Heroes: Who's Pulling the Strings

After last week's disaster, there was nowhere to go but up, right?

Even if that weren't the case, I think last night's episode, "Angels and Monsters," (I guess they feared a Dan Brown lawsuit if they went with "Angels and Demons") would've stood on its own as one of the show's finer hours.

Sure, "Heroes" is still far from perfect (what show is perfect anyway), but the more important realization I came to recently is that I should stop expecting it to be "good." When the show began, it certainly had the potential to be "good" (even "very good"), but two and a quarter seasons of gaping plot holes, questionable logic and dropped characters (I guess Irish Caitlin is still in that one alternate future that was averted) have taken the show too far off the rails for it to ever be taken seriously.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the show and its talented cast and (occasionally) talented writers can't deliver one hell of a fun hour of entertainment.

And last night, did just that, answering a few of this season's burning questions. As an extra added bonus, we even got a few fleeting moments of honest-to-goodness emotion and human drama. This was largely a result of the show narrowing its focus and (finally) weaving several characters' stories together, resulting in less-scattered episodes.

I continue to be impressed by the honest moments in Nathan and Tracy's storyline amidst a show that features one character inexplicably attacking a drug dealer in the middle of broad daylight in a busy park and dragging his bleeding body home.

I hadn't been a big fan of the religious rhetoric Nathan had been spouting ever since he survived the assassination attempt and was fed to him by the Linderman vision. So, after his and Tracy's visit to Angela to confront her about Dr. Zimmerman, it was a real blow to him (and the audience) for him to find out he had been created in a lab, just like Tracy. It was such a letdown for him that he barely addressed the fact that his parents had made him "special" because he wasn't born special enough.

Of course, the big reveal in the episode is that the vision of Linderman was created by Maury Parkman (should've seen THAT one coming), who is working for Nathan, Peter (and Sylar's) surprisingly-alive dad, Arthur Petrelli. Then again, it would've been a little more surprising if NBC hadn't teased his appearance relentlessly all week. By convincing Nathan his gift was a gift from God, Arthur ensured that Nathan would stay quiet about people with abilities.

We can also presume Arthur is the force behind snatching both halves of the formula from the Company for his own rival Pinehearst Industries. Apparently, he is the force behind a future where most everyone has abilities. Whereas the Company seems content to lock away or eliminate people with dangerous abilities, Arthur and Pinehearst seems content to let them run free and rule the world.

Since Arthur will be played by "Jackie Brown"s Robert Forster, I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing more about his plans next time out. The Linderman vision also appeared to Daphne and implored her to put together a team of baddies, including Knox, Adam Monroe, Hiro and Parkman (who mercifully took a break from his spirit quest this week).

After a clever scene where Hiro convinced Adam to help them locate the formula (loved the camera tricks with the coffin) Adam took them to a "Specials Bar" (huh!) which was like the Cantina in Star Wars. While there, Knox grabbed Adam and convinced Hiro to kill Ando if he wanted to join the bad guy team (and possibly get to the formula). The moment where Hiro stabs Ando failed because he appeared to do it with little-to-no hesitation and because no one believes Ando is actually dead. Oh well. That's what happens when you kill and bring people back every week — we become numb to it.

Despite that, I was happy to see a good portion of the characters come together in the story. Still, my favorite reunion was between Claire, H.R.G. and Sylar, also known as Claire's violator.

Claire had gone after a level 5 escapee that could create vortexes (Bubbles from "The Wire"! — aka Andre Royo) and had killed someone. After she tased the bro, she got to talking to him and realized she'd incapacitated what was probably one of the few people in level 5 that didn't mean any harm.

Eventually, H.R.G. and Sylar (pictured, left) showed up to nab the prisoner, leading him to create a vortex that nearly killed Claire (ok, so maybe Vortex guy's not perfect). Fortunately, Sylar was there to save Claire's life. Later, after getting Vortex Guy's location from Claire, H.R.G. tried to convince him to create a vortex and do away with Sylar, who was straining to hear (I can only assume his super-hearing power has been wiped away). Instead, Vortex guy — who wasn't going to get to see his wife or kids — didn't want to go back to the Company or kill anyone else, so he vortexed (totally a real word) himself.

My favorite scene of the episode was when Claire finally realized that, in his efforts to protect his family, H.R.G. uses everyone, including her. Sylar helpfully (and maybe accurately) pointed out that H.R.G. doesn't see the humanity in people with abilities. The thing was, it didn't even come off like Sylar was trying to drive a wedge between them — he was giving an honest assessment. I believe he's honestly trying to fight the urge to kill people and feed on them. Ask Peter how tough that is, given that he almost killed his own mom earlier in the hour.

Finally, it's time to do away with Mohinder and Maya's storyline. If he's not going to be working on a version of the formula that works and is going to be trolling the park for delinquents to kill he needs to be off the show. And he should take Maya with him, who is COMPLETELY puzzling. I mean, does she have a job now? What does she do all day in New York when she's not checking up on Mohinder? What's the deal?!

Those two need to be shoved aside, especially in favor of the villain we saw with Claire's biological mom Meredith, who can control other people's actions. Sure, the episode hit us over the head with the fact that he's a puppet master by showing us puppets, but he still seems like a promising character based on that super-creepy scene. Hopefully the show builds on this strong episode

So what'd you think of this episode? Since Linderman is in Nathan's head, how did he REALLY survive Peter's assassination? (Was it Adam's blood from last year?) Which "Wire" cast member do you hope to see next? (I'm waiting for Isaiah Whitlock, aka Clay Davis, to show up as a fellow Pinehurst bad guy). Finally, how do you think Ando will be brought back to life? (You just know he will, but I'm thinking it might be Adam who does it, in keeping with the whole "villains-turned-heroes" theme.)