The Second Coming (301)

[GateWorld]

HEROES SEASON THREE THE SECOND COMING EPISODE NUMBER - 301 Faced with a terrible future, Peter Petrelli travels back to the present day to change everything. Sylar catches up with Claire, while Maya helps Suresh make an important discovery. Hiro uncovers a family secret that could put the world at risk, only to have it stolen from under his nose. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >

[GateWorld]

Please note that this episode aired with #302, "The Butterfly Effect." Please do your best to keep discussion on these episodes separate in the two threads, and no spoilers for "The Second Coming" in this thread.

[the fifth man]

Really nice start to Season 3, at least IMO. I think we are really in for an action-packed season.

[RoK]

Really nice start to Season 3, at least IMO. I think we are really in for an action-packed season.

Definitely. I was wondering who shot Nathan and all that. Though, I do wonder how Nathan came back to life.

[Shan Bruce Lee]

Definitely. I was wondering who shot Nathan and all that. Though, I do wonder how Nathan came back to life.

That's a good question. I'm still a little confused about that.

[MmmmMcKAy]

Good start to the season. Season 3 is looking much better than 2 was already.

[Aerilon]

Indeed, this was an awesome start to volume 3. I am interested in two things. The first (as has already been stated), how did Nathan come back to life. The second is Linderman. I have doubts that he can render himself invisible, but then, I don't think Nathan is going mad.

The only theory I can come out with, is that Linderman (still alive) has (alike Nikki/Tracy) extended their power.

[cshawzye]

Definitely a smash of a beginning to the season. I can't believe where they're taking some of the characters. It looks like it's going to be awesome.

About the Nathan thing ... I have no idea where they're going to go with it but I kind of subscribe to the theory that deals with Nathan having been injected with Adam's blood. I know there have been scenes since then that he's been hurt and didn't automatically heal but perhaps that injection has something to do with it. Or it's a combination of that and his own latent powers coming to the surface. It'll definitely be interesting to see where they take it.

[RoK]

My theory about how Nathan came back to life is that Peter probably healed him. He probably absorbed Linderman's ability at some point in his life and when he kissed Nathan on the head, it brought him back to life. That's just my theory though.

I'm also curious as to how Linderman suddenly appeared and all that. I thought D.L. killed him at the end of Volume One.

I was also wondering what Angela's ability was, since I think it was hinted way back then, also with fan theories. Interesting ability though, it does explain alot with Peter in Volume One.

[sparklegem]

What had me confused was why future!Peter felt he had to shoot Nathan. When he showed up there was no time to do anything else, but he could have just gone back further and talked to Nathan about it before the press conference happened.

SPOILERS for Butterfly Effect:

Spoiler:

He didn't have any problem with talking to Nathan about his reasons afterwards.

[Aerilon]

My theory about how Nathan came back to life is that Peter probably healed him. He probably absorbed Linderman's ability at some point in his life and when he kissed Nathan on the head, it brought him back to life. That's just my theory though.

That is quite possibly one of the explanations, though I wasn't aware Peter ever met Linderman, but maybe he did 'behind the scenes'.

What had me confused was why future!Peter felt he had to shoot Nathan. When he showed up there was no time to do anything else, but he could have just gone back further and talked to Nathan about it before the press conference happened.

Maybe it is like Doctor Who, where some events in time are 'fixed' and others are in a state of flux, and can be changed? He could only go back to that point as he couldn't go back and change anything any futher in the past?

[Shan Bruce Lee]

My theory about how Nathan came back to life is that Peter probably healed him. He probably absorbed Linderman's ability at some point in his life and when he kissed Nathan on the head, it brought him back to life. That's just my theory though.

That sounds like the most logical.

[memnarch]

Great opening episode. I'm glad they decided to have another Future Peter with the scar! I wonder what could've happened in both timelines that would've resulted in him receiving it. Sylar not being able to kill Claire though doesn't make sense. He killed her in Five Years Gone. Why couldn't he kill her this time? Mohinder gaining powers will probably make him more interesting, but the fact that he gets them from his adrenaline...seriously, what the heck? If powers can be gained from adrenaline, why isn't Sylar just cutting out everybody's adrenal gland instead of opening up their heads? And Mohinder reading the entirety of Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" at the end of the episode seemed really drawn out and contrived.

Anyway, those inconsistencies aside, this episode had some great stuff in it. Future Peter is always cool to see. And the effects during Hiro's confrontation with the speedster thief were great. Also, the camera work during the Sylar/Claire sequence had some of the coolest tricks I've seen in a while.

[flameling]

I like this opener. Seems like wer'e in for a good season.

Edit: Memnarch, I don't remember Five Years Gone giving any confirmation that Sylar had actually killed Clair, just that he had her power.

[entil2001]

(Note: This review covers the first half of the two-hour season premiere event. The second half will be covered in a subsequent review.)

It’s safe to say that the writers for “Heroes” had a tall order to fill coming into the third season. The second season was universally seen as a disappointment compared to the first season heights, relying more on repetition than innovation. To be honest, I only have the most vague recollection of the second season, and I have to wonder how many other fans feel the same way.

The writers don’t bother with much of a recap; they jump right into the story by explaining the assassination attempt on Nathan Petrelli. I like the idea of Future Peter taking out his own brother to prevent the “hero holocaust”, but it’s another instance of repetition that could have gone badly. The difference is that Future Peter is still around as an active character, and an unusual one at that. Future Peter is actually a bit of a screw-up, which is a nice touch. He’s apparently not smart enough to realize that he has a lot more power than Nathan, and killing him privately would have been a lot easier than killing him publicly!

Conceptually, the story is very familiar, especially to comic book fans. Future Peter’s side of the storyline is very similar to the “Days of Future Past” arc of “X-Men” fame, in terms of his plan to jump into the past to prevent an apocalyptic future. It’s also very reminiscent of elements of the series “The 4400”. So it may seem fresh to some, but overly familiar to longtime genre fans.

Future Peter’s arrival is just one element that sets a chaotic state of affairs in motion. Other elements were already in the process of unfolding. Hiro’s bizarre decision to ignore his father’s instructions, thereby making it possible for the wrong people to get their hands on that hidden half of “the formula”, is just plain silly. It was a blatant plot convenience, and even acknowledging that Hiro is often cast as the comic relief, I can’t believe he’d be that stupid.

The revelation regarding Ando is a lot more interesting, because it’s not necessarily what it seems. Everything in that glimpse of the future is designed to make Ando look evil for wanting the formula. But who’s to say that Hiro isn’t the one who goes rogue in the future? An awful lot of context is missing. One thing, however, seems clear: those without powers in the first two seasons don’t look to stay that way for long.

That said, Mohinder’s decision to inject himself with the adrenaline-laced version of the metahuman serum (promicin, anyone?) was reckless, to say the least. It does propel Mohinder on a very different path, but why would he toss caution to the wind in such cavalier fashion? It felt like another instance of plot convenience. (Never mind that Mohinder is now drooling all over Maya, who is less annoying than in the second season, but still seems like cannon fodder. Besides, what would Matt Parkman think of this development?)

That said, it is interesting to know that the coming apocalypse is not just due to Nathan’s decision to “out” the metahumans. It’s the combination of several pieces of the same puzzle. One might argue that even had Nathan died, Hiro would have still released the formula and Mohinder would still have created the metahuman serum. Had Future Peter successfully killed Nathan, would it have been even more of a disaster? Given the endless warnings of Earth-shattering peril, maybe not so much!

Sylar was billed as the ultimate villain in the first season, and his return was portentous in the second. How ironic that “saving the cheerleader”, the stated goal of the first season, is rendered completely moot in the third season premiere? Way to undercut your best season, folks! We finally get confirmation that Sylar is not, in fact, eating brains, but rather studying how the metahuman brains work (something I’ve been saying for quite some time). I’m actually more interested in the revelation that the Bennetts have a super-secure kitchen pantry. Sylar’s telekinetic powers were no match for those wooden slats!

All of these items touch on the inexplicable, as the writers reboot the series a bit to get things back on track. Two additional elements, however, come right out of Bizzaro World. The whole Nikki/Jessica dynamic has been tossed aside in favor of Ali Larter’s confusing portrayal of a governer’s aide and mistress named Tracy Saunders. This latest development doesn’t seem to fit at all (unless the writers were just looking for a way to keep Ali Larter around).

Then there’s the apparent revelation that Linderman was never truly killed at the end of the first season. I, for one, don’t buy it. Nathan is already showing some serious instability with his assumption that his resurrection was a gift from God. The evidence is pointing to an unforeseen healing ability (since he recovered from two apparently fatal situations in the last two premieres), which might explain something about Claire. What if the Petrellis are descendants of Adam Monroe? In fact, what if all the metahumans can trace their abilities back to Adam?

There are plenty of good possibilities for the future, but that has always been the case for “Heroes”. The trick is to escape the growing sentiment that “Heroes” was a one-season wonder. The writers need to take this season into uncharted territory (at least, in terms of the series’ own territory). So far, this season premiere shows promise, but the writers are relying on a ton of questionable plot contrivances to make that move.