Heroes Season 2: Surviving the Hype

Last season, Heroes became the big new hit, and immediately embarked on a quest to be the anti-Lost: no dragging out plot, introducing boring new characters while killing off old favorites, and teasing answers that just led to new questions. It worked or not, depending on who you ask. The show certainly burned through plenty of plot and explained a lot of the original mysteries, but it also suffered from an unnecessarily large cast and ended the season with as many questions as before.

(Since I have to write two paragraphs before I can reveal any spoilers, allow me to throw in a quick plug for another new show I saw Monday – “Big Bang Theory” on CBS at 8:30. The comedic timing in the pilot had me laughing until I cried. Give it a shot if you have time.)

Anyway, we pick up with the Heroes four months after the somewhat anticlimactic showdown between Sylar and the other Heroes. According to the leaked episode titles, we’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out what happened immediately after that fight. Some of the characters have moved on, although we don’t know yet what’s happened to Nikki/Jessica and family. Mohinder and Parkman are working together to protect Molly, the human locator device, but she’s still being haunted by “the Bogeyman.” The Bennet family has gone undercover, moving to California and trying to blend in, but Claire has already been noticed by West, a teen hero that my husband has dubbed “Hottie McFloaterson.” Others are stuck – Ando and Mr. Nakamura are waiting patiently for Hiro to return, while Angela and Nathan Petrelli can’t agree on whether to hold out hope that Peter has survived his nuclear meltdown (it turns out he has, but he’s somehow lost his memory, along with his bangs). No word about what happened with Nathan’s rigged election; he’s spiraling downward fast and clearly isn’t holding any sort of leadership position, but I guess we’ll have to wait to find out why. We also meet two new heroes, twins who apparently need each other to keep the sister’s powers from turning deadly.

The one story that picks up immediately following last season’s finale is Hiro’s, as he accidentally teleports himself back to 17th-century Japan and find himself face-to-face with his hero, Takeo Kensei. Only it turns out Kensei is a fraud, an English mercenary who hides behind hired goons. And of course, Hiro forgets the time-travel rule all good sci-fi geeks know: Never get involved in past events. He changes the course of history, and now must set things right in order to get back to a recognizable future.

Meanwhile, Sylar’s gone (for now), but new threats are looming: The Bogeyman is lurking, the virus that killed Mohinder’s sister and almost killed Molly is still out there, and someone is killing off the older generation of heroes (RIP, Mr. Nakamura). Plus the Company is still active, but now Mohinder and HRG are plotting to bring it down from the inside.

All in all, the episode didn’t quite have the punch of finding out that Lost’s Others live in a modern compound in the middle of the island, but I’m certainly excited for next week.

-PG-Rated