Spoilers, intricate plot details and possibly (OK probably) some ranting about Season 3. So don’t read further if you don’t want to know!

NBC Photo: Chris Haston

Danko gets cocky and knives Sylar in the back of the head. But using his shapeshifting powers, Sylar has “moved” his off switch. Oops! Rather than kill Danko, he shapeshifts into Danko and sets it up to look like Danko has killed his own agents.

Danko ends up in Building 26, along with HRG who had let himself be captured to give Angela and Claire time to escape. They both agree the mission is now to kill Sylar, provided they can figure out how.

Armed with a secure cell from HRG, Claire and Angela set out to find Nathan and make sure he’s Nathan. Angela tracks down Matt Parkman, who wants only to shut down Building 26. Angela explains that having Nathan on their side will make that easier so now Parkman’s on the team.

Also en route to Building 26 (this season’s hot new vacation destination) are Ando and Hiro. Ando is begging Hiro not to use his time-freezing power as he gets a nosebleed every time now. Hiro says he will do whatever he has to do.

They find all the captured super people including Mohinder, who tells Hiro that his body is rejecting his powers. It’s imperative that he doesn’t use them again as his left side is now going numb. You might as well tell the sun not to come up tomorrow. Sure enough, Hiro uses his power to stop Danko from tranquilizing HRG. Hiro collapses.

The man everyone is looking for, Sylar, has to quickly absorb as many of Nathan’s memories as he can to fool Claire.  Somehow that works and they head for the president. But she catches on when Sylar signs in with his left hand. Nathan is right-handed. Doh!

HRG of course places a phone call to Claire, who’s now been captured by Sylar. HRG heads for Sylar, as do Nathan and Peter so we have an impending showdown.

The Secret Service doesn’t know why Nathan Petrelli is asking to get into the building – again. Nate explains everything and then flies to get the point across. The guards draw down on him. I just love how they try to act like this flying power makes Nate dangerous in some way. The same applies as Nate and Pete prepare to take down Sylar. I want you to know I’m not foreshadowing here. In the grand scheme of superpowers, I have never found flying to be that impressive. Especially when surrounded by the people that he is. If you could take Peter, pre-sickness Hiro or Nathan into a fight who are you gonna bring? Just sayin.

Claire gets tossed out of the suite and the Nate and Pete Show is on. But when Nate and Sylar fly away, Pete loses flight. This gives Sylar time to thrash Nate, throw him back into the room and slit his throat. Yes, that’s the big death they have been teasing. Here’s where things get strange.

HRG, Claire and Pete convince the Secret Service they need to get to the President first. There’s a cool moment where Claire stares down a Secret Service guy and says she’ll kill him after he shoots her. You go invulnerable girl!

Sylar, still shaped as Nathan, gets into the limo with the President. It’s Michael Dorn, everybody! What up, Worf? Don’t say to that to him, by the way. I’m betting he hates it. Call him Coldstone from Gargoyles.  He loves that reference.

But it’s not the Prez – it’s Peter. He jacks Sylar with a tranquilizer and pause for, the dumbest idea the Petrelli/Bennets have ever had on this show. That’s saying something.

Angela and HRG are drinking the Nathan Petrelli as savior of all of them Kool-Aid. I’m sorry, but wasn’t Nathan for all intents and purposes the villain of the Fugitives arc? It was his abuse of senatorial influence that set all this up to begin with. Sure, in true Petrelli fashion he realized he screwed up and got on board but he really, really screwed up.

Angela plays the “protect your son” card and tells Matt Parkman that if word gets out that Sylar killed a senator, there will be 100 Dankos out there. So Matt “mindwipes” Sylar into thinking he’s Nathan. Um, does anyone really think this is going to work?

They burn the body of the original shapeshifter, who still looks like Sylar. Only HRG, Angela and Matt know the real deal. Several weeks later, Angela goes to see “Nathan” because he hasn’t called her in weeks. He tells her he hasn’t been feeling like himself. Then he notices the clock is off by a minute and a half. Angela gets a terrified look and begins to realize this was the dumbest Petrelli/Bennet idea yet.

In other news, one of the Ali Larter clones is killing off government agents by turning into water and drowning them. I’m assuming this is Tracy since she turned into water after getting shot while she was iced. But with that storyline, who can really say? And the fourth installment of Heroes is to be called Redemption. Considering the mixed reviews over the past two seasons, I wonder if that refers to the characters in the show or the show itself?

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He really can’t do that, or else we don’t have much of a show. It seems like we just started Season 3 and we’re at the end already. The word going around is that a major character is going to die and it’s actually going to stick.

Heroes has always maintained a strong connection to other sci-fi shows including Star Trek. Guest starring tonight as the president is Star Trek:The Next Generation star Michael Dorn. Readers, how do you think it’s going to end? Who’s going to die? Who would you like to see killed off, if anyone?

NBC Photo: Trae Patton

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Those episodes are also expected to run closer together to minimize storyline interruptions. That’s probably a good move with shows as plot-twisty as genre shows tend to be.

It’s no coincidence the move comes as Heroes continues to struggle in the ratings. Cable networks pioneered the smaller episode count and it does help with creating buzz. As a fan of The Sopranos, it often seemed they were off the air again as soon as they got back.

But the shows do still have to be good. Tighter plotlines and higher stakes may be a good idea for a show that’s meandered a bit through the last two seasons. What’s your take, readers?

NBC Photo: Trae Patton

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How long will the alliance between Sylar and Danko last? I’m thinking until one decides the other’s help is no longer beneficial. I wonder if once that happens, Danko will even get the chance to tell Noah Bennet “You know, I did something really dumb. Can a Danko get a hand with this one?”

While a lot of people have been unhappy with Heroes‘ story developments the past couple of years, you can’t blame Zachary Quinto for the show’s declining fortunes. He has consistently made Sylar one of TV’s most interesting villains. Whether he’s playing FBI agent, cuddling with puppies in an alternative future or just ripping people’s heads open, he takes on each role and makes it fun for us. Because he’s obviously having a lot of fun.

When fake Sen. Petrelli stepped up to the podium at his press conference, you just knew we’re in for a wild ride. If the Fugitives thought things were bad before (and they were), I don’t think they’ve seen anything yet.

Images: NBC/ Chris Haston

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Tonight we’ll learn more of Angela and Dr. Chandra Suresh’s secrets. It seems Angela was once an idealistic dreamer just like her son. And she has a sister who may have powers as well.

Love them, hate them, or periodically try to kill them, your family are the ones you have to stick with. As we learn every week, the Petrellis and their multiple dysfunctions leave a huge mark on the world around them. It looks as if tonight we’ll learn just how long they’ve been doing that.

NBC Photo: Adam Taylor

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But cute ads aside, Heroes begins its newest story arc tonight at 9 p.m. ET with a tale of Fugitives. The government is hunting down people with superpowers and I will now pause for my comic shop guys and gals to accuse Heroes of stealing more storylines from the X-Men.

If Heroes were on a network that had any other dramas people were watching, this show would already have gotten the heave-ho. The return of Bryan Fuller, who wrote some of the best episodes in the show’s buzz-garnering first season (Man, does anyone remember those days?), is expected to help.

Fans and critics alike have called for less “Gotcha” plot twists and a return to good old-fashioned storytelling. The time travel elements have drawn some groans as well. One need only look at how well shows like Doctor Who and Lost deal with time-travel to see what a mess Heroes is making of it. Readers, do you think these Heroes can still save the day for NBC?

NBC Photo:Adam Taylor

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POPWRAP has listed the 10 TV characters it considers to be the most useless, including Heroes’ suddenly sinister scientist Mohinder Suresh. As a matter of fact, Mohinder clocks in at Number One on said list. Sorry, Mohinder. It’s been a tough couple of years on Heroes fans and your sudden switch from altruistic scientist to power-hungry, scaly maniac has been hard for a lot of us to swallow.

On the bright side, Heroes is number one in something again! The good news is NBC appears very aware of the problems and has been making sweeping changes to return the show to its former glory. Bryan Fuller, who wrote some of the episodes in Season One back when everyone loved this show, is returning to help right the ship.

There’s more good news. While Mohinder took top honors he was the only sci-fi character on the entire list. I’m guessing Maya doesn’t count because she’s barely been on the show this season while Mohinder appears in every episode.
Pictured: Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh –NBC Photo: Adam Taylor

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Smallville’s John Glover will slip back into his diabolical daddy persona to play the father of Heroes’ serial killer Sylar.  Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello reports that Glover will appear at the end of Heroes’ Fugitives chapter.

Ausiello says Sylar will see a path in his father that he doesn’t want to take. So maybe that’s how Sylar gets on the road to becoming the good guy he was in the future. Of course, that’s assuming that future even comes to pass. A lot of people have been busy on Heroes this season trying to prevent it.

Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Sylar–NBC Photo: Adam Taylor

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Air Date: Dec. 8

Check out our preview here.

This one was all about the daddy dynamics – between Noah and Claire Bennet, Kaito and Hiro Nakamura, and of course Arthur Petrelli and his boys.

Claire decides to change the future by talking Noah out of letting Kaito place the catalyst in baby Claire. She poses as her own nanny, getting to not only change her own diaper but give herself the nickname “Claire Bear” in the process. Claire finally confides a little bit in Noah about being there to protect the baby.

You know, Matt and Daphne’s storyline just seemed better with Seth Green and Breckin Meyer involved. They didn’t really fit with the fatherly theme but are able to track down the infamous bike messenger who has Issac’s sketches for 9th Wonders. After learning Hiro is trapped in the past, they hatch a plan to give somebody else powers using Arthur’s formula. Ando volunteers, probably to get out of Hiro’s shadow.

Sylar burns Elle’s corpse ( I guess that means she’s really gone, but who knows with this show?) and uses Elle’s Company contacts to track down a human lie detector. Remember he doesn’t need to kill anymore, but he does anyway because he enjoys it so much. After killing the poor girl and some of her co-workers he heads for Pinehearst.

At Pinehearst, Nathan has demanded to be put in charge. Arthur agrees, knowing he’ll be running the show the whole time. Arthur will begin by giving a group of Marines superpowers. Mohinder injects the first one and the guy begins showing serious rage issues, throwing a chair through a wall. Yeah, this is going to go really well.

I wasn’t sure how Hiro would get his marbles back but it turns out his mother is a healer. Hiro gets mistaken for the help also, as Kaito thinks he’s the new cook. Hiro confesses everything to his mom and she gets the chance to see him all grown up.

Despite Kaito’s insistence that Hiro could not be the bearer of “the light,” Hiro’s mom gives it to him. She dies after doing so. Hiro goes to talk to Claire and head back to the future but Arthur Petrelli shows up and takes Hiro’s powers. He then throws a helpless Hiro over the edge of the building.

Arthur sends Claire back to Angela and tells her that it’s all over and that he’s won. But not so fast. Peter and the Haitian are on their way to kill Arthur. the Haitian tries to talk Peter out of killing his father. Dude, have you met Arthur Petrelli?

After Arthur taunts Peter and tells him he doesn’t have the guts to pull the trigger, Peter finally does. Then Sylar shows up and stops the bullet. Sylar wants to know if he’s really Arthur’s son. When Arthur lies and says yes, Sylar lets the bullet go on its way. Something leaves Arthur’s body though. Was it the infamous catalyst? Yeah, if you think Arthur’s really dead I’ve got a free year’s worth of treatments at Mohinder’s clinic to sell you.

Pictured: Robert Forster as Arthur Petrelli– NBC Photo: Adam Taylor

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Arthur Petrelli

Tonight Angela and Peter try to figure out a way to kill the Petrelli patriarch, who is rapidly approaching godlike levels of power. How bad have things gotten when Angela Petrelli could be the voice of reason?

And Hiro’s time travel trip with Claire Bennet was supposed to restore Hiro’s memory. It was definitely an eye opener for Claire as she learned why Noah has been reluctant to get close to her.

Pictured:(l-r) Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet, Robert Forster as Arthur Petrelli, Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura

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