Heroes Report on "Fight or Flight"

What a coincidence... This week's episode of "Heroes" was the first of the second season that didn't include a segment with Maya and Alejandro... It was also the first episode in a while that was really solid all the way through... funny how that works, huh?

Now, that's not to say that I particularly like where the storylines are going in this episode... but at least they're starting to get somewhere.

For instance, I was really looking forward to seeing how Peter's character developed in Ireland and with whats-his-name owner of the bar. Unfortunately, Veronica Mars went and melted whats-his-name, effectively ending Peter's stay in Ireland. As I said, not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least Peter's story now has a direction, apparently traveling around with Ms. Irish Accent.

We also are really getting somewhere with Parkman and Nathan's pursuit of the Nightmare Man. Unfortunately, that big bald schmuck Parkman's father is definitely the Nightmare Man (the most unimposing villain this side of The Mole Man). The good news is, he has an incredible power for illusion, and we got one of the best scenes of the young season watching Parkman and Nathan unwittingly beat each other up.

By the way, I think darkness is needed for Daddy Parkman to use his powers. He needed Matt to go into the dark to set the illusion. When Nathan entered the dark, he entered the illusion. Momma Petrelli's insanity began when the lights turned off. Molly Walker, well, that's obvious. Oh, and Daddy Nakamura may have only thought he was fighting with someone when he went over the roof, due to an illusion set at night time.

This also opens up a giant can of worms -- just how powerful can Parkman become? And in the short term, does he possess the ability to wake up Molly, like he woke up from the dream himself?

And speaking of cans of worms -- where exactly is Mohinder's character arc leading? He's relying on the company, he's doing their bidding by bringing in a young girl, and on the other hand he's trying to break Nikki free. Right now he's being written as a real conflicted character, and it will be interesting to see where it leads.

We also got a fleeting glimpse of the Dynamic Duo of HRG and the Haitian in Europe, which was only a highlight because the Haitian looked freezing and miserable, it's hilarious. Go back and watch for yourself if you missed it.

The only true waste of this episode was the Hiro storyline. I'm really getting tired of this framing to the story using Ando, just to keep Ando in the picture. The first time they used it, it was a cute little interlude. But all this junk with the ancient-scroll restoration expert is just a waste of time that could be spent on other storylines -- or, better yet, more of Hiro in Japan instead of simply overviews.

Well anyway, a solid episode all around. And the capper to this solid episode was another incredible looking preview to next week's show. Which, by the way, is a disturbing recent pattern with this show... it seems like the teases to next week's show are a heck of a lot more exciting than the actual show, leading to inevitable disappointment. Oh well, HRG shoots someone next week, so I'll be happy.