A mere few days after the exploding season finale aired, spoilers for next season of NBC's hit show Heroes are starting to leak. TV Squad was able to get its hands on casting spoilers for the first two episodes of the season, which will start shooting mid-June.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

The long break for Heroes is nearly over, and to get people excited, NBC has released two video clips. This one is simply a scene between Mr. Bennett and Thompson as Thompson tries new tactics to find out where Claire is. This other scene reveals a new hero, so if you don't like spoilers, don't watch it!

And if you're new to this whole Heroes thing or just have a lot of time on your hands, you can watch the first 18 episodes of Heroes online for free. NBC is streaming the entire season so far with "limited interruption" from various sponsors.

Heroes returns April 23rd.

(S01E16) See, this is what happens when you give an ex-junkie a gun just in case a human bomb turns up, and tell him to use it to "save the world." Not HRG's best strategy, and a tragedy for Simone (Tawny Cypress). I think Nathan, succumbing to the more cynical side of his nature, will be relieved by this turn of events, because of his fears over Simone's earlier stated intention to go public with her knowledge of special abilities. Not that Simone would have been believed any more that Claire was when she opened up to her Mom's doctor.

Nathan, by the way, tells Simone exactly how he would handle persons with special abilities: treat them like lab rats and isolate them. This, as we know, is pretty much the philosophy of HRG's organization, anyhow.

While NBC is apparently giving up on Kidnapped, it has given a full season commitment to Heroes. The sci fi drama has averaged about 13.5 million viewers in its first two episodes, while poor Kidnapped only had about 7 million per episode. Critics are calling Heroes the "break out" hit of the fall, but I think that title is reserved for Ugly Betty. Heroes will now get a full, 22-episode season.