The overall plot in the first season did
some veering close to Watchmen. Already off the bat
in an almost throwaway bit, the evolutionary heroes are
facing extinction from a plague. A virus, if you will, that
will wipe out their legacy before it has even begun.
Somewhere to the South, not the North like
Canada, a brother and sister team with a not exactly incestuous
relationship makes its way to the United States. So far,
the brother isn't half-faerie, but the sister…well, she's
pretty deadly.
Even with those Marvel-ous comparisons,
though, the series has come back just as compelling and,
thankfully, full of surprises as it was last year. With
the hyper-packed cast, it's not likely that it will move
quite as fast as we'd like, but then, that hasn't exactly
hindered the X-Men in comics, either.
Creator Tim Kring and his crew haven't
wasted those four months. We're definitely missing a chunk
of time for the characters. Despite saving the world, the
Petrellis have fallen on hard times. Nathan drinks the pain
away, trying to avoid some horrible burned vision. On the
other hand, since Peter doesn't have any idea what's going
on, neither do we.
Though that virus looms as a threat, the
show establishes or expands three main mysteries to carry
us through. At the end of last season, Molly Walker revealed
there was something worse than Sylar. Now that something
plagues her nightmares, translating into disturbed drawings
at school.
Could that also be the menace taking down
the old guard? The generation before, now represented (to
us) by Hiro's father and Angela Petrelli, have received
death threats. Nakamura knows his assailant, and barely
manages to keep the ever-eager but ever-useless Ando out
of harm's way. Yet this old guard seems to be disappearing
before we can get a clue as to who they really were - even
though Mr. Bennet, Matt Parkman and Suresh intend to dismantle
the Company the old guard (calling themselves the Nine -
the Eight - the Seven --) formed.
While all this gets sorted out "four months
later," Hiro finds himself trapped in the past - at least
four hundred years before any of this happened. Hero worship
may not serve him well, but this plotline will only increase
the Hiro worship actor Masi Oka has garnered in the role.
Though the cast may be huge, the season
premiere still gives a few good moments away to certain
characters. Whether or not he remains seems up in the air,
but no doubt Heroes has given George Takei a surprisingly
good third act for his career. As Bennet, Jack Coleman continues
to be confusing as either a villain with a strong streak
of self-interested good or a hero that will do anything
to achieve his ends.
Of course, those ends involve protecting
Claire (Hayden Panettierre). Sorry, guys, she's promised
dad NOT to be a cheerleader this season. But we'll all still
watch her anyway, right?
NBC knows we will, treating the season
premiere as one of their most hallowed events of the Fall.
If Kring can keep the momentum going, they'll be right.
The mania for Heroes is only going to get bigger.
And we didn't even get to Ali Larter yet.
