Okay. So I had to work the night shift on Monday and therefore I missed the premiere of Heroes. And being one in the world without digital cable or the technology of DVR or TiVo yet, I had to go to my last resort… recording the show on a VHS tape! That’s right, that technology still exists. And so last night was MY Season 3 premiere of Heroes.
As I was about five minutes into all of that red carpet hooplah, I fast forwarded past that garbage to the actual episode. I mean, they were going to introduce all the characters and just repeat the same stuff we already know, and then they were showing some sneak previews for the upcoming episode… just show me the damn premiere already.
Anyway, after all the let down during the second season, everyone hyped up the third season by saying it went back to the excitement and the cliffhangers of the first. Though the magic in first season will be impossible to recapture, I was hoping the best for the start of the third.
The first episode picked up right where the second season left off… kind of. We see Claire and Peter of the future, squaring off. Claire is intense and disturbed, holding a gun pointed directly at Peter’s head. Peter looks concerned, but knows she won’t harm him. He expresses some kind of guilt for witnessing the dark path Claire ended up in. And then Claire shoots, Peter freezes time, gets out of the way and takes her gun, and then time travels.
That was a stunning opening shot. It just threw the audience head first into a plot point from the future, but will be the starting point to the Villain’s story arc. And then we return to present when Nathan Petrelli’s about to announce how he and many others have abilities, until he gets shot. It’s revealed that Peter from the future shot him. I know! Whoa! That was the last person I expected… Hell, I never even thought of that possibility. Well… who would?
Okay, so now we get into the thick of things. It seems Future Peter is going to be highly involved with everything that goes on in “Villains.” He’s been to the future, saw something he didn’t like, and is trying to reverse it by changing the past. Sound familiar? Are you as sick an tired with characters who can read the future as I am?
There were a lot of ups and downs within the two episodes opening the third season. I’m glad that they decided to answer the pivotal cliffhanger from last season immediately… not like Season Two when they waited until about the eighth episode to explain what happened four months before.
The episodes moved along at a fairly good pace, yet a little slow at times. It all depended on which characters you like and which characters you find boring. For me, I never liked the whole Nikki or Jessica storyline. And now she’s Tracy… and she has Sub-Zero’s power? I was one of the many who were saying, “Good riddance” when Nikki supposedly died in the Season 2 finale, but now she’s back and more boring than ever. Her whole family is boring. I don’t care about this little boy who can talk with electronics, and his cousin who basically downloads skills like Neo in The Matrix. I’m glad they weren’t in the premiere, but you know they’re going to pop up soon.
And Hiro… what the hell?! Before watching the premiere I was trying to determine who has the potential of becoming a “villain” and who would likely stay good. Of course, Hiro was the first choice to remain good. He’s naïve, but his heart is full of gold. So why is he now involved in the silliest storyline? His father left him a tape that reveals that in the safe in the room, there’s a part of a secret that if it ever falls into the wrong hands, the world could end. So Hiro just ignores his late father’s request of keeping it secret and opens the safe (from a button that was lying on his desk). And how does he get pass the security defense of the safe… with his fingerprint! So Hiro has the half piece of laminated paper for about a second until it vanishes right before his eyes. Hiro, meet your arch rival… Flash Girl. She’s so fast that she defies time… so Hiro’s time bending power is useless against her. Oooohhh snap! So now they’re in the middle of a cat and mouse chase. Silly… yes. Necessary? We’ll have to wait and see.
My favorite part of the premiere was Sylar. He forcefully took Claire’s essence and is now seemingly unstoppable… until Elle blows up, knocking him unconscious. Claire is now more vulnerable than ever, without feeling, without a soul. Heroes touched upon this situation rather delicately, and in my opinion very tastefully. When Claire tells her mom what happened, she suspects the worst and thinks Sylar sexually assaulted her daughter. She wasn’t raped, but in a way the psychological after effects were similar. She was forced to give something up, she was hurt, and now she’s numb to the world.
I think I touched upon the major points of the premiere. Of course there are many other minor details, which I’m sure that’ll play a bigger part than it seems. These include:
- Parkman being stranded in the dessert by Future Peter. He is saved by a black man who… well you guess it, can read the future.
- Dr. Suresh injected himself and now has powers… but wait, he’s also mutating into… I don’t know, some kind of Bug-Man! Just as he was the only one without a power… now everyone has a power! Except…
- Noah’s still around, but his purpose is fleeing. He’s not with his family and since Bob’s dead, he’s taking orders from Mrs. Petrelli. And in those commercials it shows he’s going to be working with Sylar? What’s going on?!
- I don’t know Elle’s purpose either… but who cares. Keep Kristen Bell on the show for as long as possible. Her Pikachu powers are awesome. And then maybe if she can team up with Weevil… oh wait, but now that’s Present Peter trapped inside the inmate of Level 5’s body… but if Veronica and Weevil reunite, maybe there will be a Veronica Mars reunion! Okay, sorry… I got off topic.
- Present Peter inside a Level 5 inmate’s body. And they escape, causing havoc in the outside world. This is going to be an awesome storyline. Who’s going to take them down?
- And what was up with Ando from the future killing Hiro?! It was pretty awesome, but that better not happen.
Was there anything else? Well, the premiere was solid, opened a lot of questions, caused a lot of excited and some let downs. It doesn’t matter. I enjoyed the second season when everyone else loathed it. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the third season as well.
Posted by Rob Eng 
