Forgive me if this has already been guessed by someone else but... I believe the Sylar villan is taking the brains of other "special" people to steal their abilities, perhaps in a similar way to the way Peter does when he is near others with abilities. He has already exibited several abilities and maybe with the Cheerleader DNA he will be unstoppable.

Perhaps when the all come together in the climax, Peter will be the only one who can stop him but only if all the 'good' folks with abilities are together with him. Just a guess.

It seems that the "Heroes" are named when there scene is introduced or if there is a jump. I've noticed that "Pete's Girlfriend" Simone is mentioned in the intro to her scenes, so I wonder if everyone is just bumping her as a side character when she may have powers of her own. She has in scenes with at least 3 of the main characters so far, so maybe she'll jump "evil" on us or something. Maybe the death of her father will push her...

I'll keep watching for the intros to see if anyone else is named that doesn't have powers, but so far, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Peter: Definitely a Mimic, I think he'll be key in stopping sylar/horn rimmmed guy or whomever the villain really is... because if sylar has a bunch of powers (telekanetic, bullet proof, teleportation/flying, freezing people) then you're gonna need someone who can use a bunch of powers as well.

Niki: Her alternate identity killed her husband's gang and took the cash (thus how she could buy her sweet ride and knew where to bury the bodies). But how is that a super power, it just sounds like split personality... there has to be something more.

Hiro: If he could stop time for a couple minutes, he could theoretically stop time for hours, days, years, or even travel back in time, to say learn english and how to use a sword.

I frakkin' thought this show was lame when it premiered. And I thought it was going to be just as bad as last seasons SURFACE(sux). Hell, it even has the same-voiced "lets catch you up" narrator at the beginning that SURFACE did.
But...
The show keeps improving w/ each new episode. I do think some of the visual aesthetic is very mundane, w/ "cut and paste" directing, if you will. Series like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, LOST or 24 have really raised the bar for the "look" of tv series. HEROES needs a boost in this area. Especially when you deal w/ superheroes. Sure, Hiros' FX scenes were great, and the cheerleader FX stuff nice. But it looks a lot like the crappy SURFACE visually in every other scene. I've definitely been TiVoing this show now, because I'm hooked on the developing story. But I just hope the producers every now and then "mix it up " visually.

There are alot of spoliers and videos at this website:

http://www.superhiro.org

Someone mentioned the 'code' on Mohinder's computer. If you'll notice, it was actually a DNA sequence. It consisted of G, C, A, T and dashes that made the "symbol" we've been seeing everywhere.

Also, we need alot more Greg Grunberg. And Claire's Dad (H.R.G.) is NOT Sylar.

I knew I remembered the actress who plays claire from when she was in a movie and alot younger. I just looked at IMDB and she is the little girl from Remember the Titans.

NOW I feel old.

I saw that as well JDog, Eric Avari's picture was on the cover and in the last episode, it was someone else. I wonder if it is a production error...

#40, i agree. that's making a pretty big leap.

anyhow, another great episode. at first, i didn't like the discrepancy between the end of last week's and beginning of this week's ep. (last week, it seemed like someone pulled the stick outta claire and ran off quickly. this week it seemed totally different). although, in retrospect, it doesn't really matter. i usually hate nitpickers anyway.

future hiro was pretty damned cool. a teleporting ninja...can't wait (well, maybe not ninja, just equipped w/ a katana).

niki: i have been wondering for the past couple of episodes now if she's going to wind up being a villain, but she doesn't seem to crave money or power or other villain things. she seems like she just wants to live "normally" w/ her son. i'm curious if there's anything more to her comment to her friend about how it feels like there's someone else in her.

it's going to get more and more difficult to wait an entire week. *sigh*

You're not mistaken, JDog. I've met Eric Avari and was excited to see his picture on the back cover, thinking we would see him in flashbacks.

Now I'm thinking we're going to see him turn out to be alive. It's an old soap opera rule of thumb - you don't see the body, the character isn't dead.