Maya and Alejandro - Their Role?

Heroes is all about people and the roles that they play. They generally waste much time with telling stories of things that aren't important to the final outcome. This explains why they spent so much time in Japan with Hiro, they needed to develop the Adam Monroe character. (They still spent too long there, but at least it had a purpose).

The people I still haven't figured out yet are Maya and Alejandro. Heroes has spent a lot of time developing these two, and have not yet revealed what role they will play. I would have to believe their role would be as major as Adam's, because they have spent almost as much time on their stories as they have on Adam's.

My analysis of this issue isn't very deep, partly because I haven't really cared about their storyline. But as we draw closer to understanding what is going on, I get more and more interested. What actually crosses my mind is that their story would have been key to what happens in the second half of the season. I thought at first that Maya would be the cause of the disaster the Heroes would have to prevent, but now that we know it was caused by a mutated version of the Shanti Virus, then something else must happen.

I actually think they are not supposed to be part of the main story in the first half. Much like last year, Heroes first focused on "Save the Cheerleader" Heroes this season would focus on stopping the Shanti Virus the company has let loose on the world. In a little bit of misdirection, the Heroes would rush to try and prevent the spread of the Shanti virus, and they would succeed. But we would learn that the Shanti Virus was not the real danger, it was Maya.

It would be the second half of the season where we would have to deal with Maya and her dangerous power, much like they dealt with the bomb last year. But now with the writer's strike underway, I'm not sure what Heroes is going to do, since there have been hints that they would prematurely end the season, by making an alternate ending to the first half, if a resolution doesn't happen soon.