Reviewed by maroon5gurl88 on Wed November 4, 2009

Oh Heroes, this episode showed a glimpse of your former glory...mainly because it focused on events that made season one the epic season it is. This episode was all the things we loved about the series, but a bitter reminder of its failures and how this season just is not equal to what the show started out as. We learned some amazing things, even if we had some massive continuity errors, and got to return to a sweeter, simpler time in the show.

Hiro returns to Texas to save Charlie, the loveable waitress Hiro fell in love with that was one of Sylar's early victims. In attempting to save her, and keep the space-time continuum on the right track, he bargains with Sylar to save Charlie's life. Meanwhile we learn about Noah's almost-romance with a fellow agent named Lauren, and discover some early father/daughter time with Claire. Samuel is forced to take drastic measures in order to right some wrongs and needs Hiro's help, by any means necessary.

The strongest aspect was the return to Charlie and all the events from that time in season one. Hiro and Charlie was, and remains, the sweetest and most endearing romance the series has had and the return of Jayma Mays (who spends her time singing on Glee now) was a breath of fresh air. Their interactions were nothing short of adorable and they have such a strong chemistry between them. Hiro reciting the haiku as Sylar attempts to remove Charlie's aneurysm, Charlie giving the paper crane to Hiro and telling him she loves him, all so sweet and watching Hiro break down when he discovers Samuel's kidnapping plot was heartbreaking. While this did bring up the whole Caitlin lost in time plot with Peter from a few seasons back, it was a strong acting performance from Masi Oka and it'll be interesting to see if the writers milk the plot for all they can, or end it by the season finale. Hopefully Mays is willing to come back and do a suitable closing to the plot line. Sylar had a somewhat smaller presence this episode but he was nothing short of bad-ass, with his comments on pancakes and loving his brief time as a doctor. The great thing is going back after all we've discovered about Sylar and contrasting that with a time when the group didn't even know what he looked like. That leads us to Noah and his relationship with Lauren, played by Elisabeth Rohm. Their relationship was unique since there was never any indication of Noah as being adulterous, but watching him struggle with the concept of cheating was fascinating. Should he give in and benefit from having someone he doesn't have to lie to and who understands his work, or live a lie and keep his family intact? It's a level of complex storytelling the series doesn't delve into as strongly and it was so fun to follow that journey. Noah also had a tender moment with Claire, revealing his past dream of being an English teacher. Who knew, or even expected, Noah Bennett to bust out some Shakespeare? Samuel also showed his manipulative nature more overtly with his abduction of Charlie to gain Hiro's help. We also learned his motive, to right wrongs that would make him look evil to the other members of the carnival. Samuel fears the carnival for some reason, maybe his political side is taking over, and who expected his connection to Mohinder who will be making his first appearance this season.

The only issue is the logic gaps that came from shifting time and forgetting some crucial story elements. If Noah and Lauren are partners does that mean she has an ability, the whole “one of them, one of us” concept? And how does Noah not know what Sylar looks like since we learned in the season with Elle, that Noah and her monitored Gabriel Gray with videos for months beforehand? This comes from returning to past elements but they are pretty big story gaps.

Overall a strong and entertaining episode, but bittersweet in that the actual running storyline this season is nowhere near as strong and amazing as season one. This should take the show in a new direction since events have been changed, but I'm a bit sad to return to the present. This week gets a healthy 4/5.