Heroes: The Second Coming

Sylar: "Let's just say I took a little detour from my career path. Spent a little time south of the border. But that's all behind me now, like a long night after a bad taco."

I had premiere anxiety. I was really worried that one of my favorite characters would die. So I was relieved to see that Mister Muggles was still alive and wagging. (Just kidding. Although actually, I do love Mister Muggles.)

I shouldn't have worried, though, because apparently no one stays dead on this show. Nathan came back from the dead with a new and disturbing religious obsession. Nikki survived the fire -- or at least her body did, since her name is different now. Or again. Linderman is still alive and healing. (Or is he?) Claire even survived getting hands-on brain surgery by Sylar. Okay, Hiro's father Kaito is still dead, but he still managed to make snarky comments from the grave. (That scene with Hiro and Kaito and the safe was hilarious.)

And apparently, the line between hero and villain has begun to blur. Sylar was almost, well, nice to Claire. Future Ando was evil. Future Claire tried to kill Peter. Future Peter actually did kill Nathan. How could Future Peter have become so evil that he could kill his beloved brother? And why does angry evil Future Peter always have a scar across his face? For that matter, is Future Claire always going to be a brunette?

Lots of other answers and fun developments. Angela Petrelli's power was finally revealed; she dreams about the future. And I always knew Mohinder secretly wanted to become a superhero, all of his talk about "cures" aside. He was loving bending steel and throwing people. Let's see how you handle the stress of superhero-ness, Mohinder.

One big question. Or continuity problem. We learned in "Six Months Ago" that Hiro couldn't change the past. How come Future Peter can?

Character bits:

-- Linderman healed Nathan. Or did he? Nathan came back right after Future Peter kissed him. Did Future Peter absorb healing power from some other gifted person? Is Nathan just imagining Linderman? You know, I like Nathan with ambiguity and snark, so this religious conversion was not my favorite plot point.

-- Present day Peter seems to be trapped in the body of a guy named Jesse Murphy (Francis Capra from Veronica Mars). I'd love to know how Future Peter pulled that one off; probably another absorbed power. Noah Bennet was in another cell in the same company prison. Is a buddy movie prison escape on its way?

-- Can Peter's blood cure, the way Claire's does? Have they ever addressed this? And what about Sylar, now that he's immortal, too?

-- We've always had ticking clock sounds for Sylar. This time we actually got chimes. Maybe because he just scored the big one, immortality.

-- I liked that they started Hiro's story with a clock again, only one that was a lot more expensive. Hiro is now running his father's business. Did Kaito leave everything to Hiro and stiff his daughter Kimiko? Ando said he was very interested in money. Is that what turns him evil? And how'd he get the lightning bolts? Like Mohinder just got his superstrength?

-- They introduced a speedster, yet another blonde woman. I really liked the red and white "wake." Speedy girl has now has half of the secret formula. Who has the other half? What does it do? Maybe it's the formula that Mohinder just discovered, that splits the human race into gifted and non-gifted. No, too metaphorical.

-- Did I see romantic vibes between Mohinder and Maya? Please, no. And hey, it was supposed to be the same day as last season's finale. Where was Mohinder's nose bandage?

-- Future Claire referred to herself as special. Sylar also said that Claire's brain was special. More special than she already is? She's pretty special already, guys.

-- Matt pretty much got bupkis in the premiere. Stuck in the desert with a scorpion on his face.

Bits and pieces:

-- "Volume Three: Villains."

-- The teaser was four years in the future, where the gifted ones were experimented upon and placed in camps. Did Future Peter want Future Claire's gun in particular because it had her fingerprints on it?

-- The graphic we saw twice looked like the earth being split in two by the broken helix symbol. Hey, at least they're thinking big. A lot more fun than a bomb or a plague. More sci-fi, less realism, I'm for that.

-- The Sylar and Claire scene in the Bennet living room looked like a chapel. Lots of religious undertones in this episode.

-- Governor what's-his-name was played by Bruce Boxleitner, who was the lead on one of my absolute favorite sci-fi shows, Babylon 5. Like I said before, the producers of Heroes know their audience.

-- Nice use of the famous poem, "The Second Coming." I wonder exactly who is slouching towards Bethlehem? (Or is that whom?) Since this volume is called "Villains," hey, could be anybody.

-- I know way too much about Star Trek. The Sylar/Claire brain scene reminded me of what was probably the worst original Star Trek episode ever, "Spock's Brain." Zachary Quinto just spent the past few months playing Spock. Was this a deliberate in-joke?

-- Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli) is now in the cast. The cast, ever moving and changing it is.

Quotes:

Hiro: "I knew I should have paid more attention in chemistry class."

Kaito: "Should it fall into the wrong hands, there is only one hope. A chosen one among you who carries the purity of blood, the light to safeguard against the darkness. Do you understand?"
Hiro: "No. Not really."

Sylar: "Eat your brain? Claire, that's disgusting."
Finally answered that big fan question. Very funny.

I was sort of hanging in last season; the last few episodes were fun, but for the most part I found season two to be a drag. This season has at least begun with a lot more excitement. I'm encouraged.

On to part two,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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