‘Heroes’ Four Months Later

I’ll be honest with you I was less than thrilled with Heroes’ Season 1 Finale.  It didn’t live up the incredible excitement built all year.  So the big question is will Heroes be able to avoid a sophomore slump?  The premiere of “Four Months Later” gave me a little hope.

As a direct result of my disappointment with last season’s finale, I’ve avoided all things Heroes this summer.  No graphic novels, no spoilers, no reruns.  With the exception of some Heroes news, I’ve had a Heroes-free summer.  So I went into last night’s season premiere with no building excitement — just a fan returning for Season 2.

I’m happy to report that while the episode didn’t blow me away, it did peak my interest in the Heroes world once again.  I am intrigued by the plot and already have my own slew of questions.

Let’s start with the plot that captivates me the most — the older generation of heroes.  We learned a few things.  First, there were twelve of them in the original group.  Nine remain with Deveaux, Linderman and Angela’s husband gone.  Yes, Peter and Nathan’s dad was a member of the Dirty Dozen and it sounds like he died by their hands too.  Hmmm . . . What was his power?  And when did he develop it.  He didn’t have it in the graphic novel when he met Linderman.

For that matter, do we know what Kaito Nakamura’s (George Takei) power is?  And we might never know.  I’m assuming that he is really dead.  Surely the Dirty Dozen wouldn’t take him out in a way in which he could use his power to survive.  Speaking of which, just who was the hitman?  Kaito makes it sound like he was one of the Dirty Dozen.  What exactly was Kaito going to tell his son?  Will Hiro (Masi Oka) going to be able to go back in Kaito’s past to find out?

Also, just what exactly sealed Kaito’s fate?  Was it the past sins he wanted to atone for?  Or was it helping his son defeat Linderman’s plan that got him killed?  Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose) is also marked for death.  Was it because she didn’t help her sons or because she wasn’t able to stop them?  Did all of the Dirty Dozen stray from their original mission to help the world or just the few we’ve met?  Who’s their leader — the mystery man from Molly’s (Adair Tishler) dreams?

Speaking of Molly, she’s now living with Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), who has become a New York cop, at Mohinder’s apartment.  I’m assuming Molly’s parents were done away with by The Company when they took her, but isn’t it a little weird that she was able to just go live with Matt?  Sure The Company isn’t interfering, but wouldn’t social services had lots of questions about where she came from, etc.  Speaking of messes — how did they explain away the final scene from last season.  Lots of people were injured, wasn’t there an investigation?  I’d have thought that incident might hinder Matt’s chances at joining the NYPD.

Meanwhile, Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is off recruiting funding for the study of the virus affecting Molly.  Or was it just a cover for joining The Company?

In the meantime, Noah has packed up his family and moved them to a new town to hide from The Company.  I thought it was interesting that Noah had this heartfelt talk with Claire (Hayden Panettiere) about how sorry his was for what he did to her, while he’s plotting with Mohinder to take down The Company.

But Claire has secrets of her own.  She’s still communicating with her birth father, Nathan (Adrian Pasdar).  Nathan, who presumably lost his election, is in a constant state of drunkenness these days.  Both are wondering — where’s Peter (Milo Ventimiglia)?

I think it was a nice cliffhanger to wait until the last minute to tell us about Peter’s fate.  But here’s where I have lots of questions.  There’s the obvious:  How did he get in the box and why doesn’t he have a memory?  My guess is that it has something to do with the Dirty Dozen, but that’s just speculation.  But why doesn’t Nathan know what happened to Peter?  He was with him last.  And why isn’t Nathan hurt?  What did Nathan see in the reflection of the glass at the bar?  Was he seeing things or was it his own reflection?

These questions lead me to a theory.  Nathan was killed by Peter.  Peter who is still regenerating from his wounds disguises himself as Nathan.  And the Peter in the box is a clone.  Not sure if it will pan out that why, but it makes you wonder.

The story of Hiro interests me the least.  He’s gone back to 1671 to meet his hero only to find out that Takezo Sensei (David Anders) doesn’t live up to his reputation.  The storyline from here is kind of predictable.  Either Hiro, himself, actually does the feats credited to Takezo or his influences him to live up to his legend.  Either way, I not sure how it furthers the overall story.  Personally, I want Hiro back with Ando (James Kyson Lee).  The chemistry of this duo is what I like.

We were also introduced to Maya (Dania Ramirez) and Alejandro (Shalim Oritz).  I wasn’t captivated by their story.  I’ve seen the list of all the new heroes to join the cast this season and I’m a little worried.  I’m afraid that with all the new cast members that we won’t have enough time for our beloved heroes.  For instance, we still haven’t learned the fate of Niki (Ali Larter), Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey) and D.L (Leonard Roberts).

I guess I’ll just have to wait a few more episodes to see how they weave them into the story.  Overall, a good episode with the promise of a intriguing season.