West and Claire are back next week. So are Sylar, Maya and Alejandro.

We're not sure how fans feel about those returns, but here's a look at the next Heroes episode, "The Line."

West (Nick D'Agosto) convinces Claire (Hayden Panettiere) to teach head cheerleader Debbie (guest star Dianna Agron) a lesson after she deems Claire too ordinary to join the squad.

Meanwhile Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) faces a serious moral dilemma with the Company, H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) pays his Russian mentor a visit in an effort to locate Isaac's last prophetic paintings.

Also, nearing the U.S. border, Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) becomes increasingly uneasy about Sylar's (Zachary Quinto) intentions, especially towards Maya (Dania Ramirez).

Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and Caitlin's (Katie Carr) search for a mysterious doorway he painted ultimately leads them to a surprising place.

In feudal Japan, while attempting to repair history, Hiro (Masi Oka) struggles with his feelings for Kensei's (David Anders) "princess" Yaeko (guest star Eriko Tamura).

We try to refrain from spreading too much Heroes gossip around here - preferring to stick to spoilers, episode guides and general series discussions - but we know some fans enjoy the following kinds of rumors.

According to In Touch Weekly, Milo Ventimiglia has purchased a gold Tiffany's ring for his alleged girlfriend... Hayden Panettiere.

An insider at the shady magazine says Milo gave Hayden an 18-karat yellow-gold ring - worth $1,950 - from the famed jewelers as a belated birthday present. She did turn 18 in late August, after all.

Reportedly, the ring is called Somerset Heart, features a woven band and a heart and is inscribed, "Sweet like Hayden."

Honestly, if these two are dating, we're gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the age difference is not as sordid as some might think.

Do you agree? Discuss now in our Permalink   Share  17 Comments

As Greg Grunberg explained - and then showed us with a series of homemade videos - the Heroes cast goofs around a lot on set.

And it hasn't taken newcomer Kristen Bell very long to catch on to the good-natured vibe. In the following funny pictures, Bell takes a break from portraying the evil character of Elle and makes us laugh with her expressions:

Our current poll question asks: Who is Elle's father?

Well, Michael Ausiello of TV Guide may have given us a hint about the answer.

In his latest Q&A with fans, the television critic wrote about Kristen Bell's character:

Her presence without a doubt gave the show a much-needed boost. And remember my hint in last week's [column] about a surprising familial connection coming to light between two characters? Well, it may or may not have something to do with the call that Elle made to her daddy at the end of last night's episode.

Sounds like this would give the edge to Mr. Bennet, doesn't it? Could he have adopted Elle along with Claire? Let us know what you think about this possibility.

Here's bad news for Heroes fans:

Monday night's terrible episode earned only a 6.3 rating/10 share according to Fast National Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

The series finished behind Dancing with the Stars and Samantha Who on ABC, as well as a block of sitcoms on CBS.

Do you think this has to do with the slow-moving story lines? Let us know in our Permalink   Share  1 Comment

Welcome to our fifth Heroes Round Table.

While fans of the show gather in the Hayden Panettiere the hottest underage girl in America until August? Come on. Last year, Hiro was a true Hero... and hilarious to boot! Now he's merely Samsonite in a bad romance novel. Bring back the Hiro we love!

Timex: Yes. Ever since he got there.

Who is Elle's father?
Milover: Bob from The Company. He's real shady, and the introduction of Elle, who tracks down Peter, is just the latest in a string of evil developments that can potentially be traced back to this dude. Which is hard to believe, if only because this actor was responsible for some classic Groundhog Day quotes back in the day as Ned... Ryerson!

Timex: I'm going to have to guess our good friend at the company, Bob.

A. Hiro: Mr. Bennet. I doubt this is actualy the case, but he appears to be the only interesting character remaining, so let's consider this a bit of wishful thinking.

Dumber move by Mohinder: Trying to free Niki from her restraints, or bringing Molly to The Company in the first place?
Timex: Bringing Molly back to the company! How much work and effort was it to steal her from the company? And now how are we going to have Three Men and a Little Lady without the lady?

A. Hiro: Niki. I'm okay chalking up the Molly blunder to panic over a loved one. But don't you think The Company has cameras, Mohinder? Or hallways outside that room? Way to blow your cover there, doctor. There's a bigger cause at stake here than Niki's well-being.

Milover: Yay. Trying to free Niki. That wasn't too well thought out. What was the next move going to be, huh? You gotta to think many steps ahead because you know The Company has. Unlike Mohinder, Bob always has a plan. Bing!

Who did you miss more in this episode: Sylar, or Mr. Muggles?
A. Hiro: Sylar. At least he's trying to get his powers back. I admire the initiative - and hope Hiro, Nathan and Peter are paying attention.

Milover: I missed both of them. This season is far too scattered. How about a little cohesiveness, or some sense of purpose? Right now, what we have is a great cast of characters doing nothing. I thought Grey's Anatomy was on Thursdays.

Timex: Mr. Muggles! Besides stealing any scene he's in, we generally get a glimpse of Claire.

We still love Heroes - and we have faith characters will come together and action will pick up - but this episode moved at a snail's pace, didn't it?

It was great to see Kristen Bell back on TV, her story line intrigues us... but everything else is moving along very slowly. What happened to the inspired Hiro who was on a mission to save the world last season? He's been reduced to the third wheel in an ancient love story now.

We're begging the writers to let these characters embrace their abilities again and find a common cause to rally around. If last season was Save the Cheerleader, Save the World, this season so far has been:

We Saved the Cheerleader and the World, Now What?

Read our recap of the episode now to see why we had such a reaction. It's complete with Heroes quotes and photos.

Do you agree with our assessment? Did you like the episode? Let us know right now in our Permalink   Share  0 Comments

It's the night many Heroes - and Veronica Mars - fans have been waiting for: Kristen Bell premieres on the show!

Looks like she'll be joining Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) in Ireland for the time being. As always, we'll post a detailed recap of the episode after it airs.

In the meantime, though, talk about the latest developments in our Heroes forum.

Good news, fans, that photo of the older generation of Heroes won't be the last we see of these characters and actors.

"We will be seeing the people... in the photo," Tim Kring said during an October 16 conference call with reporters. "I think all of them will be [played by the actors in the photo]. I just have to tell you, the photo has got a life of its own, because, logistically, it was so difficult to actually come up with this photograph that's used now and refers to things that are shot well in the future here.

It was very difficult to get that all lined up. But, yes, the photo is as accurate as we can make it."

For now, the most important new character in the photo is the father of Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), who will be tracked down in tonight's new episode.

The photo also featured the by-now familiar faces of Daniel Linderman (Malcolm McDowell), Charles Deveaux (Richard Roundtree), Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose), Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky) and Kaito Nakamura (George Takei).

Dana Davis made a powerful impact on Heroes last week.

Afterwards, TV Guide caught up with the actress that portrays Monica Dawson and asked her about that cool WWE move...

TVGuide.com: After the tomato-carving and wrestling move, what else might we see her do soon?
Davis: Everything! Monica is so badass. It's cool to think of superpowers, like invisibility and mind-reading, but if you really think about it, God has blessed human beings with some serious gifts and abilities. Most of us "normal" human beings will never be able to slam like Michael Jordan or run like Carl Lewis, so imagine a human who can do it all. How exciting!

The sky is the limit with Monica. Lots of fans are wondering if she'll watch any martial-arts movies, and the answer is yep! She'll be doing lots of martial arts and even a little parkour action, to give just a few hints.

TVGuide.com: Was having Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) as your "grandmother" icing on the cake?
Davis: It was more icing on top of icing. I remember punching Greg Beaman, one of our producers, when he told me the news: "Shut up! No way!" I was so excited to work with her. Huge Fan. Everybody is.

TVGuide.com: How long will Monica be in New Orleans? Stuck there for a bit?
Davis: Stuck there for a bit, for now. Monica is making her mark in the city and bringing back lots of hope to a community very much in need. But don't worry, the writers have this awesome way of taking all these storylines and bringing them together. Just like they did in Season 1.

TVGuide.com: But might she still cross paths with original Heroes besides Micah?
Davis: Monica does run up with Sendhil Ramamurthy's Mohinder and Ali Larter's Niki — not to give away too much — so she's not alone down there in the Big Easy. And like I said, the Heroes always find a way to unite somehow. It'll be fun to see how it all plays out.

Let's just hope Monica stays clear of Dania [Ramirez]'s character, Maya. But Monica's pretty upbeat — I'm sure she can keep her happy. She'd better! Please nobody make that girl cry!