If this is the last Heroes we're going to see for a good while, then well done: I'm going to care whenever the show does make its return.

We're a week away from the finale of book two of Heroes (and maybe the whole season -- who knows?), which means nearly everyone got to play this week. Despite a couple cringeworthy moments, things moved along at a pretty good clip, and we seem to be set up for a decent capper to this most uneven of half-seasons.

The prophecies of Isaac's last painting was fulfilled on Monday's Heroes, pretty much just as the late artist depicted. But, show of virtual hands, did anyone really think it was gonna stick?

At the newspaper I used to work at in Florida, one of my reporters and I developed a shorthand whenever we wanted to retract something: "Yeah, Apple-Z that," after the macro for "undo" on a Mac.

Those of you guessing that there was more to Takezo Kensei than a legend from feudal Japan, congratulations: Your subscription to this blog is comped for the rest of the season.

Monday's episode of Heroes was called "The Line," and I'm wondering if the show means "line" as in a thing you stand around in while waiting for something cool, because that's pretty much how I felt.

Another slightly pared-down episode of Heroes -- we were Claire- and Sylar-free and Hiro- and HRG-light this week -- made for another pretty satisfying hour of TV on Monday. I'm liking where this is starting to go.

Heroes narrowed its focus ever so slightly Monday -- even though yet another new character made her debut -- and the result was possibly the tightest episode this season. That's good.

The revelation that Sylar is alive, if not entirely well, in this week's Heroes was not exactly a revelation, thanks to the NBC promo department. You couldn't watch the network over the past five days without being assaulted with "America's favorite head-slicing creepshow is back!" promos.

Scene-setting is a tricky thing on television. It has to be done, of course; not everyone in the audience is as obsessed as folks like us, and without laying groundwork early decisions down the line won't make much sense.

Oh, how long was the summer of our geeky discontent, making do with dribs and drabs of news about casting on Heroes and little, disconnected spoilers from Comic-Con. No more, for season two began Monday night.