Season 3, Episode 1 - The Second Coming

Going a little bit backwards, since I missed the first week. So here is my review of Episode 1.

One of the first things that immediately jumps out to me is the question, who was Angela Petrelli talking to one the phone immediately after Nathan is shot? Clearly she wasn't talking to the attacker and she wasn't talking to anyone who planned the attack. Right now, the only explanation is that she knew the shooting was going to happen, and was talking to someone about why they didn't prevent the attack. I'm thinking she is the reason Nathan was able to heal. She knew about the upcoming attack, and made arrangements to be sure Nathan would survive. She even confirmed her knowledge of the attack at the end of the episode as she talked to Future Peter.

I'm not sure the person who Nakamura refers to as having "purity of blood, the "light" to safeguard against the darkness" is Claire. That is clearly the easy answer to go to. We have all seen what her blood is capable of. We also know she is "special" thanks to Sylar. But I have a hard time believing that the writers would make it that obvious. So far, not a big fan of the "formula" story arc. I'm sure the formula will become more important over time, but right now, it is particularly uninteresting to me compared to the rest of the action.

Mohinder continues to be my least favorite character. He makes mistake after mistake. I'm not sure if the writers are doing this on purpose to make a point about him or this is just being done by accident. He didn't kill Sylar when he could have (multiple times) and now he is essentially opening up Pandora's box. Who really thinks it is a good idea to give powers to everyone?

They finally shed a little bit of light on how Sylar gains his ability. They even made a joke about Sylar eating brains, which was a popular explanation among Heroes' fans. I am NOT a fan of Sylar getting healing abilities. It's not that I don't want the bad guy to get powerful. In fact, I think there needs to be a balance between good and evil in this show. But invulnerability should only be reserved to a special few. I wasn't a huge fan of Peter getting the power either. I didn't mind Claire and Adam having the ability because they were limited in their powers. But when you combine the defensive power of Claire with the offensive power of Peter and Sylar, it becomes a little much.

I don't think Linderman is real in this case. I totally think it is a figment of either Peter's imagination or that he is being manipulated by Maury Parkman. Nathan seems like a pawn. Someone who keeps getting used by those around him. I'm almost certain at this point that his mother is behind this manipulation, but thus far don't have any proof.

Overall, an OK way to start the season. Episode 2 coming soon.

What were your thoughts on the first episode of the new season?

Nathan - How Did He Heal?

During the previews for next week, we caught a glimpse of a man who was severely burned, and it appears to be Nathan. Throughout the season, we have seen Nathan look into the mirror only to see himself severely burnt. Up until now, I believed that he was more or less seeing things, much like Niki sees Jessica in the mirror. This alter-ego was formed from the guilt he felt because of what happened to Peter. Now I'm not so sure.

This picture would seem to indicate that Nathan did indeed suffer from serious burns from flying Peter into the atmosphere. (On a side note, did it bother anyone else that there was no need for Nathan to do that? Peter can fly too after all.) Now this leads me to the following two conclusions

1. Nathan was somehow miraculously healed. No way someone with seemingly third degree burns heals to look normal after four months (if ever). That means an evolved human with healing powers must have healed Nathan. As Linderman is dead (I hope the writers somehow don't bring him back to life. It's a cheap story telling technique), there must be someone else with this power.
   
2. Nathan is indeed burnt, but somehow other's don't see him that way. We have no indication from anyone that Nathan is burnt. Everyone treats him normally as if he is fine, so it is unlikely that we, the viewer, are somehow the ones who are being fooled. Perhaps there is an illusion going on in the minds of everyone else. As this seems to follow Nathan around everwhere, I think this is somewhat unlikely. Then again, we never did get to know the full scope of Candice's power. After all, In the future, Sylar is able to trick Billions of people that he is Nathan, and this power seemed to have no limitations.
   

I don't see a lot of other ways out for the writers. Perhaps this has to do with the "dark secret in the Petrelli Family" referred to by Angela Petrelli in next weeks preview. I guess we will find out soon exactly what happened.

Another thing about Nathan did cross my mind. He won the election. What the heck happened to his seat in Congress? Nathan is obviously not going to Congress every week, so what is going on with his seat? I hope this question is answered in next week's episode. It looks to be a good one.