Bryan Fuller woos former "Heroes" viewers back by sharing their pain

After Pushing Daisies was canceled, fans of out writer Bryan Fuller quickly found consolation in the news that NBC's troubled sci-fi drama Heroes had lured Fuller back to their writers' room. During Heroes' disappointing second season, fans of the series started to wonder how much credit Fuller deserved for the best parts of Heroes first season and, thus, his return had fans hoping this could bring the show back to its glory.

With his first episode airing this week, Fuller talked with Sci-Fi Wire about Heroes' challenges.

Here's some good news, he hated "Villains" as much as most Heroes viewers:

After I finished watching (the last few "Villains" episodes), I wasn't sure I could do this. I didn't recognize the show anymore. It had become something else entirely. My favorite characters had become my least favorite, and there was a second I thought I had to get out of this.

One of Heroes' many missteps, giving Clarie a dye job and a gun

You know how Heroes fans complained about the series losing its way, forgetting about its initial focus on ordinary people finding themselves suddenly dealing with super powers? Fuller echoes those complaints but manages to say it better:

When they started talking about how we were injected with our powers and it became sci-fi ghetto storytelling, I became disconnected. Mohinder went from a noble scientist to being a mad scientist with Jeff Goldblum hair and wardrobe. Claire became so strident and unlikable because she was just whining, bitching and holding a gun. I was just concerned the wheel had been jerked so sharply in the wrong direction with what had worked about the first season, which was ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Everything ordinary about their lives went out the window, and everything was extraordinary.

A moment from Fuller's "Company Man"

Fuller goes on to mention what's coming up on the series, including the promise of an episode that will be a "Company Man" (the first season episode Fuller wrote, which revealed Noah Fuller's history) for Angela Petrelli. Considering how her "Sylar! I! Am! Your! Mother!" revelation turned her into a generic evil matriarch, Fuller's taking on quite a challenge, but if anyone can handle it he can.

Who caught this week's Heroes? Did Fuller manage to capture the series' old glory? Are there other problems with Heroes that Fuller needs to address?