From Joanna Weiss at the Boston Globe:

A new season of "Heroes" begins, and everybody gets new hair!

Claire has moved to California, but left her curling iron back in Texas. Her dad, HRG, is an assistant manager at Kinko's, which apparently pays well enough to live in a fabulous house. Nathan never got to Congress, got divorced, and still hasn't shaven his breakup beard.* A Mexican woman joins the cast and makes people bleed from their eyes. Hiro discovers that his Japanese hero is an Englishman. (That's Sark, to you "Alias" fans.) Ando tries to save Commander Sulu, but doesn't make it in time. Matt Parkman is divorced and mind-reads his way through the NYPD exam. Peter has lost his cowlick and traded place with Jack Bauer. Nikki is nowhere to be found, but appears to be coming in future episodes. Shucks.

Overall assessment: Kinda stupid, kinda fun. Other opinions welcome.

(* see the season premiere of "How I Met Your Mother." Which I adored. It's great to be in the company of old friends.)

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I also thought those were the worst Irish accents this side of Angel.

Oh hell yes. Good grief. The lucky charms leprechaun is better.

I think Ando and Saito had been waiting 4 months for Hiro in the current timeline. I'm unclear how long Hiro has been in the past. I'm not sure it matters depending on when Hiro comes back to the current timeline.

Papa Petrelli, IMO, did not kill himself. I think there is enough doubt around this to argue that he perhaps was murdered.

...or that he's the murderer...

Remember that when Hiro went back a year, he was gone for several(?) days in the present timeline -- so 4 months for several hundred years seems a bargain, really.

Also: you definitely can change the past in the Heroes 'verse, but it's not easy. And sometimes you're actually making the past more like you thought it was, thinking that you are changing things for the better.

Timeline changing: not for the wibbly.

FWIW: My roommate, she of many Irish relatives and trips to the Ol' Sod, thought the lead guy's accent was authentic, just not one that we hear a lot of.

FWIW: My roommate, she of many Irish relatives and trips to the Ol' Sod, thought the lead guy's accent was authentic, just not one that we hear a lot of.

Yeah, the accents sounded real to me, too, and I've spent a bit of time in Ireland.

Can't help but be reminded of Doyle on "Angel," with my wife complaining about his accent and me being there going, "Uhm, he's really Irish, honey. That's his real accent."

And I think it's inevitable that Hiro will become his own hero..

I think that Hiro will take over the persona of what'shisface so that the legends are true. He's the one who will marry the swordsmith's daughter. Which will be very complicated, I think. Oh, wait, I'm sure she'll get killed.

See, I think Hiro will indeed be his own grandpa, but I'm pulling for the swordsmith's daughter to be the one doing the legendary asskicking.

Not because Hiro can't, or because of any evidence at all, really, but I just want her to.

I'm pulling for the swordsmith's daughter to be the one doing the legendary asskicking.

Somehow this is reminding me of that lovely young armor-maker in Knight's Tale that I kept thinking was a) going to kick ass and b) going to marry Heath Ledger, but instead he ended up with that horrible low affect princess!

I sort of miss the sweet cute girl that Hiro met in the diner who died. What I really want is for Hiro to be a viable romantic interest, not just cute Asian geek dude. Of course, I still want Peter and Claire to not be related, so...

Oh, noes, it's another one of Nathan's bastage children flying around, sending incest vibes to Claire (she seems to attract them, huh?)

Bwah! But do powers breed true, or is it a coincidence? Until the end, I thought that kid might actually be Peter watching over Claire from deep cover, having picked up chameleon powers along the way.

Well, that was interesting. Any theories on what, exactly, Maya's power is--other than "don't scare me or people die"?

Projective Ebola? Blue glove rays?