"The Second Coming" is the first episode of the third season of the NBCsuperherodrama series Heroes and thirty-fifth episode overall. It was written by series creator/executive producer Tim Kring and directed by executive producer Allan Arkush. It first aired on September 22, 2008 as the beginning of the "Villains" storyline.
The episode begins four years into the future. Peter, who has a scar on his face, is being chased and enters a hangar. Claire tries to shoot him, but Peter stops time and time travels to the present day, taking Claire's gun with him.
At Nathan's press conference, Future Peter shoots Nathan, as seen in "Powerless". Nathan is rushed to the hospital, where he dies. A short time later, Nathan awakens, prompting him to believe that God gave him a second chance at life. Nathan is later visited by Mr. Linderman, leading him to believe Linderman was the reason he was healed. The governor of New York watches Nathan on the television, and breaks the news to the woman he slept with: Tracy, a woman who looks identical to Niki. He tells her he thinks he has found what he is looking for.
Matt later catches Future Peter trying to find the gun he had hid earlier, prompting Future Peter to teleport him to the desert because he knows too much. When Angela Petrelli arrives at the hospital, she tells Future Peter she knows he is impersonating his past self, and tells Future Peter that he actually got the ability to dream the future from her. Future Peter tells Angela that he put his present day self somewhere safe. At the Company headquarters, in one of the Level 5 prison cells, a bald man screams that he is Peter Petrelli. Noah Bennet is also locked up in an adjacent cell.
Sylar arrives at Claire's home, leading Claire to try and escape. Sylar, however, manages to pin her down and steal Noah's files of people with abilities. Sylar cuts open Claire's forehead, but due to Claire's power, she does not die. She remains conscious as Sylar lays her on a table and examines her now-exposed brain, claiming he is looking for answers. Due to the lack of nerve endings in the human brain, she does not feel any pain. Sylar obtains Claire's power and Noah's files, puts Claire's scalp back on her head and turns to leave. Claire's scalp heals, and she then asks Sylar why she is still alive. He tells her she is unique and can't die, and from now on, neither can he. Sylar leaves, and Sandra and Lyle return home to find Claire crying, still with dried blood on her forehead.
In his office at Yamagoto Industries in Japan, Hiro Nakamura tells Ando that he is bored without a quest. A video message from Kaito Nakamura is delivered to his office, which tells Hiro to never open Kaito's safe, which holds a secret. Hiro immediately opens the safe, and finds another video, with Kaito repeating that he was not supposed to open the safe. Hiro finds one half of a molecular formula, which gets stolen by a blur before he can comprehend what it means. Hiro stops time to see that the blur is a trail left by a woman with superspeed. She moves at normal speed while time is stopped, and comments that Hiro did not stop time completely. She hits him in the face and leaves with the formula as time resumes. Hiro jumps to the future to see how the world is destroyed. He sees Japan in a panic, and himself talking to Ando, arguing about the formula. Future Hiro yells at Ando saying that Ando betrayed him. Future Hiro is ready to strike with his sword, when Ando shoots what appears to be red electricity at Hiro, apparently killing him. Ando takes the formula from Hiro's body and walks away. The sky opens up and the world starts exploding, and Hiro jumps back to the present.
Maya and Mohinder Suresh are at his apartment and he realizes that powers are controlled by the adrenal glands. Mohinder thinks he has isolated something that controls powers, and could give powers to anybody. Maya says the powers are a curse, and asks him to destroy the formula. On the docks, Mohinder considers throwing away the syringe with the formula. Instead, he injects himself, and collapses. Two muggers attempt to accost Mohinder as he lays semiconscious on the ground. However, he exhibits superhuman strength, repelling them. In the background, there is a giant painting of the Earth exploding from the inside. In the closing scenes of the episode, Mohinder narrates the William Butler Yeats poem "The Second Coming", the title's namesake.
Matt wakes up in the desert, with no one in sight. As he walks across the desert, he stops in front of a rock where the picture of the earth exploding is painted, identical to the one behind Mohinder.
Production
"Villains" was originally designed to be included within the second season; however, due to the writers' strike, the volume was carried over into season three. The lead-in to "Villains" showed Sylar regaining his lost powers, shown as the final scene of the "Generations" finale. Tim Kring has said that the new volume will bring a cadre of villains to the show, hence the title.[1] On December 5, 2007, at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival, Tim Kring showed a video-preview of volume three.[2] According to an interview with Allan Arkush, filming for season three began on May 1, 2008.[3] On May 9, 2008, a season three promo clip was released with hints at possible "inner villains" within the heroes. The promo stated, "In every hero there could be a villain," before plastering the words "hero" and "villain" over the face of every major character. Finally, during the featured Heroes panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the entire first hour of the first episode of the "Villains" arc was shown.[4]
In July NBC began airing a teaser for season three featuring Noah Bennet talking to Claire stating, "Since before you were even born, I was finding these people and locking them away so that they couldn't hurt anybody. Now a dozen of them have escaped, and they will kill...and they will terrorize...and they will conspire...and they will cause...unimaginable destruction to the world...they're villains, Claire," while a montage of clips play.[5]Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar, has stated that the Villains story arc will last for thirteen episodes.[6]
Critical reception
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2008, Kring screened the first part of "The Second Coming", which received a positive response from fans.[7]
Robert Canning of IGN felt that "The Second Coming" was "like a wasted opportunity". He saw the most noticeable difference between this episode and the last season as "the quick pacing", and found the revelation of Nathan's would-be assassin to be "the best part of the episode". He hoped that the Petrellis would continue to get focus, and questioned the choices made by Hiro and Mohinder, saying that their actions did not seem to reflect anything they would have learned from their past experiences. Canning said that although "The Second Coming" was "not exactly the second coming[,] it may well turn out to be a solid start to a season of redemption".[8]
Mohinder Suresh is a fictional character on the NBC drama Heroes who is portrayed by actor Sendhil Ramamurthy. He is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and is a genetics professor at the University of Madras. Mohinder is attempting to find the truth behind the sudden death of his father, Chandra Suresh, and to continue his father's research of finding "superhuman" beings on Earth. In character, Suresh also provides many episodes with opening or closing dialogue, general philosophical musings in relation to the events that occur during the episode.
Sylar is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other superhumans in order to steal their powers. He served as the primary villain of the first season and then as a recurring antagonist. Over the course of seasons 2, 3 and 4, the writers depicted Sylar attempting at various times and under different circumstances to become a hero or curb his desire to kill, undergoing relapses at various stages. In the series' penultimate episode he experienced over three years of penitence in a mental prison, and later identifies himself as a hero in what became the show's series finale due to cancellation.
"Four Months Later..." is the first episode of the second season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. The episode was written by Tim Kring and was directed by Greg Beeman. It originally aired on September 24, 2007. It was presented on iTunes on September 9 in HD and standard quality for free.
"Truth & Consequences" is the tenth and penultimate episode of the second season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. It aired on November 26, 2007. On its initial airing, it received 11.89 million viewers.
"Powerless" is the 11th and final episode of the second season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and thirty-fourth episode overall. It was written by co-executive producer Jeph Loeb and directed by executive producer Allan Arkush. The episode aired on December 3, 2007, as the conclusion of the "Volume 2: Generations" storyline. It is also the final episode of Heroes that was ready for broadcast prior to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and acted as the season finale pending the resolution of the dispute.
"I Am Become Death" is the fourth episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Aron Eli Coleite and directed by David Von Ancken. The episode originally aired on October 6, 2008. The title is a reference to a phrase from the Bhagavad Gita and was famously quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer; "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
"The Butterfly Effect" is the second episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and thirty-sixth episode overall. It was written by series creator/executive producer Tim Kring and directed by Greg Beeman. The episode aired on September 22, 2008 immediately after "The Second Coming" as part of the three-hour premiere event.
"Eris Quod Sum" is the seventh episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and forty-first episode overall. The episode aired on October 27, 2008. "Eram quod es, eris quod sum" is a Latin phrase that is often found on gravestones and translates as "I was what you are, you will be what I am".
"It's Coming" is the ninth episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and forty-third episode overall. The episode aired on November 17, 2008.
"The Eclipse" is a two-part episode, consisting of the tenth and eleventh episodes of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. The first part aired on November 24, 2008, and the second part aired on December 1, 2008.
"Dying of the Light" is the sixth episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and fortieth episode overall. The episode aired on October 20, 2008.
"Dual" is the thirteenth episode and mid-season finale of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and forty-seventh episode overall. The episode aired on December 15, 2008, as the conclusion to the "Volume 3: Villains" storyline. The episode, which was originally titled "War", is the final episode of the "Villains" story arc, and was the last episode to be written and produced by Jeph Loeb prior to his departure from Heroes in November 2008.
"Our Father" is the 12th episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. The episode aired on December 8, 2008.
"Villains" is the eighth episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and forty-second episode overall. Instead of the usual title screen with the show's name it uses a similar screen, replacing the word "Heroes" with the episode's name.
"A Clear and Present Danger" is the 14th episode and mid-season premiere of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and 48th episode overall. It aired on February 2, 2009. The episode is the beginning of Volume 4: "Fugitives". It marks the first time a season of Heroes has contained more than one volume. Originally, season two was planned to consist of three volumes, but was reduced to one volume due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
"Building 26" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the superhero drama series Heroes and fiftieth episode overall. The episode aired on February 16, 2009 on the NBC network in the United States, its country of origin. The episode was written by Rob Fresco and was directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan.
"Turn and Face the Strange" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and fifty-sixth episode overall. The episode aired on April 6, 2009.
"An Invisible Thread" is the twenty-fifth and final episode of the third season of the NBC superhero drama series Heroes and fifty-ninth episode overall. The episode aired on April 27, 2009. It marked the end of the Fugitives volume, as well as its 2008-2009 season run. It ended with a brief introduction to the next volume, entitled Redemption.
The NBC superhero serial drama series Heroes follows the lives of people across the globe who possess various superhuman powers as they struggle to cope with their everyday lives and prevent foreseen disasters from occurring. The third season premiered on September 22, 2008, and was released on DVD on September 1, 2009.
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