So, Masi, what are you thinking about when you squish your eyes and clench your teeth?

''Going to the bathroom,'' jokes Oka. But then he reconsiders. ''Actually, I believe there's a fifth dimensional fact that allows for parallel universes to exist at the same time, in the same location,'' says the Brown-educated 31-year-old, who prior to becoming an actor (he had a recurring role as Franklyn the lab tech on Scrubs) was a full-time special-effects artist at George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic studio (he's especially proud of his work on The Perfect Storm). He also has a 180-plus IQ, so he knows what he's talking about when he uses terms like unique five-tuples to explain Hiro's reality-warping ways. ''Basically,'' he concludes, ''he puts himself in the sixth dimension and comes back into the current reality.''

Panettiere ? a multitasking 17-year-old who's been acting since age 5 and plans to release a pop-rock album next year ? discloses that she celebrated Heroes' full-season pickup by buying herself a Porsche: ''I almost ran over Kanye West this morning!''

The first half of Heroes' season comes to a close on Dec. 4 (new episodes return in January), and by then, viewers will have learned how most of the characters discovered their superpowers, along with Sylar's identity. (Hint: The Scrabble value of the actor's name exceeds 10 points.) Everyone involved is predictably tight-lipped, though Pasdar does offer this teaser: ''Things get fairly dark in terms of who I might be. It's an amazing ending.''

At press time, Kring was still weighing a request by NBC to extend Heroes' 22-episode season by two or three installments.)