TVSquad

(S03E01) If you were a little disappointed with last year's strike-shortened season, not to mention that horrible diversion south of the border and that other lengthy one to feudal Japan, Heroes is looking to get back on track with its third season. "Volume 3: Villains" begins with tonight's two hour premiere, and continues for the first thirteen episodes before giving way to "Volume 4: Fugitives" for the remainder of the season.

We know that "Villains" will feature a re-powered Sylar and introduce a whole slew of more super powered baddies to the Heroes universe. I can't say that this was the most accessible place for potential new viewers to jump into the storyline, unless they caught that "red carpet" extravaganza before the episode began, but if you were able to keep up with it, they're certainly looking to turn things on their ears this year.

NBC is set to debut the trailer for the new season of Heroes on August 30th as part of the big "NBC Primetime Preview." But since most of us grew up with MTV, we don't have the patience to wait for that. Luckily, it's already online, and embedded after the jump.

I'm one of those that had some issues with the last season. It felt like Maya, Alejandro, Micah, and Monica were all part of an elaborate scheme to make me put my head through a wall. And man, I was ready for Hiro to be done with ancient Japan about three weeks before he was. However, I do believe Tim Kring when he says he understands what they did wrong, and that the next season will be better. That, combined with the new trailer, has me as excited as ever about the show.

(S02E08) Peter Petrelli: "I remember...I remember everything."
Adam Monroe: "Good, then...Shall we save the world?"

So, if you're a hero, a lot can happen in four months. And, apparently, a lot is going to happen in the next three episodes as our favorite heroes have to save the world (and probably the cheerleader) again. From those scenes from next week's Heroes, it looks like there may be a stand-off coming between the two father-daughter pairs on the show (Noah/Claire & Bob/Elle). I can't wait to see that.

Some may disagree with me, but I thought this was a great episode. I know nothing really moved forward in the "present-day plot" so to speak, but we got a lot of much-needed answers about some of the key players on the show. And, most importantly, Peter Petrelli got his memory back. Brainless Peter was just annoying.

I have to admit that I don't really get why so many Heroes fans are up in arms about this second season. I've heard everything from "sophomore slump" to "it has jumped the shark" to "it sucks!" and I don't agree with any of those viewpoints.

Has it been the intense, oh-my-God look how this episode ended in another cliffhanger thrill ride of the first season? No, but I think that's more a case of how the last season ended and how they had to set up this new season, with new plots and new heroes and old heroes in new situations. And I think that the show really kicked into gear with Monday's fantastic installment.

Masi Oka is now playing a different kind of hero. According to ComicMix, he's been appointed as a global ambassador for the One Laptop Per Child program which is trying to develop a $100 laptop for children in developing countries. The initiative is headed up by MIT Media Lab's Nicholas Negroponte

This is not surprising. Masi Oka is a math genius who appeared on the cover of Time at the age of 12 and went on to receive a dual degree in Computer Science and Math from Brown University and then program special effects for George Lucas' ILM before taking his talents to acting.

(S02E07) I enjoyed this episode immensely.

For starters, there wasn't a single mention of the wonder twins tonight! There were no black tears, no subtitles, and consequently, no dozing off on my part. The twins' storyline is this years version of the Nikki/Jessica snorefest that ensued most of last season. The less I have to see of it the better.

Unfortunately, we also received no further insight into what's going on in Gabriele's world. I was really hoping we'd get to see him make good on his promise to kill Alejandro.

Judging by some of the comments I've read in past recaps, I'm willing to bet a few of you completely agree with me on that point.

(S02E06) "There's a storm coming Dr. Suresh." --Bob

Is Bob heralding the return of season one's magic? Save the cheerleader. Save the world. Claire is a cheerleader again. New York is burning, destroyed, evacuated (or whatever) again. Now all we need is Sylar to get his powers back. I can only hope that the overarching plotline will take us in this direction. It's not that I want to see a repeat of season one. I just long for the overlapping stories. I like seeing the characters all together, supers cooperating to save the world. It gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Heroes fans should try and pass the Heroes quiz over at AOL Television.

The quiz is designed to test the most hardcore fans of the series, with detailed questions about Nathan's campaign, Sylar's watch and Hiro's travels through time.

I took the quiz twice and could only manage to get four answers correct. Now, in my defense, many of the questions were looking for an exact number, which I think is unfair, but true fans of the series should be able to do much better.

(S02E01) In honor of the season two premiere of Heroes, we've got a live chat scheduled to coincide with the show. Come on in and make your thoughts about the show be known in real-time.

Click here to join the chat.

The full review will be posted in this space later on this evening. The full reviewcap is now posted and can be seen after the jump.

(S01E23) In honor of the Heroes season finale, tonight we're mixing things up a bit.

There's going to be a live chat during the show so you can post your "I hate the reviewer" comments in real-time! The full review will be posted in this space later this evening (the review is below).

22 episodes ago the season began with a bang. Will we be seeing one tonight?

Click here to join the chat.

So, you've heard so much about this Heroes show, but you didn't watch the early episodes and you're afraid to jump in because you're afraid you'll be lost? No fear, the Sci-Fi Channel is here to help you.

The network is going to run an all-day marathon of the show starting at 9am tomorrow. The only problem I see is that it seems like they're not running the shows in order, which seems like an odd decision. For example, the first episode at 9am is "Homecoming," followed by "Six Months Ago" and "Fallout." Huh? I think watching the shows out of order like that might be more confusing than jumping into the show sight unseen in episode 20. Not to mention the fact that all of the reveals and cliffhangers will be ruined.

If you're interested in seeing the pilot, it airs tomorrow night at 11pm. The season finale airs Monday at 9 on NBC.

(S01E22) This episode got off to a quick start picking up right where we left off last week with Peter Petrelli on the verge of combustion. Peter nearly had Claire shoot him as they had previously discussed, but fortunately, he seemed to gain control of his newly absorbed power.

Which brings me to this question: Why is it Peter can absorb powers by standing next to someone, but Sylar has to "rip your head open" to quote Claire? I'm sure someone will let me know in the comments. I'm guessing it's not just a personal preference.

Peter's involvement from this point forward was fairly limited, but we can see from the previews that all hell is going to break loose next week, and Peter and Sylar will have their much anticipated standoff.

(S01E21) Every week I walk away with a bit of a headache after watching Heroes. It's not a bad headache by any means. It's more of a sensory/information overload kind of a thing since each episode is filled to the brim with so many details.

That being said, the show is so entertaining, I find the discomfort completely worth it.

James Kyson Lee has a job plenty of people would love to claim: starring on NBC's Heroes, one of the best shows of this season, and currently riding a wave of both critical and fan-based praise. However, if you'd asked him a few months ago if he thought he'd be where he is now, he wouldn't have been able to tell you. Unless he'd been able to peek at a painting or two by Isaac Mendez.

Although Lee started out playing sidekick Ando to Masi Oka's Hiro, he's definitely come a long way since then. He's gone from cubicle neighbor, to reluctant participant, to butt-kicking undercover security guard guy, all in the space of one season. He's also get even tougher before this season is over. It could be argued that of all the characters on the show, Lee has undergone the biggest change, that is if you don't count Future Hiro.

A group of us caught up with Lee during our visit to the set of Heroes, and they let us interview him in Isaac's New York artist's loft. Surrounded by piles of comic books and Isaac's paintings, he filled us in on what's been happening with Ando, what will happen in the future, and where his own career is going.

(S01E20) This episode is listed as "String Theory" on my PVR and some places online, but on NBC's site and the screen itself it says "Five Years Gone" so that's what I went with.

"What if?" stories are fun. They allow the creators to play around with characters and show them in unexpected new lights. This isn't a purely "what if?" story, however. What happens here determines "our" Hiro's (younger Hiro's) ability to return to the present and change history in the coming episodes -- or fail to.