Heroes Season 3: Baddest of the Bunch?

(What's the meaning of the new paintings?)

Season 3 kicked off with a bang and definitely did not disappoint. We had back-to-back episodes: "The Second Coming" and "The Butterfly Effect". Last season now looks like a mere blur on the roadmap to great stories, special effects, drama and action. They've done a good job at throwing all kinds of twists and turns into just 2 episodes, giving us plenty of room to speculate. Here's some thoughts on the first two episodes and what we might expect this season.

The future "Peter" definitely gives us the display of powers (and special efx) we've been waiting for. I had been contemplating the idea that maybe this badass future Peter we were seeing was really Sylar coming back in time (after killing Hiro). It may make sense after seeing what Mrs. Petrelli said to Sylar, making him into her son.

So what's up with Mrs. Petrelli? She told Sylar he's her son, but I'm not sure she meant it literally. She's got some sort of mind manipulation powers and may be convincing Sylar to do her bidding. The bidding would be having Sylar go out to stop the future Peter, or even worse to destroy the world.

The fact that Sylar can morph into different people makes him deadlier than ever, but we didn't really see it displayed yet. It would make sense if "future Peter" is Sylar and he made "present day Peter" look like the inmate Jesse. You'll remember Candice had that ability to change the way things looked, but I'm not sure she could change something and leave it looking like that for an extended time period.

And how about the joke from Sylar when Claire asked if he was going to eat her brain now - "No Claire that's gross" - great stuff from the writers. It seems all Sylar needs to do is touch a certain part of a Heroe's brain to gain their powers, sorta like how Micah touched electronics and got a feel to make it work. I can't recall exactly, but weren't some of the brains removed from various dead people with powers? Where did those go? Also let's add to the list of new powers for Sylar: ability to heal, ability to create his own gold items- so he has a solid source of income in these rough economic times.

It's great to see Linderman back. Well he's not really back, just an apparition that Nathan sees. Or is it a mind trick? If Linderman were truly back, the creators could then bring back just about anyone they chose to. Or maybe it's possible now. Also, did Linderman have a hand in bringing someone else back to life..say Jessica/Nikki as Tracy Strauss? Interesting that she has a different power now to freeze people, and Suresh had the super strength.

We saw Electrocution-expert Elle as a guest star in Episode 2, and she almost was destroyed by Sylar. Her electric outburst saved her, but I'm not expecting her to last through the entire season. Most likely one of the new bad guys destroys her, possibly the one with the powerful force he emits that looks like some sort of radiation blast.

As for the new villains, they really haven't given us much insight beyond: a guy who absorbs fear to turn it into super-strength, a guy who controls magnetic forces (like X-Men's Magneto), and Jesse, who HRG has no clue about. Let's hope Jesse has a power, and it's not just to be the "cool guy who rolls with the villains". Also, it seems like Peter in a roundabout way is back where he was last season, rolling with a crew of bad guys while trying to save the world.

Are Micah and Monica no longer part of the Heroes crew? It's strange how they would not survive an exploding building which they weren't even in, but Nikki is back. Wouldn't that make Monica's role in last season basically useless in terms of overall story development? Well, at least she has her own comic book now.

Hiro vs. Ando was also an interesting story turn. Ando may have hit the nail on the head when he speculated "maybe it was someone who looked like me" that killed Hiro in the future. That could mean Sylar or Peter had changed their appearance in an attempt to steal that 1/2 formula from Hiro. But we also have that "power syringe" Suresh made and who knows, maybe Ando got power-hungry. Daphne's power is interesting so far, and she's stated she has a "boss". Is it Mrs. Petrelli or someone new?

The Suresh-Maya pairing makes for a steamy romantic couple for this season. Maya is looking better than ever, most likely due to the fact that she's not on the run, sweating and crying. Suresh made a cool power-giving syringe, until he discovered it gave him skin lesions and seemed to take his power away. Is Suresh dying now, or will he find a cure? Will a villain steal the power syringe? How bout giving HRG some kind of cool power? We still need someone who can stretch themselves out like Mr. Fantastic.

Is Claire the one who has the "purity of blood" needed for the second half of "The Formula"? HRG is setting out alone to track down the missing villains now. Will we see a return of his sidekick, The Haitian? Is Mrs. Petrelli now running The Company? Who's working for her? (possibilities: Daphne, Sylar, Haitian)

Speaking of powers, it seems that Matt Parkman and Nathan should be on the "Most Expendible List". Smart money is on Parkman to bite the bullet out of any of the main heroes, and possibly Nathan, although he's got a Senate role now which plays an important part in the story. Peter has Parkman's power now, but realistically Parkman is just a detective in the show who can give HRG backup.

Parkman's interaction with the turtle was funny, and it would have been interesting if there was a hero who could turn into animals. Possibly a joke from the creators there. Matt met up with a man who seems to have the power that Isaac had in Season 1. He can foretell future events by paintings. He's painted what looks like an exploding earth, see picture above. This must be some sort of warning sign for others, and we've seen it twice now. So possibly Peter or Sylar painted the other, but what does it mean?

It's gonna be a great season from the looks of these first two episodes. We have all sorts of bad guys out and about and the Heroes will need to find ways to stop them. Peter has the trump card, as does Sylar. Is it possible we see Sylar play the role of "good guy" trying to stop the villains?