Heroes: Let Hiro be Hiro

"Heroes" spoilers coming right up...

Kind of a dud episode last night, particularly the ongoing waste of Hiro. Hiro's one of only a couple of characters to be in every episode (contrary to what I wrote last week, Peter's not one of the others, and I'm not even sure Niki's been in all of them), so the producers clearly recognize his popularity and storytelling usefulness. Unfortunately, ever since he came back from the past with his powers gone, much of what makes him such a unique, entertaining character is gone. Enthusiastic, giddy, time-stopping Hiro? Awesome. Glum, adrift, powerless Hiro? Not so much. I realize they need to give him something to do between now and the final showdown with Sylar and/or Radioactive Man, and I also realize that he was running the risk of being too powerful and making the other characters superfluous, but there had to be a better, more Hiro-appropriate way to handle both of those issues. Even if his full powers don't come back right away, I want him to get the sword already and get back to being the main reason I watch this show.

At the moment, surprisingly, that designation falls to Niki/Jessica. Actors always talk about how evil is more fun to play than good, and Ali Larter is having a lot of fun playing Jessica. An entire subplot in which she beats on Parkman and makes him look foolish? Sign me up, please.

Some other random thoughts:

• I didn't miss Peter by himself, but I missed Claude and I missed Peter learning how to use his powers. Again, that's one of the things unique to this show, and something I'd rather they focus on than wacky Vegas hijinks.
  
• I'm looking forward to HRG's reaction to his wife's Haitian-induced senility. As I've said, he can justify a lot of what he's done as protecting his family, but that excuse is about to fly the coop.
  
• Some nice acting by Hayden However-You-Spell-It and Adrian Pasdar in the final scenes, even though they never played off each other.
  
• Sylar and Mohinder, eh? Too bad Suresh the elder didn't bother putting photographs in his files. Also, while melting stuff is a semi-useful power, I wonder if Sylar's ever run acrosss someone with an ability so lame that he just leaves the guy (and his brain) alone.
  

What did everybody else think?