TVSquad

(S03E20) Hey, it's the episode that Swoosie Kurtz is guesting in. It's so exciting. Bryan Fuller from Pushing Daisies is back on board Heroes, though I'm not sure if his influence is felt yet, and now we get one of its stars in a big, important role where she ... um ... well ... she was there. Luckily, they more than made up for that with the revelation of Rebel's real identity. And I can tell you that many of you were dead on as to who it is. And some more of you were wrong.

Once again, our focus was tightened this episode, but the reason for leaving out many of our favorite cast members was pretty plausible. They were unavailable, as it were. With Nathan outed, Danko's control of the whole project was solidified, and I guess he no longer has any government oversight? And it still wasn't made clear if that means Danko outed Nathan to the President, or really anyone. But that doesn't mean we weren't treated to a lot of things, cool powers and dramatic moments.

Look, I've stuck with Heroes all the way through. I even defended it during the second season and the first half of this season, when fans were insulting it and running off in droves. I'm still going to stick with it, but I'm closer to not watching the show than I've ever been before.

Last night's episode had the usual mix of the good and the bad. I like the whole Sylar/Luke story. It gets Sylar away from the rest of the heroes and gives him his own story/quest. I'm sure his story will intersect with the rest of the heroes towards the end of the season, but I'm glad he's not up against them right now. I like the whole "screwed up buddy picture" vibe he has with the kid and the adventures they could get into on the way.

I also like Claire being back at home (though I don't see how or why her mom and brother didn't flee long ago), helping the comic book guy run from her dad and the other agents. Promising ending with HRG being drugged, too.

But Hiro. Oh, God, Hiro.

(S03E16) Spoiler Warning! The scene to the right happens in this episode. But don't worry, it doesn't really accomplish much ... for Tracy. It looks like the Justice League is forming under the tutelage of "Rebel." But who is he? We've got another Heroes mystery on our hand. You know, like the mystery of whether or not HRG is a good guy or a bad guy (that one will be addressed next week) and the mystery of who Sylar's father is. And if Claire will whine and bitch this week. Okay that last one isn't much of a mystery.

We went in three major directions tonight with the plot, skipping one group of "heroes" altogether, and surprisingly not missing them. First we had more drama in the Bennett household, complete with Claire rebelling against her father. It's nice to see that fifty episodes into the series, Claire's character has really grown and evolved into a mature young woman. The same goes for Hiro, who's gone from being an immature man-child with delusions of grandeur to an immature man-child with delusions of grandeur. Hmmm, doesn't sound as impressive when you put it like that.