Heroes and the upcoming season finale

**SPOILERS LISTED BELOW**

Like most of my friends, I've become absolutely hooked on Heroes... Last night's episode was largely a "set-up" episode designed to get all the players into the right places prior to the bomb (or non-bomb as the case may be). However, there were some very interesting "revelations" and occurences.

New Dead Characters: Heroes writers are not shy about killing off characters. Last night saw the death of Lenderman, Thompson and Ted Sprague. There are other characters that are "on the chopping block" at the moment. D.L. Hawkins and Ando are both in trouble and Molly has a gun to her head at the moment. My guess is that none of them die but that's just a guess.

New Heroes: Molly was introduced last episode and we have strong implications that both of the Petrelli Parents have powers as well as Hiro's father. This "revolving door" of characters is clearly intended to keep the show fresh with new interactions for the core group (Peter, Claire, Hiro, Niki, Parkman). Also, NBC has announced a spin-off that will introduce new characters weekly with the viewers selecting the ones that will make it to the core show... interesting...

Resolution of plot threads: We've now had Suresh's backstory largely tied up and it appears that Niki and Jessica have (at least temporarily) resolved their issues. Nathan has definitively won the election (and with Lenderman dead he's free to do largely whatever he wants). We also now know what Sylar's goal is (become President) as well as some clues as to what is going to happen next week (surely a climactic Peter vs. Sylar confrontation).

New power twists: Most of the characters continue to grow more comfortable with their powers over time. D.L. demonstrates an aspect of his power that any comicbook fan could have guessed at but has never been hinted at on the show. Peter was able to make Claire invisible with him (an ability Claude never displayed). Peter is also getting more reflexive with his powers as well as better able to use them.

Questions unanswered:

• Who's going to blow up NYC: We've seen Peter control the radiation power so it seems entirely likely that Sylar is going to be the one to detonate the bomb. The only other possibility is that we have some mega-plot twist and it turns out to be neither of them but someone else (Terrorist, Plot by Lenderman, etc.). The corollary question to this is, "Will they actually stop the bomb?" to which I believe the answer is YES!
  
• Is D.L. going to die: I think this is highly unlikely. We know that in the future Sylar will (probably) kill D.L. Now obviously the future is mutable (witness the cheerleader being saved) but I'd bet that the next big turning point (the thing that keeps us from the "String Theory" future) is the events that stop the bomb next week. Also, if you pay attention to the previews, you see D.L., Niki, Micah and Molly all huddled together at some point in next week's episode.
• Is Jessica gone: This one is a bit muddier. I think we've seen a turning point in the Niki vs. Jessica saga but I would expect for the Jessica persona to appear again in a high stress moment.
• Is Sylar going to die: I personally think, "Yes", but its up in the air. My reasoning is that Sylar makes a somewhat staid and predictable villain. However, one of the things that's been largely left out, up to this point at least, is his "missing" powers. FBI agent Audrey indicates that he killed 8 (?) victims earlier in the series. We know one of them gave him his TK and one gave him his Cryokenesis. But that leaves several others. Some of those were probably "collateral damage" (remember the persons "forked" to the wall) but surely not all of them. It seems odd that they'd kill off Sylar without letting us in on the secret... Maybe he won't die in this episode but rather be put "on ice" to be brought back later (incarcerated, coma, etc.)
• What is Nathan going to do: This is a biggy. We know that in the future he blamed the bomb on Sylar (but it was actually Peter). This may indicate that the future has already been altered a little bit. We also know that he has a real dislike for Lenderman and a habit of playing both sides against the middle. I find it hard to believe that he's going to sacrifice his own brother and I'm inclined to think that he (along with Claire) are going to play big parts in helping Peter stop Sylar. Should be interesting though... Maybe the big change that's coming is that people see the fight and the world discovers that there's heroes out there but see three (including a newly elected congressman) fighting for good rather than a bomb go off for the forces of evil...
  

Ancillary plot threads: These are things that I've noticed and my wife and I have talked about but haven't really been brought out in the show.

• Was that really Ms. Petrelli telling Nathan to sacrifice Peter: Last week, it appeared that Nathan's mom was telling him that he needed to sacrifice Peter for the greater good. This seems somewhat out of character for the lady (though she has proven to be somewhat manipulative in the past). I'm inclined to think it was Candice and not Angela Petrelli. The other possibility was that she was telling Nathan something else and it was not what we assumed it to be (the writers kept the dialogue suspiciously non-specific).
• Where's the Haitian: Everyone else was carefully maneuvered into NYC last night. With the exception of the Haitian. He seems like a very useful person to have when fighting Sylar... Maybe that's the reason they didn't want him there (too easy a plot device?).
• Is Nathan really the son of the Petrelli's: I'm reading alot into the show here... But I thought it was interesting that EVERY 2nd generation hero has a pretty significant power "bump". Claire can heal from anything, Peter absorbs powers, Micah can make electronics do whatever he wants, Hiro can fold space/time. The exception here seems to be Nathan, whose powers appear to be more on par with the general 1st generation heroes (flight vs. phasing, hearing, melting things, strength, etc.). Certainly that is not a plot element they have focused on but it is an interesting trend with an interesting anomaly.
• Who were the other old generation heroes: Lenderman makes reference to allies... and the way he says it sure makes it sound like there's more than 3. We have pretty strong indications of Mr. Nakumora and Mr. and Mrs. Petrelli... But who are the others?
• Whose side is Mr. Nakumora on: This is a weird one. Claire's origin story clearly indicates a link between him and Lenderman (with a subtle tie in to the Petrelli's). Did their falling out occur AFTER that point? Or was their a falling out? Who are the people he's talking about who "lost their way"? We are really in the dark on who the players are for some of this.

Well... that's my (rather long and rambling) entry for Heroes... hope you enjoy.