Heroes, season 2 - the time of waffling

I think I've figured out why the second season of Heroes isn't really striking any chords for me. Here it is: as villains go, diseases just aren't very sexy. Part of Heroes' charm in the first season was its simplicity: take clear comic-book style heroes and villains and make them slightly more realistic (no spandex) or conflicted (Horn-Rimmed Glasses guy hunts heroes but also adopted one) and make things spin out of control.

This season introduced concepts and characters that aren't terribly dynamic (a brother-sister team that bring on a deadly plague but can also cure it?) or are difficult to represent on screen (the aforementioned unsexy disease). The best heroes were benched as soon as they reached some self-realization (Claire, Peter, Hiro) and the only interesting plot thread has been the murder mystery. At least these threads seem to be coming together as we finally meet Adam Munroe (the former Takezo Kensei, whose healing ability apparently keeps him from aging as well). I'm hoping they keep Sylar well out of the mix for a while, or at least keep him from acquiring a crapload of powers again.

From the events we saw last week, the players are coming back together for an (hopefully) action-packed second half (two-thirds?) to the season. Hiro has returned to the "present," Peter has regained his memory (partially) and come back from yet another dystopic future, and the identity of Adam Munroe has been revealed. Tonight we should at least find out the direction that the writers had intended for the series to go -- if only that strike weren't stopping production dead in its tracks.