The Heroes Review - 4.7 Strange Attractors

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 10.27.2009

Heroes greets Halloween with a sorority scavenger hunt in a slaughter house, where Claire and Gretchen are targets!

AND MICHAEL WEYER!

Heroes offered up three more stories this week, and I found them all pretty compelling.

Let me start with Matt, who has usurped the title once proudly held by Mohinder, Maya and Claire... that of, “Biggest Idiot on Heroes”. Congratulations Matt! You almost make me cheer for Sylar as he ruins your life. Scratch that, you do make me cheer for him. Go Sylar!

I mean, what kind of brain surgeon comes up with the brilliant idea to get rid of Sylar by drinking himself stupid? How would that even work? Would he have to be bombed 24/7? And the way our Big Bad has been screwing with his brain, you’d think Matt might be a little more wary of tricks. For the guy with the almighty brain power, this man is stupid.

Sylar is just total pimp. There’s no ways around it. He takes control of Matt’s body and goes to town on his wife. He steals every single scene he’s in. He manoeuvres a dude right out of his own body. He’s the best thing about this storyline and probably the show itself, as some readers have attested here in the comments. In short, Sylar is money. Money, and ratings.

We got a quick glimpse at ‘other Sylar’ at the carnival as well and oh man, who in God’s name is dressing him? Even the big bad can’t make those dorky clothes work.

The always awesome Samuel (best new character since season one? I think so) got involved trying to save Jeremy, the healer, in his own manipulative way. He probably should have done things his way from the start because unfortunately, HRG’s plan didn’t work. Noah’s plan to create an escape for the troubled teen got screwed up by some good old fashioned dirty cop action. You had to know the poor kid was doomed, but man, I didn’t see the car drag bit coming. That was nasty. A dirty cop deserves a dirty end though and luckily Samuel came around to dish out some real justice. He’s playing that line of a dude who believes he’s doing what’s ultimately right for his people, and in some cases he is actually justified, but of course he takes it too far (take last week’s Ernie Hudson slaying) and that’s what makes him a villain in the grand scheme.

Finally, we got Claire and Gretchen’s continuing quest for sorority acceptance. Talk about hazing! Let me just say I was quite surprised (and slightly intrigued) to see Claire leave the door open a crack when it came to ‘pushing the beds together’ with Gretchen. That is to say, she didn’t come right and say, “see, I like guys”. I guess college is about experimenting... ratings grab to keep the hornier dudes (not me, you understand) tuning in with the hopes of seeing some HLA? Perhaps. But interesting nonetheless.

I really expected to see Gretchen bite it in this episode and she almost did a couple times but Claire, god bless her, she took care of some business. I’ve ragged on her for being stupid in the past but, credit where it’s due, it didn’t take her long at all to realize what the score was, that someone was after Gretchen and that it was probably somebody with a power. Seeing her put all the pieces together and take it upon herself to crack some invisible heads to save her roomie was, well, awesome. I want to see more of this proactive, brave, alternative lifestyle living Claire!

Things I Dug

- Damn! Matt’s getting down!
- Oh, I guess that was Sylar getting down.
- HRG needs to choke a bitch.
- “You’re a good kisser.” Giggity!
- “You know they have entire websites devoted to this.” Giggity Giggity!
- Claire “doesn’t know” if she wants to throw down with her female roommate! Giggity Giggity Goo!
- “That is the second Parkman I’ve made scream today. I’ll give you some pointers later.” OH SNAP!!!
- Samuel rules.
- Gretchen goes both ways! Quagmire would LOVE this episode.
- WHAT do they have Sylar wearing???
- “Well that’s not very nice, you’re quick to label.”
- I like this badass, problem solving, no nonsense Claire!
- Samuel is here! Run dirty police officers, your uppance has come!

Michael, it's your turn!

Can’t Get You Out Of My Head: The opening was freaky with Sylar and Janice and assumed it was a dream until she thanked Matt for last night. Quinto is obviously having fun with the wicked Sylar in Matt’s head (“That’s the second Parkman I’ve made scream today.”) and so did Grunberg with the bit where he’s trying to warn Janice but coming off as just crazy. The bit with the alcohol was cleverly done with Sylar apparently wiping out but mocking Matt for being just normal. While I saw it coming it was a trick, having Sylar take charge was a nice twist. I’m looking forward to seeing Grunberg channeling Quinto and showing off his wicked side.

Small Town Blues: I found it a bit too easy for the cops to buy Noah’s cover-up of Jeremy’s parents’ deaths. So I was happy that they do indeed suspect foul play and makes sense Bennett would want to help him out to make up for his past actions. Tracy was perfect as she shares much the same problem and the scenes with her and Jeremy were well done. But I knew it had to end sadly with him killing someone and refusing to help but being dragged behind a truck was rather brutal. Yet he got a great send off with the bit where the deputy dares him to use his power and Jeremy, at the end, makes the choice to do the right thing and hold back. Still, his death is sure to shake up Noah and Tracy (who, having felt so lost, is no doubt quite tempted by Samuel‘s offer), not to mention….

Samuel Brings Down the House: I’ve been waiting all season for Knepper to unleash his inner T-Bag and we finally get it here. His talk with Tracy was interesting as he hints at the power behind the super-powered and how he wants to find out more behind it. I can see him wanting a healer among his crew but he really does seem to care about them as well. But the moment where he destroys the police station was still chilling, the cold stare on his face as he sends it crashing down truly scary and shows he’s getting tired of playing around. Hopefully, this kicks things up a few nice notches.

Saw VII, The Heroes Edition: I liked how Claire’s first reaction on seeing the masked girls break in was to “go Buffy” on them big time. She and Gretchen continue to have a fun dynamic with their talks and such and some nice lines. “You can’t be…no, you were a cheerleader” and “That sounds like some crazy conspiracy theory…Which sort of describes your whole entire life.” Nice of Gretchen to explain the episode’s title which also explains quite a lot of the series itself. You’d think Becky would have been a little more careful trying to kill them but when you can make yourself invisible, you’re probably used to doing what you want. Nice effects for the fight with her and Claire and was surprised they had the other two coeds see both their powers. Looks like it’s time to put in a call to the Haitian Sensation That Thrilled the Nation. But also good to have Gretchen get a close look at the insanity that is Claire’s life, strengthening the bond between them.

Overall, a good episode with some very nice developments and good character moments as well.

The 411: Another solid episode. The more Sylar and Samuel the better. Give me more badass Claire with a side order of Gretchen and hold the Matt, please.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]