By Kofi Outlaw

With the WGA strike threatening to put HEROES on hiatus for an indefinite amount of time, the show tried to build its “Generations” storyline towards some kind of climax, which will culminate in next week’s Fall season finale.

Peter was able to briefly return to the ominous future where the dreaded Shanti Virus has wiped out 93% of the world’s population—in his mind at least. Was this mental projection some strange amalgamation of Hiro’s and Parkman’s powers? A question worth mulling later, perhaps. Back in the present, Peter and Adam hatched a plan to locate where the Company had hidden the Shanti virus. They would track down the biochemist who first created the virus (a member of the elder Heroes’ clandestine group, now revealed to be the Company) and learn from her where the virus had been stored.

Hiro, having traveled back in time to witness his father’s murder, learned that Takezo Kensei was the mastermind behind the virus plot. Together with Ando, Hiro combed his father’s business records, searching for clues to Takezo’s (a.k.a. “Adam’s”) whereabouts. An incarceration order signed by his father led Hiro to a Company facility in 1977, on the day Adam/Kensei first tried to steal the virus, “strain 138.” Adam told the elder Nakamura that after 300-odd years of living, he’d learned that only by wiping out a large portion of humanity could “the world” be saved. Hiro’s dad then locked Adam in a holding cell, presumably until the present day, when Peter freed him. Having learned of his father’s sins with the Company, and Adam’s evil intentions, Hiro returned to the present, planning to ambush Adam when he came looking for the virus again.


In New Orleans, Nikki returned to D.L.’s mother’s house to check up on Micha. She informed her son that she had contracted the Shanti virus, but assured him that Dr. Suresh would discover a cure. Soon after, a local gang stole Micha’s backpack, which contained Isaac Mendez’s prophetic comic books, as well as a medal D.L. had received for using his powers to save a young girl. Eager to see justice done, Micha and Monica (the “copycat”) decided to do use their powers to get the backpack back, resulting in disaster, as Monica was captured by the gang.

Claire was consumed with guilt and grief over her father’s death. She planned to use the Haitian’s powers to erase her memory of her father—that is, until Wes talked some sense into her. Bob showed up at the Bennet home to deliver H.R.G.’s ashes to the family—and was welcomed by a gun in his face. Served him right: the ashes were merely a ploy; the real H.R.G. was alive and well, thanks to an infusion of Claire’s blood, which Mohinder then used to synthesize a cure for the Shanti virus. Able to leave without catching a bullet, sly Bob put his daughter Elle to the task of keeping tabs on Claire. Elle did her job well—for about five minutes—until Claire discovered her. But before the girls could give us the super-powered catfight of the century, Claire announced that she was going to go public about her powers, thereby exposing the Company as well.

Finally arriving in New York, Sylar made his move to break up twins Maya and Alejandro. Provoking Maya to use her “evil eyes” on him, Sylar showed her that she could control her powers. He then used a few mind tricks to convince Maya that, deep down, her brother despised her. Maya took the bait and sent Alejandro away, pledging herself to Sylar. Alejandro, ever the good brother, wouldn’t leave quietly. So Sylar killed him, brutally, unbeknownst to Maya.

Peter and Adam tracked down the Company’s original biochemist—the same woman Hiro had witnessed Adam attacking back in 1977. Upon seeing Adam, the woman tried to slay the villain (she revealed that removing his head was the only way to do so,) only to have her efforts squashed by a misguided peter. Adam was more successful, killing the woman in apparent defense of Peter, even after she had revealed the location of the virus.

The episode “climaxed” with Mohinder on his way to cure Nikki, only to get a phone call from Sylar, who was in his apartment, holding Molly hostage, the oblivious Maya standing idly by as his accomplice. Mohinder had no choice but to postpone saving Nikki, to save Molly. Peter and Adam stormed the Primatech paper facility in Texas (formerly H.R.G.’s headquarters,) to “destroy” the virus. As they entered the warehouse time froze, leaving only Peter unaffected as Hiro sprung his trap. When Peter refused to step aside and let Hiro kill Adam, the two prepared for a showdown.


While this week’s episode (and the one before it) reminded me what I loved about HEROES in its infancy, at this point it’s too little, too late. These are the kind of stakes—the virus, Adam, the original Company—we should’ve been playing for in the first three episodes, not the eleventh or twelfth. Rumors are flying that due to the WGA strike and subsequent production delays, HEROES creator Tim Kring will call season 2 a wash and start fresh in the fall with season 3. Let’s hope that whenever HEROES returns it will have reclaimed its mojo in full. Because when it works, baby does it WORK.