Separate storylines leave ‘Heroes’ stranded

To many longtime "Heroes" viewers, last week's episode, "The Kindness of Strangers," was the first second-season episode that seemed to have some of the excitement, development and forward movement of the show's first season. The big villain first mentioned by tracker Molly in the first season got a name, a face and, since it turned out to be mind-reader Matt's father, a whole boatload of instant implications.

The Kaito Nakamura murder mystery also took an interesting turn, as Angela Petrelli delivered a false confession for undetermined reasons. Meanwhile, serial killer Sylar intersected with death-bringing twins Maya and Alejandro, which can't be good.

Notably missing was any sign of power-absorber, Peter, or time-space bender, Hiro. And, surprisingly, it seems as though some fans were just fine with that. Peter is grappling with amnesia in Ireland, and Hiro is stuck in 17th-century Japan, trying to convince legendary swordsman Takezo Kensei (whose exploits thrilled him as a kid) to actually be the hero that history says he is.

Neither character has even a remote connection to anything else happening on the show, and that's a gigantic step backward for "Heroes."

A season of discovery
The entire first season was built around a superpowered cast of characters slowly but surely discovering that there were others like them. What began as individual stories of each of the supers slowly converged, as one character met another and discovered connections, whether they were common goals, shared acquaintances or new animosities. By the finale, everyone had been brought together for one reason or another to Manhattan, where their stories all came together.

The second season should be building from where the first left off. With the characters aware of their place in the world, "Heroes" has the opportunity not to simply find connections between the characters, but to explore them.

But instead of telling one story with eight or so subplots, it seems like the show is telling eight stories all at once.

The result is something like narrative overload, especially with the introduction of plotlines involving new characters such as Maya and Alejandro. At least their story, which finds them fleeing to the U.S. to get answers about their powers, is off to a good start with their introduction to Sylar. And inevitably, they are going to intersect with the rest of the cast.

That puts them well ahead of Hiro and Peter, major fan favorites (up until now, at least) who've been almost completely isolated from anything else happening in the world of "Heroes."

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