Here's what we know:  Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster) is alive, or at least for now hanging in there.  He is bed ridden.

Here's how I see it:  Arthur had a parting of ways with The Company, probably over the issue of giving people powers.  Seeing Arthur as a threat, Angela - or another member of The Company - killed (or at least thought they killed) him, making it look like suicide.  But Arthur didn't die - not sure if that a result of his power (which is what?) or just luck.

I think for the last two years Papa Petrelli has been hiding away regaining his strength and forming a plan of vengeance and/or domination.  Given what he looks like now, he must have been in really bad shape.

So now Arthur is back in the game with his own company - Pinehearst - and the company's logo is two Godsend symbols intertwined.  Given that he's the guy that Daphne has been working for, I'd say that the formula - which can be used to give ordinary people power - is a major part of his plan.

But what exactly is his end game?  An army of people with abilities?  Why?

We also know that he's been recruiting his oldest son Nathan through the imaginary Linderman.  It turns out Linderman is not so much a figment of Nathan's imagination as the work of Maury Parkman.

Major questions here.  How did Maury come to work for Arthur?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time we saw Maury he was in the hands of The Company and was trapped in his own mind by his son Matt.  How did he escape?  Has Maury always sided with Arthur?  If not, what did Arthur do to win him over?

Furthermore, I want to know why Daddy is working so hard to win over Nathan?  As we learned tonight, Nathan's power is synthetic.  Wouldn't the powers of Peter be more useful to Daddy?  Or is it the synthetic power that Arthur needs?  Although it's never made clear tonight whether Peter and/or Sylar's powers are natural or synthetic, I got the feeling that at least one of them was born with their power. 

The next question would be is Arthur Peter and/or Sylar's dad?  Maybe Pete's not his, that's why he didn't try to recruit him.  Speaking of which, why are they recruiting certain people?  Is it because of their family connections or their abilities? 

When Daphne was requested to recruit, Maury (as Linderman) gave her files for Knox and Mohinder and she falters calling them "pretty nasty people."  It seems Mohinder is moving up on the badass list, maybe it has something to do with the fact that he spent the entire episode collecting people (Maya included) and storing them cocoon-like on his wall.

Daphne recruits Knox, who then kidnaps Adam for Pinehearst.  And someone from Pinehearst had already talked to Stephen Canfield (Andre Royo).  Plus now we know how Daphne and Matt (another family connection) meet since he's on her recruit list.

Or is Pinehearst just looking for easily swayed people?

Yes I'm thinking of the Japanese Nazis, as Adam called them.  "We are the worst heroes ever?" Yes they are.

First they - or rather Hiro despite Ando's protests - lost Kaito's half of the formula to Daphne.  Then they got caught by the Haitian while trying to steal the second half and tonight they unbury Adam only to lose him moments later in a "cantina" after being distracted by a Star Wars reference.

Then Hiro kills Ando in an effort to prove he's bad ass enough to join Daphne and Knox.  I don't for one minute believe Ando's dead.  It's probably another Scooby plan of Hiro's.  I just haven't figured out to what end.

While I'm pretty sure that Nathan isn't entirely buying the "dead mobster telling me he's a messenger from God," I think it's going to be Angela herself that pushes her son into Arthur's waiting arms.

After confirming that The Company did give the Tracy - and her sisters Niki and Barbara - their powers and revealing to Nathan that Daddy wanted his son to have powers even if they were synthetic, Angela tried to sound repentant.  But it's kind of hard to see past the fact that she has Peter subdued in another room with a medically induced coma.  Now that's a mother's love for you.

And Peter almost got a chance to pay her back for all her motherly kindness with a little slice to the head, but brother Sylar stopped him.  It seems that Angela has at least one obedient child.  And she's going to need it now that she knows Arthur's back thanks to that little premonition.

Meanwhile we were introduced to two new heroes villains people with powers - Stephen Canfield and Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence).

Claire, in all her infinite teenage wisdom, decided to go hunting for escapees solo.  She found Stephen.  But so did HRG and Sylar.

Stephen can create vortexes and accidently killed his neighbor over a lawn mower dispute before being hauled away to Level 5 two years ago.  Now that he escaped all he wanted to do was reconnect with his family.

Claire just wants to help him, HRG just wants to use him to kill Sylar and Sylar just wants to play father and daughter off each other.  In the end Stephen sends himself into a vortex.

In the meantime, Meredith and Sandra discover that Claire is missing and start trolling through the Primatech files looking for clues.  But when Meredith spots Eric she calls him a horrible man.  It seemed like she had some history with him or at least knew something she wasn't telling.

But if she knew he was a puppet master why would she go there?  And how are Claire and Sandra going to end up there next week?

I think this episode was pretty good.  I hope it was critical to forming this season.  Let's hope I was right and it wasn't just another tangent.

What did you think of the episode?  Did you know it was Arthur behind it all?  Who are you cheering for - Angela or Arthur?

---------------
Related Posts

Who are the Real Villains on Heroes’ ‘I Am Become Death’?

Heroes' Brea Grant Interview

Heroes Scoop:  Elle Bishop Returns -- With an Agenda 

Heroes’ Sylar Goes to Work for Mommy in ‘One of Us’

Heroes Returns with Double Feature Season 3 Premiere

Heroes Episode 3.04

"I Am Become Death"

Written by: Aron Eli Coleite

Directed by: David Von Ancken

As I write this, I am watching "I Am Become Death" for the third time. I was actually very surprised to hear so much negative feedback about this episode on the online forum communities. Of course, there's plenty of good buzz about it, but a lot of bad as well. I just can't see how anybody could have a problem with this episode. I thought it was the best one all season. I'd even go as far to say as it was the best one of the series since "Five Years Gone" from way back in Season One. Its definitely my new favorite episode.

After the jump you'll find my spoiler filled review. This is a huge episode but I'll try to generalize it as much as possible. Keep in mind, I'm still referring to Future Peter Petrelli (with the scar) as "Futurelli." Present day Peter Petrelli is simply "Peter."

- SPOILER ALERT -

I'm going to try to avoid a recap formula to this review, although there's so much going on in this episode, all of which I want to mention, it always ends up looking like a review in the end. I'll try to just hit the high notes...

First off, regarding the weird title: Its a quote from J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Cool, huh?

Now, Futurelli actually takes Peter to the future, but we see this episode as if through Matt's eyes as he uses Isaac's precog ability to see all the events of the future first hand.

MOHINDER & MAYA

Mohinder is becoming something... weird. I'm assuming its a cockroach or something roach-like. Its not just changing him physically but his aggression is getting more and more out of control. We see in his future scenes with Peter that he's become something he feels he needs to hide. Some have speculated that the scaly look of his hands suggest something serpent like, but the sounds he makes and the speed with which he crawls across the floor, plus the crawling up the wall in "The Butterfly Effect" suggests something more insect-like.

As cool as this whole Mohinder thing is, and despite my appreciation for the obvious homage to "The Fly" with Jeff Goldblum, I really hope he finds a cure to this and  that future doesn't happen. I want good guy Mohinder back!

Now what's up with Maya completely losing her accent? My parents have lived in the states for almost 20 years, and they still have their accent. Don't think that because your cleavage is amazing I'm not going to notice your accent's gone! ... She does have a great rack though, doesn't she? (Okay ladies, I apologize. Its all in good fun. Don't send me hate mail...)

TRACY

Tracy is one of three triplets. Apparently Tracy, Niki and Barbara were separated after being experimented on by the company. They injected them with a formula that gave them abilities. It's obvious this is the formula Hiro and Ando are looking to retrieve. Its a perfected version of what Mohinder was trying. And by "perfected" I mean it doesn't result in bug-like transformations.

One thing I love about this particular reveal is that it puts to rests any theories about Jessica and really straightens the whole thing out. Jessica was a younger sister. Season One's Jessica storyline plays out as normal. Jessica dies, and Niki is so affected by it she develops multiple personalities, one of which included Jessica. She (Jessica) is not, however, one of the triplets, and the super strength belonged to Niki. Now with Niki dead, Tracy is our new hero but there's a third out there; Barbara. Babs is probably the villain we see standing with Adam, Knox and Matt's Dad in Angela's dream. Ali Larter must have a lot of fun working on this show.

I enjoyed the Nathan and Tracy scenes. Everytime I see Nathan on screen, I'm shouting at him to take flight already and stop denying his abilty. I was ecstatic to see him fly in this one. FINALLY! And I thought it was funny and brilliant the way the directer transitions from Nathan and Tracy's first kiss, to four years in the future when they're President and First Lady.

PETER & FUTURELLI

The Futurelli and Peter stuff if always great and fun for me. I love that they go four years into the future and encounter almost all of our favorite Heros as their future selves. Futurelli is killed by Claire, who's working with Knox and a much more mature Daphne, who's married to Matt and is raising Molly. Then there's creepy buggy Mohinder, lurking in the shadows. And, of course, there's Gabriel Gray. Sylar seems to have had a son, and has reformed. He's learned to suppress his hunger, and control himself, no longer calling himself Sylar but returning to his former Gabriel alter-ego.

Now, many people seem to have a problem with this. They don't want Sylar to redeem himself. They don't like knowing that his evil ways are a result of a side-effect to his ability; a hunger he couldn't control. That makes him looked justified, or like some kind of victim. I can understand people needing to feel like Sylar is just pure evil for no other reason than he just is. He's greedy and wants all the power he can get his hands on. I get that. Its the whole reason why people loved Heath Ledger's Joker so much. Because he had no reason for being evil, he just was. But me, I think back to season one, when we went into the past and saw how Sylar came to be. As Gabriel Gray, he was a regular guy. And a nice guy at that. His psychosis only surfaced when he discovered his ability, which fits in perfectly with what they're saying now. His evil desire to kill and stock up on abilities is a hunger that comes as a side effect from his core ability, which is to understand how things work. This is nothing new people, we've known this since season one. Get over it already. Besides, the future isn't written in stone, especially on Heroes. There's no reason to assume Sylar will ever reform.

Now, the scenes with Gabriel and Peter at the Bennet house was amazing. Painting the future, fixing the watch with the German's ability, Peter takes Sylar's ability, Gabriel's Son was named Noah, Knox killing the kid, Gabriel losing control and blowing up Costa Verde. It was all just brilliantly done. And Daphne getting the drop on Peter with her super-speed and not letting up so he didn't have a chance to catch up. That was one exciting and beautiful scene. It was just so intense, I still get all freaked out and excited. Its a big melting pot of emotions. You feel sad for Little Noah's death and Gabriel's pain. Then you're excited and rooting for Gabriel as he beats the hell out of Knox. Then you worry when Gabriel starts to glow. And as he screams "Save Us!" he blows up and you see an entire city's destruction... I don't know about you but my heart was beating so very fast.

Seeing Peter subject to Sylar's hunger was pretty intense. He even attacks Nathan in the future. Out only hope is that he learns to control this hunger like Gabriel did and get back to being our hero... That wont happen for a while, though. Looks like Peter's our latest villain.

Claire's run in with Sylar has clearly had long lasting effects on her. Future Claire is a bad ass and kind of a bitch, if you pardon my french.

NATHAN & LINDERMAN

I really liked the Nathan and Linderman scene. Linderman makes it clear he's not dead or in Nathan's head. His core ability is healing others, which he makes a point of bringing up to confirm he's the reason Nathan's even alive. But when Nathan suggests he's a telepath, Linderman shoots that down and says it's nothing that obvious. I've very curious to find out what's going on there.

MATT, MOLLY AND DAPHNE

Matt marries Daphne in the future, and continues raising Molly. Daphne in the future is not annoying, immature and over the top w/ her facial expressions like her younger self is in the present. This gives me a lot more respect for the actress. Now that I understand she's playing the younger Daphne differently from the grown up Daphne, I don't look at it as bad acting. Its quite the opposite.

Matt following a turtle? Priceless and hilarious.

HIRO AND ANDO

Hiro has the key to the whole mystery? And apparently he buried it with Adam. When he digs up Adam, and Adam immediately springs back to life and begins to choke Hiro, I cheered! I loved Adam's character. He was one of the best parts of Season 2. I'm excited for his return and can't wait for him to team up with some crazy villains and wreak havoc!

So seriously, how can anybody not like this episode? It was perfect. I can't think of a single thing I have a problem with, or a single moment of inconsistency which can't be easily explained. I loved this episode. As stated, its my new favorite.

The A-Train's "I Am Become Death" Review: 5 out of 5 Scars

Dopo aver visto la terza puntata della terza stagione di Heroes, finalmente possiamo dirlo: alleluja, Tim Kring & compagnia cantante degli sceneggiatori hanno ascoltato le critiche post seconda stagione della serie sci-fi, e a guardare le sceneggiature della terza stagione, di carne al fuoco e di motivi per essere ottimisti ce ne sono a profusione. (Attenzione, seguono spoiler)

Lo storyline è - almeno finora - ambientato in un solo ‘tempo’, gli Heroes sono al pieno delle loro potenzialità, le sceneggiature nascono, muoiono e rinascono, nessun personaggio ruba troppo spazio agli altri. L’anno scorso, tra giapponi feudali con Hiro che è stato lì tutto il tempo, Peter che non sapeva chi fosse, Maya e Alejandro tra i personaggi più inutili della storia, Sylar senza poteri, Claire che voleva essere una cheerleader…la serie non si poteva guardare.

Tutti errori corretti nella terza stagione, dove uno degli storyline più divertenti della serie, quello tra Hiro e Daphne, è stato interrotto ancora prima che ci fosse il rischio di farlo diventare senza senso: l’Haitiano è arrivato ed ha condotto Hiro e Ando al Livello 5. Heroes, e non è la prima volta che lo diciamo, funziona meglio quando i personaggi principali interagiscono tra loro, ed aver ‘accantonato’ le capacità di viaggiare nel tempo di Hiro è stata una mossa intelligente.

Come dimenticarci di Tracy, il cui storyline ci ha catturato sin da subito: e anche qui, gli sceneggiatori ci hanno stupito, visto che invece di passare la stagione a tentare di capire come Tracy fosse connessa a Niki, le hanno fatto vedere il cadavere della mamma di Micah, tramite Micah le hanno fatto scoprire il dottore che è il loro ‘creatore’, e -se tutto va come deve andare - non dubitiamo che ne vedremo delle belle per almeno 3/4 episodi.

E Peter? Qui, per la verità, dobbiamo un attimino lamentarci, visto che l’idea di bloccare Peter nel corpo di un cattivo era intrigante, ma gli sceneggiatori hanno ‘eliminato’ lo storyline dopo pochi episodi. Come che sia, non crediamo certo che tutti i problemi di Heroes si siano magicamente risolti, ma se le premesse saranno mantenute, la serie della NBC ha tutte le carte in regola per tornare ai livelli della prima stagione: cosa che noi tutti, da fan di Heroes, ci auguriamo fortemente…

www.televisionando.it

]]> http://redlightnaps.wordpress.com/?p=936 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:05:21 +0000 vacelts http://redlightnaps.it.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/heroes-i-am-become-death/ On tonight's episode of Heroes, "I am Become Death," Peter and Matt both see (one by dream and one by time travel) four years into the future and given what they see you have to wonder which of our heroes are actually heroes and which are villains.

In the future - in which anyone can have an ability if they want - the line between right and wrong is blurred.  But it's clear that sides have been chosen - at least by some.

Peter - future and present - was on one side.  He doesn't think people can be trusted with abilities.  Therefore, it's ironic that his actions end up creating an army of people with abilities and he himself acquires an ability he can't handle.

On the other side are a leather-clad Claire, a longer-haired Daphne, Knox and the Haitian.  What this side wants - besides Peter dead - is unclear. 

In the first clash of sides, Claire kills Future Peter, but Present Peter escapes.  How did Peter die?  I thought he had Claire's healing ability.  Sure the Haitian was there, but Present Peter knocked him out which should have made his power useless.  Is a bullet in the back of the head really deadly for Peter?  Why can he be killed, but Claire can't if he got his power from her?

The second battle is at the Bennett house where Sylar - I mean Gabriel - is playing June Cleaver with his son, Noah.  Is anyone else blown away by the fact that the supreme villain from the last two seasons is not only playing house, but has a son of his own now.  Just who is Noah's mom?

It seems unclear if Gabriel has chosen sides in the future, but Claire is definitely holding a grudge against him.  However, after painting the future - which showed what? - Sylar gives Present Peter his power to understand how things work.  Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle Little Noah is killed by Knox and Sylar goes supernova, killing 200 thousand.

Daphne gets away, but dies in Matt, her husband's, arms in front of Molly and their daughter Danielle.

Peter and Claire also survive.  And she is enjoying torturing him until President Nathan and First Lady Tracy stop her.  While trying to understand Nathan's motivation, Peter becomes the monster he always thought Sylar was.

Still the question remains, who is the real villain(s) here?

Meanwhile back in the present, Matt wakes up from his future dream and chooses a turtle as his spirit totem to guide him to changing the future.  Seriously, he couldn't have chosen a faster animal?  At this rate, he has no hope of changing anything, let alone getting out of Africa this season.

Tracy learns that she is one of identical triplets - Niki and Barbara are her sisters - who were subjects of DNA manipulation by The Company after their parents died.  After they were given their powers, the triplets were separated which begs the question, where is Barbara?

Frustrated that Zimmerman can't cure her and unable to confess ton killing the reporter, Tracy takes a header off the office building after resigning.  But Nathan - at the urging of imaginary Linderman - saves her life.  And the beginning of the future relationship is born.

Hiro and Ando spent most of the episode arguing with each other in a cell in Level 2.  Just when Hiro is about to escape sans Ando, Angela tells Hiro that he holds the secret to unlocking the mystery behind the formula.  Reenter Adam.

Finally, Mohinder spent the episode playing The Fly and he was even less helpful in the future.  All we know is that he didn't get the formula right.

My biggest question is based off the preview for next week when Angela tells Nathan that they gave him his power.  Who was "given" powers and who was born with it, if anyone?  Zimmerman made it sound like he wasn't the only one working for The Company.  How many others were conducting "experiments?"

What did you think of the episode?  What questions did it leave you with?

---------------
Related Posts

Arthur Petrelli Lives, But is He an Angel or a Monster?

Sylar Goes to Work for Mommy in ‘One of Us’

Heroes Returns with Double Feature Season 3 Premiere

Kaynak:Heroestheseries
Lonelyhero

Bu bölümde Hiro ve Ando Adam'ın mezarını açacak ve onu serbest bırakacaklar. Nedense onu daha mutlu bir halde bulacaklar.

Hatırlarsanız 3. bölümün sonlarına doğru Tracy, Dr. Zimmerman'ın yanına gitmiş ve yaratıldığını öğrenmişti.Bu da akıllara karşımıza bir sürü Niki ve Tracy çıkabileceği anlamına geliyor. Ayrıca kendini daha yakından tanımaya çalışacak.

Bu haber ise Spoiler dünyasının en can alıcı haberi bence (:D). Sylar'ı bir ev insanı olarak göreceğiz. Bennet'ların evinde yaşayacak, bir oğlu ve Mr. Muggles adında bir köpeği olacak. Yani karşımızda tamamıyle farklı bir Sylar olacak. 1. sezondaki 'Five Years Gone' bölümüyle hiçbir alakası olmayacak. Ama bu bölümde Sylar'ın haline güleceğiz gibi geliyor. Lakin Sylar bu halde ya komik olur yada trajik.

Önümüzdeki bölümlerde Elle tekrar karşımıza çıkacak ve Claire'den yardım isteyecek.

Heroes is quickly getting better. More specifically, it’s already a whole lot better than s2, but I doubt it will come close to the glory that was s1. (Yes, glory. I watched that bad boy three times.) While I am still annoyed by the inconsistencies of time travel on the show – hey, Hiro, if you can jump through time, why not jump back to when Fasty McFast Pants stole your half of the formula and make sure she doesn’t steal it this time – it seems like Kring and all the behind-the-scenes people listened to the fan gripes for s2 and changed course drastically. The most important aspect? They are moving through the stories and plot twists and characters so quickly that viewers may be susceptible to whiplash. It’s very Prison Break of them, but it’s also very s1 of them. Remember Jayma Mays as Charlie whose power was learning shit really quickly? She was actually barely on the show. The invisible Dr. Who dude who helped Peter out? Five episodes. This show chews up new characters and spits them out. While this does give various results, in the speed of using both characters and stories, it gives the show a forward momentum for better or worse. Me? I’m fine when they do things like this, as I have been weaned on the insanity of Prison Break, which has seemed like a different show each season.

So, now that Sylar is captured and tampered with, Mama Petrelli has found it beneficial to partner him with Noah Bennet despite, you know, Sylar being crazy psycho evil and all, and set them loose on a bank robbery being perpetrated by the four escaped Supers. Posing as FBI agents, they easily infiltrated the bank, where Sylar goes – surprise! – crazy psycho evil and decided to steal super-sound-manipulation powers from Francis Capra (after Future Peter pulls Present Peter out of the goon’s personality, though). This is, of course, after Marlo from The Wire sensed The German’s fear and decided to punch a hole through him. So that’s two bad guys down from the Big Four that were let out of Level Five last week. See what I mean about whiplash? I’m not going to complain, though, because this is nothing new with the show, and maybe if they can get out of the gates so strongly this season, hopefully they have far more up their sleeves.

Parkman wandered in the desert a bit more. He found future paintings much like the ones Isaac did in s1, only this time on rock. Do you think that maybe the showrunners realized their mistake in killing of Isaac and are backtracking? I think so. But hey, now Parkman has see-future-paint-future powers after listening to a magical walkman provided by creepy African guy, so I guess that’s different. Kind of.

Hiro and Ando, now bumming around Berlin in search of Fasty McFast Pants and the formula, do in fact find Fasty McFast Pants, discover that she is not a Baddie so much as she is just a Super-For-Hire and that The Haitian (welcome back!) has something they need, too. I’m honestly fine with the repetition of this storyline so far, because I – and probably my wife as well – am smitten with Fasty McFast Pants and how ridiculously hot and awesome she is. I knew she was a cutie on Friday Night Lights – if you haven’t watched that show yet, catch up on DVD now goddamit! – but she is so striking on this show that I want to start a website about her and continue calling her Fasty McFast Pants, even though, yes, I know that’s not her character’s name (Daphne Millbrook) nor is it even her nickname (Speedster). I just think that the writers found the right balance for her character, that she can be feared and yet have a Stan Lee-esque sense of humor and a mocking awareness of how silly this show has become. It’s a welcome change, to say the least, because a little levity is exactly what the show needed.

But I’m really impressed by the Tracy Strauss story, because it’s so ballsy to find out that apparently the showrunners hated Niki/Jessica as much as my wife and actually killed her off, and yet replaced her with the same actress playing someone far cooler. (Look! A pun! Because she freezes things! I’m a genius!) Tracy, worried about that video of someone who looks exactly like her banging the shit out of Nathan Petrelli in Las Vegas way back in s1, travels to New Orleans to find out what’s the deal with that split-personality weirdo and finds that Niki/Jessica really is dead. Dead and in a coffin. Seriously. Dead. It’s over. Micah is at the wake and knows immediately that Tracy is not actually his mother, but trusts something in her enough to use his technokinesis to pull up her birth record and find that she and Niki/Jessica were born on the same day at the same location and delivered by the same doctor. Tracking down the doctor, he lets loose with the proclamation “I created you.” So maybe there are a dozen Ali Larter clones roaming the Earth, which is something I very much like. As I always say – the more Ali Larter clones, the better.

The Wife:

I have to disagree with my husband a little bit about the breakneck pace with which Heroes likes to destroy its characters. By now I'm sure you are all aware of my rabid love of Veronica Mars. You can only imagine how excited I was when I heard that Francis Capra was going to be given a recurring role on Heroes. Yay! He's working again! But now he's gone. In two episodes, he is completely gone. And that's not okay.

I don't understand why a writer would establish a quartet of evil-doers (Knox, The German, Flint and Jesse) and then kill two of them off so quickly. I mean, it's nice to see how bad-ass Knox is, even though I still don't really understand his power. He exploited The German's fear . . . by punching a hole through his torso? Was that really The German's fear? From an evil-doer standpoint, The German was a good guy to have around, as a technokenetic. Imagine all the security systems he could help you bypass in the future. But no, now he's dead and we're down to a dude who throws blue flames, someone who punches holes through other people and a guy who yells loud enough to destroy shit.

And about that guy with the loud yelling . . . his death really pissed me off. Francis Capra got fucked over completely as an actor. I haven't minded all of the previous quick dispatches of characters on Heroes, but this one just seemed so wrong to me. And believe me, it's not just because I love Francis Capra. This dispatch would feel wrong even with a different actor.

Let's take a look at this role. So, you're an actor and you get a part on Heroes that you're told will be recurring. You get the script for the first episode and find out that you won't actually be doing much acting at all, because your character's body is just going to be a vessel for another character. So you're only going to be seen in mirror reflections and the other guy, the established character on the show, will play you the rest of the time. That already sucks balls. And then you get the next script and you see that they're finally going to pull that established character out of your body. Hooray! You get to be you again! People will finally get to see your take on the character. You'll get to do your job, which is acting. Oh, wait . . . what's that you see on the next page? Sylar kills you. That's just fucking great. Just fucking great.

I wish the showrunners had handled that a little differently so it didn't feel like such a complete misuse of Capra's talents. I'd be so much more comfortable with this if they had chosen, say, to respect the intellegence of the audience and allow Capra to be Jesse all the time, even when he was Present Peter. If you tell me that another dude is residing in someone's body, I will believe you. You don't need to show me more than once. Can you imagine how much better those scenes would be? And the kind of range Capra would have been able to show as an actor, doing an awesome Milo Ventimiglia impression before switching to his super-badass yelling self?

After a tender bonding moment (as if Angela knows anything about maternal nurturing) in which Mama Petrelli tells Sylar - excuse me "Gabriel" - that she's sorry she gave him up for adoption and promises to provide him with inspiration, guidance and comfort, Angela serves Sylar lunch - I mean a new power. 

Why does she give him the power to read the history of any object?  Is she expecting him to need that particular power in her plans for him?  Or was she just offering him a power as a peace offering?

Next Angela partners Sylar with the one man who hates him most - HRG.  She believes that Noah - who insists he hasn't reenlisted but simply wants to return the escapes - can provide Sylar with the structure he needs.

Despite protesting that Sylar is a killer, Noah agrees to take Sylar to rein in Jesse/Present Peter, Knox, The German and Flint.  Looks like HRG will play mentor to Sylar . . . at least until he finds Sylar's weakness.

Meanwhile Angela's youngest son (at least of the ones we know about) is still trapped in Jesse's body.  Jesse is originally from Las Vegas.  Anyone else think that's more than just a coincidence?  It seems like everyone on this show is either from New York, Las Vegas, Texas or California.  Could Jesse be related to one of our other Vegas residents or former residents?  Maybe he's Linderman's son?

Either way, Jesse is jonesing for revenge against HRG and has masterminded the current plan to rob this bank and draw out HRG.  However, Peter's resistance to the plan make it easy for the others to figure out he's not the real Jesse.

After a little fear - or maybe its adrenaline - Peter discovers - and uses - Jesse's Black Canary-like power before Future Peter shows up to free him.  But the whole "possession" leaves a few questions.

Did Peter have access to his own powers while he was hijacked?  Now that he's come in contact with Jesse's power has he acquired it?  Where was the real Jesse during Peter inhabitation?  Was he also in there?  And where did the two Peter's go?

When Future Peter rescues his present self (anyone confused yet), he leaves HRG at the mercy of Jesse and his flunkies - until Sylar saves the day, but not without acquiring a new power.  Guess Sylar's reformation isn't complete.

HRG and Sylar return to Level 5 in Hartsdale, NY with Flint.  The German and Jesse are dead -- those stories were short-lived. And Knox is still on the loose. 

Also in Level 5 are Hiro and Ando.  Seems they tried to relieve the Haitian of Angela's half of the doomsday formula in Berlin only to have it stolen by Daphne while they argued between themselves over Ando's "sidekick" status.

Meanwhile, Matt continues his "spirit walk" with Usutu in Africa, discovering a series of paintings Usutu has done of Parkman's life beginning with his encounter with Molly.  All the paintings have come to be except one - of Matt with a woman holding a baby.  Did anyone think the woman looked like Daphne?

But Usutu tells him the future has changed, then goes all white eyes and paints over it.  In the new picture, Matt is carrying a woman that is injured/dead.  I still think it could be Daphne.  Matt asks if he can change the future and Usutu helps him meditate.

Claire is trying to do some changing of her own.  Tired of being a victim, she asks Meredith to help her learn to fight using her powers.  Instead Meredith tries to scare her into giving up her vengeance plan and focus on being a teenager.

Claire says sure, pretends to be the good cheerleader and heads out on her own mission with a Primatech box in tow.

Back in DC, Nathan - sans any visits from the mysterious Linderman vision - gets swore in.  But it's Tracy that's the real story of the night.  When Nathan visits her she is clearly struggling to grasp the apparently newly revealed power to freeze and continues to deny any knowledge of Niki Saunders.

After a visit with Micah at a funeral home in New Orleans, Tracy discovers that she and Niki share a birth date and a birth place, but not a body.  Tracy is a separate person from Niki, not a separate personality.  And Tracy - and presumably Niki - were created by one Dr. Zimmerman.  Big questions here.

Who is Dr. Zimmerman?  Exactly how did he create Tracy?  Did he create Niki too?  Or was she the model from which Tracy was created?  And who did he think Tracy was when he answered the door?  Did he call her Bobba?

What is Zimmerman's relationship to The Company?  There's no way someone was creating people with powers and The Company not know about it.  What does this mean for the other people with powers?  Has he had a hand it that?  Could he be Sylar's papa/creator too?

What are your thoughts on this week's episode?

-------------------
Related Articles

Heroes Returns with Double Feature Season 3 Premiere

20 Burning Questions About ‘Heroes’

Heroes Vol 3 Chapter 1:

"The Second Coming"

Written by Tim Kring

I love this show. Its my favorite series on television. I even have two Heroes themed tattoos. I still say, even with great shows like Terminator: TSCC, Smallville, 24, LOST, and House on TV, that Heroes Season 1 is the best season of any show I've ever seen. Every episode in season one was better than the last, and you experience a sense of wonder and amazement throughout each episode as you discover more and more great things.

I've made no secret of the fact that I was not as happy about season 2. I know now that it was largely due to the WGA Strike that the season suffered from plot lines that went nowhere and less than exciting climaxes. But even the beginning of that season wasn't thrilling for me. That was mostly due to things like brand spankin' new characters being introduced with their own story-lines and having to follow them for far too long before they got to even interact with more familiar characters.

I've been waiting many, many months for this show to return, not just to television, but also to its roots. I've been waiting for a season to grab me like season one did. Read my spoilery review of the first half of the season 3 premier. This is episode 3.01 - "The Second Coming." Episode 3.02 "The Butterfly Effect" will be reviewed separately.

- SPOILER ALERT -

FUTRELLI / PETER, NATHAN & MATT:

This episode won points right off the bat. The opening scene takes place in a grim future. Very much like the one we saw back in Volume 1, Chapter 20 "Five Years Gone." Future Peter Petrelli (Who I'll refer to in this post as "Futrelli", as coined by the genius Derek Russell) is on the run, and Claire is going to shoot him. She quotes a line we'll hear later in the episode "I'm different, remember? Special." We get some awesome special effects as Peter stops time, avoids the bullet, takes her gun, and teleports to the past. To the day the world found out about people with abilities. The day their world changed and became this dark and terrible place where special people are experimented on, locked up, placed in camps, etc.

Futrelli puts on a disguise, and shoots Nathan twice in the chest, just as he's about to reveal his ability to the world. Peter and Matt chase after Futrelli but he gets away before they get a good look at him. Later in the episode (I'm going to jump around a lot) we find out Futrelli has replaced Peter. Futrelli has some powers we haven't seen Peter get yet. One of which is a shape-shifting ability (which explains how he can have a scar despite his healing ability) and another is the ability to take a person and place them inside another body. This moment, where Matt catches up to Peter, I interpret as the very second after Futrelli takes Peter's place. Probably stopping time, putting Peter away, and shape-shifting to lose the scar and change his hair. Why would he do this? To stick around and make sure his mission is accomplished. If Nathan isn't dead, he needs to make sure he doesn't try his speech again. Another confirmation that this is the very moment that he switched with Peter, is that immediately afterwards, Claire calls Futrelli, (thinking he's Peter) and he's riding in the ambulance with Nathan. He tells her to stay where she is, which leads to her encounter with Sylar, which Futrelli later blames himself for.

When I originally saw this scene with Claire on the phone, I questioned why Peter didn't teleport to her, bring her back and used her blood to save Nathan. Why did he act like it would be impossible to get her there in time? I now know its because that wasn't Peter. It was Futrelli, and Futrelli doesn't want to save Nathan. That's the whole point.

Nathan dies.

Peter is visibly shaken by all this. Even though he's really Futrelli, and he himself shot Nathan, deep down he loves his brother and doesn't really want him to die. It was unfortunate that this was how he had to go about it. It was necessary, but that doesn't mean he's happy about it. Hats off to Milo Ventimiglia for pulling off that emotional scene. And then, all of a sudden, NATHAN WAKES UP! HE'S ALIVE! Not just healed, but come back from the dead! ZOMBIE NATHAN? No, he's 100% alive! He's alive, and reformed.

Futrelli goes back for the gun, disguised as Peter. And Matt is on to him. Futrelli reveals himself, takes back the gun, and sends Nathan away somewhere. Somewhere being the middle of the desert. But is it a real African desert? Or did Futrelli lock Matt in his own mind, like Matt did to his father in one of the better episodes of Season 2? We'll see. Evidence points towards it all being in his mind. He even meets an African native who knew his name, and sees a painting on a wall of the world exploding. Yikes.

It seems Nathan's had a spiritual experience. He heads straight for the Hospital Chapel, and begins to speak to a family. Saying he's seen God today, and has been given a second chance to do his bidding. Futrelli is watching all of this as news crews enter and interview Nathan. If Nathan tried to tell them about the "Specials," Futrelli would've shot him again. But luckily, Nathan is not drinking that Kool-Aid anymore. He just wants to save the world now.

Once Futrelli no longer feels there's a risk of Nathan telling the world, he leaves. Then there's a huge reveal. LINDERMAN is back! That's how Nathan survived. He was resurrected by Linderman.

Angela knows its Futrelli posing as Peter. She has visions and dreams of the future, which is where Peter got that first ability from. She blames Futrelli for what's coming next. By shooting Nathan, he's set off a chain of events conceivably worse than what was going to originally happen. She wants Peter back. Futrelli confesses he placed Peter in someone else's body. That's when we're shown Level 5. Peter is inside one of the inmates there, and in those cells, Specials can't use their abilities. One of his neighbors? HRG himself.

HIRO & ANDO:

After the events of "Powerless," Hiro has taken over his father's company, and spends his days locked in his office, playing around with his powers. Hiro completely unhappy with all of it. I love Hiro for that. He wants adventure. He couldn't care less about money, fame and fortune. He's looking for his destiny and his next quest. And he gets it pretty fast enough. His father's lawyer bring Hiro a DVD message from his father, which tells him to guard the contents of his safe and never open it. If its contents made it into the wrong hands, it would destroy the world. Of course, Hiro immediately opens it. Gotta love that little guy. There's another DVD inside. After scolding Hiro for disobeying a direct order, Kaito Nakamura tells him about the secret item in the safe. Its half of a formula. And if it ever got into the wrong hands, there'd only be one person who could save the world from its aforementioned destruction. A chosen one that caries the purity of blood. (Sounds like Claire to me) Of course, the formula is immediately stolen from Hiro by a new character. She's a speedster. The Heroes equivalent of "The Flash." And she's unaffected by Hiro stopping time. Apparently he doesn't stop it completely. Just slows it down to the slowest possible speed, so slow that time appears to be standing still. This explains how he's always been able to move things around when he "stops time." If time was 100% stopped, he'd be unable to move anything.

Let me take a minute and mention that I like the way we're introduced to this new character. Not in her own story line like Maya and her brother were introduced, or the way Monica was introduced. She was immediately thrown into Hiro's story line. Hiro being a character we all know well and love. We're interested and want to know more. That's how it should always be done on this show. Way to go Kring!

Hiro and Ando discuss what happened. Ando suggests going back in time to stop the formula from being stolen, but it seems Hiro finally learned his lesson. Going back in time changes things, and not always for the better. In fact, it usually leads to catastrophes like the creation of Adam Monroe's serial killer ways. So Hiro vows to never again go back in time, but he's okay wit going to the future. He goes forward in time to see what happens. He sees Ando and himself in a stand off, and Ando kills him with a strange new ability. Then, the whole world explodes! Or at least, Japan does. Hiro gets back just in time and decides the have to find that formula, but it doesn't look like he trusts Ando all that much anymore

CLAIRE & SYLAR:

Claire gets a visit from Sylar. Not the powerless injured Sylar of Season 2, but the diabolical, Evil, and Telekinetic Sylar of Season 1. He's back. And he wants Claire's ability. This is one of my favorite sequences of the episode. We hear those famous clock ticks we used to hear when Sylar was around. And the whole scene plays like one straight out of a horror movie. We see Sylar eerily sneaking around in the background, just out of Claire's sight. We see his reflection in windows and he uses his abilities to close all the doors and windows in the house. Zachary Quinto is back in full Sylar mode. Including the creepy monologues. Sylar takes HRG's files, full of specials, and plenty of powers for him to steal.

Claire manages to stab him, but that was the opportunity he needed to grab Claire, and take off the top of her head. In a disturbing and shocking scene, we get to finally see what Sylar does to people's brains. His original ability is to look at the human brain, study it, and see the part where their powers are kept, then his own brain replicates that power. There was even a nod to all us fans who, for the longest time, thought he ate the brains. Obviously, that's not the case. He takes her ability and immediately heals from the stabbing. Sylar is now practically unstoppable, and he's an equal match for Peter. Or at least, he will be once he stocks up on all new abilities. He places Claire's scalp back on and she heals. He's not going to kill her. She's different. "Special."

MOHINDER & MAYA:

Mohinder and Maya are still living together. He's sent Molly away to someplace safe, we don't yet know where. And while Maya wants Mohinder to cure her, and take away her powers, he instead figures out a way to GIVE powers to anyone. Sure this pisses off Maya. She wants to get rid of her cursed powers, but if Mohinder's figured out how to give them, it wont be long before he figures out how to take them away. He and Maya share a few moments. There's some definite sexual tension between them... It gets better. ;)

He goes down to the docks, intending to throw away the formula due to Maya's pleading, but he can't resist. He injects himself and passes out. When two muggers show up and try to rob him, his new ability manifests. He has superhuman strength, agility and reflexes.

NICKY?

We also meet the Governor of NY, who's assistant is named Tracy. But Tracy looks an awful lot like Nicky, who died in an explosion in last season's finale. Who is Tracy? Why does she look like Nicky?

This episode was absolutely brilliant. I felt the magic of season one in every scene. The Sylar and Claire sequence was fantastic. And all the Futrelli stuff was really interesting. Hiro, of course, is hilarious as always, and it'll be fun to see how things get to the point where Ando and Hiro are at odds with each other. I especially like that so many characters were paired up in their story lines. Peter, Nathan and Matt were together from the start, Hiro and Ando, Claire and Sylar, and Mohinder and Maya. Much better than everybody being off in their own storyline and eventually bringing them together much further down the line.

Mohinder's voice overs are back, and they're so great to hear again! I gotta say, I missed it. I missed this show very much.

Heroes is back, and its kicking ass and taking names!

The A-Train's "The Second Coming" Rating: 5 out of 5 Eclipses!

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy Heroes. But, I suppose that sounds like more of a disclaimer than a statement coming from a true fan. Season 1 was SO STRONG and Season 2 was so, um...not. Although the Season 3 premiere was pretty good, it's still unclear for me if this show can recapture some of the Season 1 magic and suspense.

Tim Kring, the creator, practically BEGGED fans at Comic-Con to tune in and tell their friends. It almost seemed desperate. Is he feeling the heat, or is he truly confident that the show will come back up to speed? Hmm...it makes me wonder.

The premiere: Not shabby! But I do get the feeling like the show is just treading water. THREE SEASONS later and Sylar is still doing the exact. same. thing. he was doing before? Claire is still pathetic and helpless and filming herself get hurt? We've also already established that the older generation / founders of the company are evil. WE GET IT. What happens next, Kring? I just feel like we haven't gotten very far in the mythology yet, when there is so much potential to be had.

And why can't anyone die and stay dead? With blood transfusions, transmutations, regenerations, and whatever else is happening that prevents characters from dying...there doesn't seem to be any consequences. With so many ways for characters to stay alive, there is really zero suspense in the show. "Hey, there's a big brawl, but it's ok! My favorite character is in no danger whatsoever!" Kinda boring.

At least the show is back to the action-packed battles instead of boring feudal ancient Japan, right? You've got me Heroes...for now.

TV Talk: Heroes Season Three Premiere

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jack Coleman, Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, James Kyson Lee, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Dania Ramirez, Cristine Rose, Milo Ventimiglia

Series Creator: Tim Kring

As always, this post will discuss details about episodes that have already aired, so if you don’t watch the show as it airs, consider this a spoiler alert. There are no spoilers for future episodes.

A little under a year ago, I wrote a post detailing the many issues I was having with the near-universally panned second season of Heroes (in a post that began pretty similarly to this one, I admit, coming a little under a year after a post raving about the first season of the show). Since that time, the show finished off the second season without any real improvements before the writer's strike mercifully gave everyone involved time to deal with the problems that plagued its sophomore season.

In that post, I theorized that a lot of the problems with season two were actually problems the show always had, we just didn't notice in the first season because it was so fresh and exciting, writing "my main concern is that what’s wrong with this season of Heroes isn’t all that different from what was right from the first season of Heroes, and thus this might not be so much a case of a good show gone bad as it is the revelation of a bad (or at least mediocre) show once the freshness wore off."

With that in mind, I was already weary of what the show would have to offer with its two-part season premiere featuring episodes "The Second Coming" and "The Butterfly Effect" (I mercifully skipped the one hour circle jerk premiere event that preceded these episodes). I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially when creator Tim Kring admitted season two's faults and promised to fix those mistakes. If this was merely a case growing pains of a show that got too big too fast, then it was not beyond fixing. But if this was the case of a show that was never all that good revealing its true nature, then the show would not be a fixture on my TV schedule for very long.

After two somewhat painful hours of television, I'm ready to concede the latter is most likely true. My favourite television critic Alan Sepinwall (if you aren't already reading his blog What's Alan Watching, you probably should be) said it best when he wrote "it's still a very dumb show that just wants you to think it's smart".

This is ultimately the big problem with the show, that none of the attempted fixes of the first two episodes of season three can address. It's a lazily-written show with bad acting and ridiculous plotting, but fails as dumb fun escapism because of how self-serious it is. We're left with over-wrought monologues and joyless burdens instead of the breakneck pacing and loose thrills we should be getting. Even when the show tries to go for a more pure entertainment vibe, as it usually does with Hiro's (Masi Oka) stories, the shift in pacing and tone from the rest of the show is jarring, and only highlights how stupid Hiro's little stories are (and could it get any dumber than his current story? He gets a beyond the grave message to not open a safe he had never considered opening -- or presumably even knew of -- foolishly opens it, and immediately loses its valuable contents -- that should've been destroyed years ago -- to a speedster that just happened to be waiting around for that highly unlikely scenario to play out).

The new episodes do their best to make us forget season two, seemingly taking away from that disaster the lesson that audiences don't want to wait forever for shit to happen. Instead, it goes the other way, cramming tonnes of plot into two hours, relying mostly on contrivance and exposition to get it all in. Sylar (Zachary Quinto) gets from New York to California to Texas in a matter of less than a day, finding the cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) in moments that it took him half of season two to find. Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) makes the big scientific breakthrough and does all the necessary chemistry and physics in a few hours that had taken his father and the Company lifetimes to never discover, all in time to rip-off The Fly in an attempt to make his character relevant. And, of course, any time the show needs some deus ex machina, it simply gives Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) a new power to take care of it (this time, future Peter can somehow put people into other people).

I'm beyond annoyed that the only way the show seems to know how to build dramatic tension is through time travel. It's three seasons now where the whole dramatic weight is given through glimpses of a horrific future, replacing painter Isaac's visions with Mama Petrelli's (Cristine Rose) finally-revealed power of precognition to go along with Peter and Hiro's constant peaks into the future (or in Peter's case, a visit back to the present from the future). It stopped being interesting around the time Peter abandoned the Irish barmaid in an apocalyptic future (that I think he subsequently prevented from happening, which I guess means he sorta killed her... ah well, best not to think about these things), and now has the added bonus of just being creepy (Claire's declaration of "I always loved you" seemed less familial than it should have, particularly given Panettiere and Ventimiglia's inappropriate offscreen relationship). Worse, they bend their time travel rules to whatever serves the writers at the time, without caring if it passes muster (for instance, and again credit goes to Alan Sepinwall for this, but Peter's intervention didn't have squat to do with Sylar acquiring Claire's abilities. Sure, his telling her not to come to New York ensured that she'd be home when Sylar came a-calling. But that's where she would've been if he had never shot Nathan in the first place).

When the show first debuted, it was too exciting to see a comic book world on my television every week to nitpick over the show's flaws. That's no longer the case, and now I must decide whether or not I want to keep frustrating myself with a clearly subpar show, or use that hour every week in more constructive ways (like watching a better show on DVD). I think it gets one more week to show that it has some fun in store now that the ball has been set into motion, if for no other reason than the additions of The Wire alumni Jamie Hector and Andre Royo to go with Veronica Mars alumni Kristin Bell and Francis Capra. That won't be enough to keep me around for an entire season (or even an entire "volume", as this show wants to be structured), so listen up Heroes: you've officially been placed On Notice.

Related:
TV Talk: Heroes (2006-11-23)
TV Talk: Heroes (2007-11-07)
TV Talk: Lost (2007-05-27)

In the first five minutes we are given the identity of Nathan's assailiant, but it becomes no less confusing or disturbing as the story behind the assailiant continues to unfold in a future changing way.  The change of Nathan makes his character become even more conflicting and complicated and his future that much more unpredictable when his surrounding supporters stem from the darker side.

Hiro once again searching for trouble and finding it finds himself in a position even his future seeking trouble making character is shocked by.  I think testing the relationship of his closest ally with him makes for a great challenge to his character for the future, and it foreshadows the darker side of Hiro we saw in other possible futures.

Mohinders challenge and change was probably the most interesting.  Let's be honest, his character's choice in this episode does seem rash and off balance, but also inevitable.  His continued failures were a time bomb ready to go off, and while moment that he made his change didn't seem neccessarily honest with his character to that point, it was still plausible and the manifestation into the made scientist going Mr. Hyde was no surprise, but it certainly was exhilarating.

Poor Claire.  She is no doubt "the light" the good that Hiro's father decribed, but ever so keenly as Sylar pointed out, Claire has no clue how special she is and has no idea what she is capable of.  The questions of what makes her different from the rest and what will be her fate again seem to be the nucleus of the show.  The seeming normalcy of Claire coupled with her assumed immortality makes a compelling gravatational character and storyline.

Mommie Dearest Petrelli returns in her most extravagant form ever.  Her power is revealed and her future intentions become if possible even more blurred, even with a few insights to her visions, her intentions are always completely off kilter. 

There are also all sorts of new big bads and some new character's that seem uncertain thus far, but new powers are always intriguing, especially our new version of Nikki's.  Way smoother than Arnold did it.  My least favorite character is still Maya.  I just want her to poison herself to stop the whinning.

The Butterfly effect created by Peter has changed everything and made this season a pretty astonishing opener with fuel to feed many fires with new characters (HOORAY BRUCE BOXLEITNER is governor!) and some famiiarl faces returning in ways that aren't exactly clear yet.  I have my reservations about a few of the situations, but thus far what I have seen was worth the wait.  Until next week..........

I know that NBC is trying to gain back some of the momentum the series had in the first season, but sometimes less is more.  I think that they threw a little too much at us to even start to digest.

After the disjointed Volume 2, I was left with a whole series of questions about the plot and one major question of whether the show was still worthy of my play list.

After tonight, I have even more questions and I'm still not sure if Heroes has recaptured the magic from Volume 1.

Let's start with what tonight's episode answered.

A future Peter shot his own brother during Nathan's press conference in Odessa where Nathan planned to expose his powers. 

Apparently four years in the future, Peter - who has the ability to teleport - feels the need to run before traveling back in time, but not before he has a run-in with a dark-haired future Claire.  It seems not all is well for our heroes in the future with the masses knowing about their powers.

But once in the present, future Peter finds out that changing history isn't as easy as it sounds.  While he might have prevented Nathan from revealing their secret, he did not actually kill his brother.

A miraculously recovered Nathan believes that he was "touched by God" while at the same time believing that he was healed by Linderman - a Linderman who we believe is dead and apparently only Nathan can see.

This tidbit then begs the question - who healed Nathan?  Is Linderman alive and invisible?  Is he a figment of Nathan's imagination?  Or is someone cloaking themself to appear as Linderman while not being seeing by others?

Either way, the revived Nathan gets noticed by New York's Governor (Bruce Boxleitner) and his staffer/lover Tracie Strauss - formerly known as Niki Saunders to viewers (and Nathan) - and is tapped to fill a senate seat.

It seems that Niki survived the fire in New Orleans, but has assumed another alter ego.  This one has the power to freeze nasty little reporters that might expose skeletons in the closet.  Poor William Katt.  What an end for the Greatest American Hero!

Meanwhile, future Peter sends Matt to an African desert when Matt discovers he's not the present Peter.  While in Africa, Matt meets Usutu (N'Tare Mwine) who tells him he must go on a spirit walk.  Why doesn't Matt just read his mind to get the answers he wants?

Nevertheless we learn the Usutu paints the future - I'm assuming he meant literally, but I guess it could me figuratively too.  It's easy to guess that the rock painting that Matt saw in the desert is Usutu's work, but what about the painting Mohinder saw?  How did Usutu get to New York?

Speaking of Mohinder, he's been busy playing mad scientist after sending Molly somewhere to be safe.  He uses Maya's adrenaline to develop a serum that will give anyone injected with it special powers.  Maya, however, is still left without an antidote for her deadly power.

Mohinder - apparently coming up short in the common sense department - decides to inject himself resulting in heighted senses including super strength and super lust for Maya.  But no good deed goes unpunished and Mohinder starts to lose his skin. 

In another act of stupidity disguised vaguely as wisdom, future Peter tells Claire not to rush to the injured Nathan's side, leaving her to continue hiding in Santa Cruz, CA where Sylar easily finds her.

After a chase scene right out of a teen horror flick, Sylar finally takes Claire's power.  But he doesn't kill her.  Instead he leaves her with a gift - he takes away the pain.  He also tells her she's special and that neither of them can ever die.  But we know differently - if the brain stem is severed (like it was to Peter is Volume 1), death can happen.

With his new found power, Sylar heads to Section 5 where the biggest and baddest villains The Company has captured are imprisoned.  The same place where future Peter imprisons present Peter (anyone confused yet?) is the body of a prisoner named Jesse (Francis Capra).

Sylar starts off by killing Bob and acquiring his power to turn medal to gold, but Elle short circuits the rest of his plans.  While she's able to capture Sylar, her power surge inadvertently released the rest of the prisoners which included HRG, Jesse, Knox (Jamie Hector) who absorbs fear and uses it as a weapon, Flint (Blake Shields) the flame thrower and The German (Ken Lally).

But never fear, there's someone to step up and fill Bob's shoes - Angela Petrelli, who promptly fires Elle.  Angela confirms that her power is premonitions - that's how she knew who future Peter was. 

She also had a premonition in which Matt, Hiro, Peter, Claire and others are left dead while the likes of Adam, Tracey, a black guy I didn't recognized and what looked like Governor Malden face off against Angela and Sylar.

Seems Angela has taken a liking to Sylar.  He's her new project - and judging from the previews for next week, HRG's new partner.  But the big reveal is when Angela tells Sylar that she is his mother. 

Is she speaking literally or figuratively?  Just how many people has Angela slept with?  There's Peter and Nathan's dad, Kaito, and apparently Sylar's dad (whose identity remains a mystery).  There is even speculation that she's Matt's mama too - but I have no proof to back that one up.  This woman really gets around.

Lastly, we have Hiro and Ando who find out that Kaito left Hiro in charge of half of a dangerous formula whose only cure is the purity of blood.  Hiro immediately loses his half of the formula to speedster Daphne (Brea Grant).

In the quest to find her and retrieve the formula, Hiro travels to the future where he sees a super charged Ando kill him.  Of course, now Hiro treats Ando differently and that is going to be the exact reason Ando turns on Hiro in the future.

More interesting, I'd rather know who Daphne is working for?  And who has the other half of the formula - at least until Daphne steals it.

Micah, Monica and Molly are all missing this episode.  Jessalyn Gilsig reprises her role as Meredith Gordon, Claire's biological mom.

I felt like I was running through this entire episode trying to keep up.  Didn't the creators learn anything from last season?  I can only hope that the show finds its groove soon and settles in.

What did you think was the most interesting twist?  What was the biggest surprise of the night?

---------------------------
Related Post

Heroes’ Sylar Goes to Work for Mommy in ‘One of Us’ 

20 Burning Questions About ‘Heroes’

What a turn around from the sub-par Season 2. Hiro traveling into the future to see the world being destroyed is growing repetitive. Actually, the whole time traveling plot device is relied on too heavily. I like the potential for Claire's character to have some growth. The overall darker tone of the premier really sets what I hope is the tone for the entire season. Parkman is still annoying and unnecessary to me. Peter isn't as interesting as he was in the first season. Sylar is still a great, complex villain; he seems less bad this season, and next week's preview hints at where they might (and I hope) they're going with the character. Hiro is Hiro. Wish we could see him as he saw himself in season 1 and momentarily tonight. About time they hinted at Ando being more than normal. I thought he'd eventually get powers, and i'm glad that all but confirmed. Speaking of, Mohinder's gaining of powers was a welcome turn in the plot as well. If only Issac Mendez could come back (the African dude seems to be a psuedo-replacement for him). 

Not a bad opening to what I hope will be a great season after last year's dismal one. Hopes for this season include Claire gaining powers. More and more Sylar. Growth in Hiro's character. Phasing out of Parkman (alternatively, make him cool). And of course, more characters with new and interesting powers. 

P.S. Kristen Bell is great. I've never watched anything with her in it, but I hope we see more of her throughout the season.

The third season of Heroes premieres tonight on NBC. The Countdown to the premiere airs at 8/7 CST, followed by the two hour season premiere at 9/8 CST. The third volume of Heroes is titled “Villains”.

Beware of potential spoilers below.

Tonight: First Hour – The Second Coming

The first chapter of "Volume 3: Villains" kicks off moments after shots rang out, as the shocking identity of Nathan's assassin and the reasons why the Texas press conference had to be cut short are revealed -- immediately throwing Peter and Matt into unexpected, uncharted territory.

With his powers partially restored, Sylar decides a visit to Claire could give him a boost. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Hiro and Ando are charged with safeguarding a family secret that could split the planet apart, and discover that the path to a grim future starts with shady speedster, Daphne.

In New York City, thanks to Maya, Suresh makes a startling breakthrough that could change the world -- or just destroy his. And who is Tracy Strauss? (NBC)

Tonight: Second Hour – The Butterfly Effect

In the shocking second chapter of "Volume 3: Villains," Angela confronts her much-changed son, Peter, as the bursts of violence around them only hint to the catastrophes to come.

First, Sylar declares war on the Company by attacking their main facility, and finds even more than he bargained for on Level 5. During a devastating battle with Elle, a dozen savage criminals -- all with terrible abilities -- escape. Meanwhile, Claire discovers something new and unexpected about her abilities.

Determined to reclaim his family's terrible secret, Hiro and Ando track Daphne to Paris. After a fateful night, Suresh is thrilled to find his research, his life and his relationship with Maya evolving in leaps and bounds. Stuck in unfamiliar territory, Matt finds a guide to help him. (NBC)

- You’re not going to want to miss tonight’s two hour premiere, as it should be nothing short of awesome. We are a little over an hour a way from the premiere. If you didn’t see last season, or have simply forgotten what happened, be sure and tune into the countdown show coming up in about 7 minutes on NBC (8pm EST), as they’re going to recap some of the events leading up tonight’s season three premiere.

Also, if you’re a Heroes fan or are new to the series, register at the HeelZone Forums and discuss the premiere episode, as well as all of season three, in our HeelZone Heroes Season Three Discussion Thread (NOTE: Guest are unable to view the section of the forums containing the Heroes discussion thread, so you will need to register. Don’t worry, it’s fast and completely free).

If you are one of the few who have never watched an episode of Heroes, you should definitely give the show a chance as it is awesome (or at least the previous two season were, this one looks to starting off good as well).

You can see more clips, videos and generally catch up on all things Heroes related by checking out the official NBC Heroes website here. You can also view the clips seperately on MovieWeb.com.

Join the HeelZone Forums and discuss Season Three of Heroes.

Heroes, am Mittwoch, 17. September um 20.15 Uhr auf RTL2

Heroes Fan-Special im Forum - hier klicken!

Vier Monate sind seit den verhängnisvollen Ereignissen in New York vergangen, als die Heroes die Stadt vor der Zerstörung gerettet haben. Nun sind sie zurück, aber niemand von ihnen ist derselbe geblieben. Die überall verstreuten Helden versuchen ihr Leben nach den nervenaufreibenden Abenteuern wieder in ruhigere Bahnen zu lenken. Als ein gefährliches Virus auftaucht, dass die Heroes befällt und ihnen die Superkräfte raubt, scheint es damit vorbei zu sein…

Tori has been shit on by the media and the bloggers for years...and that's one of the reasons why I think she's so great. I know, I Know, that sounds just like a record store clerk...always championing things that the masses are too dumb "to really understand".

It's true, though...my love for The Shaggs should be evidence enough that I have superior taste and that I'm always right when it comes to deeming something/someone awesome.

Which brings me to So NoTORIous. The Wife and I totally missed the boat when T's show originally aired in 2006. Which is kind of a shame since we hate being late to a party...especially a party where The Gays are at (aren't they always at the best parties?!)!

Well, after The Wife and I both finished reading sTORI TELLING by TORI SPELLING we just had to watch her failed sitcom. If you haven't seen SO NoTORIous, I recommend reading T's book first. The book has all the background you'll need to fully appreciate the absurdity of all 10 episodes of NoTORIous...not that you have to read the book, but reading is fundamental, you know.

Anyway, we just watched the last episode last night and we're kind of sad to say goodbye to T and her wacky friends and family. I hear this show has some sort of Gay following, but don't worry, you don't have to be a little light in your loafers to enjoy it...If T's not your idea of eye candy, there's Brennan Hesser as her gal pal, Janey. Or if you like your ladies a bit more old school, Loni Anderson is one fine looking cougar as T's self absorbed mother.

And if you do swing the other way (and haven't watched the show yet) or if you're a woman, there's Zachary Quinto to get your blood pumping. (I was totally going to have a link of a fake nude for Zach...but I'll leave that search up to you...they're out there...trust me.).

So the supporting cast is great, but the show is all about Big T for me...not only is she a stone cold fox, but she's funny as hell. Some reviewers have compared T's show to Fat Actress (bleh) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (not quite), but I think it's more in the vein of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (less like Seinfeld on crack and more like Friends on special K).

Check it out...there's only 10 episodes...what else have you got going on anyway?

Oh, and I'd like to dedicate this next one to T...it's by The Shaggs and it's called You're Something Special To Me (just pretend it's about a girl):

You rule, T!

Per cui non so come mi è venuto in mente Sylar di Heroes appunto e il suo modus operandi: sappiamo che lui apre con il suo potere il cervello di altre persone “speciali” come lui e che il cervello di questi “poveracci” non viene mai ritrovato a parte sangue a volontà.

Per cui mi sono chiesto: cosa ne fa Sylar dei cervelli? Li mangia acquisendo cosi il potere? Oppure li studia come fa con i meccanismi degli orologi, attività sua passata prima di diventare un serial killer?

Onestamente non ce lo vedo a starsene lì con il cervello in mano e rigirarselo tra le mani in attesa di comprendere il suo meccanismo. Quindi come se ne appropria? Con la forza del pensiero? Oppure cosa molto più pratica e veloce se ne ciba direttamente?

Dibattito aperto ovviamente: magari sono spiegazioni che avremo prossimamente intanto spero veramente di non aver scoperto solo l’acqua calda! ;-)

Mientras en Chile esperamos la aparición de la segunda temporada de "Heroes" en DVD o Blu-Ray, en EE.UU. se acerca el estreno de la tercera temporada, agendado para el 22 de Septiembre próximo. Tras una segunda temporada que según muchos (yo aún no la veo) estuvo coja, debido principalmente a la interminable huelga de guionistas de Hollywood, que afectó tanto a series de TV como películas. A continuación podrán ver 12 afiches promocionales de los personajes interpretados por Hayden Panettiere, Jack Coleman, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Masi Oka, James Kyson Lee, Milo Ventimiglia, Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Cristine Rose, Zachary Quinto y Dania Ramirez.

James Kyson Lee como "Ando Masahashi"

Cristine Rose como "Angela Petrelli"

Jack Coleman como "Noah Bennet"

Hayden Panettiere como "Claire Bennet"

Masi Oka como "Hiro Nakamura"

Dania Ramirez como "Maya Herrera"

Sendhil Ramamurthy como "Mohinder Suresh"

Adrian Pasdar como "Nathan Petrelli"

Ali Larter como "Niki Sanders"

Greg Grunberg como "Matt Parkman"

Milo Ventimiglia como "Peter Petrelli"

Zachary Quinto como "Sylar"