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Heroes Season 4 Episode 7

Strange Attractors

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AIRED: Oct 26, 2009

8.4

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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Sylar continues to torment Matt. HRG and Tracy help a young boy who has suffered many hardships in his life. Claire and Gretchen have a problem with their new sorority sisters hazing them.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (20)

Whoever rates this episode low...

10

By Rollinfromhell, Jun 21, 2011

Is really idiotic. This episode had really amazing storytelling once again, and it focused on really great characters. I keep thinking every week that it may fall back into season 2 or 3 category, but it just keeps it up again. The whole Claire and her sorority pledge seemed a little stupid in the beginning, but it turned out worthwhile and evolved into a shocking twist. It's these moments that keep Heroes interesting again and it makes me look forward to each episode that comes on the week after. Season one anyone? Two thumbs up, keep it up Heores! :)moreless
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Halloween Episode

10

By Princepip81, Jun 21, 2011

I was really impressed with this episode. There was a level of tension and suspense throughout the entire hour. It really felt like a horror film in some places, down to the "halloween" music during the sorority scenes. There were also real consequences, once again. I didn't see the death of the boy coming. I thought Tracy would run in and save the day, or perhaps one of the carnival members. The fact that he died really had some truly interesting results. Samuel taking his wrath out on the police department was a very cool scene. The Matt/Sylar storyline, although it mirrors the Niki/Jessica story from season 1 is far more scary to me. This makes me believe that Matt Parkman will not be living much longer. The only way to get rid of Sylar's malevolence is to either kill Matt or return him to his body. I can't wait to see what happens.moreless
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I don't know what to say...

7.0

By RobGrizz, Jun 21, 2011

Heroes has come to the point where it is a delicate balancing act of a show with our feelings. Like stacking a house of cards, and I feel like a few tiers just slipped and fell away this week. The season started so strong- Heroes, please don't start falling apart! I can't say I cared much for this episode at all.

The show opened as good as it could possibly get: with sex! The reveal that it wasn't Matt boning his wife, but Sylar in Matt's body, was awesome, and I lol'ed at his "that's the second Parkman I made scream today" jab. Sylar is a polarizing character- some think he's the best on the show, while others feel he should have been done with after S1, either way, I know a lot of people are LOVING this plotline, but I can't say that I'm into it. Figment of an imagination, misguided body, one thinks he's Nathan, one's inside another's head- it's convoluted as f*ck. Zachary Quinto seems to want to take Ali Larter's crown for playing multiple roles within the same season; Essentially it's 2 Sylar's running around, and this is the most force-feeding of a character I've ever seen. I'm getting flashes to the 10+ Jack Sparrows running around in Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

My feelings on that aside, Parkman's method of 'drinking' Sylar out of his head was an inspired move, and I was glad to see him (seemingly) fight back and take the upper hand. I started thinking maybe Matt should get high- "smoke" him out! Drop some Acid. Turn Sly into a goat or something. Poor Matt might kill himself to be rid of this monster. I was worried it all might not work...and how! Now Sylar has taken over Matt's body completely and Parkman is 'on the other side of the mirror' so to speak. Matt's the mental figment now! Ha! A retread of Nikki/Jessica from S1? Undeniably.

I was eager to get back to the Claire/Gretchen issue, but proceedings were interrupted by a sorority Halloween creep-fest that felt like something straight out of the CW. It was so gimmicky I wondered if I had just tuned in to Smallville! As if they had just wandered onto the set of Saw V, Claire and Gretchen have to participate in a haze/rush test of wits in a grimy subterranean lair. Claire herself isn't really bad here (she's clearly the smartest girl in the group), and we get a little more insight and sympathy for Gretchen's character, but the other girls are completely annoying, especially that screamer! I did like the 'Buffy' moment at the beginning, and both roommates play the sexual tension well. Gretch still seems ready to jump Claire's bones at any moment though. (Who could blame her ;) The invisible stalker was a nice touch, but if Samuel needs Claire, I don't know if this kid is going about it the right way. The whole thing turned into a cluster F, and now both she and Claire have been exposed as freaks. Wonder if she'll get daddy('s Hatian) to clean up the mess.

Dad was busy trying to take care of the killer kid from last week, and he called in Tracy to help. (Is Ali Larter the most beautiful woman or what?) Trace is finally becoming an interesting character. I liked her scenes with the boy, and her conflicted feelings over the 'Carnival' when Samuel dropped in to pay her a visit. It appeared right before our very eyes, which makes me wonder how many abilities this guy has (Earth, Ink, and Illusion?). I myself am conflicted by this plot itself. One one-hand it is an extremely powerful eye-opener for both characters, as this kid is persecuted and killed in an all-too-real act of bigotry and hate for being different. On the other hand I just couldn't buy that it would be the cops to do it. We know some police can abuse their power, but the truck dragging? I just don't buy that as something law enforcement would ever do. Small-town hicks, sure. But the Police themselves? On a kid no less? A bit of a stretch. But I suppose that's not the point to take away here. This was some X-Men-level persecution that we've never seen taken this far on Heroes before, which I applaud. But I wonder if they took it too far with a truck-dragging. Almost a desperate cry for a series on it's last legs. What's next? The KKK? Teen with a shotgun already bothered the hell out of me last week. Apologists will argue Heroes is being 'real', but I don't just wonder if it's tacky. I just don't know what to say...moreless
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Found myself bored

7.0

By Ryehead, Jun 21, 2011

I'm not too impressed with this season so far, the story hasn't really went anywhere. They seem to be dragging it out. People losing their memory has been done to death and at a certain point I have to say enough. I love the show but I really need to see some progress in both the story and the characters. I'm just waiting for Syler to regain his memory and kill everyone in the carnival, I mean that's what he does, that's why I love him, if he isn't going to be Syler as we know him then whats the point?

And Peters story line at the moment is laughable, it's like we have jumped back to the beginning of season 3. They have to finally conclude what is happening with his powers, will he learn to use multiple powers like before, and if not who will be able to oppose Syler. Through out the show, the biggest rivalry has always been Peter and Syler, the 2 most powerful and we are yet to see them really fight it out. I will be disappointed if Peter doesn't learn absorb multiple powers again and battle with Syler. Please give us some progress on a grand scale because what is happening at the moment seems like a bad attempt at suspense.moreless
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7 3

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I just don't know

7.0

By angim350, Jun 21, 2011

I am torn... very torn about this one. I'm going to put it into three groups: the amazing, the okay and the crap.

Sylar/Matt and Samuel: amazing. Okay... not as brilliant but this was definately the most interesting part of the episode. Sylar now has control of Matt's body. He's definately had the most to do this season. Nasty trick their... Matt getting s**t faced and thinking that would finally get rid of Sylar was brilliant. This part gets 10, as does Samuel. More intriguing every week and the end scene was subline. He's one powerful dude and mysterious... a perfect villian. Or is he? He acted out of revenge. Obviously a guy not to cross. I'm starting to wonder who would win in a fight... Sylar or Samuel. Surley there needs to be someone who can beat him now Peter has gone all whimpy (oh why won't he become all powerful Peter again? Damn you Arthur Petrelli!)

Noah Tracy and the kid... okay. Not overley interesting... a desperate grasp by the writers to try and give Noah and Tracy something to do. Poor dears. Tracy especially is very expendable now... she adds nothing to the overall plot. At least their story shed some more light on Samuel... looks like his sanctuary is for protection. Claire, the roomy and the chicks...crap. Utter dross. Kidnapped and sent to such a Saw reject building I half expected Jigsaw to come on TV saying "I want to play a game." Haha... Claire in Saw would be funny... something for Saw 7 to do. Boring. Is this the best they can do? It added nothing to the plot apart from revealing the black girl as the killer (her name escapes me). As a fan I don't want to see Claire doing regular stupid college things (what the hell do Americans get up to??) but out doing something interesting! At least in the otherwise despressing volume 4 she had something to do.

Sylar, Samuel, Peter, Hiro and Matt. They are the only ones left who are interesting now. They are enough for the time being. Let's see how they do next week. Looks like Mohinder's absence is for a reason... he's not gone for good. I have missed him.

Haha... Tv.com really need to figure out what words are swearing and what are not.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Jack Coleman	Noah Bennet/HRG
Greg Grunberg	Matt Parkman
Ali Larter	Tracy Strauss
Hayden Panettiere	Claire Bennet
Zachary Quinto	Gabriel Gray/Sylar

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Mark L. Young	Jeremy Greer	Guest Star
Rick Worthy	Mike	Guest Star
Raphael Sbarge	Sheriff Werner	Guest Star
Madeline Zima	Gretchen Berg	Recurring Role
Dawn Olivieri	Lydia	Recurring Role
Elizabeth Lackey	Janice Parkman	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Madeline Zima as Gretchen Berg and Hayde...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Jack Coleman as H.R.G and Ali Larter as ...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Jack Coleman as H.R.G on Heroes from the...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Mark L. Young as Jeremy Greer on Heroes ...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (8)
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- Rebecca: Jeez, Claire, you don't have to go all Buffy on us. We're just kidnapping you.
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- Sylar: Forbidden fruit. My favorite kind.
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- Tracy: I can get a latte here, no problem, right?
  Noah: I saw a cow about a mile back get some espresso, we're in business.
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- Claire: You awake?
  Gretchen: Yeah. You?
  Claire: Yep.
  Gretchen: Are you afraid I'm gonna kiss-attack you in your sleep?
  Claire: Maybe.
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- Gretchen: Look at us. All tied up in the dark.
  Claire: You know, they have entire websites devoted to this.
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- Matt: You can't control me. You've never been able to do that.
  Sylar: Well, I had a compelling reason. Let's face it, your wife is kinda hot.
  Matt: Enough!
  Sylar: That is the second Parkman I've made scream today.
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- (reading Jeremy's journal)
  Deputy Gill: "I feel the darkness surrounding me. I am the bringer of death."
  Noah: He's 17 years old. Half the songs in his iPod sound just like that.
  Deputy Gill: Well, maybe I should read you the part about killing animals.
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- Gretchen: Wow! We couldn't be more different. Maybe we're strange attractors.
  Claire: Strange attractors?
  Gretchen: It's a physics thing. Everything in the universe has a magnetic charge, right? So strange attractors are particles that end up together that don't really belong together, but when they're together they're super-powerful, Sort of like we could be? Or not.
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NOTES (1)
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- International Airdates:
  Australia: November 25, 2009 on 7TWO
  UK: February 13, 2010 on BBC2/BBC HD
  Latin America: February 23, 2010 on Universal Channel
  Czech Republic: January 7, 2011 on Prima COOL
  Finland: March 2, 2011 on Sub
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Rebecca: Jeez, Claire, you don't have to go all Buffy on us. We're just kidnapping you.
  Referencing the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), starring Sarah Michelle Geller as a young, blonde, superpowered woman who uses martial arts to fight vampires and other supernatural creatures.
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