When Heroes goes back in time, good things usually happen. Season 1’s “Six Months Ago” was a marvel of storytelling, weaving in backstory in a way that made audiences gasp. Tonight’s episode “Villains” didn’t quite reach those heights, but nevertheless made for an intriguing episode. Besides the stunning “Dying of the Light,” this was the best episode of Season 3. Talk about damning it with faint praise, but there you have it.

The nominal point of tonight’s episode was to provide Hiro with enough clues to take down the villains behind this season’s requisite end-of-the-world plot. His time in the past took him to three vignettes: the soap opera enacted by the Petrellis , the social experiment conducted by HRG, and the moral tightrope walked by Meredith Gordon. Let’s look at each in turn.

Petrelli Place

Ah, the operatic grandeur of the Petrelli clan. It’s tough being them: what with the power, the responsibility, the constant mindwipes of your spouse. What makes Arthur Petrelli truly a villain isn’t so much his plan to blow up NYC via Ted Sprague so much as his choice to only mindwipe the sole female in his clan. God forbid he try and “persuade” Nathan to drop the Linderman case; no, he orders that Nathan get taken out. That’s overkill more than eeeevvvvviiilllll.

Soon Angela’s a Stepford wife, one blissfully ignorant of her husband’s plan to off her favorite son not named Gabriel. But Linderman sought to give her her memories back, in a scene I thought at first was inconsistent until I realize his healing of her mind was nothing more than a power grab for Company control from a man who constantly put him down. Pretty sneak, Linderman.

But this scene also provided us (and hopefully Hiro) with the key to defeating Arthur: his power seems to work via brain scarring. That sounds like a horribly lame power to have until you realize that it work to either strip away memories or turn off powers. After all, while Season 3 desperately tries to midichlorian up its powers via adrenal glands, the show’s constantly established that the brain is the locus of power. So, this scene explained how Arthur took Adam and Peter’s powers in Pinehurst, and that it’s not a permanent state depending on the situation.

Monkey Business

I can’t decide if I love or hate the fact that HRG essentially created Sylar. In some ways, it points to the hubris of the Company, and I’m all for that. But on the other hand, it completely punks out HRG and I’m extremely not for that. So, if I have the timeline right: HRG observes him not like the guy observes the gecko in those Geico commercials, essentially creates the monster who constantly threatens his own daughter’s life, and then eventually partners up with him to fight evil. To quote Timon: aaaaand everyone’s OK with this?
Know what else I’m not for? That weird vibe when Elle brought over Goth Finger Gun to Gabriel’s apartment. Had this whole “I found this guy on Craigslist and I thought we could all party” vibe that was waaaaay out there. Didn’t help that both Elle and Gabriel seemed sexually excited by the destruction of Target’s finest dishwear, either.

In any case, HRG was playing the role of Jane Goodall, with Elle as his research assistant, and Gabriel was the chimpanzee. It’s HRG’s cold, clinical, almost scientific approach that made him so effective as an agent, and yet so ill-equipped to be a father. Course, we all know what happens later.

Hot Under the Collar

Oh Meredith. I want to like you, but clearly the show likes you more than I do. Because you showed up tonight, you are obviously involved in the final endgame of this season. But I think I’d rather have Micah involved more at this point than you. Also: I love me some Eric Roberts, but why did we spend a third of an episode learning how much she distrusts the Company if we know one year from now she’ll be…working for the Company?

As for Flint: I didn’t realize he was Sling Blade with a Blue Blaze, but there you have it. Perhaps her role is the neutralize him in the final battle by the power of BIg Sister. I did appreciate the nice touch of her causing the fire that spawned Claire’s first heroic act, but the rest will have to remain “wait and see” until I learn her final role in things.

***

Might sound like I didn’t enjoy it much, but the Petrelli-centric stuff was A-grade material. Really strong stuff there. The HRG/Elle/Gabriel material was interesting, but just too inconsistent if you think too much about continuity. As for the Meredith stuff…I’m willing to wait until the end of the volume before final judgement.

What did you think of tonight’s episode?