“The Second Coming” & “Butterfly Effect”

During the 2 hour/episode season premiere, there were plenty of moments where I said “Oh S&%T!” due to a surprise twist and the like. I found myself dragged along on a wild adventure meant to set us up for a thrilling volume. It worked well, especially upon viewing as it doesn’t let up much to let you think.

However afterwards, after thinking about it, while I highly enjoyed it, I wondered if it didn’t rely too much on the shock value and when is it too much?

Like a movie sequel determined to always be bigger and better than the previous one, Heroes III is taking a shot at redeeming Heroes II so the trap is even bigger.

However, although there is certainly an overeliance on gimmickry there is still a lot to be said about an exciting groundwork laying episode.

We begin with Peter’s story and our Peter is barely able to be found in this tale. I say our Peter because future scarred Peter comes back immediately. Future Peter we quickly discover is Nathan’s shooter as his press conference giving everything away would be very bad for business in Future Peter’s world. Nathan does “die” but recovers in a manner not truly explained. He does still have Claire’s blood, who knows. Nathan claims that God saved him. So I think we’ll learn more later.

Of course the interesting kick here also is the return of one of my favorite’s from Season 1: Linderman What? Linderman was dead! Still is. Only Nathan can see him and it’s a very interesting idea…is it really Linderman from beyond? Is it Nathan’s view on Linderman? Either way, it’s great to have McDowell back and in a way that is actually inventive. I’m very interested to see how this develops.

Hiro’s tale seemingly is the one that will be the climax of Volume 3 as we meet a Speedster girl who steals half of a secret formula that Hiro’s father warns Hiro of from beyond he grave via DVD in a scene reminiscent of Scream 2. It’s funny…but it borders on too funny for it’s own good.

The interesting point in this is that in a trip to the future we see Ando shooting red lightning out of his hands and killing Hiro.

Huh? I love it. Although I shouldn’t. I should hold on to the fact that Ando was one of the few cast members without powers, but it still made their relationship a much more intriguing one.

Suresh’s story was one I wasn’t too fond of…maybe because it included Maya who I absolutely loathed from Season 2 but it also seemed a little unlike Mohinder. He just went on as if giving everyone powers was exactly what he wanted all along. Then furthermore to experiment on himself? He knows better…and so should the audience. That being said, it is an interesting development, I just wish he wasn’t so out of character…

unless his super strength rips Maya in two accidentally…

But I digress. Mama Petrelli is given a brighter spotlight and that can’t hurt as she is consistently one of the most intriguing characters in the show. As it seems, they are working her to be the big baddie overall of Season 3 in the same way that Bob was - not actively involved all the time, but doing enough to make it continue.

Speaking of Bob…it was about that time when I saw his death that I thought to myself, damn they are going for it all tonight. Can they save more for the rest of the season?

Speaking of which - Sylar and Claire. The whole point of season 1 to a degree and yet here it is in the first episode. Sylar gets Claire’s powers afterall, but in a confusing moment, tells her he can’t kill her even if he wanted to. But at least we also confirmed that he doesn’t eat his victim’s brains. It was a great shout out to the fanbase who had been saying that since the beginning in a half-serious manner.

Matt Parkman is a little bit of a no-show to a degree. After catching future Peter coming back for the gun, he gets shunted out to Africa where he runs into the African (instead of the Haitian).

Back to Peter, it seems that Future Peter switches Present Peter’s body with some insane man in the asylum..one of the villains that HRG had hunted down. Speaking of HRG, he’s back as well and free of his “commitment” to the prison. But after Sylar and Elle cause an electrical short of the prison system, freeing all the villains HRG has a new job. Same as the old job.

All in all it was a great beginning, as long as the show doesn’t remain at such a high octane the entire time. The gimmicks will get old quick and the story will run stale unless they provide the right amount of valleys and development along the way.

B

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