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This review may contain spoilers.

“Heroes” kicked off its fourth season with a pair of episodes that provided little action, no clear direction for the season, and practically zero character development. In short, it was typical “Heroes." If you were one of those fans who hoped the series would recapture some of its freshman season magic, well, it looks like this year is going to be more of the same squandering of potential.

The first episode, "Orientation," was the stronger of the two, but that is a small compliment. Since the opener focused on the entire major character line-up, the stories were somewhat fragmented and plodded along slowly. There was far too much talk and precious little action or adventure; the buzz word of the day is redemption and that appears to be what everyone is seeking.

Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) has returned to life as a paramedic and is saving lives left and right and keeping a nice little wall of newspaper clippings about his heroic exploits. Meanwhile, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) open a “Dial a Hero” business that is as stupid as it sounds. Their first call requires them to rescue a cat, proving that the writers cannot come up with an idea that is original in any sense.

Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) refuses to use his powers for some reason that is never made clear. Who knows? Who cares? Though I like Grunberg enough as an actor, Parkman’s storyline has been pointless for years. Then there is Nathan (Adrian Pasdar), who is really Sylar (Zachary Quinto), who seems to be struggling with who he really is.

Claire’s (Hayden Panettiere) in College, and by the end of the episode, her roommate takes a dive out the dormitory window. Noah (Jack Coleman) reaches out to Tracey (Ali Larter), who has the best scene in the episode, fighting an assassin who slashes her repeatedly with a knife, but it goes right through her water-based frame. Luckily, the assassin had already killed Danko (Zeljko Ivanek), so we won’t have that loose thread to kick around this season.

While I would have like a more action packed season premier, “Heroes” at least focused on the characters we care most about, and only introduced a few new ones as a band of Carnival Workers. While this is yet another cliché in a cliché filled episode, the carnival scene actually seemed to work and provided an interesting introduction to the new characters, particularly Samuel (Rober Knepper).

I’m probably forgetting to mention something, but really, not much of value happened. This episode was so largely dependent on the second episode that it really is hard to review it in isolation. It’s a long season and this is just the beginning. Hopefully, the storyline will become clearer and the action will pick up in future episodes.

What Worked

Robert Knepper is a fine addition to the cast, as the carnie Samuel. It will be curious to see if he can pull off an entirely new character without evoking too many images of the horrific T-Bag he played in “Prison Break”.

Danko gets killed off, finally. I never liked the third season storyline and when I saw Zeljko Ivanek’s name in the credits, I was afraid it was going to be more of the same from last year. Though Ivanek is a very fine actor, it was hard to fathom his character having much room for growth. It was simply time to go in a new direction.

What Didn’t Work

Once again, Hiro and Ando have been reduced to comic relief. While their action weren’t nearly as silly as some of their low points last year, it is a shame to see these characters consistently made the focus of ridicule. The revelation that Hiro is dying is a significant development, but otherwise, this storyline provided nothing.

So Claire is in college now, still whining about wanting to be normal. Trips to college usually spell disaster for a series, and I expect Claire’s freshman season to be regularly interrupted. It’s a cliché that has been tried on many series and simply just hasn’t worked out in many of them.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Heroes" stars Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Masi Oka, and Milo Ventimiglia. “Orientation” was written by Tim Kring and directed by David Straiton.

"Heroes" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC.