Heroes "Fugitive"

The first four episodes of Heroes: Volume Four are a welcome return to the series roots, despite recycling some plots. The overall plot has been simplified and characters writen/killed off which is only a good thing. A new villain in the form of "The Hunter", a government assassin whose conflict with Nathan will definitely spice things up.

Still there are a couple of annoyance. We have more Claire/Daddy(ies) issues to content with. On the upside Claire has already proven thus that she can finally stand up to her adopted dad by finally coming clean with her mum - thus having her pap getting kicked out of the family home. Personally I think it is finally time the writers kill off either Claire or HRG.

Anybody remember that incredibly annoying character called West? Well he hasn't been writen back in (thank you). However another equally annoying character has been introduced. Luke, whose known power is the ability to emit microwave beams, is Sylar's new 'best buddy'. Forcing himself into Sylar's 'road trip', Luke has consistently annoyed me (and judging by forums online, many others as well). He may be written in as a plot device, but that does not make me like him any more. Like West, I think the character will ultimately prove to be a pointless waste of time but I hope the writers will prove me wrong.

Finally I do not like how the writers are so reliant on Matt's precog painting ability as a Deux ex Machine device. In the first series, the whole paint the future plot was ambiguous. Instead now the heroes just use it as a reference to decide what to do next. Back in season one, Isaac Mendez's paintings were used as plot devices that allows the writers to fit everything in as the series progress - allowing for very clever storylines, but here... Ugh. Matt would occasional paint what would happen a minute or two later - which is a complete waste of screen time.

Despite all of these complaints, I am actually enjoying Heroes more than ever (anything is better than the previous two volumes). Looking forward to seeing how the heroes would deal with Nathan. And that Irish chick.