HEROES -- "Chapter Ten: Truth and Consequences"
 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
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
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
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
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
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.
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