"Heroes" has gotten a bum rap in its sophomore season. Ratings are in the toilet (reportedly down 3 million viewers from last year) and critics and viewers alike are bashing it for its slow, plodding pace and a rash of new characters. I think they're kind of crazy. I'm not saying that the show hasn't had some problems this season, but if any show was doomed for a sophomore slump, it was poor "Heroes." With very little initial hype it quickly became NBC's darling last season, a buzz show for a network desperately in need of some buzz. And since our cynical culture loves nothing more than to build something up only to rip it down, well, this was inevitable. But I honestly don't think the first half of Season 2 was paced any differently than the first half of Season 1, and when you look at the cast with all its additions and subtractions, we've probably got the same number of characters we've always had.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that last night's episode will shut everyone up. The past couple installments have been pretty great, actually, but last night's filled in all the gaps between the first season finale and the second season premiere, which jumped to the future by about four months. Among the revelations:

- Nathan was severely burned by the radiation emitted by Exploding Peter when he flew him away from New York. That explains those bizarre visions Nathan has been having all season in which he looks like Two-Face from Batman.

- DL survived Linderman's bullet and he, Nikki, and Micah tried to settle into happy family life. But after Nikki stopped taking her psych meds (prescribed to her by The Company) a NEW personality, Gina, emerged and took control. "Gina" fled to party it up in LA, and after DL showed up to bring her back, he was promptly shot by "Gina"'s sleazebag coke supplier. And that's how he died, and explains why Nikki would leave Micah with his grandmother while she went to The Company to get "cured."

- After exploding, Peter ultimately saved crispy critter Nate from falling to his death and dropped him off at a hospital, where Peter was summarily captured by Electric Elle and Bob the Company Man. Bob preyed on Peter's fears of losing control and convinced him that he should stay at their "facility," since The Company is very close to developing a cure for super powers. Peter bites, and he strikes up a kinky S&M-ish relationship with Elle, who brings him his daily dose of power-inhibiting pills. We learn more about Elle, who is seriously screwed up in the head, and I kind of love her now. (I'm still not convinced that Kristen Bell was the right choice for this role, but she's growing on me.)

- While in his cell at The Company's facility, Peter meets his cell neighbor, Adam Monroe, a.k.a. the samurai Hiro was farting around with in feudal Japan. Due to his healing powers Adam apparently never ages and is immortal. He's also a clever bastard, and he slowly but surely manipulates Peter into busting the two of them out of the facility. They go to Nate's hospital room, Adam injects just a bit of his blood into Nathan's IV drip, and pow! Nathan heals up, good as new. But then Elle, Bob, and the Haitian Sensation track down Adam and Pete. Adam hands Pete his ticket to Montreal, his passport (where the hell did he get that?), and tells him to meet him in a warehouse. Peter gets shot by Elle's electricity, setting fire to his clothes and causing him to go shirtless. Haitian Sensation traps him in a cargo hold (right by a hospital? Where the hell is this?), mind wipes him in an effort to give Peter a fresh start, and locks him in the bin. And that's how Peter ended up shirtless and memory-less in Ireland. So I guess we can blame Haitian Sensation for that insufferable storyline.

So a lot was answered, but as always, more questions emerged. Some observations:

- It's interesting that Haitian Sensation was just fine when he took down Peter in this episode, a scene that supposedly took place one week prior to the beginning of Season 2. And yet in the second episode of the season, he was crazy sick with the virus that strips supers of their powers and eventually kills them. That means it comes on awfully fast. It's also notable that the two people we know that have had the virus-Molly and Haitian-were both in the care of The Company at some point. And Nikki just intentionally injected herself with the virus found in Company offices last week, and Bob wanted to inject Monica with the same. Is The Company behind Molly and Haitian getting the bug? Are there specific supers they're trying to take out? Molly, Haitian, and Monica all have powers that could be very useful in taking out someone like, say, The Big Bad.

- Who is almost certainly Adam. It just makes sense. It's clear now that he's the person who killed Hiro's father earlier this season; remember how the assailant was mysteriously missing from the ground after he pushed the two of them off the roof? Well if you have super healing abilities, that's not too difficult. And Adam would have just escaped from The Company's facility and started his quest for revenge on Hiro and the Super Parents group that betrayed him. Hiro's dad unfortunately fell into both groups. I'm still unclear how he got Parkman's dad to get in on the dirty work, but I guess we'll find out soon.

- The power-inhibiting pills Elle was giving to Peter make me think that perhaps that's why Sylar's powers aren't working. Remember, Candice had been tending to him in the Mexican jungle. And Candice was most certainly part of the Company. It makes sense that The Company would want Sylar locked down, but also far enough away from Peter-and Adam-so as to not be a bigger threat. Peter's powers came back roughly a week or so after he stopped taking the pills (I believe). I wonder how long before Sylar's return?

Lastly, a theory. Bob seems intent on getting Claire's blood as a "cure" for the virus. I suspect that mixing Claire's healing factor with the virus leads to a super-virus that can cross over into the general population, which leads to the death of 93 percent of the human population Peter saw while in the future. I'm glad that this virus thing looks to be wrapping up in the next three episodes (if NBC's teasers are to be believed) because I'm kind of sick of it already. It's such an odd plot point-I can see the Company wanting to develop something that inhibits people's powers, but if they have pills that work, why bother creating a virus? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway, onward.