As we tune in ‘four months later’, I was trying to remember where we left off and I wondered how anyone who hadn’t been watching all last season had any clue at all. So I thought it might make sense for us all to take a moment to do a little catch up. Ok here’s what you need to know, if I remember correctly…

Last season we started out with a few folks who discovered that they had special abilities (we’re using the term hero sparingly as they all come to terms) and as they dealt with their own new issues they learned that this wasn’t a new thing in the world. Not only were some of their own families specially-abled, or at least involved, but there was at least one whole secret organization intended to study or utilize or stop folks just like them. Oh and then there was Sylar, the serial killing power stealer.

So where are we now? Mohinder, the so far just human scientist, following in his fathers footsteps, is lecturing on the disease that’s plaguing folks with special abilities. We’ve learned his sister, in her youth was one of its victims. Mohinder is sharing custody of a plagued young girl Molly, whose ability is to locate anyone, with the mind reading Matt (Greg Grunberg of Alias and Felicity fame). Matt’s a cop who has been trying to advance his police career while saving his failing marriage, right now looks like he’s only succeeding on the cop front.

It turns out Mohinder is also working with Noah Bennet/HRG (horn rimmed glasses) who used to work for the secret organization. They lost him when he had to choose to protect his adopted daughter, Claire, the indestructible cheerleader who was given to him by the organization to raise. They are trying to do a little witness projection thing in a new town, though it looks like Claire’s new, unknown to her, flying friend may find out who she is.

Claire is still in contact with her real father who she found last season, flying man Nathan Petrelli. Nathan was being set up to win a senate race on the road to the presidency. Too bad he backed out of letting the whole of New York get blown up to do it. Nathan’s brother Peter (Jess of Gillmore Girls) can absorb others powers and had a little exploding issue and Nathan flew him up into the air to save the city. We now find that Peter is missing and presumed dead, though later found in a storage crate with at least a touch of amnesia and fortunately a new haircut. Nathan is now a scruffy alcoholic who is at odds with his mother, differently-abled of the previous generation, who is now apparently being targeted for death.

As is her former compatriot Mr. Nakamura (Sulu from Star Trek), who received a death threat as well, and at the end of the episode looks like the threat may have been succesful, as someone tumbled him off a roof. Sulu has been hanging out in New York waiting for his son Hiro (with Hiro’s partner in all things hero, Ando), Hiro, in being able to manipulate space and time, got tossed real hard in the battle with Sylar and ended up back in age old Japan. He meets the famed warrior (Alias’ Sark), who turned out not to be as heroic as the lore tells him to be, and Hiro inadvertently screws with the past.

We also meet a couple of new kids, Maya and Alejandro Ortiz, who are wanted for murder and fleeing from the Dominican Republic to the US for answers. We learned not to mess with them, ‘cuz however she, or they, do it, a whole bunch of guys ended up dead.

And what about Nikki, who uses her dead twin sister’s alter ego Jessica to tap into her super strength, and her family? Her husband DL, who can move through solid objects, was in bad shape after they were trying to save their son Micah, who can tap into and manipulate electronics. For that, as well as what happened to Sylar, who was last seen slipping down a manhole cover, I guess we’ll just have to check out chapter two.