Zach's Heroes Watch: "Strange Attractors"

Previously on Heroes: Noah and Peter became Big Brothers to a healer, Claire and Gretchen made out and joined a sorority chaired by Samuel’s evil invisible friend, and Sylar’s identity crisis got one step closer to being resolved, but he’s still peeved with Matt.

Despite the fact that he’s still got Sylar in his head, Matt has time to get it on with his wife, but he has a weird dream/vision where he imagines himself as Sylar, who we find out has a major Adam-and-Eve complex about “forbidden fruit.”

Sylar taunts Matt about switching bodies during the lovemaking incident and warns that he’s going to do something worse next time he takes over Matt’s body. This could get ugly. So Matt decides to pack up and leave just to make sure that he doesn’t do anything he can’t control. He’s looking for answers; maybe the turtle can help him get rid of Imaginary Sylar, who’s almost as good a character as Samuel. And Matt tries to set up a reunion with Mohinder for the November Sweeps.

Matt figures out that he can hurt Sylar by knocking back a few beers – a really lame weakness compared to Kryptonite but it’s a pretty clever story twist, and it’s a lot of fun seeing it executed. So Drunk Imaginary Sylar starts losing motor skills while Matt gets totally smashed. Drunk Imaginary Sylar evaporates, and Matt passes out just in time for his partner and Janice to find him. Luckily, they forgive him for killing all those bottles, but W-T-Efron? Sylar’s not actually gone?? He’s taken over Matt’s body to give us our creepiest character ever – SylarMatt. (Mylar?)

Meanwhile, Noah’s new little buddy Jeremy gets put into lock-up, which poses problems for Noah’s redemption course. So Noah makes one of his mysterious phone calls for back-up. When the convertible rolls into town, it’s Tracy, who’s either his new Company partner or his new girlfriend. Noah gives Tracy the recap and sets her up as Jeremy’s Aunt Tracy.

But Jeremy’s upset that he thinks Noah betrayed him, which isn’t exactly out of character for him, but Jeremy’s scared that he’s going to kill again. Time for some serious redemption for this kid, so it’s a good thing that Tracy accidentally killed someone back in Season Three – it’s cute how they can connect over that while Noah’s duking it out with the stereotypical cops over whether Jeremy’s a good kid or a bad seed.

But Samuel’s following Tracy around for some reason, just in time to eavesdrop on her phone call to a friend named Dennis for “a favor.” Samuel invites Tracy and Jeremy to the carnival, which it seems he can just conjure up whenever he wants. That’s a pretty awesome power. Basically, Samuel wants Tracy to embrace her otherness and join the people like her. He gives her a compass to help her come back, and Creepy Hat Sylar recognizes Tracy from Nathan’s life.

Noah sets Jeremy up with a new identity and a new place but warns him to keep his power a secret (this never works). And what’d I tell you? Jeremy mind-kills someone while he’s leaving the precinct, but he turns himself in rather than saving the guy he just killed. Noah feels like he’s just made a spurious real estate investment. Poor Jeremy gets abducted by the cops, who drag him along the streets until he’s roadkill. Striking emotional moment – ten to one this pushes Tracy into Samuel’s camp.

Tracy wants to break up with Noah, who feels bummed that he can’t save everyone (remember how Peter was feeling the exact same way earlier?). And look at that – Tracy gets out the compass.

Claire’s feeling conflicted; we can tell because she’s not sleeping. It seems she’s afraid of nocturnal “kiss attacks” from Gretchen. Here comes the most awkward conversation in Heroes history – Gretchen’s a good kisser, but Claire feels awkward about making out with her new best friend. The conversation gets interrupted when some ninjas bust in, except the ninjas turn out to be sorority sisters out to “kidnap” them as part of some extreme hazing. Claire goes “Buffy” but dials it down in time for the commercial break.

Gretchen gets tied up and locked in a trunk with Claire, which is pretty much her biggest fantasy. They have a bonding moment but still feel conflicted. Hell Week, we find out, consists of a “Screamin’ Scavenger Hunt,” but what’s being sought or who will be doing the screaming is still unclear. What is clear is that the girls have been locked in an abandoned warehouse (Saw) with creepy music (Halloween) and ditzy recruits (Sorority Row). But Gretchen looks like she’s watched a ton of horror movies, so she’s ready for the creepy locker test.

Are we supposed to believe a bunch of sorority sisters set this creepy warehouse test up? I guess when you’re invisible you can get a lot done, especially creep on Claire and Gretchen as they have a heart-to-heart about liking girls. But then it gets awkward when we find out that Gretchen has had more boyfriends and more “experience” than sweet innocent Claire. Put the relationship shenanigans on hold – someone invisible is trying to kill the girls, probably Gretchen since Claire’s invincible.

Claire confesses that she “needs” Gretchen just in time for a spooky chain to come out and strangle Gretchen and Invisible Becky to reveal herself as she impales Claire, who’s been through tougher scrapes. But Paris and Nicole (clever) catch Claire healing herself – “what’re we going to do?”

At the end of the episode, Samuel strolls into the police station where Jeremy was killed, wearing his snakeskin boots and his guyliner. He’s dressed all in black, right down to his fingernails, and he destroys the police station with his powers. The American flag waves in the background, and he storms off.

Verdict? Excellent Halloween episode. Some spooky moments, especially with the creepiest sorority rush ever and the ending that’s going to set up the rest of the season. The Heroes crew have put together another bang-on episode, and the cast is stepping up to the challenge. Brownie points to Samuel, who’s now the most interesting character on the show.