So I’m starting to be really glad I’ve stuck with Heroes: the pacing’s been getting better and they seem to finally be done explaining who everyone is. I like that they saved the reveal about Eden’s power until a couple of weeks ago. (Oh, and I was so psyched that I finally figured out who the actress, that I’d been calling “Rachel Bilson II,” is: Nora Zehetner, the femme fatale from Brick! How I figured it out: we watched Heroes and then we were watching something old on TCM, and this girl had a feathery hat, just like Nora Zehetner had at the end of Brick! I am a genius.) Anyway, it’s really been getting good. The six-months-ago story about Hiro and the waitress was totally heartbreaking, but not as much so as this week, when Claire realized that Zach’s memory had been erased, and her dad might be evil. Zach taping Claire jumping off that height was one of the things that started the series and it was used pretty constantly in the promotion. As an iconic moment, I think it’s up there — it’s like their entire arc just…disappeared. It’s really sad, but awesome from a storytelling perspective. The Claire and Hiro stories have been the interesting ones from the get-go though. (I also think the Greg Grunberg-Clea Duvall arc remains interesting, probably because I like Greg Grunberg and Clea Duvall.) The others? There are things that could improve.

1) Daddy Issues + Science = Boring! Look, I think Mohinder’s really hot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t usually get up to get food during his scenes. I get that the show is drawing on comic books, and you need to explain why all these people have mysterious powers, but so far we’ve pretty much established the evolution thing and Mohinder’s been not adding much else to the story for a long time now. I think probably something will come of this whole list, but did we need the young Indian spirit guide boy with the soccer ball from a few weeks back?

2) There’s something wrong with the Niki story. Mainly, I can’t make myself care about it. I don’t think it’s the acting, Ali Larter’s done a pretty credible job of making it clear when Niki’s Niki and when she’s Jessica, and I even like the kid okay. Maybe it’s just because Niki’s so damned depressing: she always looks worn-down and apologetic, all the time. She never gets to have any other emotions. Also, I’m not totally clear how having a split personality (stemming from Daddy Issues) is a “special power” in line with reading people’s minds, bending the space-time continuum, flying, painting the future, being able to heal instantly from any wound, or similar.

3) Shut up, Peter. (And get a haircut while you’re at it). I know Peter’s supposed to be one of our key “everyman” characters, who we’re following as he slowly puts together what his special powers mean, but mostly his character comes out as a (really annoying) self-pitying martyr. This is partly the writing and (I think) partly that Milo Ventimiglia just isn’t as naturaly charming a performer as a Hayden Panetierre or a Masi Oka. Maybe this will change now that he’s learned that he’s the thing what explodes, or maybe this will make him even more of a self-important martyr. With Daddy Issues.

In conclusion: I think maybe Tim Kring has Daddy Issues.