Heroes, Season 3, Episode 1 and 2 A

The best drama of two years ago is back with a vengeance. While the pacing of the stories in Season One was not always study--leading to some exceptional installments while others were merely good--Season One of Heroes was dang nearly perfect TV. With the addition of too many secondary characters and subplots simultaneously, Season Two, cut mercifully short by the writers’ strike, was not. So it was with some trepidation that Season Three was unveiled this past Monday evening with back-to-back episodes. Fear unfounded. By the end of the opening hour, many of the remaining characters introduced last season were disposed of, and Skylar, perhaps the best villain in television history, was re-established as evil incarnate.

Heroes has never shied away from using Biblical imagery and themes in its story arch, and this season is certainly no exception. With one hero wrestling with the possibility that the heroes were placed on earth by God to do his bidding and another of them wrestling with her humanity in light of her apparent immortality, the show seems intent to wrestle with the big issues that bind our culture together. What’s more, with the apparent immanent seduction of many of the heroes to evil; temptation, the fall, and redemption all seem to be in play this season as well. While not everyone loves the science fiction/fantasy, between this and Battlestar Galactica, this year promises to be one of best for those that do.