Nightwing, again, thank you. I have to go with the Fly-homage theory, but the Beast comparison works too. Beeman describes Mohinder as “bug-like” on his blog. I’m not sure if bug is better than fly, what do you think?

Vid, don’t put any more ideas into their heads! I like the Sulu theory, although I’m leaning towards the test-tube theory myself. On the whole, I’d say the show’s doing a decent job with its continuity and character arcs. The twist with the adrenal gland struck me as a change in course, but I don’t know about the Sylar/Angela reveal. I think there’s a lot to be said for the argument that Peter and Sylar are two sides of the same coin. I think the way they’ve turned out to be related smacks of soap-opera storytelling, but it does sort of make sense.

Heather, fair point. I’d agree that the exhibitionist aspect is like a unifying thread for the different personalities, or maybe that it says something about the sleazy side of Tracy’s relationship with Malden.

Yeah, the scene could have revealed a little more about the character. I think Tracy, Matt and HRG all drew the short straw in terms of premiere screen time and story arcs; but that’s just another thing this premiere has in common with the first season premiere.

The Mohinder/Maya monkey sex — oh, word. One could defend it with, “But it shows Mohinder’s primal instincts taking over!”, but then you have to ask, “Why would we WANT to see that?” I guess some might …

The F-Peter/Angela story line is part of the HRG & Claire show that I’ve subtitled “The Father-Daughter Princess Bride Meets La Femme Nikita Meets Highlander.” In the Heroes in my head, HRG & Claire are the leads. Looking back, that’s been the case for me since S1. I perceive the show that way for two reasons:

1. HRG & Claire are my favorite characters.
2. Filtering the overall narrative through a couple of characters has helped me organize and make sense of the various plot developments.

Here’s how my system works…

The Petrellis are part of the HRG & Claire story, because they’re founders of the Company HRG works for and Claire’s bio-family.

Hiro is part of Claire’s story, because his father was a founder. Also, Kaito is the one who physically handed Claire to Noah, while Young Hiro was on the scene. Also, Hiro impacted the development of Adam Munroe, another founder of the Company HRG works for, who also has Claire’s power. Finally, F-Hiro first uttered, “Save the cheerleader; save the World!”

Matt is a son of a Company founder. Plus, we can add the S1 Matt, HRG, and Claire elements.

Mohinder’s S1 & S2 connections to HRG & Claire are known. His S3 connections remain to be seen.

One of the reasons I didn’t like the twins is the lack of connection to HRG and Claire.

Niki/Jessica/Gina was tangentially connected to HRG and Claire via Nathan and Linderman in S1; directly connected via the virus/Claire’s blood development in S2. S3 Tracy developments remain to be seen.

Sylar — ‘Nuff said.

Elle — ‘Nuff said.

And so on…

Noah’s deal: I dunno, do you think he got screwed over? Like, Bob told him he needed to come back to The Company but he didn’t actually clarify what capacity Noah was coming back in?

I think Kring & Co, ran out of time to craft Noah’s deal before the strike, and they made the best of the story elements they already had in place going into S3.

Besides, you’ve got Mohinder ripping HIS shirt off for no reason and the side-boob shot of Maya in 3.02. If that’s not more gratuitous than Ali Larter’s essentially one-piece lingerie scene that only showed off her legs, then I don’t know what “gratuitous” really means.

Raissa, you and me are both watching for the HRG/Claire story! I’m liking the Future-Peter/Angela storyline a lot, though; that was a big part of what made the premiere for me.

Noah’s deal: I dunno, do you think he got screwed over? Like, Bob told him he needed to come back to The Company but he didn’t actually clarify what capacity Noah was coming back in? But yeah, Noah finding out he was Level 5 material must have been an ego-trip for the guy. I wonder what kind of reception he got from the inmates when he came in.

Ian — word about Noah’s devotion to his family. I think the counterargument is that he left Claire wide open to a Sylar-scalping. Couldn’t he have brought Meredith or the Haitian in sooner?

I definitely hear what you’re saying about the blockbuster awesomeness of the premiere. I kinda liked the second episode more because it was more of a character-based episode than the first; switching the FX and in-your-face reveals for the quieter character scenes in the second episode seemed like a fair trade-off.

KellyH, yo! Interesting point about Kring & Ko giving us what we wanted by reworking Season Three to incorporate Season One elements. Sort of makes me wish they wouldn’t listen to us so much.

With the Parkman story, I’m definitely not saying there’s zero potential, just that it seemed to get off to a very slow start. I think the show could have scrapped at least two of those cuts to him spinning around in the desert and then squashed the Usutu meeting into the first episode. What do you think?

I definitely hear what you’re saying about Sylar. I’m happy we got all of that great thematic material in 3.01, so, for me, that makes it worth the gripes you mention. I’m not so sure about the Petrelli reveal, but the whole “humanize-the-most-vilified-character-on-the-show” thing (if that’s even where they’re going) seemed pretty cool to me. I think that’s a tough challenge to set themselves, so props to them.

I don’t think the Angela “Pandora’s Box” phone call is going to be explained. I think we’re expected to let it go, along with a bunch of dangling Season Two plot points. Sucks, but I think we need to let it go.

Caitlin: heh, if we get anything — even a line of dialogue — I’ll be happy.

I agree, the past few GNs have been excellent. I wish they hadn’t killed off Paulette off-screen the way they did, but, yeah, they’ve been great lately.

My “current personal feelings about the show in general”: hah! I let the reviews speak for themselves.
Michael, is Grunberg paying you to stand up for Matt? I kid. Valid point, but I still say Matt could have posted a couple of officers by the closet — to investigate the scene for other evidence AND in case the suspect returned to the scene.

I like the sock-stealing theory! I gather there’s an upcoming episode when the show flashes back to that point in the story, so maybe they’ll explain it then, but otherwise I’m going with your theory.

Gord, great point about the brain debate. I agree, his “intuitive aptitude” is itself the explanation to what he does with the brain. Morbid speculation: it’s curious that the first handful of victims had their brains removed altogether; I wonder if Sylar needed to take them home and study them the first few times just to figure out what he was looking for.

Angela? I’m putting her firmly in the Villain category.
Susan, thank you, and it’s good to be back. I get what you’re saying about Daphne; I forget, were you cool with Elle last season? Those two strike me as comparable in terms of the way they were introduced and the way they’re being written. I can’t explain why Daphne’s working for me when Elle didn’t; she just is.

Zack’s face at the end of Ep2 sold me more on him having his mind-fracked with than actually being shocked at a true realization… I think Momma’s adopting him against his will.

I’ve heard the actors have commented on how shocked they were to find it out, but remember that a number of the actors (including the awesome Jack Coleman) have said that they don’t do “character arc” meetings and they only get a couple of scripts at a time… so they don’t know the truth any more than we do.