Zach's Heroes Watch - "Brave New World"

Previously on Heroes: Peter and Sylar have a bonding moment, Hiro’s in love with time-lost Charlie, and Noah’s troubled past catches up to him when he gets buried alive with Claire as Samuel takes his show on the road to New York.

Things look grim for Claire and Noah, buried alive about fifty feet down; even Lauren can’t figure out where they’ve scampered off to. Noah deduces that Samuel wants Claire to watch her daddy die, but Claire’s not willing to give up on Noah just yet. Noah asks Claire’s forgiveness, but Claire says he fixed her identity crisis. But when it looks like he’s dead, Claire starts digging frantically, and Aquagirl Tracy shows up to blast them out. Wonderfully and in true “no one ever dies on this show” fashion, the plan works.

Matt raids his fridge but finds himself face to face to face to face with Multiple Man, playing the mind game card by giving Multiple Man confidence issues and trying to push thoughts. Just as Multiple Man’s ready to knife Matt, all the multiples disappear because Sylar’s ready to be super again. After treading down the same “Sylar’s evil” argument, Peter reads Multiple Man’s mind and figures out Samuel’s plan, but Matt keeps pushing thoughts into Sylar’s head until Sylar proves that he’s reformed. Matt decides to trust them, but he has a plan for Multiple Man.

Meanwhile, Hiro’s all better, but he’s ready to go into battle once more – I love how enamored he is with a combat-ridden destiny. Surprise – he gets a message from Charlie. Major suck – Charlie’s sixty-five years older (convenient). Her memory is still pitch-perfect, but she doesn’t really blame Hiro for what happened to her; after all, Hiro’s got a plan to make things right. Charlie’s not too enthusiastic about Hiro’s plan, mostly because she’s got grandchildren. Destiny – I mean, Noah – calls, and Hiro starts a new journey.

Samuel promises he’s going to “change everything” by coming out as “king of the hill.” Edgar and Doyle like this idea, and so does everyone else; heck, who doesn’t love a good field trip to New York? (Nobody asks how this carnival just landed in the middle of New York? I can’t believe Samuel applied for a permit.) His master plan has Emma bringing people to the carnival with her music, but he just sort of shrugs off the whole killing people thing and calls in Creepy Puppet Man Doyle to force her to play. And play she does, until her fingers are completely shredded.

Noah, Claire, Peter, and Sylar all converge on the carnival. Sylar volunteers to save Emma, but Peter has apprehensions; Noah gets kidnapped by Edgar, and Doyle puts the kibosh on Sylar’s big plan. Claire spills the beans on Samuel’s big plan, but none of the transvestite carnies believe her, and Edgar reveals that he’s working from the inside to bring down Samuel. Emma uses her cello blasting powers to knock Doyle down, and Sylar flabbergasts Doyle by “coming out” as a hero.

Samuel’s big confrontation scene shows up when Multiple Man reveals that Samuel had him kill Lydia; this pushes the carnival over the edge, and the supers all bolt from Samuel’s tent. Infuriated, Samuel takes it out on the crowd and starts to tear the carnival apart, but Peter soars in and tackles Samuel. Samuel brings up Nathan, suggesting that both of them were brought down by older brothers, but Peter’s not buying it. Hiro arrives and – supercharged by Ando – teleports all the heroes out of the carnival, and Samuel’s powers crap out. Volume Five concludes, but it looks like the show is coming back with Volume Six – “Brave New World” – in which Sylar goes good and the whole carnival fiasco gets swept under the rug until Claire goes public with the whole “ability” thing.

Verdict? For better or for worse, this season’s over, and I think the show turned around after a dull stint in the middle there. This season might be better than a lot of previous seasons, but it definitely lost some steam in the middle. Fortunately, the finale brought it back around to being exciting. I’ll be interested to see what direction the show takes next, and I’m at least optimistic about the idea of a new season. And can I just say – perfect casting for Old Charlie!

Zach's Heroes Watch - "The Wall"

Previously on Heroes: Samuel surrendered but schemed his way out of it, Noah’s a captive, and Peter’s going into Sylar’s noggin to fix Matt’s dastardly deeds.

Sylar’s cranium has space to rent, so Peter goes in looking for him. Sylar’s as time-displaced as a Lostie, but he doesn’t want Peter to come in and fix him. Peter insists that Sylar has to save Emma, but he’s uncomfortable with being a savior and even more unhappy that he’s stuck forever. Sylar gets snarky, Peter gets punchy, and Emma’s probably a goner.

Peter and Sylar walk around The Matrix and can’t figure out how it works, but Peter pieces it together that Sylar unconsciously wants to be here because he earned it. But they find “the wall” – the one Sylar’s buried behind. The old sledgehammer trick doesn’t work on the wall, but Sylar starts feeling guilty about killing Nathan and gets pissy about being stuck behind the wall. Sylar brandishes a sledgehammer menacingly, but he’s only going to help. Good for him!

Armsling Samuel has Claire in captivity, and he’s trying to convince Claire that Noah’s a bad dude. They meet up with Damian, and Samuel finally explains that Damian can reveal people’s memories – they turn him loose on Noah. Turns out Noah used to be a car salesman married to Not-Sandra, who was pregnant; attacked by a superpowered delivery man, Noah watched Not-Sandra die. Claire seems really uncomfortable with all of this.

Claire deduces that Noah’s run-in with Mr. Ability made him want to start bagging and tagging; it also led to a curious geography fetish and superstalking, trying to find Not-Sandra’s killer. Claire’s still uncomfortable. As car salesman, Noah was hired by Eric Roberts (Thompson) to work with Primatech – The Company. Two years later, Eric Roberts has Noah start up a family, suggesting sandwich waitress Sandra (perfect). Things get really awkward when Claire learns that Noah visited Gretchen, trying to find his daughter after she scampered off to the carnival and threatening to use the Haitian (good to see he’s okay after the earthquake).

At the carnival, Lauren meets Emma and tries to explain what Samuel’s master plan is. But when Samuel comes to her tent, Lauren hides, and Emma spills the beans; Samuel just wants to talk, but he’s in creeper mode. He’s not up for negotiations, and he blames the world for his badness. He promises Multiple Man that they’re going to “put on the best show” they can and goes to gather the family, leaving Multiple Man with Lauren.

Claire tells Samuel she’s not falling for her tricks, because she knows he didn’t kill Lydia. Samuel says it’s about trust, but Claire loves her daddy too much. Samuel reveals he wants to take his show to Central Park and that he wants Claire to be his legacy – she refuses, but Samuel says he isn’t counting her out yet. Multiple Man covers up sloppy writing by revealing that Lauren escaped, but Samuel’s not fazed because he’s going to bury the souvenir trailer – with Claire and Noah in it.

Peter buys Sylar a book, and they have a heart-to-heart about whether or not Sylar deserves to be forgiven. Just when Peter thinks Sylar has changed, the wall starts crumbling – with a white flash and a close-up of an eye (jeez, steal from LOST some more), they’re out, and Sylar joins the A-Team… except Multiple Man is going to stop them. And Noah & Claire are still buried alive. Suck.

Verdict? Leave the flashbacks to LOST, Heroes. I can’t say I was very interested in this episode, and the only thing that really keeps me watching (aside from a sense of obligation to you, the reader) is Robert Knepper, who’s back in evil-mode as Samuel. Maybe I’m just in that mindset, but this episode really felt like it was stealing a lot of thunder from LOST – not a good thing. Is this season finale going to be a series finale? God, I hope so.

Zach's Heroes Watch - "The Art of Deception"

Previously on Heroes: Claire’s angsty, Emma’s probably evil, and Sylar’s lonely.

Samuel’s angsty, too, which creeps out the carnival – especially Lydia, who Samuel thinks is replacing Joseph. But Samuel just wants to prove that he’s a nice guy again, so he sulks off to go be dastardly again.

Peter’s having bad dreams about Emma, and Mama’s still sad about Nathan. Peter says Sylar can save Emma, but Mama reminds him that Sylar’s not a nice guy. Peter does his “serious voice” and convinces Mama to tell him where Sylar is.

Fortunately, Sylar’s still entertaining – being inside Matt’s head “was so two months ago.” He’s playing houseguest at Matt’s house and wants to catch up, but Matt knows he’s still a bad guy. Sylar’s amazed that Matt can just live with his ability, so he asks Matt to take his powers away. Matt gives it a try, but it doesn’t work; Janice comes home and surprises them, so Sylar reacts adversely and threatens “being creative.” But Matt talks Sylar down and gives it another try, and this time it works, but there’s a catch – Sylar still gets to live forever, but Matt trapped him in a weird nightmare and then buries him in the basement.

Just when you thought it was safe to bury Sylar, Peter shows up and steals Matt’s power, finding out that Sylar is almost buried alive. But as Peter goes in to try to fix everything, Matt traps him in his head, too.

Gretchen forces Claire to come clean about her Sylar encounter, so Claire finally gives in and pays a visit to her dad – but Lauren opens the door. Awk-ward. Claire’s cool with Lauren getting romantic with Noah, but she’s not okay with the Primatech files coming out of storage. When Lauren tells Claire about Samuel’s latest landslide, Claire gets peeved and ditches. Gretchen tells Claire to go to class, and Noah loads up his rifle.

Meanwhile, Claire’s visiting Samuel to try to get him to surrender, but Noah’s ready to go all sniper on Samuel, so Lauren goes to walk him out. Samuel delivers an emotional apology, but someone shoots him anyway and then tags Claire in the throat. Even though it seems like Noah’s doing the firing, it’s actually Multiple Man, who shoots Lauren and Lydia, too. It’s like the writers are just cleaning house at this point.

Samuel apologizes to Lydia, and any viewer with a brain figures out that Samuel ordered Multiple Man to do it. Just in case we had any questions, Samuel then explains the plot to Lydia and the viewers before Lydia dies. Claire has problems believing that her dad shot all those people, but Multiple Man drags Noah to the carnival and tosses him into the house of mirrors.

Then Emma joins the carnival – yay? She patches up Samuel, and Edgar comes back to say goodbye to Lydia while Lauren sends out a call for help – to Tracy. Samuel promises that the carnival is going to come clean with the rest of the world.

Verdict? Well, at least Samuel’s evil again, but it feels a little like the writers are stretching. Samuel’s super smart in this episode, and hopefully this is a return to form for what used to be my favorite character on the show. What’s more, Sylar’s plotline got really interesting this week, and we got a pretty nifty new side to Matt; finally, someone trapped Peter in his own emo noggin. But are we gearing up for a Sylar/Samuel smackdown?

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!

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Close to You"

Noah narrates about how the world is bad and how Claire is all sunshiney, but he’s getting kind of desperate and obsessed about finding Samuel, but he won’t call Claire to use her compass (didn’t she steal it from him in the first place?). But Lauren gets a miracle lead on Vanessa Wheeler, Samuel’s lady love who lived in the estate he dismantled a few episodes ago, only Vanessa’s not willing to talk.

Now Sylar-free, Matt’s playing housewife and cooking ratatouille, but Noah breaks in and pays him a visit to get Matt to leave the house. So Noah and Matt surprise Vanessa with questions about Samuel; one psychic encouragement later, Vanessa’s spilling the beans about Samuel, her childhood sweetie turned stalker. Noah decides to arrange a meet, where Samuel and Multiple Man show up and escape with Vanessa; Samuel warns Noah to stay away, causing an earthquake and a meteorological hot mess before scampering away. Fortunately Noah and Matt can track Vanessa.

Matt tries to get Noah to patch things up with Claire while tracking the moving carnival, but Matt runs home to lock his doors while telling Noah to “get his own house in order” before trying to save the world. Noah tries, but Claire’s got “a thing” she’s late for; one pout later, Noah sulks away. Matt’s ratatouille (Mattatouille?) is a big hit, but his angst isn’t.

Samuel sends Lydia on a Staples run for ink supplies, but she’s a little peeved that the carnival keeps losing people, accusing Samuel of only following his dream; he doesn’t exactly deny it, but he says he’s ready to bring Vanessa in. Vanessa tells her daughter that she thinks the carnival needs a new leader, but of course she won’t tell us who it is.

Hiro commits himself to an asylum that looks suspiciously like the Primatech set from Season Three, where Ando learns that Suresh is hidden (something we learned way back when) and being drugged. The plan? Get Mohinder to hulk out. For comic relief, Ando takes a ton of Mohinder’s meds. Hiro and Watson – er, Mohinder – bust out and drag Comic Relief Ando with them. Mohinder stops being pissy after Ando tells him that Hiro is dying and gets an idea to red-lightning-zap Hiro back into coherence. It works!

Peter’s compass tattoo is painin’, and Emma is playing her cello some more, which lures Peter to her apartment. There have to be easier ways to tell a guy you’re interested. Emma shows Peter her compass bling, but Mama Petrelli is unhappy because Peter has a girl over. Like Dr. King, Mama has a dream that Emma’s going to turn into Darth Cello. Peter nicks his mom’s ability and has the same dream, but this time Sylar tries to save Emma in the dream. Peter wrecks Emma’s cello, but surprisingly she doesn’t take that too well and kicks him out.

At the carnival, Samuel tries to explain why it’s cool that he kidnapped Vanessa by painting Noah as a real stinker, and he promises to show her this sweet piece of real estate. Meanwhile, Lauren returns and makes out big time with Noah before Hiro & Co. teleport in for an awkward moment.

Verdict? The more we learn about Samuel, the less interesting he is for me, and having him be this petulant pining crank is not exactly appealing. I appreciate that he’s getting depth, but I think I like Samuel when he’s ‘just this side of evil’ rather than ‘just this side of misunderstood.’ Noah and Lauren are finally together, which we’ve seen coming about six miles ago. I’m lukewarm on this half-season, since the last half was just so interesting. I want mystery, dagnabbit, not revelations!

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Let It Bleed"

Previously on Heroes: that was an hour ago. Pay attention.

Samuel demonstrates his Picasso power by drawing a picture of someone, but he’s interrupted when Sylar chucks Doyle at him. The two baddest mothers on this show are chewing up the scenery together, so Samuel whips up a twister and wipes out Sylar. Later he wonders why Sylar was unable to kill him, so he sends in Lydia to seduce Sylar. She must be a Spock fan, because she dives right into bed with him. Sylar knows Samuel’s messing with him, so he does what any rebellious young’un does – he gets a tattoo, which tells him that his place isn’t at the carnival but being a creepy flying stalker outside Claire’s window.

Realizing they ended last episode without satisfactorily explaining the emotions we were supposed to be feeling, the writers decide to treat us to a Lost-style flashback moment in which, no surprise, the heroes are sad about Nathan dying (seriously, guys, we’ve been through this before). Peter’s still peeved about Sylar, but Mama nixes revenge even though Claire seems super-set on it. Is Mama trying to fix Claire up with Peter? In the words of my sister, “Yay for sketchiness.” But Peter and Claire have a team-up to save folks during an office shooting; Peter gets all Sam-Jackson-in-Pulp-Fiction on the shooter and saves the day, but not before getting shot. Claire’s peeved about Peter jumping into danger but gives him her power to fix him; New York must have observant paramedics that no one notices this. For some reason, Peter wants Claire to hook up with West again.

At home, Noah’s shadow is doing weird things while Speedy Edgar shows up, but Noah’s such a badass that he tasers him with no questions asked (and with a priceless CSI: Miami reference). So Noah chucks him in a freezer (his secret weakness) and gets ready to interrogate him. Just when things are about to get 24-level interesting, Noah’s new girlfriend shows up and isn’t cool with torture. So Noah tries giving Edgar tea, which works until Edgar thinks Noah might hurt the carnival – so he splits. Noah mulls reconnecting with Claire.

Verdict: I’m sort of unenthusiastic about these new episodes of “Heroes.” I’ve made no bones about falling back in love with the show this season, mostly due to Robert Knepper being awesome, but there’s just something not as charming in these last two episodes. Too many people have too many powers, and I’m really only interested in Samuel’s plot, which the writers seem to be trying to jam into every other plotline on the show. In other news, I hate “Chuck” commercials so much that I’m never watching “Heroes” live again.

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Upon This Rock"

Previously on Heroes: Samuel is evil, Emma is deaf, and Hiro is missing.

At the carnival, Claire’s on garbage duty when Lydia talks her into bringing Samuel breakfast; Samuel dodges the question when Claire asks him about his Primatech box, and when she says she’s headed back to school he tells her that’s her choice, confiding in the Multiple Man that she’s not as free as he wants her to think. Samuel flashes-back (what is this, Lost?) to his early attempts to move rocks with his mind as he promises to move “bigger rocks.” Lydia voices her disinterest in the carnival, and I have to wonder why Claire isn’t more perturbed that Samuel has her dad’s files (how does she even know that?). At least she’s rightfully ooked about Multiple Man stalking her, though her idea of running into a House of Mirrors ends up working better than it should have.

Puppetmaster Doyle brings “Barbie” back as a catchphrase when he catches her in Samuel’s trailer and menaces her. But Claire finds out that Samuel killed Joseph and knows that something’s fishy. She wants to get rid of Samuel, and as much as he’s evil, I’ll stop watching if she does. Thank goodness the Multiple Man stops her. But Samuel takes her out into the middle of the desert, which Ian (Poison Ivy) is turning into a Chia pet. Claire’s not too interested, though.

Hiro teleports into the middle of Japan with his mind confused about what pop culture figure he is – he’s either a Jedi, Don Quixote, or a hand aboard the Starship Enterprise. Hilarity ensues until Ando says it’s the brain tumor’s fault. Ando later claims someone “stirred his fanboy brain” and decides to read comic books to figure it out (great plan). Magically, he pieces together that Hiro wants to rescue Mohinder from the mental hospital in Florida.

Emma’s med school apps are in, but she didn’t get accepted. Suddenly Samuel pays her a visit, speaking sign language and talking about his “gift” – he’s the one who sent her the cello, even though he says it was meant for someone else (probably his flashback girlfriend Vanessa). But now he needs her help finding this show’s black male version of Poison Ivy. Turns out he’s a bum, and Emma can play the cello like nobody’s business to lure him in. Finally, her power actually means something.

Oh, yeah, and they faked Nathan’s death in a plane crash. Obligatory funeral scene, even though Nathan’s died so many times that Jean Grey is saying, “Okay, man, enough’s enough.” Don’t worry; I hear he’ll be back in the next issue of Blackest Night.

Verdict? Maybe I’ve been watching too much LOST lately, but “Heroes” didn’t really feel fresh tonight. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good episode and it was interesting, but I’m waiting for the show to surprise me again. It’s nice that Emma’s power actually did something this week instead of look pretty, but she’s got way too many powers at this point. And talk about an absolutely useless final ten minutes.

Heroes Headlines: Hope!

It's alliteration station over here at The Top Pop Stop - Heroes Spoilers (don't worry; no actual spoilers on the link) is reporting that Season Five might actually be happening, albeit without Nathan (no surprise after last week's episode) or Mohinder (is he even still on this show?).

Check out the link for the full story - it'll tide you over until Heroes returns in January!

Zach's Heroes Watch - "The Fifth Stage"

Previously on Heroes: Noah might be dating his old partner, Nylar – now Sylar – isn’t quite so dead, Claire and Gretchen go on the strangest road trip ever, while Samuel’s about to get all evil up in this show.

Lydia tells Samuel that she won’t spill the beans on him, and Samuel muses about hope and extinction. With Edgar gone, Samuel hires Eli the Multiple Man to be his right-hand man and take out Noah. Noah’s been trying to piece together all this business about Samuel and the compass, but he’s put on hold when Lauren drops by to pick him up for their movie night – which it turns out is actually a date. She’s intrigued by his bulletin board of super stuff, but Noah frets over the lost compass and tracks Claire with Lauren’s help. You can do that with Google Maps? Noah reveals that he’s been after the carnival for years, and Lauren gets to give the “Lying is how we live” speech that characters on this show give about every other episode.

Emotional moment: Noah bums us all out with a speech about how he’s driven everyone away, referencing the mindwipe flashback a few episodes ago. Lauren feels conflicted about this, and Multiple Man shows up. Noah uses every gun he’s ever hidden in the apartment, but Multiple Man disappears with the Primatech box of files. Noah’s pissed like Liam Neeson in Taken.

Claire and Gretchen have made their way to the carnival, the “freak show” Claire’s always felt she belonged to. Gretchen gets all cutesy about Claire being her guardian and tells Claire that she has to check out her options. Samuel’s pleased she’s visited, though, and tells her not to be scared, giving her free tickets. Samuel says he’s trying to find a more permanent way to live. He gives the girls some popcorn and tells them to explore the carnival and meet the family.

Lydia gets naked (which seems to be her superpower at this point), Gretchen gets excited, and Claire gets her fortune told – it’s all ambiguous and maybe she’s meant to be here. Claire thinks she might have a great time at the carnival as “the girl who gets sawed in half every night,” which might actually be a fun job. Somehow Samuel knows that the ladies are out of popcorn and invites them backstage for storytime with the kids. Gretchen voices concern about exploiting abilities, but Claire’s cool with it; she’s even cool with Doyle the Puppetman showing up and giving her a big hug.

After a little tiff with Overprotective Gretchen, Claire gets drafted for storytime and tells a sentimental “Once upon a time” about a frog who’s a thinly veiled version of herself. Samuel tells Gretchen that all his carnival wants to give Claire is love. Claire’s frog story ends “happily ever after,” and one of the carny kids gives Claire a hug; “they love you,” Samuel says, but when a disgruntled customer storms backstage and attacks Samuel, Claire steps in for the rescue. Samuel smiles maliciously, almost as if he planned all this.

Samuel says that life is about choices, telling Claire that he could have defended himself but didn’t want to harm the outside world. He tells her that “we can be more... we can be bigger” if they just band together and help each other, inviting her to stay for a few days and do some soul-searching. Claire tells Gretchen that she’s going to do just that; surprisingly, Gretchen understands the whole “being accepted” thing. Samuel promises Lydia he’s going to make things right, strangely suggesting that it’s not Claire he’s after. Meanwhile, the disgruntled customer is dead.

Angela visits Peter and tells him to get into the “acceptance” stage of grief. But Peter insists that Nathan’s not quite dead, and he borrows The Haitian’s power (I’m still not going to call him Rene) in order to “settle for revenge” with Sylar. Little does Peter know that Sylar’s in disguise, attacking him in the elevator and picking a fight in the basement of the hospital. Little does Sylar know that his powers don’t work right now. Actual fisticuffs ensue until Peter reaches for the nail gun, but Sylar just keeps laughing.

Peter tries erasing Sylar’s memories from the Nylar thing in front of him, and Nathan emerges, which makes the whole nail gun thing really awkward. Now-Nathan says he’s tired, and he doesn’t think he can handle Sylar much longer. Peter tells him he needs air and takes him to the roof, where they reminisce about Season One and about denial. Nathan says he can’t keep fighting Sylar and throws himself off the roof – the second time someone’s tried to kill Sylar by killing himself. Peter gets all weepy, but at the last second, Sylar gets up and walks away. Blast, it was all a trick!

Samuel gets the closing monologue – “How long can we live like this?” he asks, saying that they need to stop running and offer a home to people with abilities. At Joseph’s grave, Samuel says that he’s going to take up roots once he’s gathered the rest of the heroes. Is he so evil after all?

Verdict? I remember being a bit hesitant about the idea of the carnival, and I may have even called it a hokey plot device, but I’m glad that Heroes is proving me wrong (probably the only time I’ve ever said that about this show). I continue to be in love with Robert Knepper, who’s still keeping me guessing on Samuel. Part of that is to his credit, but part of the credit has to go to the writers; this is the mark of a good villain, that we keep empathizing with him and wanting him to do the right thing for the right reasons. My sole disappointment is that we only got a sneak peek at what Hiro’s up to; the “Beam me up, Scotty!” cliffhanger has left me guessing.

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.

Zach's Heroes Watch: "Brother's Keeper"

Previously on Heroes: Sylar thinks he’s Noah, Tracy wants to go to the carnival, Matt tried to kill himself, and Samuel kidnapped Charlie to get Hiro to help save Mohinder.

Nine weeks ago, Mohinder was going through a geography lesson – and about change (THEME ALERT) – and we find out that the mystery video Samuel wants has to do with Mohinder’s father’s involvement in the Coyote Sands research from the no-longer irrelevant plotline last year. We also find out that the video involves Samuel and the theory that people with superpowers can amplify their powers by hanging out together – since Baby Samuel was born at Coyote Sands, he’s got super superpowers.

By researching this special force and following a special compass that he invented (mystery resolved!), Mohinder ends up breaking his marriage. But we know that Samuel could be unstoppable if he surrounds himself with enough supers – which he already has. Mohinder finds his way to the carnival and meets up with Joseph (played by a B-list version of Liam Neeson), who’s covering up that his brother is special, and with Samuel, who was kind of a shrimp back in the day. Turns out Joseph is covering up everything about Samuel’s powers so Ambitious Samuel doesn’t know. Joseph kicks Mohinder out of the carnival to try to keep everything under wraps, but Samuel was eavesdropping!

Mohinder feels like he made a mistake and wants to back off before Samuel finds out, so he takes some lighter fluid out of the minibar and burns the video – or is about to before Hiro stops time and switches the video for some nondescript film. Evil Butterfly Man arrives and menaces Mohinder. Jealous that his brother is “playing king,” Samuel kills Mohinder with rocks, or so it seems – Hiro stopped time, put a bulletproof vest on Mohinder, and saved his life. Hiro brings Mohinder up to speed on the season’s important plotlines and then hides him in a mental hospital for a few weeks.

Samuel wants Hiro to prevent him from killing Mohinder eight weeks ago because Mohinder has some mystery video from 1961. But Hiro just looks constipated because he’s having problems teleporting. Fortunately, we know that Hiro has changed time – he’s got the video and he saved Mohinder from a fate worse than cancellation. He presents a film can to Samuel and asks for Charlie to come back, but Samuel doesn’t deliver.

Meanwhile, Tracy wants to run away and join the circus because her superpowers are acting up. Somebody get this girl some antifreeze. While Claire does laundry at her dad’s apartment (where the heck do these people live, anyway?), she finds Tracy flipping out. Tracy takes a bath, but the whole thing freezes over, and Tracy ends up freezing Claire. That’s cold, Tracy. But this episode is weird and crazy because Claire’s foot falls off while she’s frozen, which Tracy ends up thinking is super funny – good thing Claire has a sense of humor about all this.

Tracy and Claire chill out (get it?) in their bathrobes while they figure out that Tracy’s problem is psychological. Tracy’s having an identity crisis, too, so she and Claire bond over knowing Samuel and wanting to go to the carnival. Noah comes home, and he’s slightly weirded out over the fact that there’s a severed foot on the table – can we please get a sitcom spin-off called “Same Old, Same Old” starring these three?

Tracy meets Samuel at a diner (favorite setting of the season?) and ends up scoring an invitation from Samuel to join the carnival.

Nathan/Sylar is puzzled over who he is and what the heck he was doing in a carnival. Rene the Haitian arrives with the exposition for this episode, promising “the truth.” Turns out Mama Petrelli wants all these messy memories erased, but the Haitian’s not buying it. Instead, he sends Peter on a quest to a storage facility – where the real Nathan’s body is stored. Nylar touches the body and starts to get memories from it. They know Matt Parkman has the answers, but it’s too bad he’s in critical condition; fortunately Peter has healing powers!

The Petrellis skulk around a hospital until they find Matt, who Peter heals. But Mind-Sylar is ecstatic because his body is right within sight. Matt spills the beans, but Sylar takes over and wants to put the moves on Nathan. In short, Matt’s trying to stop Mylar from touching Nylar to become Sylar again. My head hurts, but at least it makes sense. So Nathan’s identity crisis gets worse when he realizes he doesn’t actually exist. Nathan accidentally touches Matt, but it’s not clear who’s who for the moment.

Matt busts out of the hospital by using his powers, and Nylar takes Peter to a set with the Grand Canyon superimposed on the backdrop. More touching – Peter gets Nylar’s power(s). Matt makes a call to his wife and says all the craziness is over. Problem solved? What a strange ending – Nathan knows he’s Sylar but is afraid of how Peter feels about that. Complicated.

Verdict? Another fantastic episode from Heroes, if a bit complicated. A lot of plotlines are coming together, and we’re getting a sense of how the writers really do know what they’re doing this year. The cast is exceptional this year, and Robert Knepper really got a chance to shine by playing Past Samuel. But I couldn’t be more excited for next week, when Samuel reveals who killed Joseph (prediction: Samuel did it, but he’s going to blame Lydia or Edgar).

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Shadowboxing"

Previously on Heroes: Peter has a new power, Matt is dueling with Imaginary Sylar while Real Sylar chills with Samuel, and Claire deals with the worst sorority rush of all time.

Back at the carnival, Sylar still thinks he’s Nathan and is having some weird nocturnal face-changes. Samuel discloses to Lydia that he’s still trying to recruit Claire, even though it seems like a lost cause, and Nylar (Nathan/Sylar) flies away.

Claire and Gretchen bamboozle Paris and Nicole by claiming they’re just seeing things because of some drugged water bottles, and the two stare longingly at each other. Back on campus, Claire and Gretchen try to figure out why Invisible Becky is evil, figuring out that baby powder will make Becky visible. The plot thickens! Noah and The Haitian are already at Becky’s sorority house, having wiped all their memories clean.

Noah’s back in full bag-and-tag mode, with a plan to keep Becky away – The Haitian cancels out powers, so he’ll protect Claire. “This is not my first rodeo,” Noah says – best line ever. Not that much of this matters – Gretchen’s packing up to go home, even though Claire gives Gretchen a touching speech about needing each other. Just when Claire’s at her loneliest, Samuel shows up!

Samuel answers a few questions by revealing that the carnival is more of a family than any blood relations. He tells Claire Becky’s sob story origin, when we also learn that Noah killed her father. But watch out, Noah, you’re about to star in your very own horror movie scene, co-starring Invisible Becky. This time, it’s personal. After learning that Becky’s out to destroy him, Noah finds Samuel and Claire chatting and does what he does best – he pulls a gun.

Samuel also reveals that Danko killed Joseph (something we called a while ago), but he’s still being ambiguous about the value of the compass. While trying to bag-and-tag Samuel, Becky attacks Noah and Claire, but Samuel stops her and successfully pits Claire against her father for a moment. But it seems that this dispute is short-lived, because Claire and Noah are buddy-buddy in the next scene.

Peter’s control over life and death comes in handy as a paramedic, but Emma’s still upset about something. Seems she and Maya are members of the “I hate my superpower” club. But Emma starts on the path to becoming a real medical practitioner by suturing up a walk-on from “Grey’s Anatomy.” But all this people-saving is taking its toll on Peter, who’s wearing out faster than a wet paper bag in a windstorm. “Be ordinary,” says Emma, who we learn is a med school dropout.

When a little girl’s found passed out, it seems like Peter’s just going to fix her with his magic powers, but Emma knows the medical procedure the girl needs and fixes everything. Emma piano-s it out with her power and gives us her backstory, too – there’s a drowning nephew in her past. We get a lot of lovey-dovey “you saved me” bonding, especially when Peter piano-s it out, too.

Sylar’s taken control of Matt’s body and is bodynapping him to New York. But Matt gets the last laugh when he packs a gun in the bag, especially after Sylar learns that he can’t control Matt’s power. Mylar (Matt/Sylar) gets dragged away by airport security while Real Matt giggles over how clever he is. Four hours and a flat tire later, Sylar kills a trucker who stops to help fix the tire, continuing this ugly but delightfully inventive storyline about Matt and Sylar dueling for control of his body.

By odd coincidence or by brilliant design, Sylar bodynaps Matt to the same diner in Texas where Charlie used to work. Sylar tells Matt that the entire world are hostages now unless Matt spills the beans on where Sylar’s body is. To save a waitress, Matt confesses that he overwrote Sylar’s personality with Nathan. This makes things worse, because Sylar builds a list of people he’s going to attack, but Matt gets the last laugh when he tricks Mylar into scribbling a murder threat on a napkin. Matt plans to sacrifice himself to kill Sylar. It works – the cops show up and gun down Mylar. Things, though, might not be that easy; paramedics try to resuscitate him.

At the end of the episode, Samuel reveals that all of what just happened was part of the plan, but what he’s not ready for is the fact that Sylar is missing. We also find out that Noah’s been tracking Samuel for some time; you can’t, it seems, keep a good man down forever. And finally, Peter gets a surprise visit from Nathan, who thinks he’s in trouble but can’t place why.

Verdict? Can we give Robert Knepper an Emmy or something? Samuel is one of the most fascinating characters on television, and he’s one of the main reasons “Heroes” is redeeming itself this season. Also, the Matt/Sylar plotline gets what seems like a satisfactory conclusion, with a morally complicated self-sacrifice, to boot. Another spectacular episode – I’m ready to declare this the best season of “Heroes” yet.

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Once Upon a Time in Texas"

Previously on Heroes: Samuel has some past-fixin’ to do, and so does Hiro. Enter destiny and special guest star Charlie.

Hiro successfully travels back in time, and he’s ready to save Charlie from a fate worse than Sylar. Cue the boy-meets-girl flashback, and since good guys wear white hats Hiro gets mixed up in a whole slew of appropriate imagery (see, Grey’s? That’s how it’s done.). We also get a nice little reminder that Charlie had a power – super-memory, which sounds really nice right in time for finals week.

Retcon alert! Noah used to have a partner besides the Haitian, and we revisit some of that good old “lying to our families sucks” dialogue we’ve come to know and love. Except Lady Partner (Lauren) thinks Noah is flirting with her – is he? We also get some fantastic reminders of how close the Sylar chase was back in Season One and how close the show is coming to eclipsing its original greatness.

Remember Eden and Isaac? They’re all back, too! ...in alternate history form. It’s too bad that I don’t remember Season One all that well, because Noah asks Isaac to do something that we probably already saw, but I can’t honestly remember. What’s definitely new is that Noah’s partner has the hots for our bespectacled buddy, feelings that don’t seem to be reciprocal unless the writers want to hook them up in subsequent episodes.

Noah’s much more interested in reconnecting with his daughter, and we learn that Noah’s a Shakespeare buff (I like him more already, even though he quoted my least favorite of Will’s plays). After Claire tells him to do what makes him happy, it looks like Noah’s about to get busy with his partner, but we know he’s not all morally grey. He keeps it in his pants and puts his family first. No lovin’ for Lauren, who has her memory wiped Haitian-style to make things easier.

Back in the present day at the Creepy Carnival, Old Man Arnold is ready to shuffle off the mortal coil, which has Samuel irked because he didn’t buy a big enough cemetery plot. Samuel, whose superpower seems to be “convinc[ing] an apple it’s an orange,” knows he needs Hiro because Lydia’s tattoo told him so, so he’s off into the past to try to convince Hiro to join up with him.

So Samuel wants to tell Hiro that “Suzie Flapjacks” isn’t worth making history go “kablooey,” even though Hiro doesn’t believe him. Hiro stops time right before Sylar can kill Charlie – just before the commercial break. When we return, Hiro wheels Frozen Sylar out of the restaurant and into a Greyhound bus’s luggage compartment. But he puzzles over this whole “kablooey” thing that time travel fiction has always grappled with, as Samuel broods in a shadowy corner.

The solution? Be menacing and pretend to be Future Hiro to tell Past Hiro to... oh, my brain’s exploding. What is this, Lost? Suffice it to say, it works. But Samuel finds a flaw in the situation, speaks some Japanese, and sends Hiro to fix potentially-broken things with Ando before Hiro and Charlie go off on a world tour. But the super-memory kicks in and something is definitely wrong with Charlie (hint: it’s not the fact that she’s got a show on a rival network).

Unfrozen Trunk Sylar wakes up and menaces Hiro, but it turns out that Sylar is no match for Hiro’s chronal on/off switch. It’s absolutely hysterical watching these two face off in a superpowered version of Old West gunslinging. They reach a truce in which Sylar agrees to cure Charlie for a peek at the future. And hey, it worked! Hiro makes good on his deal and goes all fortune-cookie on Sylar, warning him about a bleak future that awaits him.

The plan, of course, backfires. Charlie is upset that Sylar is going to keep on killing, and she feels like her new life with Hiro is “cheating... and selfish.” Poor Hiro has his heart broken – if only he’d been watching Glee. He’d know this wasn’t meant to be after all; she’s in love with Will the glee coach, after all. Hiro turns to root beer and has an existential conversation with Noah at the diner. But at the last second, Charlie comes back to the diner looking for “our happy ending” – hooray!

But it’s not all kisses and origami cranes. Samuel abducts Charlie to get to Hiro but then admits that he sort of lied about the whole thing. Trapped in the carnival, Hiro flips out and learns that Arnold trapped Charlie in time just before he died. Samuel reveals that he’s going to blackmail Hiro into helping him erase his “Evil Butterfly Man” past. With that, Hiro goes over to the dark side to help Samuel erase his worst transgression – killing Mohinder (now we know why he wasn’t returning Matt’s calls).

Verdict? This episode was compared to “Company Man” before its airing, and I’m thinking this episode would have looked really awesome in black and white. Maybe that’s just the visual culture guy in me, but it would have been pretty striking. This was another good episode from the Heroes crew; the Noah plotline felt a little like a waste (although my bet is that we’ll see Lauren again), but the Hiro/Samuel interaction is gold. I cannot wait to see where this plotline goes, especially because we’re STILL not sure what side of the fence Samuel is on. And the hope for a happy ending, even if this is the last season, gets me all giggly inside.

Heroes Headlines: The End Is Nigh?

Airlock Alpha reports what can best be described as "good news, bad news."

Apparently, a source at NBC suggests that Heroes may be in its home stretch. The show's had a fantastic season so far, and it looks like this could be the last one. That's right; we at The Top Pop Stop have long suspected this might be the last season of Heroes, and this mysterious anonymous source at NBC is confirming our suspicions.

Of course, that's bad news for those of us who love the path the show is taking, but it's good news in the sense that the show will at least be going out on a high note. Remember what happened when Michael Jordan came back to basketball? Ouch. At least these writers know what they're doing and can wrap up the story in a satisfactory manner; imagine the disaster if last season's writers were tasked with writing the finale. I almost don't miss Jeph Loeb (who left after Vol. 3).

(Noticing a pattern here? Heroes, Lost, and Nip/Tuck are all in their final seasons... we insist that The Top Pop Stop's endorsements are not kisses of death; if they were, we'd start hailing Izzie as our favorite character on Grey's Anatomy.)

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.

Lilia's Heroes Watch: Strange Attractors

Previously on Heroes: Claire kissed a girl and she liked it. Sylar can't remember his own memories, Noah tries to help a kid who can control the circle of life, and Claire and Gretchen Join a sorority that Samuel's niece is in.

This week, Sylar is being a smarty pants and trying to scoot Matt out of his own body. He start by sleeping with Matt's wife, only Janice thinks it is Matt. Sylar has finally figured out how to temporarily push Matt's mind out of his body which is bad for Matt but obviously not for Matt's wife (high-o). Matt starts freaking so tells his wife to get lost, literately, so Sylar can't find her. She leaves and Matt finally figures out what he has to do to get rid of Sylar- be an alcoholic. Because drinking three bottles of liquor doesn't make you look crazy at all... So Matt drinks away his problems and passes out but when he wakes up, he realizes that, surprise, surprise, Sylar is smarter than he is. Honestly, are you really that shocked? While Matt passed out, Sylar stole his body and he has no intention of returning it.

In Georgia, Noah is still trying to get Jeremy out of jail except that the police aren't buying that Jeremy's parents died of carbon monoxide. Noah is all out of his own lies so calls Tracey and asks her to pretend that she is Jeremy's aunt so she could sign him out. Before Tracey sees Jeremy, she is intercepted by Samuel who takes her to the carnival and tells he to bring Jeremy there so that he doesn't have to hide. Tracey seems convinced that the carnival is the place to be. This also enforces our theory that Samuel is trying to get all the heroes together. Tracey talks to Jeremy and explains to him how it is to be different and reluctantly says that Noah and her will help him adjust. But when Jeremy gets released, the town isn't happy and goes all creepy mob in front of the police station. Jeremy is not happy and he accidentally kills a protester and won't bring him back to life. Some police officers are sick of the law and the tie a chain around Jeremy's feet and drag him from the back of a car and leave him on the road dead. Samuel then uses his magic powers as a badass to demolish the police station while people are in it. Samuel has officially promoted himself to the keeper of the heroes and it seems that he will stop at nothing to hurt those that hurt the heroes.

In Claire world, she and Gretchen get carried away to a slaughter house for the most over done sorority initiation ever. While the scavenge the slaughter house for clues, Claire finds out that something, or someone, is trying to kill Gretchen. She ends up punching Rebbecca, knocking her visible before she runs off. But when everyone turns they see Claire, impaled. So, as anyone would do, Gretchen pulls Claire off the pole and tada,Claire magic happens- in front of two other girls.

Heroes hits us again with another knock out episode that shows that the powers aren't going to be a secret for much longer. Will they all need to hide away from Samuel? While Drako's weird government run bag and tag be reinstated? Is Samuel good or bad? Of course we will not get any of these answers next week... Next week looks fantastic as Hiro goes back to save Charlie, but will he be able to survive himself?

Zach's Heroes Watch: "Tabula Rasa"

Previously on Heroes: Peter has Emma’s lamest-power-ever, Noah is having a mid-life crisis, and Dirty Sylar (originally Sylar-Nathan) doesn’t know who he is.

Samuel takes over as narrator since Mohinder is MIA, and Hiro is a goner if the show gets cancelled this year. There’s a lot of our favorite talk about destiny and missions, which is all very empowering. But Emma’s spooked because someone sent her a cello that can break walls if she plays it really fast. Like I said, lamest-power-ever. Now we know why Emma’s going through superhero counseling with Hiro: because she wants to turn her power off.

Hiro shows off his power and helps Emma see that her power isn’t all that lame. And Emma helps Hiro do a magic trick to impress some little kids. It’s all about being yourself and using your abilities to help others. Suddenly Hiro remembers Charlie, the cute waitress he romanced way back in Season One. To save her, he’ll have to go all the way to “Glee” to find her. (Nah, just to the past.)

Just in time for Halloween, Spooky Sylar (or Dirty Sylar, if you like) joins Creepy Carnival. If anyone’s up for some hardcore redemption this year, it’s Sylar, now free of the brainwashing that made him think he was Nathan. Talk about identity crisis: Sylar doesn’t know who he is, but he’s starting to figure out that he’s special. Here’s our blank slate of the week, but let’s see how else this parses itself out this episode.

We start to get an idea that Samuel might be evil. He’s definitely okay with Killer Sylar and kind of wants to see that happen, so he sends some carnival tickets to the cop that was hunting Sylar last week. Meanwhile, Lydia is hitting on Sylar big time, and Speedy (Edgar) gets jealous. But thank goodness there’s a guy in the carnival whose superpower is restoring memories (convenient). Samuel, though, is almost a Magneto type of character, wanting to band the people with abilities against the people who hate the superheroes.

Wonderfully inventive cinematography when Memory Man takes Sylar into a house of mirrors to try to figure out who he really is. But he’s still being haunted by the ghost of his mother, and he can’t believe that what happened actually happened. He starts to get some vicious flashbacks of all the bad things he’s done. Time to start filling in the blank slate.

But this episode is all about confronting who we are and being comfortable with it. Emma’s okay with her power, but Sylar is really struggling with being who he is. To nudge him along the path toward self-acceptance, Samuel tells Sylar that his cop nemesis is at the carnival, so Sylar gets all evil again (didn’t you hear the ticking clocks?) and almost kills the cop, but Edgar (still jealous about Lydia) steps in and does it for him. “You’re safe now,” Samuel says as he welcomes Sylar into the family with a weird baptismal rite. Get it? He’s not Dirty Sylar anymore.

Claire goes home for fall break or something and steals some quarters from her dad. Peter breaks in with Hiro’s power, and poor Noah is never going to get a good insurance rate with all this crime in his house. But Noah is still willing to help, since he bagged-and-tagged a healer way back when. (Also convenient.)

But it turns out that Healer Kid Jeremy can kill people, too, and not just with his giant shotgun. He can control the flow of life and death, and he’s pretty peeved about it. Fortunately, he gets the opportunity to prove that he can still heal people when he accidentally shoots Peter. Yay, redemption! Peter nicks his ability and goes back to save Hiro while Noah’s going to “save” Healer Kid.

What Peter doesn’t know is that Hiro disappears after finally teaching Emma why her power is beautiful. Peter’s peeved, but Hiro is back at the diner where he first met Charlie, and it’s love at second sight all over again.

Verdict? For all the teasing I do about the show being transparent or predictable, this season has been really strong, and this was a tight episode with some very interesting character developments and a lot of interesting plot turns that I can’t say I entirely predicted. Well done, “Heroes” – keep it up.