

Heroes: Four Months Ago

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

I think I'm really starting to like the cut down version of "Heroes." What I mean by that is last year the episodes seemed to contain stories on almost every character. This made the show feel packed and overwhelming at times. This year, so far, the show has been cut down significantly to point that we find ourselves focusing on only a handful of heroes each episode. Personally, I find this much more appealing and I'm enjoying immersing myself in certain characters and plots for a night without the distraction of other short bursts of plot that could have been held for another time.

Tonight, the episode's focus was on the past, specifically four months earlier. If you remember, four months ago was the season finale from last year and our first flashback took us to Peter and Nathan flying off into the sky. Streaking into the atmosphere, the nuclear radiation began to burn Nathan to a crisp. Peter ends up pushing him off and exploding. Except his ability to heal saved him and flew down, grabbing Nathan as he was falling. He rushed him to the hospital, leaving him in the hands of the doctors. So this was the big back story; this was how Peter survived. To be perfectly honest it makes complete sense. The only problem was that it was rather boring. Understandably so since Peter is the most powerful of all the heroes, as his mother told him when he travelled to the future, and it was pretty easy for him to recover and save Nathan. At least this eventually led us to learn how Peter ended up in the shipping container.

I'm not going to go step by step, detailing how Peter ended up in the container but I'd like to talk about some of the things we learned on his way there. Bob, as well probably figured, has motives of his own and was looking to keep Peter tamed rather than training him to control his abilities. So what is Bob's end game? We're not really sure. He has Elle working for him and he also had Adam locked up in the room next to Peter. But what exactly is he trying to do here? Is he purposely trying to put the virus out into the general public? I have a feeling that might be exactly what he's trying to do. It would makes sense since he tried to have Nikki use it on Parkman's father the other week. A big revelation was the information we received about Adam. He was locked in the jail next to Peter as I said but he convinced Peter to stay off the meds and help him escape through the walls. This is how he got out and why he told Peter that they're old friends. I know Bob probably has evil motives but I have to believe Adam isn't any better. He's out to get Hiro and I think he's still looking for vengeance. We still have no idea what his end game is exactly except that it can't be good for anyone. I can't wait to see what he's been planning all this time. The one thing that I am interested in is the Haitian. He saved Peter but we really don't know why or why he gave him the necklace with Tekezo's symbol on it. He has a lot of explaining to do.

Personally I happened to enjoy the Nikki, Mika, and D.L. storyline. I can't believe he survived the bullet wound last season but the ensuing events seemed to make sense. Unfortunately, he ended up dying from a bullet wound anyway when a hot shot criminal in LA got angry when he took Nikki away from him on the dance floor. Apparently, Nikki tried to take the meds Bob gave her to control her abilities but when she stopped she developed a new personality called Gya. A while back this personality had came out (and I guess Nikki doesn't remember) and when it did she went to LA for a time to live the good life, partying day and night. Too bad for D.L. that she hung out with drug dealers and low lifes. I really felt bad when he was shot at the night club. He really turned his life around and became a role model for Micah. The fact that he became a firefight was a testament to his new life as he decided to lead a legitimate existence. This explains a lot about why Nikki left Micah with Monica and decided to go back to Bob for help. At least we know how D.L. died and that there's a third, and more reckless personality, in Nikki.
Was there any bad part of the episode? Sure! As usual Maya and Alejandro turned out to be what I felt was the most unenjoyable part of the episode. Great, she caught Alejandro's bride doing her ex-boyfriend and the black stuff leaked out of her eyes killing everyone at the wedding except Alejandro. How does any of this matter? I have a feeling her ability to kill everyone will play a huge role in the mass outbreak of the virus but at the same time the back story on how she discovered he power doesn't seem to be important in the future events. It seems to be a filler for the episode and a bad one at that. At least give me a reason to watch their story and I'll be a bit more interested. For now though, I really hope these two find their way OFF the show and soon.

As for Nathan, I'm glad we got to see why he was seeing the reflection of his deformed figure in mirrors. He looked unbelievably awful after the events with Peter and I can understand why he turned to drinking. He was seriously deformed (which had to cause major emotional trauma) and he thought his brother had died. Heidi (Rena Sofer) made her first appearance of the season and it was a good one at that. Mrs. Petrelli gave her little speech to Heidi about keeping Nathan's condition a secret but she totally saw through it. Heidi clearly knew something else was up and I wonder if she comes to play a big role later on. Maybe she finds a way to get to Mrs. Petrelli for all the manipulating she does. A big piece of information we received was that Peter was the one who saved Nathan's life. Or more specifically, Peter helped Adam escape who saved his life by injecting some of his blood into Nathan's IV. Apparently, Adam's healing power travels through his blood. I wonder if this is how Claire's ability works as well? Is she some how a descendant of Adam's? Definitely some important questions here. I think though that while some people may think Adam is a good guy because of this you should hold up for a minute. He probably only did that to endear Peter to him and make sure he works for him and no one else. So don't be so quick to forget about his vendetta he declared to Hiro.

This was a very interesting episode and finally answered many of our questions we've had since the beginning of the season. The show has picked up the last couple weeks and it's felt more like the "Heroes" of old. Apparently, we only have three episodes left this season. I'm hoping the promo was only referring to the number of episodes left until the writers come back. I would hate to have such a short season because of the strike. If it turns out to be the season finale hopefully it'll be a good one. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Heroes: Out Of Time

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

I have one thing to say right from the start, WELCOME BACK! Finally, a great episode of "Heroes" came on last night and I felt like it was a year ago when I was sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what was happening and what would come next. This is the kind of episode that made "Heroes" a household name and a fan favorite. I only wish the show hadn't fallen from this ledge and I only hope they can sustain this for the rest of the season.

Let's get into the nitty gritty now shall we. Lets start with Hiro. Thank the Lord he's back in present day. I was so happy to see him finally leave Feudal Japan. The story got old a very long time ago. But I will admit that this week was not too bad. The excitement and the action definitely picked it up a bit and I almost didn't remember how much I hated it. Basically, Hiro saved the day despite Kensei's attempts to kill him and take over Japan. Understandably, Kensei is hurt and feels betrayed by Hiro but I think Hiro was right when he said it was always in Kensei to be this way. In the end, Hiro blew Kensei up when he destroyed all the guns and the powder, or at least he thought he did. Hiro did the noble thing and said goodbye to his Princess despite being madly in love with her. The only problem is Hiro had no idea that he changed history despite all his attempts to fix what he had broken. I'll get to this a bit later but let's just say thank you to the writers for sending him back to the present day and move on.

While Hiro was finishing up his work in Feudal Japan, Nikki, Parkman, Suresh, Nathan and Bob and a big problem of their own to deal with at The Company. Maury decided to go after Bob at the facility but he had to get through everyone else first. Bob finally told Matt the truth about his abilities. He has every power his father has which is that he can not only hear what the brain is thinking but he can control every action the brain can control. This is a powerful ability and Matt needed to master it in very little time if he was going to save everyone including Molly. I think this is a great revelation and we're probably going to see some pretty cool things from Matt as he learns to control it better. It was great to see him figure it out for the time being at least and trap his father in the world he created in his mind. Ironically, its the setting of their old apartment the day Maury walked out on the family. I have a feeling he won't be trapped in his own mind for too long and when he gets out he's going to be plenty pissed off. At least Matt was able to save Molly and her powerful will probably come in handy as the dim future becomes a reality.

Just when you thought everything was over with these four we find out that the virus Nikki injected in herself does NOT have an antidote. Personally I thought this was a bit predictable especially after we saw the future in Peters story but I won't go on another rant about that. I'll let it be since the upcoming episodes she get pretty damn interesting as we find out more about the virus. I don't exactly understand why Bob thinks Claire's regenerative ability could fix this. It seems to me to be completely seperate from what you would need to cure a virus. I happen to think this was a cover and he has some other plans he's not letting anyone in on. It would probably be a safe bet that he wanted Nikki, or whoever was injected, to be incurable. Why? I have no idea. But I'm sure we'll find out soon. But seriously, what was Suresh thinking? Admitting to Bob that he was trying to take down The Company?! Is he really that thick? For a smart guy he's very stupid. If there's one thing he should have learned by now it's that The Company never lets you know their true plans and they are never for the greater good. He totally screwed everything up and he's going to regret his decision very soon.

Meanwhile, Peter got a look at the future which is VERY interesting. Apparently, 93% of the worlds population died from an outbreak of the virus. Unfortunately, the U.S. government (or what's left of it) deported Kaitlin because she didn't have permission to be in the U.S. This must be killing him and even worse he ended up travelling back to the present without her. I have to believe he's going to get her back but I doubt he'll be able to do it until he remembers who he is and how to use his powers. One important thing we learned is that the Outbreak took place on March 20, 2007. This was probably going to coincide with an episode around March this year but with the Writers Strike who knows when we'll actually see it. I'm curious to know how Peter's mother survived the outbreak when so many others died. It was good to hear from her though that Peter is the most powerful of everyone. It really instilled his importance to all the story lines and the fact that it's going to be him and him alone that can save everyone.

Also, if anyone watched "Alias" when it was on, you weren't too surprised at all to see Kensei back in the present as Adam. David Anders is actually playing the same type of character, which is a conniving, slippery, and evil man. I'm surprisingly alright with this because David is absolutely amazing at playing this character type and he brings such an amazing presence along with it. Soak up every moment of his devious activities because you're not likely to see too many actors who play an evil mastermind as well as David.

I do have a couple things I'm interested in: 1) The Company knew Peter was a live and they appear to be the ones who nursed him back to health. Why did they keep it a secret and why did they let him go free? At least Nathan knows he's alive now and will do whatever it takes to find him again. 2) Adam apparently worked with everyone in the Company and was sort of their leader. But he went rogue with plans of holocausts and genocide. I wonder what exactly his role was in The Company and whether he truly is at odds with all of them or just a few. Clearly, one of his main goals is going to be to kill Hiro.

Lastly, I need to say a few words about Noah, Claire, and West. West understandably reacted horribly when he found out Claire's father was the man with the horn-rimmed glasses. But he needs to talk to Claire. If he keeps using his abilities out in the open he's going to get into serious trouble. At the same time I think he's not out of the picture just yet. He has a knack for being nosey and he doesn't always know when to chill out and back off. I have a feeling he's going to try to get back at Noah before long. With Noah back in town and Claire refusing to move things should start to get real interesting. Noah seems to be losing it ever since he saw the painting of his death and he appears to be spiralling out of control. I'm not quite sure what I think is going to happen to them yet but Claire has to start getting involved in the main story lines soon.

Once again, this was an amazing episode from "Heroes" and I'm glad to see it back on top of its game at least for this week. Hopefully we'll get some great stuff next week and it seems like we might with a flashback to the time directly after last years season finale. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Heroes: The Line

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

Last night's episode was a bit interesting. The usual format of "Heroes" is a whole bunch of interchanging storylines involving just about all the characters. However, tonight the main storylines only involved a handful of them. Even then, we needed learn all that much about most. Essentially, we made progress with Claire, Noah, and Hiro. As for Suresh, Monica, Nikki, Alejandro, Silar, Maya, Ando, and Peter we made very little progress and everyone else wasn't even present in the episode.

So lets start with Claire and Noah. These are the two characters I would say we made the most progress with tonight. Claire found herself caught between a rock and hard place when she couldn't get onto the cheer leading squad. The head cheerleader didn't like her very much, so despite her excellent try out she was refused a spot on the squad. The problem is that Claire told her dad that she would be trying out for cheer leading which was really a cover-up to spend time with West. Without cheer leading she would have no excuse to get out of the house to see him. So, what did she come up with? West and Claire decided it would be a good idea to stage a horror show for Debbie and scare her way onto the squad. West, dressed in a black outfit and ski mask, then flew into the picture, grabbed Claire and dropped her from 100 feet in the air, splattering her body all over the pavement in from of Debbie. When Debbie called the police obviously her story was absurd and the entire squad thought she was nuts. Then when she was caught with the liquor she was drinking she was suspended from the squad and the rest of the team voted Claire on. So all-in-all things worked out well for Claire; she's a cheerleader again and she gets to hook up with West anytime she wants.

As for her father, Noah, he was up to his own games. He went half way around the world with the Haitian to visit his mentor, Ivan. Long ago Ivan recruited Noah into The Company and taught him everything he now knows. Noah needed to find the paintings and knowing Ivan as well as he does, he figured this was the best way to find out their location. Noah and the Haitian spent the day torturing him in a sense (the Haitian would remove his most treasured memories one by one until he gave in) and eventually discovered the location of the paintings. Unfortunately, we were shown the paintings but have no idea what they mean yet. I'm sure this is going to be the storyline that develops throughout the season. On a side note, I was actually surprised at Noah. I know he's capable of bad things but I really didn't think he would shoot Ivan straight out. It seems that Noah is going to have a much bigger role to play this year. I'm not quite sure what that's going to be yet but it probably has something to do with Adam.

Who is Adam you may be asking? Good question; I wish I had an answer. All we know so far is that he seems to be a good guy. That's pretty much it. He did try to contact Peter and warn him about what's going on so it seems we know what side he is on. Who he is and what his power might be, if any, is the big mystery. Obviously Peter is going to have a big part in us fining out who Adam is but for now we'll just have to wait and see how everything unfolds.

Meanwhile, Dr. Suresh had his hands full over at The Company. He spent the episode studying Monica but when Bob ordered him to test a live vaccine on her things got a bit sticky. He didn't want to risk her life and possibly many others this way and destroyed the labs store of vaccine's. I honestly thought he was going to be killed when he did this but apparently Bob has other plans. He apologized to Suresh and set Monica up at home with all the tools she'll need to sharpen her power. I have to believe Bob has plans for Monica other than altruistic. The Company is NEVER out to do good and they always have a hidden agenda. Given her abilities they could be some very big plans. We haven't had much insight into what these plans are but it seems we may be getting close.

Niki was an interesting twist. Apparently, she's working for the company now and is supposed to help out Suresh. The only problem is that she doesn't seem quite herself. The last time we saw her she was there to have her alter-ego removed so she could go back to her normal life as Niki. From what I could tell, it seems Niki may be the personality that was removed. This just can't be good for anyone if that's the case.

Now for Hiro. I could talk about him but to be honest I'm bored just thinking about it. The writers need to get him out of Feudal Japan right now! It was the best storyline to begin with and now we've had to watch him there all season. This is getting ridiculous and VERY boring. The biggest implication in all this is that Hiro is changing history. He weakly fell for the princess and is changing the past. There is no excuse for what he's done and although I have no idea how this will impact later events, there will likely be massive implications. Hopefully, we'll get on with the implications and leave Feudal Japan where it belongs; in the past.

Maja, Alejandro and Silar were also involved in tonights episode. The same storyline that we've been watching all season took place tonight again. The three of them were heading for the U.S. border and again Silar was being sneaky around Alejandro while predictably plotting his future to steal Maya's power. Basically a boring storyline and annoyingly similar to every week before it. Finally they're in the U.S. so hopefully things will start to pick up next week.

I have to say that the show has definitely declined in quality this year. It seems that many of you agree with me because the show is averaging 3 million less viewers than the same time last year. The writers need to get back on track soon. While I think this show is safe for the time being, NBC doesn't like to put up with failing shows for very long. A prolonged depression in quality and ratings could spell the end for "Heroes." Maybe things will turn around during November Sweeps. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Heroes: Fight or Flight

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

In my opinion this was a decent episode but not one of "Heroes" best. We had a lot of the usual suspicion and mysterious activity. The thing that made this episode fun though was the emergence of two new Heroes - Kristen Bell as Ellie, who has the power to eject electricity from her body; and Monica, who has the power to mimic muscle movements that she sees. Personally, I like Monica's power better than Ellie's. While Ellie has a cool power and all, Monica can do all sorts of really cool new things such as the tomato flowers, the ninja moves, and pretty much anything else that she watches first. I am a bit skeptical on how Micah figured out Monica's power so fast. True, he's a genius but how could he know what was going on after only witnessing her surprising piano playing? I think the writer's dropped the ball on that one.

Elsewhere, it was a big night for Matt and Nathan. They went to see Matt's father together and it appeared to be a dead end when he convinced them he was a good guy just trying to protect himself from the guy whose out to kill everyone in the picture. Unfortunately for them Matt's father is actually the guy they were after but they weren't able to figure it out until it was too late. Somehow his father can not only read minds like Matt but his abilities have matured and he can place people into prisons in their mind which it appears can result in their deaths. Thankfully Matt was able to get him and Nathan out of their heads and back to reality. If he hadn't been able to control it they may have ended up killing each other. I wonder if Matt will be able to develop his abilities into the same as his fathers and if so, how long until he does? It could be a huge tool in their fight if he could do that. I wonder what exactly his father's end goal is though? He didn't give much, if anything, away when they spoke with him and he appears to care about no one, not even his own son. I have to believe he isn't working alone and if that's true then, who else is involved in his plans? This is very important and I'm looking forward to finding out more.

Outside these characters, the only one we really need to discuss from last night's episode is Peter. He got much closer to figuring out his past and more of his abilities are starting to come out. While at Caitlin's apartment he channelled Isaac's power and painted himself and Caitlin on a street corner in what appeared to be Montreal; the very same city to which he found an open plane ticket in his personal belongings. What exactly is in Montreal is a huge mystery but we can't forget that we're still also trying to find out how Peter survived and ended up in the shipping container? Also, why is Ellie looking for him and how did she and her father (whoever he is) know he was alive? Tonight's episode certainly set us up for some very interesting questions to be answered soon.

On a side note I should mention Nikki and Hiro. Nikki turned herself in to The Company because she's given up on trying to control her powers. She can't deal anymore and she wants them to fix her any way they can. I have to imagine this isn't going to work out and some way or another she'll end up keeping them and eventually controlling them. As for Hiro, he's still in Feudal Japan but the end to his narrative he left Ando in the sword was too badly damaged to read and could hold the key to Hiro's survival. I'm sure he survived but maybe he got hurt very badly and can't come back for now? Who knows, it really could be just about anything.As for Suresh, he apparently is supposed to bring Monica in to the company. Let's hope he doesn't and figures out she's watching Micah before it's too late. Until next week folks, enjoy the review!

Heroes: The Kindness of Strangers

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

We're getting a little better now. A bit more consistency could go a long way here and between this week and last hopefully the show is starting to return to old form. I was disappointed however that we didn't see anything about Peter or Nikki this week. I was hoping to see more of Peter's powers and maybe find out what happened to him but it appears we should be learning a lot about that next week.

Last night some big news was discovered as Parkman and Nathan began working together to figure out why Mrs. Petrelli was willing to turn herself in for the murder of Mr. Nakamura. In their search for some answers Nathan found an old photograph of his mother and father along with Mr. Nakamura and others, including Matt Parkman's father. Apparently, his father stole a lot of money and left home when Matt was 13 years old. So how he ended up in this picture is very intriguing. Even more intriguing is Molly's identification of his father as the man she sees in her nightmares. Remember, this is the man Molly said was worse than Silar. It could be that Mr. Parkman is the person behind the murders of the people in the photograph.

Parkman needed Molly to track down his father so he could figure all of this out. Suresh tried to stop him but Molly agreed to do it anyway. Sadly, Mr. Parkman somehow attacked Molly when she found him and he appears to have put her in some sort of coma. Parkman should have left her alone and figured out another way to track down his father. Using a little girl like that when you know the consequences is irresponsible. Anyway, I'm thinking that everyone in the picture is a member or former member of "The Company." The man Dr. Suresh works for is also in the picture so this would seem to make the most sense. Why the symbols are showing up on each of their pictures and why someone would be taking each of them out is still a mystery though.

Meanwhile, Claire is up to no good herself. Not in the evil sense but she got much closer with West. She finally let him in and now they're dating. Unfortunately, it's Wests arms she ends up in the night her father is murdered. Noah is doing everything he can to prevent her from dating but Claire did a very good job covering up her activities by telling him she's made the cheerleading team even though she was forbidden. West creeps me out a bit, something about him seems off like he's hiding something from Claire. I wonder if maybe he's up to something and not just a guy she happened to meet at school.

As for Nathan, I still want to know if the mangled face he sees in the mirror is his true face or if its a memory of what he looked like after Peter exploded. It's a damn ugly face for sure though. We did find out that after Peter exploded Nathan became an alcoholic as he looked to liquor to ease the pain of losing his brother. His life could end up turning around when he finds out Peter is still alive.

Maja and Alejandro continued their trek to the U.S. last night. Naively, they picked a man up who was barely alive off a dirt road in Mexico. Unlucky for them it was Silar. I still have no clue how he ended up there. At the end of last week it seemed like he was in some tropical jungle not Mexico. Worse for everyone, Maya not only told him about going to see Dr. Suresh but he now knows what her power is along with her brother's. A power like that in the hands of Silar could be it for everyone. He would be able to kill at will and no one except her brother could stop him. But imagine if he got Alejandro's power also; who knows if anyone could ever stop him except maybe Peter. The one thing I thought was interesting though was the cockroach on the brick after he killed the driver. From what I remember, we saw it last when Silar was run through with the sword in the season finale last year. What does that mean? What's the cockroaches significance?

Lastly, we met a new hero this week. Monica seems to have a power similar to Nikki. She totally kicked that robber's butt. The only difference is that she didn't appear to turn into any kind of alternate personality to do so. I can't wait to find out more about her power and if she and Nikki are somehow connected with what they can do. Micah, meanwhile, needs to be a bit more careful. People will start to become suspicious if he keeps working his magic on electronics.

This was a great episode and very well rounded. I especially liked not having to sit through more of Hiro's Feudal Japan trip; it's starting to get very boring. Next week should be awesome and I can't wait to find out how Peter came back and who Kristin Bell is going to be playing.

Heroes: Kindred

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

While not the best ever, this was definitely the best episode for the second season of "Heroes." I think for the most part though this show has lost steam since around the middle of last season. I can't quite put my finger on it but the suspense just isn't the same. Including some fight scenes and a greater use of their powers might keep the audience more intrigued. Unfortunately, the storylines alone are just not cutting it. We need a little more to watch or else I think "Heroes" is going to start to see a big drop in viewership. In reality this is actually starting to take place as the show saw a significant drop in viewers last week.

The best part of the first three episodes has been Peter. They've showed his powers a lot more than the others and the mystery surrounding his disappearance and reappearance have created great suspense. We know the boc contains his identity, too bad love is keeping him from opening it. It was obvious that he would fall for her but not wanting to know who he is, is a dumb move. The guy clearly has a lot to work out so how could ignoring his past make any of it better? I have a feeling his past will catch up with him sooner rather than later and he'll be forced to remember who he was.

Nothing new to report on the Maya and Alejandro front. They're still trying to get to America and still can't manage to stay together for more than a couple hours. Really though, how hard is it for two people to stay together? Every episode they find new and ridiculous ways to be separated and each time she ends up killing or almost killing more people. It's getting a little old, the writers need to move on with some new stuff or no one is going to care what they're doing.

Finally, Niki is back with Micah. I was wondering when they would finally show up. Again, not much to report here but clearly there's going to be a lot to talk about with Niki since she decided to work with the company so she could be cured. They never do anything out of the goodness of their hearts so their consideration in return will be interesting.

Sylar is alive! Well, I'm not actually that surprised since they told us in last week's scenes from the next episode. They have to stop doing that; it would have been much better for us to find out on our own this week. What exactly is wrong with him though? He got stabbed in the chest but how could this get rid of his powers and prevent him from getting new ones? There's a lot of questions about Sylar, the biggest of which is who performed eight surgeries on him and why would they want him alive? It's nice to see him powerless for a change. The same old story with him attacking and killing others is old now. We need something new to keep us interested.

Meanwhile, Claire seems to be enjoying herself now that she found out West has a secret of his own - he can fly! Nice to see her happy for a change. But man does she move fast...she finds out his secret and just a few minutes later they're making out on the beach. Too bad the happiness won't last too long. As it turns out her father, Noah, tagged West a couple years back and he remembers who did it to him. She won't be able to keep her father a secret and eventually it could bring down everything they set up in California.

As for Parkman and Suresh, they're basically just still taking care of Molly and surveilling the Company from the inside. The one big thing that happened with them tonight was Suresh's discovery of the eighth painting. It shows Noah dead after being shot through the eye and some man holding Claire. Who he is and how this future comes about is still a mystery though and it appears finding out what comes in between will be the theme of this season.

Lastly, we find out more about Hiro's trip to Feudal Japan from a note he left Ando in the Kensei sword. Hiro has done everything right as he tried to get Kensei back on the path of a hero, that is until he fell in love with Kensei's future wife. It was a big mistake for him to stay in Feudal Japan for her when doing so could change every one's future's; it was selfish and shows that Hiro is still very immature. I'm still not sure how much I like the Hiro in Feudal Japan stuff but if he changes the past, and in turn the future, it could get interesting. Until next week...

Heroes: Lizards

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

Heroes is finally back to what it does best. The most intriguing aspects of this show always deal with the powers and their implications. Last week was more like a soap opera than the normal Heroes episode. So when the episode really started to delve into the powers this week I was extremely happy. Just like last week I'm going to go through each character in the episode and discuss what was good and what we learned about them.

Claire & Noah:

Well, Claire is certainly having a tough time adjusting to a new high school while trying to keep a low profile. She was right when she said that the more you try to lay low in high school the more people talk about you. I think instead of her staying out of everyones way and not talking about herself she should be trying to fit in like any other kid. That way she'll be accepted by a group of friends and others will stop trying to find out who she is and where she came from. The worst part of all this is that she's going crazy and it will end up getting them caught. Just when I thought she was growing up with everything that happened last year she reverts back to a teenager with her rant in the back room of Copy Kingdom. With all this said, we learned a hell of a lot more about her healing power. Not only can she heal from any wound but she can regenerate body parts!! That's crazy cool and will probably lead to some incredible action scenes down the road.

As for her dad, Noah, he's back to his old tricks as we learned last week. He's desperately trying to keep Claire from losing control and putting the family in jeopardy while at the same time working with Suresh to take down The Company. I'll talk about it under the Suresh heading but at the end of the episode he reunites with the Haitian. It really is amazing how far ahead he can think and how good he is at it. I wonder if The Company has any idea what he's up to.

Matt Parkman:

Not too much on the Parkman front this episode. Mainly he spends the episode investigating the death of Hiro's father. He meets up with Ando, I believe for the first time, and then interrogates Petrelli. Unfortunately, she has a picture with the Kensei symbol on it to and is attacked in the interrogation room. Oddly though, the door was locked and she was all alone. When Parkman tries to break through the glass to save her you can see that she is somewhat being attacked but no one else is in the room. It seems as though she's being clawed at. Could this be the new bad guy that Molly keeps seeing? Or could it be someone different?

Hiro:

Sadly, Hiro still has no idea that his father has been killed. This is because he remains in ancient Japan trying to save the legend of Kensei. I'm still not sure what part this legend plays in the current events; as in did it cause them or it's lack of occurring cause them? Is Kensei somehow alive and committing these acts? It would certainly seem logical that he could be alive since he can heal!!! Now that I was NOT expecting whatsoever. I thought the genetic changes didn't happen until recently given evolution. I did not expect it to have been present in feudal Japan. Maybe the healing power not only heals wounds but can heal aging and thus keep Kensei alive until the present. Who knows but this was definitely a big development. It could mean that somehow Kensei is also related to Claire. What do you guys think of that one?

Hiro is embracing his abilities and purpose much more since he trained with his father. This has strengthened his powers and its good to see him taking charge.

Alejandro & Maya:

These two are so odd. What in the name of all that's holy is going on with them? Clearly Alejandro is the antidote or control to whatever is wrong with Maya. But what's wrong with her isn't exactly clear. She's got that creepy, X-files black stuff coming out of her eyes whenever Alejandro isn't nearby and somehow it kills whoever is near her. What's even more odd is that not only can Alejandro control it in her but he can bring anyone who was just killed near her back to life. I'm thinking that this has something to do with the virus the people are getting and maybe even a different strand. Whatever it is I have a feeling it's going to be a major part of the entire season.

Peter:

Easily the best character of the night. The fight scene where he used a bunch of his powers was awesome! This is what I love most about the show; when they show them using there powers this extensively. Peter is incredible now with all the new powers plus his ability to use all the ones he had before at will. I think this guy that kept him chained up knows more about Peter than he's letting on. The biggest mystery though is where Peter went, why he has no memory, and how he can all of a sudden master all the powers. The box is new and interesting since we really don't know if all it contains is Peter's personal information. Next week may end up revealing a lot about what's going on and I can't wait to find out what's up with Peter.

Suresh:

There has to be some strings to Suresh agreeing to work for the company. There's no way they'll just let him come in and work but not ask for something more. It's possible that when all is said and done they're going to take him apart to learn how his blood is the cure for the virus. I do like how he's working so well with Noah and nobody has caught on at The Company. He's very convincing, I didn't think he had deception in him.

Mrs. Petrelli:

I really don't like her. She always has this look on her face like she's trying to figure out some way to screw up your life. I am however intrigued to know what exactly her and Hiro's father did back in the day to put their lives in jeopardy now. As I said above, the attack in the police station was also a big mystery in this episode. So basically all we have about her is that she's immersed in everything but we have no idea how or why.

Well, this week was a pretty good but not fantastic. I had a lot more fun that last week and next week's scenes look unbelievable. Allie Larter finally comes back and we find out that somehow Silar is alive! Coincidentally (or not) he does not remember who he is either. I can't wait to see what's going on!

Heroes: Four Months Later

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 9PM ON NBC

I'm going to use a different format for Heroes in my review because the characters aren't really all that connected, at least not in this second season premiere. So I'll review each character's storyline and you can comment on all the characters or just each one individually.

Dr. Suresh:

Well, well...Suresh has become a bit more open to the world around him and not so naive. I have to tell you that I totally didn't see it coming; I really wouldn't have guessed that he was trying to set up The Company with Noah. It's good to see that the old storylines haven't fully gone away after last season. I am curious though exactly what this virus does to the Heroes and how it started. I guess it's just a genetic virus but it's very interesting that his sister died from the same virus.

Alejandro & Maya:

I have a feeling that these two new characters are going to shack up the show. Alejandro seems harmless enough but Maya must have some major stuff going on to be able to kill all those people. Plus, what was that black stuff coming out of everyone's eyes? It reminds me of the good old days of The X-Files. I think Alejandro is some sort of antidote to Maya's power which is why they need to be near each other all the time. The two characters are interesting but as of right now I'm not too sure how much I enjoyed watching them. This could change when I see how they fit in the overall story.

Claire:

There's just no way that she can stay out of trouble. She's a teenage and indestructible - bad combo for trying to be stealthy. Then again Noah couldn't do it either. Well Claire's at a new school and needs to be silent. She wants to be a cheerleader and misses having friends - so is she a robot or an alien? Her new guy friend seems interesting and apparently can fly too! I didn't think we would see two Heroes with the same power so soon. She was easily the most intriguing storyline for me this episode with Molly and Matt coming in a close second. To me it always seems that Claire is one of the central parts of everything that happens and if you follow her you'll eventually find the trouble. So this begs the question, what will she brings us this year?

Who knew she was so smart? She knew the Charles Darwin answer at the drop of a hat. Can you believe her mother still has that damn dog? And what happened, I thought her mother was working for the Company? I forget but did they all not find out about that yet?

Hiro:

In my opinion the worst and most absurd storyline brings Hiro to feudal Japan where he meets his hero Kensei. The only problem is that Kensei turns out to be a white, english guy (David Anders - "Julian Sark" from Alias). From what I understand he's there to find out about his family history but to me this is just boring. I'm not really finding it all that much fun. Either way, it seems that somehow Hiro changed history when he moved Kensei from the path of the arrows but we still don't know how or in what ways. I figure Hiro will be in Japan for a while longer as we get these answers.

Matt Parkman & Molly:

Glad to see he's getting some of his life back with the job at the NYPD. Very smart using his ability to figure out who the hostage was. Very surprised actually to see him taking care of Molly. Although it works for him to be the father-figure; it comes naturally to his character. We also learned that he's getting divorced which is not at all surprising since she cheated on him. Great idea for hm to work with Suresh to bring down The Company; they'll never be safe unless they're gone.

Molly is a bit scary actually. She like a poltergeist child or something when she yells and goes nuts. But obviously she's still seeing this monster of a man and he's the one sending the pictures with the Kensei symbol on them (her pictures show the same symbol as the one's sent to Hiro's dad and Nathan's mom). Although I'm still not going to write off Molly as innocent and harmless, I think she may affect people in a terrible way later on. Her storyline though is intriguing if nothing else than because of its implications for every other character.

Ando:

Not much to talk about with him except for his connected to Hiro's father. He's working for Hiro's father now except not for long. Whoever the man is that Molly is seeing killed Hiro's father. I think I have an idea though who it is, Peter Petrelli! I think his new powers can allow him to be in two places at once or somehow the explosion split his being in two. But this I'm sure won't be answered for a long time.

Nathan:

Nice to see Nathan again although his life is falling apart. I think he'll pull it all together again though when he sees Peter alive. Not a great part of this episode but as always he should have a big part to play down the road.

Peter:

How in the world does he end up in that large metal crate after exploding in space? That's one of the big questions of this premiere. More than that, how did he end up with more powers and what are they? As I said above, I think he's the one Molly is seeing or at least his alter-ego or something. Next week should bring us more answers about Peter and I can't wait to find them out.

Overall I thought the episode was mediocre and thus disappointing. I expected more from the season premiere. The second half of last season was no where near as good as the first half and I'm still hoping they can pick up the pace. If they don't I think a lot of viewers will be turned off and stop watching.