Heroes Season 4 Episode 3

Why many of you have to hate on Heroes how about been a little more patient this is the third Episode of this season, don't expect the writers to tell you the whole season in one Episode. I was expecting a little more of action but I settle for story line as long as it takes us somewhere I noticed that people cry when they get action and no story line and now they get story line and they still cry WTF people are you a real fan or what? look how well this episode did it went from 8.5 to 8.6 to 9.1 if you are a real Heroes fan you should know that this mean something good plus last time we had a above 9 average episode was in season two so don't be too anxious and be patients!!!!!!

Well, now that the fillerless premiere(s) is out of the way, the real "action" can begin. Or if not action, at least we have some real nice character drama, this episode centering around Peter, Claire, and Matt. Peter is enjoying playing hero when he gets the "Hancock"-treatment, that is, someone wants to sue him for injuring them during his rescues. Trials and tribulations of playing the hero, what can you do? Peter expects some support from his best friend-medic but the medic is suspicious that Peter gets to the scenes so quickly, is jealous that Peter is stealing the attention and the work away from him, and informs his "friend" that many on the medical staff believe Peter is deliberately causing the accidents so he can claim some glory-high. Nice guy. Peter decides to talk to his accuser and meets up with what apparently is his future girlfriend, a deaf medical secretary that is starting to exhibit powers. Turns out Peter's accuser is Samuel, hoping to meet and size Peter up. Samuel is impressed by what he sees and uses his ink powers to imprint on one of Peter's newspaper clippings that he was there. He begs Peter to help him out so he can help his family. He asks Peter if he ever lost a brother, which MIGHT be foreshadowing some Nathan-Sylar-Peter conflict down the road but who the heck knows, and he feels lost after his brother died. He finally imprints a compass tattoo on Peter's arm for SOME reason, and goes to his childhood home. At college, Claire is trying to avoid Gretchen the best she can after she outted herself. Noah invites both of them to lunch, Gretchen hopping on board and gives Claire a not-so-discrete talk-through over hiding her ability. Noah knows what's going on and wants the Haitain to deal with her but Claire calls him off, threatening disownment if he does so, because Gretchen is her only friend. That's pretty sad that this super-annoying girl is Claire's only friend. Noah consents and gives Claire free control of her life. Claire decides to come fully clean to Gretchen over her powers and the two bond in a very obvertly, how-can-this-get-anymore-obvious Willow-Tara situation. Meanwhile, Sylar is doing his very best annoying the heck of Matt to get him pieced back together. Matt understands what sort of havoc Sylar would wreck if he is unleashed and tells Sylar or hallucination-Sylar or whatever version of Sylar this is that he would rather have Sylar annoy him to death than to let him back causing destruction to the world. Unfortunately, Matt is in the middle of a drug-bust and Sylar being suspiciously niceish, showing Matt clues and leads Matt to the horrifying realization that the drug dealer kidnapped and murdered a little girl. Matt beats the heck out of the guy but then, it turns out Sylar used Matt's illusion mindbending against him. Ugh. Matt, defeated, lapses back to mindreading and Jedi mind tricks so everything is easier for him. Sylar smirks, knowing it won't be long until he can force Matt to do what he wants. Peter's future girlfriend has problems of her own. Turns out she's a newborn. Turns out she can "see" sound, her doctor informing her her senses are bleeding into each other, or the colored vibrations sound gives off, a nifty trick. She sees the hues a drop of water gives off and she tries playing someone's guitar, seeing the different vibrations the sound gives off. Beautiful scene but it would have been even better if the colors had more well. . .color, more bounce, more vibration, more vitality, but due to Heroes' short budget span, the colors are just there. Peter seeks her out but she runs, not wanting anyone's sympathy. I don't think it will be long until those two hook up. At last, Samuel deals with his own issues over losing his brother and feeling lost, even going back to the mansion his father and mother served as a butler and a maid. The snotty lady that owns the place refuses to let him in, so Samuel responds by creating a sinkhole underneath the place. If he throws a hissy fit over someone refusing to let him into his childhood home, then you REALLY shouldn't mess with him. This episode is a lot better than the premiere(s) and definitely a start in the right direction. I like how Heroes is continuing to narrow the episode focus down to a few characters apiece, although that does take away from the others at times when we should be seeing the others. However, I do have a few gripes. Season Two-like problems have plagued Volume 5 thusfar, which is, nothing epic is significantly happening. Samuel, while I do like his ambiguity, hasn't been revealed why or what his villainous motive is. Just get to the point already. I find it odd that Gretchen has yet to be revealed to be a lesbian despite that it is rather significant to a certain degree, however, I don't think the writers can get anymore obvious over where Gretchen and Claire are headed. However, and I'm sorry about this, but she is just super-annoying. And she annoys Claire too so I'm supposed to believe that she and Claire are best buddies just because Claire outted herself to her and they're soon going to be lovers? Sorry if I ruined that for anyone. It's Buffy all over again. Eyeroll. I'm glad to see that Peter is given something to do after last volume but why is this freaking compass so important? Again, get to the point. Matt's storyline was the most interesting and you did feel bad for him that Sylar played him like a violin string but, I have to ask, what do the writers want to get out of this? Are they going to have Matt turn dark side? Is he going to comply with Sylar and get his identity back? Some clairifying would be appreciated. The heroes are mostly isolated from each other, leading separated lives, when I believe the fans clearly established after Season Two that they weren't buying that. What gives? And my biggest gripe is how much the writers have slighted Nathan/"Nathan" so far this season. You can't bring back a character, even in this case, and just not do anything with him. What was the point in bringing him back? That's a punch in the gut to us and an insult to Nathan, after his unfortunate/tragic demise. There was over a million ways they could worked the Nathan-Sylar angle, I'm just not liking so far the version they wound up picking. Where is the Fight Club moments? It looks like right now, Matt is the unfortunate Jack to Sylar's Tyler Durden? Does that mean Matt's going to be the one that Sylar controls? Shrug. And the fact that the Nathan/Sylar is only affecting Matt, someone who isn't related to Nathan or interacts with Nathan much, and not someone who is. . .say, a Petrelli, Claire, or preferably Peter, since hey, it is only his brother, irritates me. Will my whinings change anything? Nope, not really. At least the drama is still strong and the only thing keeping me watching Heroes while it flounders around. Maybe it will get better as the season goes on, but right now, the drama I will gladly take for what it's worth.

Unlike some shows that never evolve and they stay with some tried tested formula to keep their show going. I love Heroes due to the fact that it is constantly changing and evolving. Tonight's episode was a classic example. Peter meets a girl who is deaf, but sees color. I know when she saw that cello something was going to happen. How many of you heard her speak that one sentence? I wonder where her new powers will lead her? This is one of he reasons I am so glued to the TV watching this show.





I am still debating on whether those carnival people are good or bad. I would hate to have been the people trapped in the house when he made it disappear.





Poor Mat, Sylar is really screwing around with his mind. To make his believe he saw a dead girl under the stairs. Definitely he wants his body back and will stop at nothing to get it. Question is, is Mat strong enough to contain him, or will he eventually take over Mat and possibly turn him evil. The only negative thing about this show is that it goes by too fast. Also, they have many commercials, but that is a good sign. It shows companies are still interested in it. I wonder why they put in on the 8:00 PM time slot instead of 9:00 PM. I am glad it was renewed and I hope they give us more seasons.

i'm really loving the time they are spending developing our characters. nothing epic has happened yet, but if we recall in the first season, it started pretty much the same way. they started to develop the characters, then slowly unraveled the mystery before us. Here, we have lots of ominous hints and clues, but the real focus was the struggles of matt, claire, and peter. truly great. i know i'm in the minority, but i love the tracy character and can't wait to see her next week! i was a nikki fan, but i think i like tracy even more.

Peters interactions with Samuel, and Sylar messing with Matts head with his own powers, these are the reasons why Heroes gets the huge fan base it has. I think that they can only get better with time! I can't wait for the upcoming episodes, or when "Nathan" finally realizes who he truly is. The only thing I hated was the fact that they used Claires blood to save Noah (HRG), but they didn't think of that when it came to Nathan? Hopefully the writers knew what they were doing when they killed off Nathan. But, I still stick to my statement as this being the best series on NBC.

Peter must face the consequences of his actions and also meets a new female hero. Claire deals with others knowing about her abiliy. Samuel fights to find his brother Joseph's memories. When Sylar returns, Matt must struggle with his own inner demons. Its good to see the writers are now concentrating on less characters each episode, Peter got plenty of screentime so did the new character Samuel. Still no Mohinder wonder what he is up to. A good episode it had a slow pace but it managed to keep me glued to the screen. Enjoyed the Matt and Sylar scenes the most very intresting storyline, cant wait to see more.

Heroes season three went way wrong, there were so many fundamental problems that threw the show in disarray, but towards the end of the season, very small glitters of hope started to emerge. And now we are on to season 4, those glitters are bringing on a new dawn. Personally so far this opener is leading up to the best Heroes we've had in two years. Firstly the pace, last season was a mess everything was going on and it became ridicules, fast, thankfully now we are seeing Heroes focus on a limited number of Heroes per episode, so the stories are more interesting to follow. Secondly the characters themselves, finally they are stuck back in the real world, doing what normal people do, which is exactly what made the first season great, they're not running around in some weird distorted world of silliness there in our world coming to terms with their powers and living the consequences of their actions. Thirdly Sylar three episodes in and he's not been overused, tied to the same boring plot, and has actually got his feet glued to the ground regarding his persona. I'm even getting into Claire's plot which I haven't done for what feels like forever with Heroes, getting Noah to break up with his wife has done wonders in term of plot for their family . This is not to say this episode wasn't without its flaws, as was the same with the previous episodes this season, I won't dwell on those just yet, with anything that has been ravaged it's going to take time to heal and its going to take time to get it right. But this season if they can keep this up, keep it interesting and give us a satisfying conclusion there's no reason this season can't compete with the first. Heroes I welcome you back to regular week viewing

Well I can say we actually care about our characters this time around. They added a deaf woman to the show and she has a really beautiful introduction to her disability/gift. However it's not actually a power since it's actually Synesthesia which actually is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. *MAJOR SPOILERS*





Matt and Sylar are playing mindgames at a suspects house. Sylar ends up fooling him with throwing a dead body of a girl into his illusions and Matt ends up beating the crap out of this suspect. Peter got a court order from Samuel basically his way of tricking Peter to get "recruited" into their Carnival. They have a mini-series to go along with Lydia and Knife/Speedster guy which ties right into the series which will be a nice addition to the Carnivals storyline. Claire is having weird roomie issues and Claire is avoiding her and her dad shows up and basically they go out to a lunch that ends up awkward and Gretchen eventually apologizes because she was acting like that cause of Claire's ignorance. I would be ignoring the weird chick too. Anywho, this episode was a pretty big improvement compared to season 3's plotline, and they actually had some storylines I really enjoyed. I give this a 10/10.

Guys, I'm as flabbergasted by this as anyone. Heroes is playing like an entirely different show; it's as if the last 2 crap seasons never happened!





I don't want to get long-winded about this, but Ink is as near perfect a Heroes episode as you can get. It gets high marks for a series of reasons: 1. Trimmed, and focused storytelling. Like episodes of yore, instead of trying to squeeze everyone in all at once, Ink is only focused on 3 main plots this week- Peter and Samuel, and how they soon become connected, Claire and her friend dealing with their new secret, and the Matt/Sylar dilemma.


Not only is all this good but...


2. No Hiro & Ando crap, and even better...


3. No Mohinder!!!


4. And get this- all 3 plots were well written! Huh? Sylar continues to harass Matt while during a bust, and seems to even be helping the cop. But the twist is that Sylar can use Matt's power against him, and this is a great new development. On top of that was the payoff, as Matt finally uses his full ability to cleanup his own mess. It's never been explored before, but I really like the idea that a Hero is 'addicted' to their power, and was seeking help to fight it. You could really only do this storyline with Parkman, as his ability takes away God-given free-will. It's an ethical conflict. Kudos.





Noah came by to visit Claire, but once he finds out what Claire let slip, he's already looking for the quick fix (The Hatian), but Claire opted to handle the matter on her own. I liked this for 2 reasons: One, it plays up the "I'm growing up and need to solve my own problems" theme that will help Claire grow as a character, and 2) it helped the show avoid another 'easy way out'. Her relationship with her father is an increasing one of trust, which I liked, and her relationship with the girl (I think we all know where this is going) is beginning to, um, "blossum." hehe..





I was completely fascinated by Samuel's pursuit of Peter, the interesting way he tried to assimilate himself into "normal" city life, and the idea of suing Peter and the hospital. How did he know so much about Peter? Why didn't he make his move when he had the chance? How does his power work exactly? They haven't been this good with a mysterious character since Adam, way back when. Which leads me to...





5. Cool new powers.


This ink/and art ability of Samuel's is really intriguing. We know he can sort of "draw" into someone's skin, but here we saw him subtly impose himself into one of Peter's accident photos. It's interesting to see a villain with a weird ability that doesn't seem dangerous (it's all in the person using it) but we learned something else he can do- create sinkholes? Can't wait to see where this is headed.





But even more fascinating is this new character, and her ability to "see" sound. She might be the single reason this episode ranks so high for me. I was amazed. Through her we get that lost 'sense of discovery' with an ability that we haven't had since the show's beginnings. I loved the character trait with the headphones. Making her deaf is the biggest risk I've seen these writers make. The dichotomy of her handicap with her ability is Stan Lee-level creativity, and I was reminded of Daredevil, or Cyclops from X-Men. How exactly her power will fit into the greater scheme of things remains to be seen.

Wow , Heroes is really improving and i like how this will lead to.First of all they were right when they said there will be less characters on the episodes , this time it was only Clare,Matt and Peter as main cast and i really like that Matt and Peter is my favourite.Well claire i dont like to much but im starting to like her a bit this season.





Episode ''Ink'' was excellent with the introduction with a new character a deaf female with a power to see sounds.Will i think her power fits her really well and it looked really beautiful when she played on that(don't know the instrument but you know).Peter and Samuel finally meets but peter have his doubts but he gets manipulate by Samuel with using his powers on that newspaper article.





And the idea of sylar mess up in matts head actually turn to be good dident think it would be good at first but it is.





Can't wait to see next episode ''Acceptance'' and in the promo we finally see Peter and Nathan(well sylar) finally meet!

Very interesting. My favorite storyline had to be Matt vs Sylar. Sylar is now a figment of Matt's imagination, but when Matt was on a case about a drug dealer, Matt finds a ransom note for a little girl and evidence of her teddy bear. Turns out Sylar was just playing mind games with Matt the whole time. With Matt having killed an innocent stranger, he erases the memory of his parter; Sylar winds this round, but the game isn't over. Another interesting thing is how a new woman is introduced. She is deaf and she can see colors. By being intrigued by a bassist (I think) she gets a hold of it and starts playing a crowd-gathering tune by following the colors she see's. It was almost inspirational. Peter's storyline was the only one I couldn't follow because I coincedentally got up on his scenes. Overall Heroes is off to a fresh start, and character development is very present.

First, I like the fact that we see now Sylar is more than just a figment of Parkman's imagination. He also forces Parkman to start using his powers after he tricks him into killing a drug dealer. I like this on several levels, from Sylar (whom I usually hate) playing mind games to Parkman finally realizing you simply can't turn off your powers when they become inconvenient. I also liked the Clair storyline. When Gretchen left the table and HRG was ready to bring in The Haitian, like how it was handled, right down to Clair declaring, "people will find out, I'm tired of hiding it." Finally, we're getting some smart writing again!





Nathan's part was also handled well with Samuel and his false lawsuit. While all of this was not action packed, it was well paced, well written, and well acted. A brief scene with Tracy is a nice lead to later episodes, but no Hiro/Ando. Hopefully more of them next week.





Finally, we get the new hero of the week: Dazzler, only she's deaf. For those who understand the reference,Dazzler is a Marvel comic superheroine who can convert sound into light. She was a singer known for her light effects during concerts, which is how she hid her mutant ability. With enough sound, she could convert light into a laser and do some serious damage. We'll have to see how this plays out.





Overall, this was a nice episode, reminds me more of season 1 and the heroes having to cope with the world and their powers. It's nice that there isn't some agency trying to hunt them down or lock them up. I'm curious to see where things go from here so I'll keep watching, for now. They're on the road to Redemption which is a good sign.

Is it just pure coincidence, or is it NBC's miserly budget? We just saw a small subset of all possible characters on the show. Well you gotta have Hayden Panettiere, she is the reason the 18-34 demographic tunes in. The mystery is of course picking up. We still do not know much about what happened to Joseph, Samuel's brother played by Robert Knepper. Peter is stung by that mysterious ink, and begins to realize his mission to help people might be in danger now. Claire deals with Gretchen's newfound knowledge of her abilities. And it's not long before we realize Gretchen may have some powers as well.





Matt is forced to use his abilities after he beats up an innocent suspect, after Sylar creates an illusion. Things are picking up. This episode was good, but definitely not remarkable.

After a less than impressive season premiere, the writing staff seems to settle in a bit with this episode. There are essentially four plot threads explored in this installment, and all of them have their point of interest. Some are handled better than others, but unlike the premiere, none of them are completely mishandled.





Claire's new college life was not a highlight of the premiere, but it slips into a more comfortable niche in this hour. Perhaps this is the result of the choice to focus on Claire's decision to trust Gretchen with her secret. She goes through a bit of a process to get there, but it seems like her discussion with Noah brought her wants and needs into focus. Claire is looking for someone that she can be open and honest with, and for now, that appears to be Gretchen. Having established Gretchen as being a bit left-of-center also laid the foundation for her to be an outsiders, and therefore someone also looking for a friend, not someone who is likely to spread the news.





Whatever doubts Noah might have had about restoring the Company are now a thing of the past. Claire may have decided that she needs a confidante, but Noah still considers anyone outside of his "circle of trust" to be a potential threat. He might ultimately trust Claire's judgment on this (though experience and her track record should have advised him otherwise), but it has given him focus on the big picture.





Gretchen's battle of wills with Claire may have ended well for the moment, but the other two examples of mind games are anything but benevolent. Matt's struggle with Sylar is very well done, even if it is hard to watch. For just a moment, I was beginning to think that Sylar was going to weasel his way into Matt's confidence by playing "good cop". If there was an obvious way to get past Matt's resistance, that would have been it. Instead, the writers provided crushing evidence that Sylar didn't have to work past Matt's resistance, because in all the most important ways, he already had.





I'm not sure where this is going to take Matt, nor am I sure that the writers have thought it through. Hopefully they have, because this is one of those dark consequences that should come out of the ill-advised "solution" to the Sylar problem in the third season finale. They all underestimated Sylar, and now they're all going to pay for it. The question is how this will intersect with the other driving force for the volume.





Samuel's decision to manipulate Hiro in the premiere, and Peter in this episode, seems to be based on a need to replace vital members of his own "family". Samuel's time-traveler is dying, so Hiro is the most obvious option. Samuel lost his brother, and Peter happens to have a similar ability. Samuel's entire motivation seems to be built around doing what he feels is necessary to protect his own. In a way, he is a pseudo-Magneto in that respect.





Even though Samuel lies, deceives, and kills as he deems necessary, his motivations make him a more compelling potential villain. Unlike Sylar, his reasons haven't been muddled by constant retroactive revisions to his story. The writers have the chance to make him a sympathetic villain in the process. I get the feeling that he will be very much like Bester on "Babylon 5", which gives me hope that he will continue to evolve in a strong and consistent fashion.





While definitely the weakest subplot of the episode, built around questionable notions of disability, Emma's introduction had its moments. The scene in the park was lovely, and made up somewhat for the notion that a deaf person would be so isolated in the most diverse and active city in the world. The intersection with Peter's story suggests that she will be drawn into Samuel's web as well. It should be interesting to see how that plays out, and what function Emma is meant to fill in the story.





It's a bit unfortunate that the premiere was as weak as it was, because this was one of the better episodes in quite some time, and there's at least some sense of direction shining through. It should be interesting to see what the ratings look like. If the season is more like this episode and less like the premiere, the season might have a chance of gaining that titular redemption.

This was, without question, the best post-season 1 episode ever. It edges out Cold Snap for the simple reason that it kept me just as interested all the way through without relying on any major action. This had Matt punching a guy a few times, that was it. Cold Snap had Tracy's 'demise', and Daphne dying. I could not be happier that there is now proof that it does not take Bryan Fuller to write a good episode. The Awesome:





Matt and Sylar. I expected that this would just be a continuece of the premiere, but the twist at the end made it feel like an important story, I has me anticipating the next episode.





Samuel: Intruiging, charismatic, and absolutely nothing like T-bag, as I feared when I heard rob knepper would be playing another villain. The perfect scripting and brilliant acting as well as a good plot leading to more questions was something we really haven't seen since around 'Landslide'.





The Good:





Milo Ventimiglia deciding to actually act for the first time in two seasons.





Emma. Really liked the low-tempo, sentimental side to this plot, especially that cello scene. Really inventive on the writers parts.





The fact that I am anticipating next weeks episode to be good, again, not something I have been able to say since season 1 (bearing in mind there is a difference between anticipation and hope)





The Bad:





The writing for Noah/Claire/Gretchen and the acting of Claire/Gretchen





What happened here? How can episode have such good and bad writing mixed together? 'What are you, a vampire? A robot? some kind of freakish government experiment?' Yes gretchen, she's all of the above! Stupid, stupid line. And the kringworthy (get it?) scene in that sushi bar. ugh.





But, I am glad this came down to poor handling as opposed to a bad plot in the first place, because this side was necesarry, as now Claire can now be open with someone non-powered at school for the first time ever, which should give us something new. BUT if you want to make this work, regardless of how good the plot is, Hayden and Medeleine need to start doing their job: acting! Its so painful how bland Zima was this episode, despite being good in the premiere. And hayden, why did claire stop being earnest the moment a new season starts? At the moment she is just characterless. I'm also a bit worried. For anyone who has read the spoilers, we all know 'it' is coming soon. you know, the blatently obvious ratings ploy? I fear for the episode this event is in, it may break the season. But here's hoping it isn't next week...

things are getting weirder i mean now petter met Samuel and in the next episodes i guess hes joining him in whatever he want to do !!


and Syller is getting Mat pissed off !! so he get him back to his body and now Mat is going to be the bad guy !! as he will help Syller .. and Mat can't take it anymore :s


and the deaf lady i mean did she do that .. blow the park up !!! what on earth is that !!


and Clair is now getting her self together in college and getting friends ..


well .. al that means that this season seams to be the best .. as we say in every season which means that Heroes always getting from better to better :D

This episode is awesome. Let me break down the review in few different sets of storyline:





1. Matt vs. Sylar


How Matt chooses to refrain from using his powers like drugs is truly an amazing storyline. In this story, there's so much twist and tension, towards the end, when Matt confessed he's not strong enough and returned the sobriety chip to his colleague, he finally GAVE IN and USED his power! In such moments of desperation...kinda makes you ponder, would you use the power if you're in such a deep trouble like him?





And the best part, Sylar is as manipulative as usual...





2. Peter & Samuel


Peter has shown much brain and determination this season compared to the previous season 2 & 3. Peter wants to save as many lives as he can. Samuel uses that situation to his advantage.





Hah...I just love the storyline where a good guy tries to help people and yet got misunderstood for it. Tell me, who wouldn't sympathize with Peter? And Peter being so determined that he's right...he's no longer the silly-guy-being-pushed-around-and-always-complaining, as potrayed in Season 2 & 3.





And the fact that Peter made Samuel to go visit his previous home, it shows a different sympathetic side of Samuel as well. The writers did a great job in portraying different dimension within Samuel's villainous personality.





I have a feeling that when Samuel asked Peter, "Have you ever lost a brother?" it's going to lead to something greater when Peter found out that Nathan was already dead.





3. Emma


Once again, who wouldn't be sympathetic with the deaf lady? Her storyline was one of the most beautiful especially at the part where she played the cello in the park.





Also, the part where you realized that she put on headphones just to escape the prejudice from other people, it's well written.





I'm curious to see where they gonna lead this character to. But so far, they've got me fallen in love with Emma.





4. Claire & Gretchen


I see all the lesbian pick-up lines going on. "Can I see it?" (See what?)


"I've never done this before." Urr...those lines are bit weirdly placed and of course you've never done this before. Who in the world has taken a pair of scissors and cut a friend up?





I'm not too sure where are they leading the storyline with, but so far I feel this is the more boring storyline of this episode.





Overall, this whole episode got me caring for the characters again. Peter, Emma, Samuel, Matt, Sylar! They are all great!

Heroes continues to keep the brakes on with 'Ink', taking its time to dwell on the minutiae of each respective narrative strand rather than whizzing straight through plot development after plot development. In some ways, this reflects the considered style of the show's much-lauded debut season and it proves greatly beneficial to the strength of the stories, while in others, it proves to be somewhat frustrating, making the viewer sit through elements of the plot that simply don't have enough weight to hold our interest. It works most potently in Matt Parkman's storyline, which is really getting a much needed lift from his pairing with Sylar. Quinto and Grunberg play exceptionally well off each other, and it certainly helps that the writing is top class -finally, Gabriel is back to his duplicitous, manipulative self, the insightfully sinister villain who wowed us all in year one, rather than the somewhat cliched cipher he turned into in the last couple of seasons. His goading of Matt is heart wrenching and truly frightening; credit too to Grunberg for doing a stellar job of demonstrating just how much damage this is doing to the poor cop. It truly is a joy to watch this story unfold.. let's hope the writing staff can keep up the good work.





Elsewhere, the Carnival strand also proves rather interesting. Coliete doesn't give too much away here - it's still not really clear what T-Bag's power actually is - but the process of 'recruitment', in which Knepper approaches Peter, is distinctly well written. Not too sure about the idea that he would burn down that building, mind... it seems a little too B-movie villain for a character who has teetered on the edge for the past few episodes, seemingly doused in shades of gray. It's also nice to see a new individual thrown into the mix; let's face it, she's a bit of a beaut. The concept of 'mixed senses' works incredibly well for a deaf character and it's expertly handled: some of the best cinematography and music that the show has seen in a long time is used throughout her sequences.





Where 'Ink' loses its way a little is in... yes, you guessed it, Claire's storyline, which continues to be as interesting as watching paint dry. The whole thing goes nowhere of note and just retreads beats of old - Claire struggles with the fact that someone knows she has a power - before finally climaxing with the oh-so-huge development of Gretchen deciding to be the girl's roomie! Well, wowsers, eh?! What a riveting piece of television! And no, I don't care that they were all scantily clad and giggly in that last scene, listening to Death Cab for Cutie, hinting at potential experimentation to come. Not my cup of tea, thanks. I'd rather see Thomas Dekker make a reappearance... minus any clothes, of course. Still, at least we're beginning to get somewhere with this one. Something of an improvement.

I do love Sylar – his taunting Matt is great but I liked what Matt said about keeping Sylar trapped. But don't underestimate him – he will deliberately provoke Matt, but he did save Matt's life. It's in Sylar's best interests – Matt dies, he dies. Sylar has figured out how to use Matt's powers against him.





Samuel used the summons to lure Peter out. Peter's over-dedication has backfired – no good deed goes unpunished. Samuel is trying to use Peter to get his brother back? Peter's going to have to play at being normal to get back under the radar, no more multiple shifts.





I like Emma, quirky sense of humour. She hides the fact she's deaf by wearing headphones. Her power seem to be 'seeing' sound. If she could learn to control that, she might be able to 'hear', after a fashion. That is a very beautiful power and not only a unique one, but one that could change her life.





Gretchen is seriously starting to freak me out. Claire should at least get to know her before trusting a complete stranger. This fits in uncomfortably with the obsession vibe I got from Gretchen before – I still think she killed Annie so she could be Claire's roommate.





This is the first time we get a real feel for Samuel's earth-controlling power – he made an entire mansion disappear into a hole.

People are seriously judging this season before it has even gotten started. I think by now we have to wait at least four or five eps for anything to happen. As for the average plot lines of Claire, Matt, Hiro and Peter... This is what the writers always do. They created these four heroes and made their abilities too powerful. The first rule of superheroes is they all have a weakness. So the writers insteed of introducing weaknesses for their characters, make it that they:





Lose their powers (Peter + Hiro) and when they get them back they're not as strong or have fatal side effects. Peter's new power is really lame too. I don't even understand why he can't use more than one ability if he's just going to be a whimp about it anyway. My tip to the writers would be to say that as his character matures his starts to keep multiple abilities at a time, but each time he gets another one (still from contact) he might lose one he really needs.





Or





Make their personal lives get in the way of who they really are (Claire + Matt) so they never want to use their powers. Matts a cop! Why don't they want him to use his powers. I would. As for Claire... I've never cared about her and her whiny plot. I mean I think Noah is awesome and the company and how the cheerleader will save everyone, but everytime I watch an episode I ignore her plot. Now for my views on this seasons plot. It's interesting. Sylar is still awesome. Though maybe he's becoming too strong. He too needs a weakness. As for the new badguy carny folk... It's too early on to make a decision on them. My future predictions for this chapter are: Sylar will eventually get to Matt and he will come back just in time for the next chapter. Carny folk will do something evil and the "Heroes" will try and stop them. Claire Matt Peter and hopefully every other character on the show will realise they can't live normal lives whilst the writers are still making money and fianlly Hiro will be "reborn" once again but hopefully this time the writers will just let him and Peter be themselves, the ones we love from the first and second series.

WTF? I know special effects are expensive, and it seems to be the re-occuring theme here. Let's see the HEROES who don't SHOW powers, they just think stuff, and arrive places fast, and show us the after affects of sinking a house.





Listen, here is a message to Heroes writers, get your heads outta your @sses and pick up the pace here. It was SOOOO slow.





Clair, really? REALLY? gonna tell someone about her powers cuz the girl used to be bulimic. Really? SOOO stupid.





Matt Parkman, if only I could care about him enough to care what happens to him and his storyline. YAWN. I don't care if he rots in prison, he is also a stupid one.





They all seem so weak and dumb, and all that dribble about FEELINGS. Where exactly is the H.E.R.O.E.S. aspect of this show? The next episode better pick up or I'm so not wasting another hour of my life on it.

It's a big incongruity that after the past events the super folks behave like their powers is nothing. It seams the writers want to wipe out the past and make a new beginning, when people with abilities still did not know the full extent of their capabilities. Matt treating his telepathy as a drug addiction is the lamest thing ever, the deaf sinestesic is out of context. I want to see big super fights, major special effects, a comic book in live action, not the "sad story of the misfit paranormals". I do hope they don't make the sinestesic the love interest for Pete, he is boring enough without being a official breeder.

So far I feel like they are way to focused on Claire, granted it's episode three so who knows but I'm already a little bored with Claire/Gretchen (but that may be because I know what's coming). Still it's good/predictable that she would finally get another ally she can trust with her deep dark secret, this time around someone who may not have the same type of deep dark secret. Then again. Not sure why HRG is cool with it though? I know he's gone through some changes in the premiere but if anyone knows how untrustworthy people really are, even when they don't mean to be so, it's him. I can tell I'm going to like Emma. Obviously it's not real obvious what the deal with her power is yet but I love the fact that they introduced a deaf character. They always have characters from different parts of the world speaking other languages, why not sign language? It's very fitting with her power, whether they're connected or not. I think I might have a slight idea about what it is though. Stay with me, certain animals have sonar right? Bats I believe who have bad eyes or something like that have some kind of sonar. Theoretically (in the world of Heroes that is) the same thing would apply with loss/lack of hearing. You could develope a kind of sonar (that's what it reminds me of. She's seeing sound as color and light). After all we've seen in almost every case so far when it comes to powers they tend to reflect some part of the actual character whether it's a personnel wish, self view, a certain desire, acharacter trait or even a fear. It would fit beautifully, speaking of fitting beautifully she and Peter are perfect. He's going through his spartan a hero lives alone sacrificing everything to do better, to be better and she is very cut off and self isolating (though friendly). I could see a perfect match. Bothof them could really help one another whether it actually gets to a romantic point is irrelevent seeing as Peter's lady loves tend to tank it pretty quick. But she's a guest star and I've learned my lesson with guest stars so I'd put even money on her not making it more then 2 volumes anyway.





I do not understand what is happening with Samuel and all this weirdness. I get him, I get his power, I get his life and despite not knowing it yet we are getting certain basic aspects of what the carnival is (not much but still). But the ink? Is it magic or something? I thought it was something specific to Lydia but apparently not. The spinning compass tattoo? Okay is has something to do with actual spinning compass from the premiere that seems to have some sort of reaction to those with abilities but what's the deal with Smauel giving Peter one? A tracking device right? But that leads back to the question about the ink.

I'm disappointed so far. I am a real fan of this show - the last season and the first season really excellent -imho This episode Ink unfortunately reminded me of the disastrous 2nd (I think) season. The storyline (?) of Joseph etc so far is tedious and is boring - Samuel reminds me of that storyline when Peter was in Ireland (terrible. I am also finding the storyline of Claire boring. I hope the plots start moving with Angela, Sylar and Nathan. I really enjoyed the shows telling the original story of the people with powers and included The Petrelli's, Linderman etc. Anyway - I am routing and hoping that this show starts moving along a little better. I felt that the writers (last night's episode) just don't have a clue as to where they are going - so fractured plots start popping up with absolutely no logic.

I used to love this show till last season but this season has made me turn off. The original enthusiasm of the show is no longer there. I usually don't write reviews but seeing as to how the last two episodes have been (the season premier and this episode) i am compelled to write a review. The story line is going no where. The new characters make no sense and it seems like no body is really doing their job. All the main characters are running around doing pointless tasks. For example Peter is off being a paramedic (really guys?) Where did Dr. Suresh go? And whats up with Peter's mother? She is pretty much a pointless character now. I really hope the guys turn around and get the show back on a roll like it used to be.