The TV Zone

“Strangely unmoved.”

That’s what it says in the notes I took watching last night’s “Heroes,” and it pretty much sums up this whole second season for me.

The show’s storyline does this and that, and jumps through hoops and back again, and yet -- so what? Remember how much we all wanted them to “save the world” last year? Seems like memories are all we have.

Last night’s “Four Months Ago” flashback hour provided one big indication why. The show’s two single most compelling characters -- Hiro and Claire -- were MIA. Daddy H.R.G. wasn’t around, either. Nor Matt or Mohinder. And the episode’s limp progress (re-gress?) made it clear the others are definitely second-stringers: Niki and D.L., Peter and Nathan, and as always bringing up the rear, Maya and Alejandro. (What was with that stupid bride-cheats-at-her-wedding storyline? Straight out of a novela. Sheesh.)

Sure, “Heroes” had a lot of ’splainin’ to do after jumping forward in time at the start of this second season. How did Nathan get disfigured and Peter marooned in a shipping container bound for Ireland? What happened to D.L.? And Kristen Bell’s Elle character was never properly introduced.

OK, so mission accomplished. But that’s about it. Even with last night’s episode written by series creator Tim Kring, there was no real, well, spark -- unless you count those shock encounters between powered Peter and electric Elle. Which were another “so what” event.

I’m still intrigued by Stephen Tobolowsky’s evil-or-is-he Bob, commander of The Company [above in NBC photo], and now, too, by actor David Anders, currently named Adam Monroe after being introduced as Kensei back in 18th century Japan. He comes across as a canny guy -- frankly, I wish we’d seen him and Bob at the loggerheads he mentioned (or made up?) -- with an immortal story worth telling.

So, for that matter, does The Haitian [Jimmy Jean-Louis, left in NBC photo], who’s gotten slighted by this series most of all. “Heroes” only has another month to make things right in this “volume” of the tale, before holiday hiatus and whatever the writers’ strike brings.

Or what would bring us back whenever that ends?