Zach's Heroes Watch - "Thanksgiving"

Previously on Heroes: Nylar’s identity crisis gets better, and Samuel learns that you CAN get what you want. Now it’s time for the Heroes Holiday Super Special.

Hiro’s peeved with Samuel because he went back on word about Charlie, but Samuel is too busy arranging Thanksgiving dinner and being evil. Hiro gets relegated to setting the table with Lydia, who caucuses with Edgar about whether or not Samuel is evil (the audience would like to know, too). Hiro fears that “Naked Lady” is trying to seduce him, but Lydia says she can help find Charlie with her power, but she wonders why Samuel didn’t save Joseph. The two decide to go back and find out who killed Joseph.

Samuel notices that Lydia’s missing and figures out that she’s probably in the past. Back in the past, Joseph tells Samuel how dangerous he really is, but Samuel’s in love with the idea of being powerful. But Joseph will have none of it, having called a government agent (Noah?) to the carnival. Angry, Samuel kills Joseph just as Hiro and Lydia return to the present. Lydia wants to stand up to Samuel, but Hiro’s afraid for Charlie’s life.

At dinner, Samuel does dastardly deeds like stealing a piece of pie and declaring that Edgar killed Joseph. Hiro saves Edgar from Samuel, who doesn’t seem to suspect anything. Hiro deduces that Samuel needs Hiro more than Hiro needs Charlie and calls Samuel’s bluff, but the resident Rastafarian weirdo scrambles Hiro’s brain. Hiro disappears, much to Samuel’s chagrin.

Noah does some Thanksgiving shopping while being one of those irritating cell phone shoppers. It’s part of his plan to cheer up Claire, who’s bummed that Gretchen moved out. Once dinner’s arranged and Claire cryptically announces she has “something (she’s) been meaning to say,” Noah coincidentally runs into Partner Plot-Thread (Lauren), and the two reminisce about being Primatech baddies. Lauren agrees to help Noah cook dinner, which is great because Noah doesn’t have any “life skills.” Claire feels awkward about this plot twist, especially since she was banking on Tracy being her new step-mom, but Sandra brings her new beau (Doug) and it’s a big awkward mess up at Noah’s crib.

It’s evident there’s still some mojo between Noah and Sandra, and Claire just looks nauseated. Sandra tries to spill some beans about Primatech, and Doug reveals that he’s allergic to legumes – shocker of the season! Oh yeah, and Claire announces that she’s thinking of dropping out of college. Noah and Claire argue about this, but Sandra hasn’t been watching the show lately and can’t follow the conversation. Doug tries to butt in, and Claire pulls one of her “stab myself and heal” tricks that we fans love so much. Doug faints.

Lauren tries to buddy up with Sandra while Claire learns that Noah is planning to bag-and-tag Samuel. Their conversation is interrupted when Gretchen comes to the apartment. Gretchen jokes about how much she misses Claire, who creepily invites her back. The romantic tension in the room is thicker than pumpkin pie (sorry for the bad pun). The romance continues in the room when Lauren asks Noah to a movie, and Sandra lovingly dupes Doug into thinking he hallucinated the cutting incident. Claire and Gretchen decide to go on a road trip, with Samuel’s compass as their guide.

Nathan’s having nightmares, which could be the fault of his Sylar problems or of the empty bottle of vodka in his hand. Mama Petrelli shows up with a catering staff for a rich person’s Thanksgiving, and she pretends she doesn’t know what’s up with Mylar, Nylar, and all the other Sylars running around on this show. But what everyone wants to know is how Angela’s going to justify last year’s plotline, so she tries to explain while Peter looks brooding.

Angela promises pie, but it’ll have to wait, because Sylar takes control of Nathan and finally comes back into his own body, replete with electric face change – “it feels good to finally be me again,” he declares as he sits down for a piece of pie. Hope it’s pumpkin! Actually, make that an entire pie. Sylar tries to carve open Angela’s skull, but there’s evidently still some Nathan inside there fighting for control. Nathan wins – for now – but he’s probably going to be stuck fighting Mind Sylar for the rest of the season. Peter promises to find his brother.

Verdict: This was basically the Heroes version of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” We learned this episode that bad guys eat pumpkin pie, which bodes ill for this reviewer. We got a better understanding of what Samuel’s up to, and we finally have a clear sense of the trajectory for the rest of the season. AND we found out that Mr. Muggles is still alive! What more could you want out of an episode of Heroes.