What I'm Watching: Heroes (Season Premiere)

Heroes: Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2 "The Second Coming" & "The Butterfly Effect" (C)

Alright, first off: "Heroes" isn't quite as bad as it was last year but there are numerous grave problems the show has to deal with before it even approaches the mediocre quality of season one or the legendary greatness of episodes like "Company Man." Certain elements have been improved, like Hiro now being able to time travel back to pretty much the same moment he left (though time basically did elapse while he was gone), but he's still able to go to the exact moment he says Ando betraying him? And Niki really should be dead. Is it just that she doesn't remember being Niki or is she really a whole new person with a far more sensible power than the messed-up whatever-that-was she used to have?

I like the implication that both Claire and Elle are majestically powerful and in some way immune to Sylar. I'd like to think there's some connection between the two of them, though I'm worried because Kristen Bell was credited as a special guest star rather than a regular cast member. She's by far the best actress on the show, and they're giving her up? Malcolm McDowell looks like he might be sticking around for a bit, but I'm never a fan of having dead hallucinations talk to individual characters for long periods of time (like in the "X-Files" series finale).

Future Peter has gotten Present-Day Peter into quite a pickle, which could prove interesting, especially if Peter remembers that he's super-powered and awesome and can totally beat all those other villains by absorbing their powers. I'm happy to see the underrated Blake Shields as one of the villains after loving his work on the first season of "Sleeper Cell." I'm hopeful that his role can live up to his talent. I do like the new character of this speedster Daphne, who looks to be a great friendly nemesis for Hiro. Speaking of Hiro, he should be fine as long as he stays in the present and just uses his powers for super-fast movement.

I've never been a fan of Suresh, and I think that his new powers could actually make him a better character. He does act (and look) a lot like a girl bouncing all over the place and showing off his abilities, but his cockiness and unexpected skin bubbles (or whatever they are) should hopefully pave the way for an exciting new villain. I'm not sure that actor Sendhil Ramamurthy is up for the challenge. If anything, super-annoying Maya doesn't seem as bad anymore, and her impending conflict of interest with Suresh should be cool.

Most significantly, "Heroes" is still missing that extra something which I never really thought it had (save for a few episodes in the first season). All the things they throw at the audience all at once - Sylar suddenly being at Claire's house and then invincible, all the Level 5 prisoners being gone, Peter trapped in someone's body, and Angela Petrelli being able to see the future, just to name a few - are somewhat interesting, but they all need a lot of fine-tuning that I don't think the series will give them. Necessitating certain characters to be on lonely quests (Parkman now after Hiro last season) is a misguided notion that only serves to distract. If the series choose instead to focus on how ridiculously powerful everyone can be, that would be a whole lot better.

Update: After reading a TV Guide article about the premiere, I realized that Sylar is actually supposed to be Angela Petrelli's son. I thought that she was going to try to do some weird mind-trick thing on him, but I guess he's actually the third Petrelli brother. Interesting, I suppose. Perhaps I should have picked up on that. I'll have more reactions next week.