User Reviews

All right, so Claire, in wanting to expose The Company, has broken up with West, who doesn't want his power to go public. Matt and Nathan, having found out everything, are trying to stop Peter and Adam from going to the Primatech Paper building to get the virus. It's there that Hiro vows revenge on his dad's death at Adam's hand but Peter manages to keep him at bay with the electric magnetic powers he got from Elle. So Hiro cheers when Matt and "Flying Man" show up. When Mohinder goes to his apartment and finds Sylar there, Sylar seems a little nice especially when Maya is seen cooking and is glad to finally meet the doctor she's been told is "friends" with Gabriel. Sylar then pulls his gun revealing his intent: he wants the blood from Claire that was meant for Niki to go to him. Maya is surprised by Gabriel's sudden transformation, then gets furious after finding out from Molly the fate of her brother which in turn causes Sylar to shoot her dead! It turns out to be short lived as Sylar makes Mohinder use it on her first to make sure it actually works. It does so the doc then uses it on him and it looks like he'll be shot by Sylar but then Elle comes in trying to stop him but he gets away. Elle is upset but Mohinder assures her she saved his, Molly, and Maya's lives. Macah goes to his mom to save Monica who's still kidnapped by a gang member. Despite being a little weak because of the virus, Niki manages to knock down this member and go to the warehouse where Monica is as flames threaten to engulf the place. Monica manages to get out but the flames explode before Niki could. Looks like Micah is now an orphan. As Adam and Peter knock down the guards and Peter opens the safe, Nathan, Matt, and Hiro come in with Hiro confronting Adam with Hiro's sword. Adam already has the virus in his hand but when Hiro teleports with Adam, the virus is left behind and is starting to drop when Peter quickly retrieves it. We later find Adam buried alive a deep six feet under in a coffin. Good job, Hiro! Peter then destroys the virus into dust as Nathan and Matt watch. The Petrelli brothers have a touching reunion as Nathan calls a press conference with Matt using his mind to make sure people show up. As Noah arrives home with a surprised family showing up, he tells them, especially Claire to not expose The Company. He also tells them he's going back there to protect his family and says they'll be in a safe place. Claire still wants to expose The Company. At the press conference, Nathan is about reveal all when he is shot twice in the chest! After we see Peter hold his dead brother, the next scene is of Mama Petrelli on the phone telling the receiver on the other end how that person has gone too far just the screen goes black and "End of Volume Two" flashes on. Next scene takes place in an alley as "Volume Three, Villains" is printed. Then we see Sylar injecting himself with the new blood after which, we see his hand attempt to raise a spinach can. He succeeds as "To Be Continued" appears afterword on the black screen...While this episode seemed to be rushed due the writers strike that was about to be called on, there was plenty of drama and action to make this another entertaining episode of "Heroes". I did wonder about Caitlin but maybe we'll find out about her after this strike is over. Are Nathan and Niki really dead? Considering some of Adam's blood was put in him, maybe Nathan will survive. It would be harder to explain how Niki survived that explosion but it's hard to tell who stays dead on a show like "Heroes". In any case, with a title like "Villians" for the Volume 3 season, I hope the excitement really gets amped up! So until next time...

Four months after the events at Kirby Plaza, those involved are scattered across the globe (and, in the case of Hiro, time). Noah and his family are lying low while both he and Claire are failing to keep their promises to be "normal". Peter turns up in a shipping container in Ireland with no knowledge of who he is, where he is or the powers he has at his disposal. Meanwhile a mysterious killer is wiping out the elders behind the formation of the Company and another global disaster waits in the future for everyone.

Although I have been burnt a few times by getting into US series on terrestrial channels only to find them stolen from my eyes by a satellite player with big money, I have stuck with Heroes into season 2. As well as this I did this despite average reviews from the US and the fact that I thought season 1 was "good" - which is a different classification from the "best thing ever" label that most fans prefer to use. Anyway, unlike many critics, I didn't get turned off the slow start to the second season and assumed that it was all part of the built. However a few episodes in and I was not so sure as little appeared to have happened and the new characters were taking up too much time for too little return. You can actually see the point where the makers seem to have spotted this as well because suddenly the new characters are (temporarily) dropped in favour of quickly getting a lot more in touch with what happened to the main characters immediately after season 1 and also the main thrust of this season - which is the impending events that lead to the release of a fatal virus into the air.

Although I did like the new characters, the pace was too slow for the rather superficial content to bear. The bigger picture stuff is also delivered with too little cohesion and tension though and sadly it doesn't get much better than so-so for the most part. I was reasonably interested in it and there was some material in there that offered more than was delivered upon. Specifically there is nice interplay with trust and motivations of individuals and, of course, the intentions and background of The Company but none of it is ever really that strong as content. The weaknesses of the season can be seen in the final episode which is rushed, rash and surprisingly dull considering the amount of major characters thrown away. It almost felt like the makers had totally given up on season 2 as a season but had decided to use it just to get everyone to where they wanted for season 3. Hopefully season 3 will be good enough to make me forget this but I am worried that the makers think that the issue was lack of action and will just throw lots of stuff at the screen instead of really getting down into the substance, which is what is required to make the series last.

The cast are solid enough and work well with the material, playing to it and not trying to force something that isn't there or, alternatively, slum it. The main cast from season 1 naturally dominate and I continue to like the performances and characters from Coleman, Grunberg, Panettiere, Oka and, to a lesser extent, Ramamurthy, Pasdar, Ventimiglia and others. The new additions of Anders and Tobolowsky are both good and provide a lot of interest while some of the "lesser" characters are engaging enough for one reason or another (eg Ramirez and Davis!). A slight annoyance was the clumsy way that some characters are removed from the season; I'm not sure if it was a contractual issue but Roberts/DL is a poor removal and feels rushed just to get it done, but there are a few other poor moves in the same area (specifically the final episode).

Season 2 is one to skip then – perhaps just watch the first few episodes and the last few and that will give you all you need to know. There is potential here but it is disappointingly messed up and underperforms badly. It is not a bad season per se though, but it is just quite dull and unengaging. Hopefully season 3 will be a significant step up, but for this season the critics and most of the fans were right to complain.