Season two of Heroes is now upon us, and the story picks up four months after the explosive season finale. Right off the bat, we find out the fates of some of our central characters. Mohinder is giving lectures around the world regarding a virus that is knocking off the more evolved human population, while The Company continues to try to acquire his services. Oh, and he and Matt (now an NYPD police officer) are caring for Molly Walker, who is struggling in school and having nightmares about the super bad boogeyman. The Bennets now live in California, and have changed their name to Butler. That reminds me of when the Simpsons had to go under an assumed identity, the Thompsons. It’s like, if you’ve got to go into hiding, why even pick a last night remotely similar to the one you’re hiding from? Anyway, Claire needs to act unextraordinary, and H.R.G. works at a Kinkos-esque copy shop. I see he couldn’t escape the cutthroat paper business.
Meanwhile, Nathan has turned into a bearded alcoholic (as he waits for Peter’s return) and a sleek looking Ando now works with Hiro’s dad (as they wait for Hiro’s return). Speaking of Hiro, he found out his hero is actually an amoral white guy.
We also got a closer look at some old characters (literally), as Hiro’s dad was murdered and Mrs. Petrelli is apparently on deck. We also met a couple newbies, like the running Dominicans and the flying West.
Everybody caught up? Okay, good.
From the people I’ve talked to, everybody was pretty satisfied with the premiere, myself included. I liked the general pacing of the episode. Picking up the season four months after a whole lot of character-changing events occurred is risky, but I think the writers did an effective job of leaving out enough information for you to wonder what happened, but didn’t leave out so much that you were left completely lost. I’m particularly intrigued by how Nathan survived, of course. The easy answer (and possibly the right one) is that he dropped Peter before he went kaboom, allowing him to survive. I find it interesting how his life fell apart because of the apparent death of his brother. It humanizes him. I still love the line “you saved the cheerleader, so we could save the world.”
I’m also wondering what happened between Matt and his wife. By the end of the season, these two seemed like they were turning a corner. What changed? Oh, and for what it’s worth, I disagree with Molly’s opinion that Matt using his abilities is in someway “cheating.” I mean, if somebody is unnaturally fast or strong, by no illegal means and by no doing of their own, is it cheating to use those abilities? I wouldn’t think so. Besides, Matt’s gift is an exceptionally powerful resource that can accomplish a lot of good and possibly save lives. To not use it is foolish. Nevertheless, Molly is really adorable.
Speaking of being cute, Claire looks exceptional this season. Okay, that was a creepy segue. Nevertheless, I enjoy her current story arc, which is really an extension of last year’s, which is her constant struggle to understand who or what she is. She’s now come to terms with her abilities (more or less) and “come out” to her family, but she’s forced to go into hiding again. I thought the awkward dinner conversation with her family was really good, as well. Oh, and the tease that she was going to get hit by the car was a nice subtle moment. H.R.G.’s scene with the manager at the copy shop was absolutely great. He’s now a solid good guy (again, more or less), but he remains one of my favorite characters on all of television. His secret association with Mohinder to take down The Company also has a number of interesting possibilities.
Funny how when I first started to write these reviews, I resisted calling him “H.R.G.” and now we know his actual name, and I continue to refer to him as that.
I’m sure this has been predicted to death, but I think that Hiro will actually become the Kensei that became a legend. Yes, yes, I’m sure there are a whole lot of time/space linear holes in that theory (I mean, Hiro became powerful enough to time travel using Kensei’s sword, which is famous because he’s a legend. But he wasn’t actually a legend until Hiro went back in time to take over his identity), but I’m sure it can be explained. Or totally ignored. The writers tend to do one or the other.
I’m very intrigued to see how the story with the older generation of heroes getting knocked off plays out. Hiro’s dad is already dead, and it seems that Nathan and Peter’s mom is the next victim. Much like how Nathan has been humanized, I expect the same to happen with his mother. I also expect us to get a clearer picture of what happened with this older generation, like how it’s possibly related to The Company.
One semi-criticism I have heard is that it paled in comparison to the pilot episode. I’m not sure I agree with that. It certainly did have a different flavor, but that should be expected. It’s fair to say that the pilot was faster-paced and more action packed, but I also think that it lacked some of the slower, more boring story arcs (particularly the Nikki stuff, which really dragged the early episodes down). Along with that, the people watching the premiere are already fans, so the writers don’t necessarily need to go overboard with constant twists or action scenes.
By the way, I’ve drawn the comparisons between Heroesand The 4400 in the past, and this year’s apparent story arc, which involves the heroes being killed off by a virus, is very similar to how the 4400 began getting violently ill due to the inhibitor being injected into them by the government. Don’t get me wrong, this season’s story seems very interesting, and I’m excited to see how it unfolds. It was just an initial observation.
