I am – Hercules!!

IMPORTANT!! Because the first hour of “Heroes’” third season, airing tonight, was screened at Comic Con in July (and immediately thereafter spoiled throughout the Internet), we are here holding back few spoilers.

If you want to know if tonight’s first hour more compelling than most of the episodes broadcast last season, the answer is yes. Tonight’s first hour (the second was not screened at Comic Con, nor made available to the press) is a deeply flawed effort, but I was certainly never bored.

BEGIN THE SPOILER SECTION!!

Heroes 3.1 FAQ

What’s it called?
“The Second Coming.”

Who’s responsible?
Teleplay is credited to series creator Tim Kring.

What does NBC say?
“The first chapter of "Volume 3: Villains" kicks off moments after shots rang out, as the shocking identity of Nathan's (Adrian Pasdar) assassin and the reasons why the Texas press conference had to be cut short are revealed -- immediately throwing Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and Matt (Greg Grunberg) into unexpected, uncharted territory. With his powers partially restored, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) decides a visit to Claire (Hayden Panettiere) could give him a boost. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) are charged with safeguarding a family secret that could split the planet apart, and discover that the path to a grim future starts with shady speedster, Daphne (guest star Brea Grant). In New York City, thanks to Maya (Dania Ramirez), Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) makes a startling breakthrough that could change the world -- or just destroy his. And who is Tracy Strauss? Ali Larter, Cristine Rose and Jack Coleman star. Noah Gray-Cabey, Ashley Crow, Randall Bentley, Jimmy Jean-Louis, George Takei, Malcolm McDowell, Carlon Jeffery, Jamie Hector, Bruce Boxleitner, Francis Capra and Blake Shields guest star.”

Who shot Nathan Petrelli in last season’s final moments?
Brother Peter Petrelli, time traveling back from four years in the future, shoots Nathan to prevent him from revealing to the world the existence of people with superpowers. Apparently Nathan’s revelation is blamed for all manner of future mayhem.

Peter uses a gun? What doesn’t he just use his telekinesis to choke Nathan to death, Vader-style?
It would arouse suspicion during the autopsy?

Then why didn’t Peter just go a little further back in time when Nathan was alone and bury Nathan deep underground – like Hiro did with Adam Monroe last season?
I think we just have to assume at this point that Peter is the stupidest guy ever to graduate nursing school. Remember how he didn’t use Matt’s mindreading power to determine Adam’s intentions? And how he struggled trying to tear off a vault door with his brain when he could have effortlessly phased through it?

Why are superpowers even a secret at this point? There are clearly many, many people walking around with superpowers, and they’ve obviously been around for hundreds of years. Most of them discover their powers before PrimaTech does, and a lot of them are probably malcontent loose cannons like Invisible Claude. Surely Nathan isn’t the first superpowered guy to think to hold a press conference!
Maybe every time somebody tries to hold such a press conference, somebody from the future always stops it?

So Nathan is really dead now?
He dies but doesn’t stay dead long. Daniel Linderman (Malcolm McDowell) apparently makes him all better.

Didn’t Linderman die in season one?
Violently. But the guy who can heal anything is somehow alive!

Does Linderman still have that giant hole D.L. phased into his brain?
He does not.

What “unexpected, uncharted territory” are Peter and Matt thrown into?
FuturePeter somehow sticks PresentPeter’s mind into the body of a PrimaTech prisoner played by “Veronica Mars” vet Francis Capra (now sporting a goatee!).

Primatech prisoner? A Primatech prisoner with superpowers maybe?
The Primatech prisoner demonstrates no superpowers. Perhaps the only thing he can do is absorb the minds of others?

Does Francis Capra do a good Milo Ventimiglia impression?
PresentPeter now sounds exactly like “Veronica Mars” biker-turned-janitor Weevil Navarro, he of the lush Bronx accent.

What “unexpected, uncharted territory” is Matt thrown into?
When Matt discovers FuturePeter is Nathan’s assassin, FuturePeter instantly transports Matt into the middle of the Sahara.

Why doesn’t FuturePeter transport Matt deep underground, as Hiro did with Adam?
This is not explained in the season’s first hour.

Why doesn’t FuturePeter transport Matt into some prisoner’s body?
This is not explained in the season’s first hour.

Sylar still craves Claire’s healing abilities?
He does.

What family secret of Hiro’s could split the planet apart?
Some manner of secret formula.

What breakthrough does Mohinder make that could change the world?
Thanks to Maya’s anger-based powers, he figures out in a matter of seconds what his father Chandra couldn’t put together over a lifetime of research: that superpowers come from adrenaline, not blood. This allows Mohinder to concoct a potion that can give anyone superpowers.

Could Mohinder and Hiro have stumbled upon the exact same formula at the exact same time?
We don’t learn in the first hour what Hiro’s formula does.

But if it was the same formula, wouldn’t that be a stunning coincidence?
The latest of many in the “Heroes”-verse.

Who is Tracy Strauss?
A character played by Ali Larter, Tracy is the bedmate of a governor (Bruce Boxleitner) who takes an interest in the resurrected Nathan Petrelli.

Doesn’t Ali Larter play characters named Niki and Jessica?
I believe she does.

What of Niki’s son Micah and his cousin Monica?
Micah and Monica are no longer regulars and sit out the first chapter of “Villains.” Also absent in hour one are Bob and Elle Bishop.

What’s doing with Noah Bennet?
We barely get a glimpse of him this week as he stews in PrimaTech stir.

What’s doing with Mama Petrelli?
In the final few minutes we finally learn Angela’s superpower.

Is Angela’s superpower the ability to issue deadly optic blasts?
No.

Is it the same superpower she uses in the never-to-be-aired episode fragments included in the “Heroes” season-two DVD set?
It is.

Is Mohinder still supplying that nutty fortune-cookie narration?
In the first hour, at least, Mohinder’s voice-overs are limited to reciting William Butler Yeats’ famous 1920 poem “The Second Coming.”

What’s good?
* The pacing; the first hour fairly flies by.

* Just before she tries to fire a bullet into FuturePeter’s brain, FutureClaire tells him, “I always loved you.” (A peculiar turn of phrase for one’s Uncle Pete! Are we to infer that Claire will one day grow keen to bone Peter??)

* The late Kaito Nakamura admonishing his son Hiro (hilarious!).

* Sylar admonishing Claire for her too-lurid imagination (also hilarious!).

* Sylar’s “bad taco” line.

* Brea Grant, who played Landry’s metalhead-nerd girlfriend on “Friday Night Lights” last season, very cute in a very non-nerd way as the girl with superspeed.

* Greg Grunberg, effective selling Matt’s desert awakening.

* The idea of a superpowered Ando and Hiro at odds in the future.

* The visual effects.

What’s not so good?
* The very first scene, set four years in the future, starts with Peter running furiously toward a warehouse. If he’s in such a rush, why not just teleport to the warehouse?

* In the warehouse, Claire greets Peter and, with Peter fully apprised of her intentions, tries to shoot him in the head. Peter evades the bullet effortlessly. The audience knows Peter can evade that bullet effortlessly; why doesn’t Claire?

* Also, since Peter has Claire’s healing ability, why is there a gigantic scar on his face?

* Back in the present, Claire sees Nathan’s shooting on TV and phones Peter’s cell, offering her blood to heal daddy Nathan. FuturePeter says no, she’s too far away in California. But doesn’t she know Peter has Claire’s healing power? And if he somehow lost Claire’s healing power (or can’t do the healing-blood thing for some reason), why doesn’t she ask Peter to simply teleport her to Odessa? And if Peter were to switch off his phone, why wouldn’t Claire phone up Hiro and ask him to teleport her? Hiro likes the flying man!

* If Claire’s power is so important to Sylar (And why wouldn’t it be? It would make him nigh omnipotent!), why does he spend such a ludicrous amount of time toying with the hugely overmatched teen?

* When Nathan comes back to life and decides he’s an angel (!), isn’t his sudden lack of interest in revealing the presence of superheroes is incredibly convenient?

* Isn’t Nathan’s new contention that angels must only operate in secret also incredibly convenient?

* Isn’t FuturePeter a little quick to assume Nathan will never again be tempted to make his reveal? Or Matt for that matter?

* Since Maya effectively learned how to control her powers last season, doesn't her moaning about Mohinder’s inability to erase those powers quickly grow tiresome?

* Since Sylar doesn’t have to remove Claire’s brain to steal her power, why were the brains of Sylar’s other victims removed?

* Doesn’t this business of Hiro jumping into the future and jumping back out -- just before an apocalypse smooshes him -- feel a little rerunny?

How does it end, spoiler-boy?
“In the shocking second chapter of ‘Volume 3: Villains,’ Angela (Cristine Rose) confronts her much-changed son, Peter, as the bursts of violence around them only hint to the catastrophes to come. First, Sylar declares war on the Company by attacking their main facility, and finds even more than he bargained for on Level 5. During a devastating battle with Elle (guest star Kristen Bell), a dozen savage criminals -- all with terrible abilities -- escape. Meanwhile, Claire discovers something new and unexpected about her abilities. Determined to reclaim his family's terrible secret, Hiro and Ando track Daphne (guest star Brea Grant) to Paris. After a fateful night, Suresh is thrilled to find his research, his life and his relationship with Maya evolving in leaps and bounds. Stuck in unfamiliar territory, Matt finds a guide (guest star Ntare Mwine) to help him. Ali Larter and Jack Coleman star. Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar and Jack Coleman star. Ashley Crow, Jessalyn Gilsig, Malcolm McDowell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Bruce Boxleitner, Francis Capra, Blake Shields, William Katt, Ken Lally, David H. Lawrence XVII, Andre Royo and Kiko Ellsworth guest star.”

9 p.m. Monday. NBC.

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