I'm trying hard to glean as much enjoyment out of these last few Heroes episodes as I can, given that the Writers' Strike most likely means an abbreviated season. This week, we got no Sylar (boo!) and no Monica (boo!) but at least we got to see Mr. Bennett. Yes, he will probably be killed within the next four episodes, and most likely he'll be shot in the left eye by Mohinder. I'm not particularly happy about it since he's one of my favorite characters, but I'll get by. It's interesting that while the futures visited by Hiro and Peter don't always come to pass, Isaac Mendez's paintings always do.
Now that I know they're almost definitely killing off Mr. Bennett, I can only hope that Maya's ability doesn't kill off Sylar - I have a feeling that might happen. If two of my favorite characters die, I'll be very upset.
So last night Hiro finally returned to the present and West found out that his girlfriend's dad is his own personal nightmare man, while Matt Parkman defeated the real nightmare man. As TrinityVixen so humorously put it, "Matt Parkman has gained a level".
We also watched Nikki/Jessica stab herself with the Shanti virus, likely initiating the process that creates the incurable mainstream strain. I don't think it's the super-deadly version yet. I think that either it will somehow combine with Maya's ability to become even more deadly, or else mutate via Claire's ability to become even more incurable. The real solution here is to put Nikki/Jessica into an incinerator along with all the vials of the modified virus and torch them all. I don't think anyone would miss them.
Mohinder spilled the beans to Bob about his infiltration conspiracy with Mr. Bennett. Man - Noah's just not having a good week. Found out he's going to die, killed his mentor, alienated his daughter, and now his partner in crime betrayed him. Some guys get no breaks.
And lastly - the bombshell of the week - The mysterious Adam Monroe who we've all been wondering about is Takezo Kensai. Either he wants to enlist Peter in a crazy scheme to wipe out humanity, or maybe he just needs Peter to help him kill Connor MacLeod. I was thinking that Adam Monroe might be an anagram, but the best I could come up with is O Madman 'ero, so maybe it's not.
Next week is an episode-long flashback, so we should get a number of answers.
The potential demise of HRG bums me out. He's definitely my favorite character outside of Sylar and the show will be losing a great anti-hero if he dies.
I am relieved that we finally have a direction for this season, with the Shanti virus now looming over the head of everyone involved. It's also good to see that Parkman may not be a complete idiot after all.
Peter's storyline still irritates me. I want to see him finally take control of his powers (and lose this stupid amnesia) but I have a feeling he'd be too powerful and the writers realize they are screwed with his character. So there will always be an obstacle that de-powers him in some way. This all seems really familiar. Anyone remember how do you tick off Superman? Well you threaten his girlfrind and family of course.
I'm looking forward to next week's flashback episode to confirm or deny some of my theories. I also hope that we get more of Maya and Elle soon, I find both characters very interesting.