Heroes Returns

Welcome back! Heroes is finally back after a far too long hiatus. It's been far too long since the last summary. I'm glad to be back and glad to be watching Heroes again, because I was in withdrawal for a few weeks there, reading the NBC.com graphic novels over and over again and madly scanning fan sites, all while seriously contemplating buying a Nissan Versa. I'm very happy that this episode did not disappoint at all.

I have to start off with one of my favorite sequences of the entire series so far — simple, wordless, and completely representative of what Heroes is about. I'm talking about the scene showing Ted Sprague, our "radioactive man," sitting out in the middle of some windswept middle of nowhere in a Unabomber-type shack. He was sitting there producing mini-explosions from his hands, like a magician, like the Human Torch, like someone who is simultaneously frightened and in awe of his abilities. It's what all of the show's main characters must feel.

I guess this is similar to what one feels in the presence of something otherworldly. It's an appropriate comparison, for Chapter 12, "Godsend," had its moments of divine invocation, involving some great lines. My favorite had to be the night's closing words: Jessica's responding to Niki's plea of "Oh, God, please help me" with the unfortunate line "Who needs God when you've got me?" That was cringe-worthy. We also were given the translation of the characters on Hiro's sword handle: "great talent" and "godsend." Are the Heroes' gifts of great talent from divine intervention? Hmmmm.

The Haitian is now talking which is cool. He also had a great line with "What you can do? What I can do? That is God. Respect that calling." Whoa. Who knew the man was a philosopher? Am I crazy here? For while it's sensible to blame evolution for these abilities, there's got to be something else at work bringing these people together, because in the world of Heroes, what Nathan said just before his mind was blown — "These things can't be connected. The world doesn't work like this" — is completely incorrect. These things are connected, Nathan.

I think he's beginning to realize this. Check the look on his face when Hiro rushed in and mentioned Linderman's name. These things are connected. This Linderman guy is everywhere. When the hell are they going to show his face? His arm? I'd settle for his lower torso as he sits in front of a monitor stroking a cat, à la Inspector Gadget's Doctor Claw. I wonder, if and when Sylar gets taken down, if Linderman is going to turn out to be the show's major long-running villain.

It was as shocking for me to see his name on that sword replica as it was for Hiro, who remains the only character to get any funny lines on a regular basis. That scene of him trying to pronounce the word villain to Nathan ("Billan." "Billan?" "Billan." "Villain." "Vee—" "V." "Veeelain.") was pretty hilarious. I must say though, I was disappointed by the way they incorporated the dinosaur from Isaac's painting into the show. I was stupidly hoping that somehow Hiro would end up back in prehistoric times. In retrospect, that was probably an idiotic hope. The special effects on that would have been ridiculously expensive. I don't know what I was thinking.

We also saw the addition of a new Hero to the show — a British invisible man. Now, we've all read that this is going to be the guy who helps Peter learn how to focus his abilities, but they've definitely started off on the wrong foot, and the invisible man is definitely a shady man. I'm eager to learn about this new character, though I feel that adding more and more people, which the show seems to be planning to do, will only shorten the amount of time we get to spend with those we already know (hopefully Matt and his FBI thing, he bores me). It was odd that Peter had seen the invisible man in his visions, even though he's never crossed paths with him before. But he also saw Niki's family in his visions, so maybe he's still got a little bit of Isaac in him. I can't wait to see if Peter figures out a way to hold on to powers permanently, instead of just when he's in proximity to others.

And lastly, the Niki-Jessica story line continued, with Niki in jail possibly facing the death penalty. She flipped back and forth between the two personalities in a Gollum-like scene with her lawyer and appeared to break a guard's baton in two as Niki. While I'm still unsure if she's going to turn out good or bad, it's possible that she'll learn how to use her super strength without having to turn into the psychopathic Jessica as when she snatched and broke the guard's stick while still Niki. While this story line is the least obviously connected to the main plot of the show, I am very interested in it, solely to see where it goes and how it'll play out.

As usual, tons more happened. Matt told his wife he could read minds. Claire tried to make Zack remember so they can be friends again and it seemed at the end like it was possible. H.R.G. visited Mohinder, who also found out Eden had been killed. It seems H.R.G. wants the list. I love how he incoporated the show's new tagline "Are you on the list?" while talking to Mohinder. He did his best to convince Mohinder, even giving him the Darth Vader speech: "You've no doubt realized things can go terribly wrong with these abilities. If you work with me, we can control that. Together we can actually make a difference." However, this did not work and Mohinder shot him down. I'm beginning to think that H.R.G. may have some sinister plans of his own. I guess we'll have to wait and see as we have 11 chapters to go.