Zach's Heroes Watch - "Pass/Fail"

Previously on Heroes: Sylar’s gonna die alone, Hiro is dying even though Charlie’s still missing, and Samuel is in love. (Also previously on Heroes: I forgot to do this for the last episode. Oopsy-daisy.)

Claire’s being quiet, but she doesn’t want to talk about it; Gretchen can’t take a hint and puts a move on Claire which gets awkward. Then Sylar shows up for some reason, pretending to be a study tutor. Sylar needs help getting his murder mojo back, and he’s holding Gretchen hostage until that happens, so he starts making a list of formative things in common, wondering why they’re so different. All this, it turns out, was just a way for Sylar to get into Claire’s pants, using Lydia’s power to read her mind (sure, Sylar, “power”).

Sylar’s been watching the series closely, because he’s picking up on a lot of awkward subtext between Claire and Gretchen. In response, Claire jams a pencil in Sylar’s eye and goes to rescue Gretchen. They hide in a broom closet as Claire opens up to Gretchen about being alone and says Sylar needs to lose his powers to be human again. Surprise! – Sylar was pretending to be Gretchen the whole time, and he shifts back once Claire’s at her most touchy-feely. So Claire goes and makes nice with real-Gretchen, even going so far as to hold her hand.

Hiro passes out at Noah’s and wakes up in a weird purgatory diner with Judge Sulu and Prosecutor Adam Monroe, with Hiro’s life on the line as punishment for misusing his ability and messing with the time/space continuum. While Ando brings Hiro’s body to a hospital, Hiro appoints Ando his lawyer in the dream court as Adam calls young Adam to the stand about the infamous slushy incident. Adam then calls Sylar, who says that Hiro allowed him to continue killing – and even encouraged him. Adam continues to taunt Hiro by reminding us that Charlie is lost in time (Fox, Hiro! She’s on Fox!), and then he rests his case.

Ando gets to call a witness, but he’s not a stellar lawyer, and all he comes up with is Hiro, who initially protests but rolls with it. Ando proves that Hiro didn’t actually use his power for personal gain, but Judge Sulu still finds him guilty. Hiro changes his plea to maintain honor; Judge Sulu’s cool with that and lets him dream-duel Adam, who he soundly defeats before stepping into the light (mixed metaphor, Heroes) and conveniently getting healed by his mother.

To be endearing, Samuel reminds Vanessa of the time he broke her record player, only to tell her he fixed it; he tries to get her to split a milkshake with him, but she’s not quite biting. Finally, he reminds her of their dream house, which gets her melting like butter for him, especially when he shows her the paradise that Homeless Poison Ivy made, replete with cottage. But she realizes it’s just a fantasy, which peeves Samuel a little bit before he storms off.

In what seems a little forced, Samuel goes and listens to “Lonesome Town” in the jukebox before scaring the wits out of a milkshake hostess. Tired of trying to fit in, Samuel wrecks the ice cream parlor with his ability, even rocking the carnival before totally demolishing Homeless Poison Ivy’s garden. In the last second, Sylar shows up at Matt’s house and asks where Matt is; Matt’s wife kind of recognizes him.

Verdict? I’m really glad to see Adam Monroe back, mostly because the show lost one of its most charismatic actors when he got turned to dust back in Season Three. One thing that seemed a little hokey was Sylar’s nature vs. nurture course, but then he’s always been sort of a wacky character who does things like this every once in a while. The stuff with Gretchen and Claire was a real snoozefest, but Hiro on trial was actually kind of fun once you got over the kitschy aspect of it. I’m glad Samuel gets back to being extra-bad in the next episode, which might be the best thing that ever happened to this show; enough of this wishy-washy angsty baloney!