Our relationship has been a little rocky for  a while.  Though we still share a home, we only pass like ships in the night.

You’ve been sleeping on the couch, and I’ve been halfway ignoring what you had to say while shoving my nose into my laptop.

I haven’t spent much time thinking about you, because we have just grown apart.  You aren’t the same person you used to be.

I’d like to say that it’s not you; it’s me.  But let’s be honest, it’s totally you.  You became an intolerable partner for a while.

But last night during our Monday night date night (that you’ve insisted we maintain during this dark period in our relationship), I saw a glimmer of what really made me fall in love with you in the first place.

For the briefest of moments, I was able to fondly remember those times we spent together saving the cheerleader, and yes, even the world.

I don’t know if this means we’re going to get back together and have the sort of relationship we used to have, but I do know that perhaps my heart still belongs to you in some small way.

Please don’t screw up again.  I just don’t think my heart could take the abuse.

With love,

Lykaon

They have one of the most interesting villains ever conceived — played by one of the most charismatic and interesting actors on television — and what do they do?

They start treating Sylar like a bad run of 1980s Barbies.

This week we got ‘Secret Agent Sylar’ complete with HRG sidekick and slick New York accent.  Push his belly and he’s sure to say funny things that all Secret Agents say.

For example, “We’re going to need some coffee!”

Next week it looks like we get ‘Housewife Sylar’ which is sure to set villain rights back about 50 years.  Perhaps he’ll come with a vaccuum cleaner and some baking pans.

Oooh maybe they will also release the ‘Housewife Sylar’ dream kitchen, complete with Peter Petrelli in his slippers and smoking jacket!

Push Peter’s belly and you can hear him say, “Get in the kitchen and make me a pie or I’ll stop time, freeze you, nuke your hair, sonically destroy your ears, and tell you your future as a Barbie!”

Don’t get me wrong.  Season 3 is thus far leaps and bounds better than the disaster that was Season 2, but they have to find something better for Sylar to do.  He’s simply too good of a character to treat this way.

Why make him the partner of HRG for only one episode?  The concept of Sylar being an agent was actually a good one that could have led to tons of creepy dialogue and interesting character development.

And what’s with him suddenly being the (half?)-brother of Peter and Nathan.  Seriously?  Can we say left field?

Sylar is the best character Heroes has.  I literally cringe to see him treated like a bad Barbie doll.

Tune in next year to see ‘Star Trek Sylar!’

This episode was a welcome one for me. It was the last episode of the arc, and a way for Kring to wrap up this disaster of a sophomore try and get back to doing it right.

He has officially apologized for the shortcomings that he fell into with the beginning of the second season, and the last few episodes of the arc certainly proved that things could change back to the right direction.

It may have been too little too late for this arc, but I have hope for the next.

The wrap-up of the arc was pretty satisfying. We got to see Maya die. I liked that. And the beauty of it is Mohinder brought her back to life so that we can see Maya die again later. That situation has win written all over it.

The Primatech fight scene with Parkman, Flying Man, Hiro, Pete, and Adam was pretty entertaining. It was the fight scene that should have happened between Sylar and Peter last season. It’s clear the budget was a little higher this go ’round.

Bennet and family was a little confusing this time around. Maybe it was because I was writing a Chuck review at the time, but I’m not quite clear on what exactly Bennet told his family and what he did for the company in return. Overall, the Bennet’s are all messed up now.

Monica, Wonder boy, and Nikki are just a mess. I should feel bad that Nikki just blew up trying to save a girl who’s not even really related to her, but instead I have no feelings whatsoever.

The only thing I did think was “See you stupid little boy. You lost your mom to save your stupid cousin. Was that really a fair trade? Call the police next time, idiot. Over a stupid comic book too.”

I’m kind of digging Elle. She’s really your classic screwed up, mistreated daughter, but she’s easy on the eyes and has a pretty interesting plot of needing her father’s love despite the fact that’s he’s a buttmunch.

Dude can turn things into gold. He’s probably a pretty good conductor of electricity. I’m just saying.

Anyway, I was glad to see it all wrapped up and primed for the next story arc. This has been a bumpy road with a better than average pay off.

Last time our teaser was Hiro in a feudal Japan. This time we got a Magneto-style resurgence of Sylar’s powers. I like the latter better.

Long live Sylar!

Episode 1.09: The Poem

Parkman comes from a family grand,

But he’s turning into his old man,

He manipulates Nathan’s mommy to save the world,

And he even controls the mind of a helpless little girl,

Claire hates her dad, and gets him shot,

But he comes back, Seriously – is that all they’ve got?

It’s awesome that HRG manages to shoot Kristen Bell,

Too bad that doesn’t spell the end for Bob’s girl Elle,

HRG is going too soft for he didn’t kill a fly,

Why is Suresh still alive? Why, Lord, why?

West and Bennet are now best friends,

That’s really sad – West should die by his hand,

Hiro wants to change the past as he’s tried to do before,

But his dad isn’t impressed and says ‘No more!’

Surprise surprise, it’s Kensei who killed Sulu dead,

I guess ol’ Adam Takezo didn’t take his meds,

So now we just don’t know who’s side is right,

Do Adam and Pa Parkman have a relationship to hide?

Tune in next week and all will be clear,

With a writer’s strike, it all ends this year.

We finally get to catch up with exactly what happened after last season’s finale.

Now I understand that there was some logic in presenting this information late. For one, we get the fancy (but predictable) reveal about Kensei. But did it have to be eight episodes in? We really could have had it a bit earlier.

Nonetheless, there were some shockers from the past. For one, DL didn’t die from the gunshot wound inflicted by Linderman. It turns out that Nikki’s bad little other self, Gina, got him shot at a club in LA.

Then there’s little girl shocker. At first I really didn’t like this character, but she kind of grew on me as the show went on. I’ve never watched Veronica Mars, so I don’t have a lot of experience with Kristin Bell. I actually thought she did surprisingly well in her role here.

The bit with how Nathan ended up not burnt was pretty cool. It also foreshadows that Claire’s blood may also have the same healing characteristics of Adam’s.

Then there was Maya and Alejandro. Why do they have to be so boring? Why can’t they be written better? And Maya looks distractingly too much like J-Lo. It’s true. Watch again.

Then there are the questions that aren’t answered. It’s all well and good to know what happened to Nikki and Nathan, but what about Parkman?

The man got shot in the chest multiple times, recovered, broke up with his pregnant wife, joined the NYPD, started a homo-erotic relationship with Mohinder, and became a surrogate daddy. Seems like there was some meat there that could have been touched on.

On the good side, I really like King Midas. He’s sort of the Bennet of season 2. You want to believe he’s all bad, but there are enough moments of goodness that you’re just not quite sure what to think.

Speaking of the Bennets, apparently they didn’t do anything 4 months ago either.

Overall, I’m glad the season is finally starting to heat up. The plot is interesting, the twists are unraveling, and there seems to be a point to this whole crazy season.

I like Heroes again. Though I may never forgive it for what it did to me at the beginning of the season. It may strain our relationship forever.

And then you brought me roses. Well, actually you brought me the Haitian Sensation erasing some Ukrainian guy’s memory as a form of torture. But it’s romantic, nonetheless.

This episode was by far the best episode of the season. Not only did HRG return to true form, but Claire did something useful, Sylar is awesome, and Nikki is so gonna kick Mohinder’s butt. It’s really like Heroes heaven.

Oh yes, we also had little side plots about Hiro and Pete. But that was a necessary evil.

Actually, the Hiro storyline was a tiny bit less annoying this time around.

I didn’t see the betrayal coming, but now that it did, I know that Takezo will now have a change of heart and rescue them. And then he’ll somehow win the heart of the hot chick and history will be set right. It’s time travel 101 people.

As for Peter. I don’t really like the Irish lass. The accent is hot and all, but she’s not really. Besides, she’s gonna die. Peter can’t have a Irish setter following him around for the rest of the series.

At least we make progress in the story with Peter having some ties to a coalition to bring down the company. It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Did I mention that HRG is awesome again? Torturing a dude by selectively removing his memories is awesome. And then shooting him anyway is even awesomer^TM.

And Sylar telling some dude who doesn’t speak English how he’s going to gut his stupid little sister — well, that’s just Sylar. And that’s why Sylar is one of the best characters on the show.

Maya and Alejandro are annoying. I hope Sylar does kill them and take their powers. Although it would be interesting if Sylar only got Alejandro’s power. Then Maya would need him. And that would set up for some cool quandaries.

And then there’s Monica with her magic iPod. I should probably be rolling my eyes at her getting a little power-pod, but it’s actually kind of a creative way to give our heroes the equivalent of a bat belt.

Oh yes, and Mohinder ticked off King Midas. So now Nikki is gonna follow Mohinder around. That’s so perfect. I hope she breaks his little naive neck.

So that’s Heroes. I broke from my normal format, but it was worth it. Heroes might just be getting back on track.

What? Heroes came on again? I’m sorry I must have been sleeping.

Seriously, guys, can’t you come up with better than this? If I wanted to watch a tortoise, I would have gone to the zoo.

This episode was so painfully slow that I wanted to gouge my own eyes out with a gold-plated fork.

Parkman, Nathan

So these two have a really interesting relationship. At first it was kinda funny, but then you realize that these characters really don’t have a lot in common and seem misplaced near each other.

At any rate, they take off after Parkman’s daddy only to find themselves trapped in their own minds fighting one another. Good thing Parkman can counteract his daddy’s mental hijinks, though it isn’t a quick process.

Interesting revelation about the baby really being Parkman’s afterall. I was happier believing that he wasn’t a total scumbag.

Sureshy

So, he takes Molly to the company. Oh that’s a good idea. Let’s take her to the place that captured her in the first place and wanted to use her as a human GPS device. That’s smart.

Geez, Mohinder. Were you born yesterday? Too bad Niki didn’t kill him when she broke out of her cell and went on a rampage.

Hiro, Ando, & Company

Why was this even in the episode? It seems like the writers themselves are even bored of Hiro’s stupid derivate storyline. The plot advancement in this episode for this story was pretty much non-existent.

The New Orleans Freaks

So Micah has some weird unhealthy crush on his cousin. I’m sure it’s just bad acting on the part of Micah, but seriously it was a little bit creepy.

At least we learn more about Monica and her powers. It doesn’t have to be from just television. She’s a muscle mimic. That’s one of those powers that sounds cool in theory but I think will prove to be a little bit overpowered.

I am interested in seeing what the limits of these powers are, though. If she sees someone fly, can she?

Pater, Veronica Mars

Yes, that’s not a typo. That’s the spelling of how Peter is said with an Irish accent.

Anyway, Veronica Mars shows up with electric fingers, desperately trying to find Peter so she can show him a good time. In the process, she fries his friend (who I actually kinda liked).

Now we know where Peter got his lightning powers, but what we don’t know is who Veronica’s daddy is. The obvious choice is that he’s King Midas over at the company, but I’m hoping for something a little more surprising.

Conclusion

No Sylar, no real Niki to speak of, and no Bennets. Okay, so the latter two were a blessing but I really could use some Sylar. The guy’s leaving to work on Star Trek soon and we need to cram as much as his little evil self in as we can.

Overall, this one was downhill from the previous few episodes. I hope they step it up. I have to keep watching out of morbid curiosity, but I really do wish it didn’t feel wasteful.

The Parkman Family

Ah, yes. Mohinder Parkman, Molly Parkman, and Matt Parkman all get together this episode to try to find a big scary man who is none of other than gramps Parkman. Only Molly goes into a coma. Oops.

At least Matt is kinda cool in his relationship with Nathan and Mama Petrelli. When he told Nathan that he knew he could fly, I laughed.

Maya, Alejandro, and Gabe

Oh this little plotline is delectable this episode. Creepily convincing people he’s the good guy is what Zachary Quinto does best, and it’s a joy to see him dupe the wonder twins.

Also, the wonder twins are annoying. I’d kinda love to see Sylar chop off their heads.

But if he were to attain both of their powers would he then gain the power to kill people AND bring them back to life? Because that would be awesome.

Seems just as likely, the powers would negate each other and be useless to Sylar.

Micah and the Hot Cousin

I don’t even know her name. But she apparently learns things really quickly. I can’t decide whether she has a mind like Charlie’s from last season or if she has the power to learn from machines.

I think the latter is more likely and more related to Micah’s power of being able to talk to machines. Also I think this was hinted at when Micah hugged her. The writers seem to be into complementary powers this season.

Claire, West, and HRG

Uggh. Welcome to the Nikki/DL plotline of the second season. This is both excruciating and predictable.

The convoluted reasoning that led Claire to think that jumping off of the “Hollywood” sign would be a good idea confounds me. Plus I knew West was gonna catch her. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that one coming.

I hope West gets hit by a jetliner. Seriously. He’s annoying.

Nathan

Oh he shaved. I liked Mr. Mountain Man. Yah, not much going on here. I think we’re supposed to feel sorry for him, but I don’t really.

And what’s up with seeing himself in the mirror all burned up? Is that what happened when Peter blew up? And how did Nathan get healed?

Conclusion

I think that’s everything from this episode. This one was a dip from the previous two. It was predictable and pretty boring. Sylar being reintegrated into the plot is fun at least.

Maya and Alejandro

We get it. They run. She kills people. He heals people that she killed. No one likes them. They need to make it to America. Seriously. Get on with it.

Mohinder

This plot went nowhere. He works for the Company, conveniently in Isaac’s old loft where the Company has foolishly chosen to leave all of Isaac’s paintings. All of the uselessness in this plotline this week at least led to the big reveal of what the final painting depicts.

Parkman

Not much for Parkman except a really awkward exchange with Mohinder where the audience is left wondering whether they really are going to end up being a gay couple.

Also, Molly loves Mohinder. I guess there’s no accounting for taste.

Peter

So Peter is now a supervillain. Sweet. It’d be neato if he stayed that way. Nothing like taking last years hero and turning into him a villain. Now if only Sylar turned good.

We also get the answer as to whether the regeneration ability will withstand tattoos. Turns out it heals them away. That seems a little odd, but I’ll go with it.

Chez Bennet

West is still a freaky stalker but since he can fly, Claire decides that making out with him is a good idea. I’d be annoyed at this plotline, but teenage girls really are that stupid so it’s accurate.

And West was once wrangled by Claire’s daddy, so Claire thinks daddy might be evil now. Which is really stupid because she totally knows what he used to do for a living, and West probably needed to be wrangled because he’s a stalker.

Papa Bennet didn’t have a whole lot to do this episode except freak out when Mohinder sent him a picture of the last painting.

Ando / Hiro / Kensei

Okay, so this storyline was kinda cool this episode.

The silly little letters that Hiro left in the sword were kinda stupid. I mean, are we to believe that in 400+ years no one accidentally opens up that sword and finds the letters? Yah, whatever.

Hiro needs to get over his puppy love and quit messing with history. Seriously, history is not something you want to screw up.

Nikki / Micah

Okay, so DL is dead and Nikki is still a bad mother. She’s right back to working for the Company, though this time for the ‘honorable’ cause of curing herself.

I’m not quite sure what she wants cured. She has a psychological problem and then she has a power. Seems like the power isn’t worth getting rid of, and I’m not sure the company can fix her head.

In other news, we now know why Micah can communicate with machines — his relative is frickin’ Uhura. Hailing frequencies open, sir.

Sylar / Candace

Oh Sylar, how I missed thee. So you’re all beat up and Candace is keeping you on a leash. You’re still awesome.

The big mystery here, of course, is whether Sylar really killed Candace or if it’s just all an illusion by Candace. I’m hoping for the latter because it’s funnier.

Also, I really thought Candace got killed by Nikki last season, but whatever. I guess not.

Conclusion

Not a bad episode. It kept me entertained though not a lot actually happened. This one was really all about the set-up.

Introduction

Okay, so now we’re cooking. After a mediocre and disappointing season premiere last week, Heroes has begun to simmer into what could be a rolling boil of a season.

Although I’m still a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see Niki or (more importantly) Sylar, there was still lots to love from this gem of an episode.

I don’t think I can even remember all of the awesome things that happened this episode, but I’ll try.

Hiro & Kensei

So, as expected and foretold in virtually every other time travel story in human history, Hiro puts on Kensei’s costume (which conveniently includes a full coverage mask). He saves a girl, Kensei gets the credit, and then Kensei gets shot.

And then the reveal. I don’t like this storyline much, but that was awesome.

Maya & Alejandro

Moving on to the wonder twins, we learn that it’s not exactly blood coming out of peoples’ eyes, and Alejandro seems to be able to reverse the effects of whatever badness Maya unleashes on people.

Seriously, if Maya could just be a litttle less emotional they wouldn’t really have a problem. In my Heroes research, I came across a new suggestion for this season’s arc — “Maya cries, everyone dies.” I like it.

The Bennets

I breathed a sigh of relief when this episode decided to stop them from being the Bradys. Having Claire flippantly displaying her powers around the family is kinda fun.

West was less annoying, and the thing with Claire’s toe was brutal. My wife had to turn away from the television.

Good ol’ HRG is back to true form hunting down some missing Isaac paintings, and he gets together with an old friend. This storyline went from F to A+ in one episode.

Mohinder

This whole storyline is just awesome. Not only did it lead to us reuniting with an old pal, but he’s so expertly playing the company that I’m having a hard time remembering why I hated Junior Suresh so much last season.

Parkman, Nathan, and Mama P.

This storyline didn’t have a lot to say, but it is an interesting insight into who exactly is killing these folk. My money was on Nathan for being the killer, but he has a solid alibi now.

So the killer is invisible and he can fly? Perhaps he is that first empath that Claude alluded to in the first season.

Peter

Wow. This was the best part of the entire episode. Peter’s problem was always that he was so incredibly emo.

Hard to be emo when you don’t know who you are. Now he’s just a superhero badass protecting Irish lasses from evil men.

Looks like he might take a turn at crime for a while, but it doesn’t matter. He’s just that awesome now.

Conclusion

I was pretty disappointed last week and tentatively searching for other Monday night entertainment. Now I can stop my search.

Welcome back, Heroes, welcome back.