Sylar and Nathan as sympathetic characters…? Come on.
In a series where every other scene requires a serious suspension of disbelief, that initial phone conversation between Sylar and Mohinder might’ve been the hardest bit to swallow in all of “Heroes,” especially given that, minutes later, his tone as he approached the hiding Hiro and Ando – after hearing Ando gulp! – was back to sounding like good ol’ homicidal Sylar. Fortunately, however, we weren’t provided with the opportunity to see if he’d really follow through on killing them. (By the way, when Hiro was trying to bail on following Sylar because he’s not supposed to kill Sylar for two days, I laughed out loud at Ando’s incredulous reply: “You want to hang around? Catch a show?”) And, yet, despite my skepticism at the beginning of the episode, that scene where Sylar put his mother in her very own snow globe actually started out feeling sweet before he eased into his usual psychotic behavior…though, to be fair, he looked like it was the use of his power which was actually driving him mad, given his sudden expression of regret when, upon seeing his mom’s blood, he abruptly stopped using his abilities. I’m not really surprised that Hiro wussed out when it came time to kill Sylar, but I still felt bad for him.
Fake Nikica: Why don’t you like Mr. Linderman?
Micah: I don’t know. He smells funny.
Wow. Seeing how much Linderman knows about the Heroes…well, Jessica and D.L., anyway, but you have to figure he knows everything about every single one of them…was really disconcerting, but it certainly confirmed definitively that he’s all but omniscient. (Dunno what to say about poor Micah, except that the paintings don’t exactly make his fate look promising.)
It was awful the way Thompson played on Mohinder’s memories of his sister to get him to help save Molly, but, damn, I sure hope he succeeds. If we actually have to endure Molly dying, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Like it wasn’t bad enough when Charlie bought it, I don’t think I can handle losing that cute little girl. She’s right up there with Dakota Fanning for cuteness; you just want to give her a hug. Or maybe that’s just because I’ve got a daughter. (Lately, I find myself feeling protective of every little girl in the world.) Still, it’s a fascinating power she has; I just hope she lives to use it more than a few more times!
A small but great moment: Nathan’s eyerolling when Claire asks, “You can fly?” Man, from week to week, you just never know who’s the biggest prick on the show…but Nathan’s leading the pack after playing the narc on Claire’s revelation about the possible bomb boy. And to team with Thompson? Ugh. Poor Claire. But, suddenly, Nathan’s having second thoughts and you think for one moment he might do the right thing…until, of all people, Mama Petrelli convinces him to play along with Linderman’s plan. Oh, excuse me, it’s not just Linderman’s plan; it’s her plan, too! Paging “The Manchurian Candidate”!(Side note: I know my good friend David saw Mama show up during the last five minutes and said, “YES! We’re finally going to find out what her power is!” DENIED!!!)
So now we’re left wondering which future is going to come to pass. Tick, tock, tick, tock…
