Compared to Lost, Heroes plot advances at a break-neck pace.
I got to say, I love Eden and her Professor X/Jedi Mind Trick/Dune "The Voice" power. She looks so fragile but when Bennet was like "go take care of Sylar", I was like "holyshit, Sylar is the series' badass and Bennet acts like this petite Winona Ryder chick can handle him like he's trivial"
Actually, I don't think Sylar is the series bad ass. The real bad guy I think we haven't been exposed to you. Also, I don't think they "saved the cheerleader" Remember, a cheerleader died, it just wasn't Claire.
Is it possible, that the prophecy from Hiro was not meant as "if you don't save her life, the world ends", but more like "if you try to save her, some other series of events are set in motion which ends up heading off disaster"
For example, perhaps it is the capture of Sylar by Bennett's goons. Perhaps it is Peter's encounter with Claire or Sylar. Actually, one guy online I saw has a theory that the real bad ass will turn out to possess almost all the powers of everyone we've seen and that only by working together can they beat him, or that Peter will turn out to be the key, but absorbing everyone's powers, he'll become a match.
My favorite Hero tho is Hiro. Ok, so I identify with the geek character, the Otaku, but I also like the earnest way that the actor plays him. Many of the other characters seem IMHO way too laissez faire about their powers. Hiro actually wants to use his powers, to experiment with them, to be a Hero.
I mean, if you woke up one day with some superpower, are you just gonna sit around moping about your day job, or your petty daily routine, or are you gonna go flying, climbing buildings, teleporting, etc
Hiro lets us see awe and wonder and that's why I like him. It's why I liked Spider-Man I, because of the sheer *joy* Peter took when he first learned his powers.