GregHowley.com

Great episode last night. Don't read anything more if you don't want to be spoiled spoiled spoiled.

PMD actually phoned me last night about a half hour before the show started here. Being in EST, he'd already watched half the show, and he told me not to miss it. Pfft! As if I'd miss an episode of Heroes. We didn't watch it 100% live, but instead about 10 minutes behind. Had to wait for dinner to be ready, then pause intermittently while everyone got more red wine, white wine, Baileys, Bourbon and Coke, et cetera.

After the paintings, I don't think Bennett's death was a surprise to anyone, but the ending sure was. We saw the blood dripping, and I'm sure everyone assumed it was Nikki. Then they moved the perspective up and we saw bare chest. Huh? Those aren't boobs! Thus, that isn't Nikki. Wha? Bennett? Holy shit! His noise of astonishment when he awoke from death was spectacular. Hhho!

Here's the thing though. When they used Adam's blood in the IV to heal Nathan, that was no problem. But Bennett was dead. His blood wouldn't have been flowing. So how did they get the IV to work?

In any event, I'm really glad they're not getting rid of the character, since he's one of my favorites. He's once again possessed by that fervor we saw in the first season, and while he doesn't have powers, he's certainly not someone you want to mess with. HRG is badass. And now he's captive. And his family think he's dead. And while his wife seemed pretty crushed to hear it, Claire didn't seem nearly as upset. Mrs. Bennett was surprisingly short with him during their last meeting, given that she'd just seen a painting predicting his death. She should feel like crap. But what's with Claire? She says she hated him. Their father-daughter relationship had always before been one of my favorite elements of the show. Now she meets West and stops caring about her dad? WTF?

It was pretty cool to see the turnaround in West though. He went from whiny boy to HRG helper. Seeing him tackle Elle was awesome. And how cool is Bennett for sticking Elle's feet in the dog's tub and a metal chair and short circuiting her?

The red herring we saw when Suresh first pointed the gun at Bennett and they superimposed the painting was nice. It made me think that perhaps the paintings had been misleading and that someone else would shoot Mr. Bennett.

So how about Matt's new powers? We've learned that with a strong mind and practice, one can resist, as Angela Petrelli does. But after their chat, he's on the trail of Claire's biological mother, Victoria Pratt. Remember her? We met her in season one. She makes fire.

So I've been thinking some about which characters I like now and which I don't. The first season, I think Hiro was my favorite and Nikki my least favorite, although HRG started to grow on me, especially with Company Man. I've started to learn that I really like the complex characters, and Bennett is certainly complex. Nathan was very similar during season one. Was he a villain or a hero? I liked him way better during the first season.

This season, I think my favorites are Sylar, the Haitian, and Noah Bennett. Sylar is such a great bad guy. Even with no powers, he's still psychotic. With powers back, he's damn scary. I can't wait to see what happens. I just really hope they don't kill him, although I fear they will. The Haitian is amongst the most powerful of the characters, largely due to his ability to suppress powers. Just look at the way he kicked the crap out of a fully-aware Peter Petrelli. And the Haitian has always been a bit mysterious. What are his motivations and goals?

Elle Bishop is another character who may be becoming a favorite of mine. her behavior with men she likes makes me cringe and squirm. She's obviously a psycho bitch. But somehow she feels to me a bit like Bennett did during season one, and the character intrigues me.

Adam Monroe is another character whom I can see myself really liking in the same way that I like Sylar. It seems fairly obvious that he's a villain, and that he's taken in Peter the same way that Sylar took in Mohinder during season one. I'm just waiting to see what he's all about before I pass judgement.

Angela Petrelli is a largely overlooked character, and I really think she's underrated. We still don't know exactly what her power is, although we may have seen it when she was persuading Nathan's wife and when she was helping Peter remember in the future. In any event, the actress is terriffic.

Monica has a really cool power, and I'd like to see more of her. While I haven't yet seen enough of her to decide, I think I may come to really like her character.

Bob Bishop, the big man. I like the actor a lot, and I hope he doesn't die off either. He's obviously the head of The Company, and I'm interested to see what else he can do with his power.

Now that West has finally come away from being a whiny high school punk, he may get interesting. He certainly got over his Bennett phobia quickly enough. I just hope his romance with Claire doesn't turn into an Anakin/Padme story.

Hiro Nakamura is still awesome, although I'm not liking him as much as I did during season one, largely due to his extended foray into the past, which I know didn't go over well with the majority of Heroes fandom. Masi Oka is still a tremendous actor.

Nathan Petrelli isn't as good as a bum as he was as a sleazy politician. For me, his charm was in his pretense of not caring. I loved him season one. Now, not so much.

Matt Parkman may be getting really interesting now that his powers are evolving. But how many of you think that Professor Xavier-like mind control ability will prove to be a too-tempting power? Matt has gone from interesting and useful to potentially the most powerful hero out there. Still, I'm guessing that he can't make someone do something that's completely against their nature, at least not without a serious mental struggle.

Mohinder. Not sure how I feel about Mr. Suresh. Linda thinks he's an asshole for shooting Mr. Bennett, but I can understand. He's faced with an outbreak that he knows could threaten all of humanity, and Bob's resources may be the only way to stop it. Then when Bennett is just about to shoot him and shatter it, Mohinder is forced into action. Yes, I understand why he did it. But I'm not sure how I feel about Mohinder. He's the show's rock. He's the one guy who will sit at the center and narrate for as long as the show goes on, and he'll never have powers. I know they'll never kill him off. Maybe he'll get interesting again, but for now I may have lost interest in him.

Peter was at the center of last season, but for now he's gotten a bit boring. Yeah, he's the most powerful one, but amnesia boy isn't doing anything particularly interesting. Maybe that'll change next week.

Ditto Molly and Micah. Boring.

Claire was a good character in season one. I really liked her relationship with her father and her hunt for Nathan. But she's gotten whiny and petty, and now she doesn't even care that her father died. If she dies of the Shanti virus, I won't cry.

Nikki was my least character during season one, and I don't like her a heck of a lot more now. She's got the virus, yet somehow I don't expect her to die. Please, Nikki, die.

Lastly, the blunder twins. They are Heroes' JarJar. They need to die, and I'm hoping they will over the next couple episodes.

Well, that's my take on things. I look forward to your feedback, dear reader.