Last night marked the beginning of the newest Heroes chapter, Fugitives. And even a few minutes into the episode, there was a marked change in both the action and tone of the show since the last chapter. The show felt somehow… calmer. The characters are sitting, talking, hugging, relating to each other! One plot (rather than several seemingly unrelated ones) involving all the major characters (rather than a circus of B-list supporting heroes) dictated all the action. Decisions were logical and consequential. The villain was familiar, scary, and human again, instead of some weird mystic catalyst. And Peter's got his adorable good-boy hair back!

For those of us who have been disappointed in the recent arcs (yes, I know some of you feel differently!), the shout-outs to the Season One pilot episode—like Traci's initial strip tease, or Peter and Mohinder's cab ride—were comforting reassurances from the Heroes writers that they're ready to return to the magic that made them successful in the first place.

Here's what I saw that made this premiere promising:

Heroes… They're Just Like Us!: Peter's a paramedic, Claire's looking at colleges, and Mohinder's driving a cab. Parkman is sidelining his mind-reading powers, and Angela's playing the grandma. Sure, it didn't last long, but there was a lot of talk about “leading normal lives” last night. Some wanted to return to normal, and others were frustrated by being simply ordinary. Of course, there's that big BUT… they can't lead normal lives. They're heroes. (Hiro never forgot that fact, even buying Ando a spandex super-charger suit!) But the fact that they try makes them a whole heck of a lot more relatable.

Streamlining the cast and their abilities: Last night focused on the core group of Heroes all-stars working together against one Big Bad, Nathan Petrelli, with a familiar name, face, and motive. With the inevitable “What's his ability again?” and “Wait, is she evil or not?” viewer questions, cutting out any unnecessary complications of new faces and new evils does a lot of good for the pace and continuity of a show that already has too many loose strings to tie down. Hiro is still without abilities, which, while unfortunate for him, saves us from any hairy time travel snags. And Parkman found out he's next in the line of artist precogs—better to enhance one star's abilities than to bring on an entirely new character, if you ask me! The plane crash is a promising plot point in that regard: if they're all stranded together, all our favorites will be forced to work and interact together, in one place! I can't even remember the last time that happened.

Nathan as the Big Bad: Enough of the Formula, Catalyst, and Nuclear Winter nonsense! This season, we've finally got a crisis of the scariest sort: the powerful, delusional leader with steadfast convictions. History has proven that crazy political figures are capable of crazy amounts of damage—and, a big plus, they don't look like vats of non-scary red Jell-O. With Nathan on a mission to round up all the heroes like they're convicted terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, we get to see and know our villain, and he's all the scarier for the fact that he sincerely believes what he's doing is right. Plus, he's got some big, ruthless, and morally flexible guns on his side with H.R.G. and Angela. (Not to mention the President…) Fighting against a villain with a face should be a big, compelling plus for the “Fugitives” arc.

Sylar on the sidelines, but still relevant: Sometimes, it was just hard for the Heroes to get anything done with Sylar around. Let's face it: he's kind of an attention hog, and he has this annoying tendency of killing everyone he meets. Now we've got Sylar out on his own looking for answers about his past, which should prove to be an intriguing quest for everyone's Bad-Guy-Turned-Morally-Equivocal-Guy. He's got daddy issues, too! I doubt that he'll stay on the sidelines for long. His run-in with the Black Ops Ninja Sleestak Hero Hunters (someone, please give me a real name for this organization, stat!) might give him just the right push over to the light side to help the rest of the gang take them down. With Peter seeming a one-power-at-a-time sort of guy now, Sylar's now the most powerful tool in the shed. I just hope that this side plot about Pa Sylar the taxidermist will give us a more fascinating, complex good-versus-evil plot for “Fugitives,” rather than a good-versus-many-different-evils plot.

Did you miss last night's premiere, or want to review the action? Check out our recap of Heroes Episode 3.14 "A Clear and Present Danger"!

I know you all have lots to say about the premiere of “Fugitives.” What did you think of:
...Nathan's turn to the dark side?
...Claire's dad-hating ways? (And what about her wig?! I got distracted a few times.)
...H.R.G. still seems out to protect his family… but is he going too far?

And, the big question: Are you excited for the upcoming episodes? What are you hoping to see? Is Heroes back? (Did it never leave?) Sound off below!



-Meghan Carlson, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Image courtesy of NBC