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The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the first two episodes of Season 3 of NBC?s "Heroes."

Monday?s double dose of "Heroes" proved to be powerful medicine. Like any drug, it had both good results and a few unwanted side-effects. I'm happy to say, though, that "Heroes" is back, and it's a welcome return.

So, what did we learn in the two jam-packed episodes that begin "Villains," the third volume of "Heroes?" There was so much information it's difficult to sort it all out, so let me see if I can simplify it a bit.

Four years in the future, a leather-clad, dark-haired Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is poised to kill Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) to stop him from changing history. The future is disastrous for our heroes because now people with special abilities are being rounded up, imprisoned, and experimented on by people who fear them. Future Peter, however, escapes Claire's bullet, goes back into the past to stop Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) from coming out of the closet, and shoots him.

Shortly after that Present Peter somehow disappears and is trapped in the body of imprisoned super-villain Jesse (Francis Capra III).

In the present, Claire learns that Nathan has been shot and wants to help him, but Peter tells her not to come for him. Claire packs to go anyway, but then Sylar (Zachary Quinto) shows up gunning for Claire's power and there's nobody there to help her.

Sylar eventually overcomes Claire, opens up her skull, and takes what he needs from her brain without killing her. In this encounter, Sylar tells Claire that her brain Is "not like the others" and she "can never die." Now that Sylar has her power, neither can he.

Later, in part of the effort to protect his indestructible daughter, Noah Bennet enlists the help of Claire's fire starter birth mother (Jessalyn Gilsig).

In the meantime, Nathan is declared dead, but not for long. He inexplicably comes back to life, and now believes he's an angel or a messenger from God. He is also visited by Linderman, (Malcolm McDowell) who was last seen dead, and whom nobody else can see.

Is Nathan hallucinating or can he now speak to the dead? Is Linderman a ghost?

In Tokyo, Hiro (Masi Oka), now the CEO of Yamagato Industries, is bored and restless in his job. He wants to continue being a hero with a mission. Then, destiny knocks at his door, and Hiro is given his mission: a DVD with a recording of Kaito Nakamura (George Takei) on it.

Kaito tells Hiro he must be a sentinel of a great secret. Hiro has to keep this secret which is kept locked in a safe that should not be opened. Of course, Hiro opens the safe, and before he can figure out the half of a secret formula on the paper inside, it disappears into the hands of the Speedster (Brea Grant) ?- a young blonde woman who can run faster than the eye can see. Hiro follows her to get the paper back, but she knocks him out and disappears.

Hiro visits the future to see what the consequences of that loss might be. He finds himself in the middle of Tokyo in full-panic mode, and witnesses Ando (James Kyson Lee), now with Elle-like electric shock power, killing his future self, followed by the total destruction of the city (and possibly the world).

Hiro's glimpse of the future results in his loss of trust in Ando, and Ando is feeling it. Could it be that Super Ando will become evil? Is Ando good and Future Hiro evil? Could this be a consequence of miscommunication between two well-meaning friends?

Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy), who gets an idea about how people?s powers manifest from Maya (Dania Ramirez), finds a way to isolate what he believes causes them ?- and then injects himself with it. Shortly after, he appears to have developed into a hyper, libidinous, scary, six-pack-abbed monster with powers akin to Spider-Man and skin peeling to reveal ? scales?

Then there?s Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter), aide to Governor Malden (Bruce Boxleitner), who looks exactly like Nikki/Jessica, but appears to have ice queen powers. She turns the Greatest American Hero disguised as a reporter (William Katt) digging up dirt on her into an ice sculpture -?and seems genuinely shocked at the incident. I suspect that she is not Nikki/Jessica, but may be a twin conceived in the same petri dish but implanted in a different womb. That might be an explanation for the final reveal of the evening. (More on that later.)

Clearly Gov. Malden and Dead Linderman have a murky agenda for Born-again Nathan. When you put together people who think they speak for God with politicians and corporate moguls, you know trouble is coming!

Poor Elle (Kristen Bell)! Not only is she blamed by her abusive father, Director of Powered People Prison Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky), for Sylar's roaming free and the deaths of people he's killed, but she is later blamed by Mama Petrelli (Cristine Rose) for Bob's death at the hands of Sylar.

She is also blamed for freeing a slew of super-powered villains when, as Sylar was attacking her to open up her brain in what appeared to be an involuntary reaction out of self-preservation, Elle let off a burst of high-voltage electricity that shorted out the power in the entire complex ?- allowing the locks on the villains' cells to open.

Then sweet Mama Petrelli fired Elle, leaving her alone, abandoned, homeless, jobless, and still wounded by Sylar.

There was also some Matt Parkman action in the two episodes. Parkman, who, along with Present Peter, attempted to capture Nathan?s assailant, was sent by future Peter to a desert in Africa. After a brief scene where it appears a turtle may be talking to him, Matt encounters a man who has Isaac-like powers and has painted the future of Earth on a big rock. The painting shows Earth being torn apart by what appears to be the "godsend" symbol.

That same image shows up later on a wall in New York, near where Mohinder acquires his creepy new powers.

In the final reveal of the evening, Mama Petrelli has Sylar subdued and bound in Power People Prison, where she reveals to him that she is his mother. Either Mama P has gotten around, or there was some substantial petri dish action that she and others were in on some thirty-odd years ago.

What Worked

There was a lot to like about the two premiere episodes. The best moment was when Claire asks Sylar, who has opened up her skull "Are you going to eat my brain?" to which he responds "Claire, that?s disgusting!"

The momentary pairing of Elle and displaced Peter reunited "Veronica Mars" stars Kristen Bell and Francis Capra III. While the moment was brief, it teemed with the potential for reuniting the two actors, whose onscreen chemistry is, well, electric. I?m hoping the writers will find a way to fulfill that potential.

Peter is in some ways back in character, and seems more like the Peter from season one. While Future Peter's mode of operation may be suspect, he seems to be motivated by doing the right thing, as season one Peter was.

The same may be said for the interaction between Hiro and Ando. The comic chemistry between the two is back, even with the disturbing twist in their relationship. The potential for this story far surpasses Hiro being stuck in feudal Japan for frikkin? ever.

What Didn?t Work

Injecting his new discovery into himself seems out of character with the usually overly cautious Mohinder. It's feasible that even the most ethical of people may be tempted to seek out super powers given the opportunity, but I didn?t see enough of a progression in his character beforehand to lead to that moment. I'm willing to go along for the ride because I think the formula he came up with is the crucial factor in the entire story arc for ?Villains,? but the groundwork really wasn?t laid for Mohinder to take that leap.

I'm a bit ambivalent about Nathan?s new "I'm a messenger from God" thing. It has potential, but a story like this can go terribly bad if not carefully laid out. Still, it's too early to pass judgment on this one.

While I think this was meant to be humorous, and I put it both in the "good" and "bad" categories, the scene where Claire's mother (Sandra Bennett, not Fire Lass) is worried about Claire being sexually assaulted by Sylar as Claire?s bloodied scalp is still reattaching to her head was a big "What the f??" moment.

One of the other problems with the two episodes is that there are so many story threads going at once, I wonder if the writers will be able to keep up with them all. There are a lot of characters, with so many ambitious interlocking story lines, I fear some of the threads may be lost or come unraveled.

Overall, though, I'm thrilled to have "Heroes" back. It was a welcome change and one of the best television experiences for me in largely a lackluster year for TV. For those people poised to bash the opening of the third season, I can tell you that every one of my students in my Tuesday evening class watched it, including a couple of new viewers, and they all thought the show was "great" and "awesome." One woman new to the show said now she knows why it's so popular with her friends, and she can?t wait to see the next episode. Neither can I!

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"The Second Coming," the first episode of the third season of"Heroes," was written by Tim Kring and directed by Allan Arkush.

The second episode, "The Butterfly Effect," was also written by Tim Kring, and was directed by Greg Beeman.

"Heroes" airs on NBC, Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET.

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Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

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