Cast of Heroes
© NBC

Mania Grade: A+
Maniac Grade: A+
Stars: Hayden Panettiere, Masi Oka, Ali Larter

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"Heroes: Godsend"

Heroes is back and again raising the bar for serialized television in this episode titled “Godsend”.  At the end of the last episode of Heroes Peter collapsed in Nathan’s arms with visions of all the heroes coming together as he erupts in a ball of energy causing a nuclear explosion.  This episode picks up there with Peter lying unconscious with a dangerous fever in a hospital.  While his mother and brother sit at his bedside he wrestles in his mind with deeper more detailed visions of what might happen.  He says to Nathan “I took his power, and I can’t control it”.  Then he explodes.  He does however catch another detail, a man, a homeless man, who stands on the street unnoticed by anyone else laughing.  When Peter wakes he leaves the hospital and actually discovers the man in his vision on the street picking pockets.  When Peter yells at the man he goes ballistic grabbing Peter and telling him that no one can see him how can he see him?  This new hero has the ability to be invisible. 

There’s no point to recapping the entire series because a lot happens, and if you haven’t seen it you can head over to the NBC website and watch the entire episode.  So, I’ll just hit the highlights, some of what I think made this episode phenomenal.  Many Doctor Who fans have been waiting for this new hero to appear because he is played by Christopher Eccleston, the first Doctor of the new series currently running on SCFI Channel.  I’ve been anxiously waiting for Hiro’s father to appear because he will be played by none other than George Takei, Mr. Sulu himself!  Hiro seeks out the sword from Isaac’s painting believing it will help him get back in control of his special abilities.  At the museum where he believes the sword is kept he finds that it’s just a replica and that a certain gangster owns the actual sword.  While there he does recount a story about the sword that his father used to tell him as a child about how the warrior that wielded it was able to channel all of his power through it.  This seems to be a precursor to Hiro visiting his father for more details about the story.  In fact Takei is set to appear in next week’s episode.  One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about this series is the subtle ways they’ve managed to connect the heroes.  Now, as the story seems to be heating up, so do the connections.  The gangster of which I speak is the same one that has Nathan under his thumb and that used Nikki to help put him there.  He’s like the Kingpin in Spider-man and Daredevil comics.  

Another story arc that has been one of the best of the series just keeps getting more interesting and that’s Claire’s story.  In the fall finale, the Haitian made everyone around her that she could trust forget about her abilities leaving her memory intact even though her father ordered him to erase hers as well.  Claire feels isolated, knowing that her mother knows nothing and she can’t trust her father she feels as though she’s withering.  When she meets with the Haitian she even begs him to return her best friend Zach’s memory so she can have someone to lean on.  When the Haitian informs her that he doesn’t have that ability she exhibits as much inner strength as her abilities give her outer strength by going to Zach and starting all over.  She gets the video camera and asks him to tape her doing a stunt, just as she did before, this time so that both of them will be able to remember it. 

The heroes are starting to come together; even Nathan is beginning to accept that he has a part to play.  The interaction between Nathan and Hiro at Isaac’s studio was hilarious.  The episode was fast paced, well balanced, even giving Nikki some interesting scenes, and while on a few minor and obvious questions were answered at the end I had the feeling that the story wasn’t treading water (Are you listening LOST?), it felt as if it had moved forward.  The writers of Smallville need to take a look at this episode to learn how to give super heroes believable drama that means something to the overall story arc.  Godsend is a fantastic way to kick the series off for the spring and I look for it to just keep getting better.