Welcome to our eighth Heroes Round Table.

While fans of the show gather in the forums to discuss every character and story line, our staff comes together every week to analyze the latest developments from the latest episode.

Topics in this edition include: Bob vs. Adam; Alejandro vs. Maya; and missing Heroes. Let’s get to the Q&A…

Less trustworthy: Bob or Adam?
A. Hiro: Bob. I could never say a negative word about anyone with an accent. Russell Crowe and Anna Friel, I’d trust you with my life.

Milover: Bob. Adam’s got nothing on this guy. Part Dick Cheney and part Cisco Adler, Bob is as shady as they get. We’ve always been aware of the shade factor when it comes to Bob, but his interactions with Peter last night showed us his diabolical side like never before. Plus, he’s got mysterious, lightning-hurling blondes working for him. Bastard.

Timex: I’m gonna go with Bob. Adam is much more charming and has earned my trust.

Which twin annoys you more: Alejandro or Maya?
Milover: Maya. I think we get it, Heroes. Maya cries. People die. The black tears - a nice, freakish and symbolic touch. Over and over and over again. Well done. Cool idea, okay? Are you happy now that you have our praise? Good. Now do something else with Maya, for the love of God.

Timex: Definitely Alejandro. Maya has possibly the deadliest power we’ve seen on Heroes yet. I love the fact they brought her on and can’t wait to see what Sylar does with it when he gets his powers back. Alejandro is just a lame antidote.

A. Hiro: Maya. Your tears kill people. Stop crying.

Which absent main character did you miss the most last night?
Timex: I miss Noah Bennet. I think the episode “Four Months Ago” should have focused on the Bennet’s move. Did they hire a moving company? Did HRG rent a U-Haul to save some bucks? Can we watch his interview at the Copy Kingdom? How did he qualify for a mortgage on such a nice house on a Copy Kingdom salary?

A. Hiro: Hiro. I wanna believe he’s fully back from lame, romantic mode and ready to fulfill his world-saving destiny again. Guess I’ll need to wait a week to find out for sure.

Milover: Claire. I love the ensemble cast (particularly Milo topless) but it’s just not Heroes without Hayden Panettiere, I’m afraid.

As readers continue to fill our Heroes forum with thoughts on last night’s episode, Kristin at E! Online reveals the following spoiler for future episodes.

When asked if Maya and Sylar will become romantically involved, or if Sylar will murder the troubled Mexican, the television critic responds:

Sylar and Maya are most definitely headed toward coupledom, with him using her and her abilities as a shiny new toy. While this sucks for her, it will mean a shirtless Zachary Quinto scene very soon, and for that I say: God bless you, Tim Kring.

As for your other question, it might not be an either/or situation. I’m just sayin’, who’s to say he can’t do both!?

So fans might get a chance to see Zachary Quinto AND Milo Ventimiglia shirtless? Could you handle that, ladies?

So, did “Four Months Ago” live up to the hype?

We loved the closing sequence, where it was quickly laid out just how Peter arrived in his modern-day situation (i.e. the passport, Haitian necklace, etc.), but felt like a majority of the episode was boring and drawn out. A lot of Peter just lying around in a prison bed.

Do you agree? Let us know right now at our Heroes forum.

Also, if you missed any part of the episode, refresh your memory with our detailed recap. It’s full of Heroes quotes and photos from the hour.

It’s the episode we’ve all been waiting for.

After they saved New York to close season one, what happened to our Heroes?

We’ll post a detailed episode guide after “Four Months Ago” airs tonight. In the meantime, talk about it now at our Heroes forum.

As we sit and pray that the writers’ strike comes to an end soon, we wanted to share the following interview with Adrian Pasdar.

The Heroes star spoke with TV Guide about tonight’s big episode, along with how the season has shaped up so far…

TVGuide.com: This week, we’re going back four months ago to see what happened after the gang defeated Sylar. Can you tell us how Nathan and Peter survived?
Adrian Pasdar: We filmed this stuff a month or six weeks ago, and we spent a lot of time about 30 feet above the cement floor of Stage 7. It’ll knock your socks off — in fact, it did knock one of my shoes off, during the stunt. It picks up right where the finale left off, and there’s a good deal of explanation as to what’s been happening, why I see that face in the mirror periodically.

TVGuide.com: Nathan has gone through a major change — last season he was so fixated on his public image, and now his priorities have clearly shifted.
Pasdar: The events that happened between the finale of last year and the beginning of the season this year altered his perspective on who he was and his ability to impact people around him. He lost his way a little bit — he had more of an inner search for what was important, and he ends up losing all the things that he held very close to him. It’s an attempt for him to regain not only the elements of his past but what the pieces are that made up who he was.

All of those things kind of got fractured in the finale — they exploded, in a way. [Laughs] I’ve missed working with Milo Ventimiglia — our paths have been divergent, have been separate. But we do get back together in the last few episodes that we’ve filmed. They’re a reunion of sorts.

TVGuide.com: Anybody in the cast you’d like to work with but haven’t had a chance to yet?
Pasdar: I’ve worked with just about everybody except for Jack [Coleman, who plays Noah Bennet, aka HRG] — one of the guys I have a great relationship with but unfortunately I’m not able to have much screentime with. In fact, we share a daughter [Claire]. He’s probably the only one, other than James Kyson Lee [who plays Ando].

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As always, thank you to everyone who replied to this week’s Heroes Caption Contest.

Shady West and cute Claire gave people plenty of funny material, but there can only be one winner. And that honor goes to “ShaGroE” this week.

Look below the picture to see why this user name made us laugh so hard. And don’t forget to come back and play every week…

Eww, did you honestly download “My Hero is You” by Hayden Panettiere. Dear god that girl has no musical talent. 

This is your chance to meet both Kristen Bell and Hayden Panettiere.

The Heroes stars will be appearing at the 2007 National Big Apple Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo convention. These young actresses will be two of the countless celebrities greeting fans and taking pictures.

Pricing Info and Dates
Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door.
DATES: Friday – Sunday – November 16, 17, 18
Fri. 1pm-8pm, Sat. & Sun. 10am-7pm
PLACE: Penn Plaza Pavilion, 401 7th Ave. @ 33rd St.
(across from Madison Square Garden)
TICKETS: $20 per day @ door/$18 in advance/3 day pass - $40
INFORMATION: Advance tickets & information (201) 861-1414

Monday looks to be the biggest Heroes episode of the season. Titled “Four Months Ago,” it will review how our favorite characters ended up where we found them to begin season two.

Here’s the official preview:

When the clock turns back four months for all of the Heroes, Nathan pays a terrible cost for his heroic actions. While Peter survives his detonation over New York City, the Company “bags” him as a threat to the world, eventually leading to violent confrontation with Elle (Kristen Bell) and the Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis).

D.L. (Leonard Roberts) makes the ultimate sacrifice for Niki (Ali Larter) and Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey). Maya (Dania Ramirez) horrifically manifests her dark powers for the first time, driving her and Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) to America for help.

A mysterious, yet familiar face is introduced.

Our friends at BuddyTV recently spoke to Greg Grunberg about how Heroes is dealing with the current writers strike. Here’s what the actor had to say:

The writers’ strike is fresh in everyone’s minds. How is that affecting Heroes and the production?
Well, it’s interesting, we got a really early jump on the season, the writers did at least, we were way ahead which is a really good thing for awhile. But as you know in TV, as soon as the episodes start airing, it quickly catches up to you.

We had a couple extra scripts but now we’re pretty much caught up and I hope this thing gets resolved very quickly because we all want to get back to work.

We’re still shooting, but we have another couple weeks and then we go down because the writers don’t have any finished. You know, they have, basically a break-down and some outlines of the next few scripts, but nothing complete enough for us to keep shooting.

It’s frustrating because we’ve been on such a roll this year, especially right now with all the stories, you know. It’s a shame, I hope it gets resolved quickly.

Next week is the flashback to four months ago.
Right, right, right. Which is so cool. I love that we do that on our show, especially because people have been waiting. They’re like, “I don’t understand! What?” There’s some major looming questions that I think people have. We were, I think, possibly better at it last year at answering all these questions early on.

I think it’s taken a little longer this year, over the course of more episodes to answer some questions, but everything will be answered as far as, how did they get from that explosion at Kirby Plaza to where they are, when we started four months later. A lot of those questions, almost all of them, are answered next week.

Click here to read the full interview.

Tim Kring is doing damage control. The Heroes creator recently spoke to TV Guide and actually acknowledged mistakes made in season two, while responding to questions from fans.

We’re impressed. Here’s the interview:

Will Mohinder ever have a power?
Not likely. “He’s Mr. Science and was conceived to be the one guy in this vortex who does not have special abilities,” Kring said. “We have no plans to change that.”

Which is fine with Sendhil Ramamurthy:

“I’d be sorely disappointed if I got a power at this point — it would just be weird. But I wouldn’t mind turning out to be the puppet master of this whole thing.”

Will Hana (Stana Katic) ever be seen again? What about Claude (Christopher Eccleston)?
Though Israeli freedom fighter Hana died in outer space in a Heroes graphic novel last spring, her consciousness survives. “We will see her again on the show at some point,” promised co-executive producer Jeph Loeb. But invisible man Claude? That’s trickier.

“We wanted Christopher back this season because he’s so integrated into the mythology of our show, not only because he was Peter’s mentor but also because of his connection to HRG,” said Kring. “But it probably won’t work because of his schedule — he’s too in demand.”

Why didn’t Isaac warn HRG about the painting that predicted his death?
“Isaac was in a drug-addled fugue state when he created his paintings,” Kring said. “There could also be a moral dilemma in telling someone they’re going to die. If you had the ability to know the circumstances of your death, would you want that information?”

Loeb tosses us another option: “If you go back and look at Isaac’s last day, there is an implication that he painted a lot more that day. This is a device we may return to. There may be even more Isaac paintings out there.”

What the hell is Niki’s power, anyway?
“We thought this was very clear on the air,” Loeb said. “Niki’s power is the same as her alternate personality Jessica’s: unbelievable strength. They’re the same person. Niki discovered her special ability through her split personality, but it was always her ability.”

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