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The Heroes finale wraps up this year’s abbreviated series with a few bangs and sets our dynamic heroes up for battles with the villains in Volume Three.

In Odessa, Texas, Peter and Adam/Kensei are barreling through the warehouse to get to the Shanti virus. Peter wants to destroy it and his determination to set things right blind him to the selfish motives of Adam, who wants to release it and cleanse the world of lesser beings before he crowns himself king.

Hiro stops time and interrupts. He tries to tell Peter that Adam is bad news – Adam is really Kensei and murdered Hiro’s father. Hiro wants revenge. But Peter won’t hear it and he uses his powers to knock out Hiro. Time starts again. Kensei sees his sword in Hiro’s hands and he takes it back, leaving Hiro knocked out on the floor. He and Peter continue on to the safe, where Kensei uses a good guilt trip to get Peter to open it.

Meanwhile, Nathan and Parkman devise a plan to stop Peter. Mama Petrelli telepathically tells Parkman to kill Peter if he gets in their way. Nathan and Parkman fly to the Odessa warehouse, where Hiro finds them outside. The three team up to confront Peter. Peter takes out Hiro, then Parkman, but then Nathan appears and is able to reason with his brother. Kensei goes to the safe and gets the virus. Hiro traps him there. Hiro has had enough. He blinks them out of real time into some other dimension. Kensei drops the vial before they disappear. Peter, having come to realize that Kensei is bad news, telepathically stops the vial from hitting the floor. He then uses his nuclear powers to destroy it.

Ultra-quick cut to Hiro back in his office, where Ando is anxiously awaiting. Hiro says Kensei will no longer be a problem. Cut to Kensei, who is alive (should have been killed) and buried deep in the earth. It looked like the cemetery where Hiro’s parents were buried, but I can’t be certain.

Nathan, Peter and Parkman band together to tell the truth about their powers – something Claire was pushing for as she mourned the death of her father in sunny California. They hold a press conference, where Nathan is shot before he can reveal all. They didn’t actually say that Nathan died, but we see a shot of Mama Petrelli, on the line with an unknown caller, saying it was unavoidable. She also tells said caller they have opened Pandora’s Box.

Hm… Nice set up statement for Volume Three.

In other Heroes news:
• Maya figures out too late that Sylar is a bad dude. He takes hostage Mo, Molly and Maya at Mohinder’s lab – Isaac Mendez’ old apartment. Mo knows there’s a camera watching their every move. At the other end? Psychotic sociopath Elle, who has royally pissed off Daddy by antagonizing Claire. Elle decides she will get back in her father’s good graces by taking out Sylar. Her attempt fails and Sylar escapes with Claire’s blood. But Mo thanks her and says they are indebted to her for saving their lives. (Ugh.) Could this turn Elle to the nice side? Doubtful, but the gratitude might play a key role next season – especially if Mo remains stupid when it comes to The Company politics.
• Like her biological father, Nathan, Claire want to expose The Company. West tries to stop her, but they argue and she turns away from him. (AH! I like him.) HRG shows up on their doorstep and tells the family that in exchange for their safety, he will stay with The Company (and allow them to do all sorts of nasty experiments on him). Will the incredibly mature and determined Claire continue with her vendetta – especially after news of Nathan’s shooting? 
• Micah rushes home, where Nikki is anxiously awaiting him. He takes her to the abandoned building where the gang took Monica. The gang leader douses the place with gas and lights it on fire, leaving the newest hero to die. But some Jessica pops out of Nikki - who is supposedly dying of the Shanti virus and lost her powers – and she kicks butts. She goes into the warehouse and rescues Monica. But the building explodes before anyone sees her exit. Is she really dead? Or did she somehow escape?

We got a sneak peak of 2008’s Volume Three, Chapter One: “Villians.” Sylar shoots up with Claire’s blood and gets healed. Next season, there will be hell to pay. Imagine if he and Kensei hook up and try to take out the world.  They will get everyone, but in the very end, they’ll have to take each other out because they both will want to be boss.

Just a thought…

Next season could be interesting, with new alliances, the antics of villains and the impact of hero deaths. I’m really curious to see changes in Claire and Elle - and still hoping the two do battle, even if they join forces later on. And what about the somewhat gullible Peter? And Parkman, who could easily turn mean with his evolving abilities? Or Mohinder the The Company Troll? And HRG? The list goes on and on – with endless possibilities. 

Overall, good finale for what they had to work with. Wish we could have had some more build up, to fill in some obvious blanks, but the writer’s strike (I’m assuming) kept that from happening. I’m curious to see if the never-before-seen footage online will fill in some of those gaps and how the series graphic novels will play a role in furthering the plotlines. Think about it. TV is at a standstill, but print is not. They could pay other writers to do the graphic novel work and keep the series alive until the Hollywood strike ends.

My biggest question: How many times can the heroes go up against villains like sadistic Sylar, or psychotic Elle & The Company- or even the Old Schoolers - and still keep us interested? Writers have left big shoes to fill for themselves when Heroes returns to the small screen.

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