Last night’s Heroes was, for all intents and purposes, a continuation of the pilot. We even met a new hero, LAPD Officer Matt Parkman, who can hear other people’s thoughts, like Mel Gibson in “What Women Wantâ€?. So, maybe if he learns to hone his power, he can eventually bed Helen Hunt. Anyway, this episode was more interesting than the pilot, and we’re starting to learn a little bit more about the mythology. The writers are really taking their time to set up the characters and it’s paying dividends; the Heroes are complicated and mysterious. The cast has been better than expected, especially Ali Larter and Hayden Panettiere, playing the single mom/stripper and the cheerleader, respectively. The one thing that stood out in last night’s episode, however, had nothing to do with the story. It was the gore. I’m not opposed to gore; I’ve watched a lot of gruesome movies in my day. And I’m not sheepish about it appearing on television, but sometimes it just feels out of place. Like it did on Heroes last night. A man torn in half. A man with the top of his skull cut off and brains removed. A woman, dead, mounted eight feet up on a wall with common silverware. A man frozen to death, with his skull cut off. Didn’t it feel like NBC was, at least partly, marketing Heroes towards kids? Personally, I liked the edgier development of the show because I had worried that they might ease up and make it really family friendly. But they didn’t and it’s surprised me at how adult this show really is. It seems now, far more so that the pilot indicated, that the writers know exactly where they’re going with this story. It’s reassuring that NBC has given them the time to bring along Heroes methodically, so as not to blow their load early on. I’m another two quality episodes from being hooked for good. Don’t disappoint me, NBC. -Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer