(S03E01) If you were a little disappointed with last year's strike-shortened season, not to mention that horrible diversion south of the border and that other lengthy one to feudal Japan, Heroes is looking to get back on track with its third season. "Volume 3: Villains" begins with tonight's two hour premiere, and continues for the first thirteen episodes before giving way to "Volume 4: Fugitives" for the remainder of the season.

We know that "Villains" will feature a re-powered Sylar and introduce a whole slew of more super powered baddies to the Heroes universe. I can't say that this was the most accessible place for potential new viewers to jump into the storyline, unless they caught that "red carpet" extravaganza before the episode began, but if you were able to keep up with it, they're certainly looking to turn things on their ears this year.

(S02E11) When Kristin offered up the chance to review the Fall (Season?) Finale of Heroes, I couldn't resist stepping in to help. While this episode lived up to a lot of the promises of the season, much like last season's finale, it may have been a little lighter on the action than you'd want. There are a lot of big changes for a lot of the characters and yes, the promised "hero" death. We get resolutions on the virus plot, the Sylar/Mya journey, Hiro's quest to stop Adam, the Bennet situation, and in the end, there's enough to entice us to come back for more. It's all here and let me tell you, if Kristin was yawning and checking her watch through the last episode, there wasn't time this week. This episode is absolutely jam-packed from start to finish. "Volume Two" wraps, and as with last year we get a teaser of Volume Three. But we'll get to all of that after the jump.

(S02E10) For the second to last episode of the season, I found tonight's show a bit slow. It had it's cool parts--I even have dedicated a section to them at the bottom of the post--but I looked at my watch a lot throughout the episode.

Overall, I think Heroes has come a long way since the beginning of the season. I think many Heroes viewers are just spoiled from the novelty and plot twists of the first season so they are critical when stories/characters aren't up to snuff.

But, that said, I am looking forward to the season finale. As the ads keep saying, "It all comes down to this."

(S02E09) "You've gone native. Are you kidding me?" Noah Bennet to Mohinder Suresh.

Just when you thought Mohinder couldn't get any stupider, he goes and shoots Noah Bennet in the eye. He is really in too deep with this company. And lately, he is making Matt Parkman look like a genius. (Wait, did Parkman just make me say that? Dumb joke, I know.) More on this after the jump because it basically took up the whole episode.

But before I go through all the storylines for this week, let me just say that I was so relieved that those ridiculous mascara-plague twins were absent from this week's Heroes. And just so I don't get too excited about it, I put a picture of them in the post to remind me that they are still on the show. (However, they are the vehicle to get the devilish Sylar back in the states so I suppose I forgive them on some level.)

(S02E08) Peter Petrelli: "I remember...I remember everything."
Adam Monroe: "Good, then...Shall we save the world?"

So, if you're a hero, a lot can happen in four months. And, apparently, a lot is going to happen in the next three episodes as our favorite heroes have to save the world (and probably the cheerleader) again. From those scenes from next week's Heroes, it looks like there may be a stand-off coming between the two father-daughter pairs on the show (Noah/Claire & Bob/Elle). I can't wait to see that.

Some may disagree with me, but I thought this was a great episode. I know nothing really moved forward in the "present-day plot" so to speak, but we got a lot of much-needed answers about some of the key players on the show. And, most importantly, Peter Petrelli got his memory back. Brainless Peter was just annoying.

(S02E07) I enjoyed this episode immensely.

For starters, there wasn't a single mention of the wonder twins tonight! There were no black tears, no subtitles, and consequently, no dozing off on my part. The twins' storyline is this years version of the Nikki/Jessica snorefest that ensued most of last season. The less I have to see of it the better.

Unfortunately, we also received no further insight into what's going on in Gabriele's world. I was really hoping we'd get to see him make good on his promise to kill Alejandro.

Judging by some of the comments I've read in past recaps, I'm willing to bet a few of you completely agree with me on that point.

(S02E06) "There's a storm coming Dr. Suresh." --Bob

Is Bob heralding the return of season one's magic? Save the cheerleader. Save the world. Claire is a cheerleader again. New York is burning, destroyed, evacuated (or whatever) again. Now all we need is Sylar to get his powers back. I can only hope that the overarching plotline will take us in this direction. It's not that I want to see a repeat of season one. I just long for the overlapping stories. I like seeing the characters all together, supers cooperating to save the world. It gives me the warm and fuzzies.