Heroes

I was able to watch the season premiere of Heroes last night, and I was very impressed.

According to many, the show hit a lull last season - and I admit it was definitely not to the ability of season one, but the show was not terrible. It was also affected by the writer's strike and the season was cut short and finished during December.

Well, creator Tim Kring has had a long time to fine-tune his masterpiece, and I think it appears he is heading in the right direction.

Season 3 was entitled Villains which brings our favorite Heroes villain, Sylar to the forefront. It also allows for other villains to be introduced - which a few were in Monday's two-hour premiere. But, this also gives the creators a chance to convert some of our favorite heroes into villains - or perhaps conflicted as to which side they are on.

Monday's episodes were much more fast paced than last season, and it looks to be remaining that way according to Kring. There was a lot going on, but that is to be expected with so many different story lines flowing - all of which will undoubtedly be woven together at the conclusion.

In the episode, many of the original cast members returned: Hiro, Ando, Peter, Nathan, Matt, Mohinder, Claire, Noah, Sylar and Mrs. Petrelli. Last season's newcomers Elle and Maya also returned (and even a small glimpse of Adam Monroe). Missing, however, were Molly (although she was mentioned), Micah, The Haitian and Monica - although they might return in later episodes. Niki is also apparently gone, but has returned in the form of Tracy Strauss.

We were introduced to a few new characters in Monday's episodes, almost all of them being villains. There appears to be at least four on the loose after breaking out of The Companies holding cells. I didn't get all of the names, but from what I could tell one was a flame thrower (much like Pyro from X-Men), one was a Magnetic type villain, another named Jesse and finally one named Knox (but I am unsure of their powers as of now). Each one's was shown, but it escapes me - I remember Jesse being the worst of the bunch however.

Finally, another was introduced on Monday named Daphne Millbrook (above with Hiro), who is apparently the 'Catwoman to Hiro's Batman'. She has supersonic speed, which when stopped by Hiro she actually is walking at normal speed. Her character seems really intriguing and I felt the actress did a nice job - I was very interested. It's still up in the air if she is a villain or not, she appeared to be working for someone else, though.

All-in-all I was very happy with the first, I guess it was two, episodes of Heroes. I have been missing it all of these months since its hiatus. There are so many ways for the show to go this season, but so far things look very promising.