So I watched last night’s episode of Heroes, “Four Months Ago,” the much-anticipated rewind episode and I would have to agree with Entertainment Weekly’s Marc Bernardin when he says that had this episode been the season 2 premiere, the show wouldn’t have been put on sharkwatch. The episode is far from perfect but it’s done more to advance the plot and the character’s storylines (save the wondertwins, Maya and Alejandro, who we’ll get to in a minute) in an interesting way than any episode we’ve seen so far.

After seeing the trailer and read the tease on the NBC website for next week, we have been assured of two things:  1) Agendas will clash and 2) A hero will die. In the interest of pure speculation (and hope), I’ve assembled a small list of the characters this show needs to kill off in an expeditious manner.

Nikki/Jessica/Gina - Ali Larter

In a show where people can travel through time, heal instantly, fly and move things with their mind, someone with multiple personality disorder isn’t really going to seem all that interest. And it hasn’t. This character is one of my whipping boys from season 1 and with the introduction of a third personality, I can only roll my eyes that Nikki/Jessica/Gina hasn’t kicked the bucket yet. This character is profoundly uninteresting and whenever Larter appears on the screen, I go somewhere else. I also thought *SPOILER ALERT* DL’s death in this week’s episode was a TERRIBLE way to send off a character that has been at the center of this character arch. It was fast, easy, and cheap.

Elle - Kristen Bell

I get where the writers and Kristen Bell are trying to take this character and I’ll have to disagree with Bernardin when he says that Bell is missing the mark by “this much.” She’s missing it by a whole lot more than that. This character is probably the most cliché, trite character on the show. I also disagree that Bell’s Elle is fun to watch. It’s anything but. It’s like being electrocuted, slowly.

Maya and Alejandro - Dania Ramirez, Shalim Ortiz

I almost feel bad about this one because it’s too easy but the writers have really made me do this. For weeks now, since we were introduced to the death-tear crying Maya and her sponge of a brother, Alejandro, we have wondered what the story was with these two and for weeks, the writers have refused to tell us. But that hasn’t stopped them from showing us — over and over — what the pair can do. I’m wondering when the payoff is coming. Unfortunately, it’s not soon enough.

Sylar - Zachary Quinto

I thought it was really a regrettable decision when the show opted not to let season 1’s villain die in Kirby Plaza at the end of the season. The early part of this season has really reinforced that opinion for me. NBC bill’s Sylar in its promos as the hero America loves to hate. What about those of us who are indifferent and have moved on? There is so much going on in the show right now and so many character arches intersecting that to have Sylar crawl out onto the highway that the aforementioned Wondertwins happened to be driving on was really awful television. I wish they hadn’t brought Sylar back but now that he is, I guess viewers get to endure Quinto sneering like an idiot at the camera and his fellow actors for the next three weeks or so.

Mohinder - Sendil Ramamurthy

This character is kind of Heroes’ perfect storm. Awful writing meets really heavy-handed acting to make for one of the most gut-wrenchingly bad characters in the history of television. That may be a bit strong but I think no one would be sad if the hero to fall next Monday was the junior Suresh. Suresh’s flip-flopping about whether he was for or against The Company and the moral ambiguity of it all should have been interest but fell terribly flat. I know the show will have to find someone else to do its pseudo-profound voiceover narration at the beginning and end of every episode but this character needs to go.

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