Heroes Season 4 Episode 7

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! :)

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.

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...

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.

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.

This episode was alright. I rated it a 9 because:


-Claire's powers get exposed to two girls


-Gretchen's out to be killed


-Samuel was awesome destroying a police department


-A character actually died? In MY Heroes? That's preposterous.


-Sylar (though it was way predictable) takes over Matt's body.





My favorite moment was Samuel's revenge on the police. He obviously wanted the teen to join his circus, and he may not be such a bad guy after all.





Okay here are the bad parts:


-Claire and Gretchen got tedious


-Tracy and Noah got tedious


-Matt's story (although the drinking was a twist) the way it ended was predictable. I still love Heroes anyway.

The way Jeremy died was a wake-up call for the paranormals. This will probably go the way of the X-Men and Prof. X. Hated and reviled by humans. A sanctuary (isn't there already another show that does this) for the gifted and bizarre. I think the whole Star Trek III thing with Sylar's "katra" (ironic that it had to the new Spock huh?) in Parkman and his body at the fair is very interesting. Well not so much the fair thing, since Nathan is a bore.





I do actually like this season after the Genosha series last season. Not enough hunters. Her is hoping that they lift their game next week and the weeks to come.

With this season of "Heroes" just churning along at a relatively slow and methodical pace, the same pattern continues to emerge. Characters with a clear sense of motivation drive their subplots development and make those segments work. Characters with less direction inhabit storylines that seem to be going nowhere fast. Thankfully, this episode was more of the former and less of the latter.





I've been enjoying Matt's struggle with Sylar's twisted consciousness, even if there is a predictability to its progression. I saw the twist in this episode coming a mile away, but that didn't take away from the satisfaction of the end result. As I've said in previous reviews, there needed to be consequences for the ill-advised attempt to force Nathan's personality and memories onto Sylar, and Matt is definitely paying the price. It's hard to imagine that he will survive this intact.





Claire's subplot was also surprisingly strong. For the most part, it felt like something that could have happened on a standard episode of "Buffy". It would have fit the fourth season of that series comfortably. It's good to see Claire work out the reality that Gretchen was in danger from the evidence at hand and a little deduction (not really her strong suit in earlier seasons). Hopefully that suspicious mind will continue to work.





Claire's relationship with Gretchen is less successfully handled. I won't deny that there is a bit of chemistry between the two actresses, but I'm still struck by the fact that the entire plotline was based on a random whim from Hayden. It's hard to feel like this is an organic evolution of the character, when it really isn't. I'm also not convinced that the writing staff has the skill to make this work without resorting to stereotypes.





I'm also still impressed by the characterization of Samuel. Every time he's on-screen, it just plain works. Robert Knepper gives true depth to his performance, sometimes to the detriment of other members of the cast. His desire to bring all the metahumans under his wing is soulful and sincere, just as his menace and wrath are deeply convincing.





The weakest storyline involved Noah and his search for a new direction in his life. Jeremy's fate is directly tied to Noah's sense of direction, and that goes very badly. So does the logic of the subplot itself. The writers present Jeremy's situation as if it is something we should care about, but since he came out of nowhere, his circumstances don't resonate. There's no reason to care about Jeremy's fate.





That fate seemed forced, to say the least. Nothing in the episode suggested a reason for there to be a crowd outside of the police station when Jeremy was released. If there had been so much anger and fear beyond the police themselves, wouldn't they have confronted Noah and Tracy at some point? It also felt like the decision to kill Jeremy by dragging him behind a pickup truck was well out of proportion for the situation.





For that matter, why didn't Samuel save Jeremy? He was obviously keeping tabs on the situation, since he knew to contact Tracy. How hard would it have been to make an offer to Jeremy himself, anyway? The answer is that the writers had a certain set of plot points in mind, and they forced the circumstances to arrive at those points, regardless of how the logic of the situation argued against it.





Still, two good plot threads out of three is not bad, especially now that "Heroes" is concentrating on deeper exploration of only a few subplots per episode. It's easier to follow the overall progression of the story as a whole. Nothing can hide the fact that the writers are still struggling to find a way to recapture the glory days of the first season, but they are holding their own at this point.

This episode got to me with Jeremy. I'm intrigued where it's going with Parkman for sure, and honestly I'm losing interest in Claire, not because of the lesbian thing, which I could care less about one way or the other, just because it's too teenage angst...which is ironic because she's leaving those years behind. But Jeremy, even though it ended badly left me with the feeling of loss. For that I give it a 9. Samuel almost seems to be the emerging Magneto of the Heroes world, recruiting his family (instead of brotherhood) and taking vengeance on their behalves. Definitely a strong character.

Although HRG and Tracy tries to help the boy their plans do not work. As a result he dies. We knew Sullivan was not going to let the police get away with that. So, there goes another building. Sylar is getting stronger. So strong that when Matt thought he found his weakness he takes over his body. Now he has put Matt in a position. Give me my body, or I will take over yours. Imagine all the damage he can do as Matt? Clair and Gretchen go for their sorority hazing. Turns out that it is more than just a game of finding clues. Sullivan, wanting Clair so much has mad her expose herself to her sisters. Eventually she will have no choice but to join his carnival. One by one Sullivan is rounding up all the people with special powers. The question still remains. For what purpose.





Although there was not much action in this episode, I still found it interesting and the plot is getting more and more involved. I wonder what will happen next week when Hiro meets Charlie. Maybe he will be able to save her. If he does, will their be a romance between them, or perhaps something more dark and evil will come out of his saving her life. That is the great thing about this show. There are many twists and turns you never know what to expect.

As Claire spends most of the episode pondering her latest kiss, Jeremy dies because no matter how capable neither Noah nor Tracy could replace the Primatech Company.





The most solid part of the episode remains however the slow process of Sylar taking over Matt until there's no trace of him left, a phone call to Mohinder the last hope for Parkman to ever regain his rightful place. In another part of the country, Samuel reassures the other Sylar that he'll find his place again once the image of Tracy triggers a set of memories from Nathan instead of his.





And yet it's Jeremy's death what reassures Samuel's quest, for he realizes that not even the most friendly town will ever accept them, so once message sinks in, along with Jeremy's grave, Samuel uses his own power to destroy the town itself.

Next episode behind us and ... Heroes are still pretty good in this season. New plot in a lot moments is good, very good... In this episode we have some kinds of fight : first one - war between Matt and Sylar, concretly alcohol war xD Matt was sure he won but not exactly ... SYlar just simulate and waiting for moment when Parkman lose control on his body and he catch him in trap. Second fight - Noah and Tracy try rescuoe the healer from police station but without success ... so 17 years boy dead in "tragical" accident. The last fight is - Claire rescue her best "lesbian" friend from death :) Nothing mega special in this episode but he was good making and story is moving on ...





9

Once again, the need to incorporate Hayden Panettiere hampers what is an otherwise rather fine little episode. Claire's college hazing continues to be less interesting than Chris Barrie's Intimate History of the Drillbit, utilising contemptuously predictable plot 'twists' and yawnsome hetero-male-teenager bait in an attempt to stir up some interest. Sure, it's brave of any primetime show to address the murkiness of sexuality, but do the production staff really have to do it through such a heterosexist lens? The teasingly innuendo-laden dialogue and situations (oh look, they're huddled together in a car boot! Tied up! PHWOAR!!), the wistful glances, the oh-so-tragic confusion on poor old Claire's face, the woefully stereotypical implication that college is the place everyone goes to 'figure themselves out' and that, yup, this should obviously include flirtation with lesbianism. Puh-lease. These beats are so outdated that your momma probably remembers them. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did this exact storyline infinitely better about ten years ago by embracing tact, sensitivity and refusing to pander to the lust-fuelled libidos of any horny straight viewers. Here, it feels like a gimmick, a desperate attempt to court interest in a storyline that is absolutely dead on its arse. I mean, just look at the minutiae: the girls get kidnapped and placed in some spooky Saw-esque warehouse where Becky attempts to kill Gretchen? Oh for God's sake - why would she risk exposing herself by performing such an over-the-top act? And while we're at it, what's with the woeful acting chops? Those extras need a few lessons in naturalism: their 'shock' at the revelation of Claire's ability is just plain cringeworthy.





It's a shame that this storyline is so hopeless as there's much, much promise elsewhere. Carlos Coto's script makes some very brave decisions, and not always ones that you might like. HRG and Tracey's narrative is particularly indicative of this. Finally, Ali Larter gets something interesting to do with her otherwise fairly redundant role, assisting the young harbinger of life and death in his quest to be released from prison. The whole thing has a decidedly humanitarian feel about it and it's really welcome. The concept of helping others to ground themselves (without conspiratorial intervention) hasn't really been touched upon in the show before and it seems to suit both characters. Just to compound matters, Coto wraps this up in the intricacies of the Carnival plot and does so with great skill. Using the boy to demonstrate Samuel's validity, the fact that he may actually have a point in secluding the heroes, both strengthens him as a character and genuinely shocks the viewer. Come on, hands up all of those who actually thought they'd kill the kid? Yeah, I thought so. It's a bold move and one that really resonates, precisely because it happens so infrequently. It's a stark reminder of the inate brutality of our kind and it makes for somewhat harrowing viewing.





Matt and Sylar's narrative traverses rather dark ground too, as first Quinto relishes doing the dirty with Janis (an excellently executed scene, by the way) and then Parkman appears to discover a way to silence him: by drowning him in drink. Once again, the pair get the best dialogue, their back-and-forth sparkling with antagonistic energy, and the scene in which Sylar finally appears to dissipate is just magnificent, a perfect example of how to play trauma and breakdown without overstatement or exaggeration. Every additional drop of alcohol adds pain to the viewing experience as the result is so clear... and yet, so compelling.





A difficult episode to rate this; if it werent for Claire's continued adventures in Sweet Valley High, 'Strange Attractors' might actually stand comfortably alongside some of the show's greats. As it is, you can't help feeling just a bit disappointed.

Sylar's getting stronger every day – he can control Matt's body now. Matt's power is all about mind control but Sylar has such varied experience with powers that honestly, I don't think Matt stands a chance.





Samuel is very charismatic – appealing to Tracy's issues and influencing her with Jeremy. Noah and Tracy underestimated Jeremy's guilt, he believes he deserves to die. Being roadhauled is one of the worst ways to die. Jeremy's death changed Tracy's mind about Samuel's proposal. It does explain how Danko got his hands on a compass – it is used to guide people to the carnival.





Sylar is affected by alcohol – problem is that to control Sylar, Matt would have to become an alcoholic. It's completely temporary – now Sylar's in control.





Samuel really doesn't care about innocents – he destroyed the sheriff's station to kill the deputy and his side-kick. It's not the first time, he destroyed an entire mansion of people before.

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.





I feel this season of Heroes is all building torwards something - but it takes a long time to get there and that makes the season suffer a little bit. Hiros storyline was gone in this episode - as expected. Claires storyline looks like its going to come into the main storyline here very soon.





Sylar / Matt storyline was interesting, but its becoming a little boring. Hopfuly we start seeing the conclusion to some stories soon.

I have a funny feeling that TV.com reviews are all rigged. i mean such pathetic episodes, such lousy stories and you still see reviewers saying "wow, I loved the episode". So, obviously, somewhere down the line, it's paid reviewers at work, either from Tv.com or from Heroes team.





Anyways, my point is Heroes is now dead, Season 1 hype, hysteria, fun all dead. It's now disappointing to see Claire doing nothing except girly talk, Sylar buffoonery in the Circus and the non-existent story. The new additions are all waste and they not taking the story anywhere. God knows who the writer for this season is, but I wish he never gets a writing job again.

So. A boy disappears in the custody of a southern policeman, then later shows up battered to death on a road, and nobody questions the policeman. Because everybody knows southern sheriffs are fascists who can get away with anything, right? Can we say stereotype?





Matt is so stupid. The possibility that Sylar was faking his weakness, in order to trick Matt into drinking himself into a stupor, occurred to me immediately.





That sorority-hazing subplot went nowhere. The writers couldn't make up their minds whether it would be about horrors or about Claire and Gretchen talking. The other two girls kept coming and going depending on what the plot needed. About the only clever part there was when Claire, impaled on a wall, calmly remarks "I could use a little help here..." A loser of an episode. But it will be good to see Charley again next week.

Don't know what went wrong w/ my other review there so here's an easier to read version:





I gotta say that I just don't know about these various story arcs Heroes has decided to go with...the main ones seem to be Hiro's health, Matt vs. Sylar brain war, and Claire's college adventures linked to the main story arc about the carnival. I just can't see where they will go with any of these in the end and so far none of them are capable of producing any real tension at all.





Sylar is mixing with Matt's mind so bad that it is him mentally having sex with Matt's wife while wakes up the next morning without a clue of what happened. Matt decides to take on Sylar by drinking alcohol once he sees that the first incidental drink seemed to had affected Sylar. My fear was that this was just a ploy by Sylar and it was no surprise that it was. This is the sad thing that Heroes lack, it has no ability to hide its poker hand whatsoever. In are other micro-arc we have the "Rescue Jeremy" plan going horribly wrong. This all goes to hell quickly, once they show the crowd outside that has gathered to confront Jeremy you can tell right away from there where the plot was heading next. Of course some idiot was going to break from the crowd to confront Jeremy which would of course force his hand to kill yet again...no surprise. A little surprising but dumb was Jeremy being taken out not by some backyard mullet wearing moron but by a police officer. The last plot stirring in this episode is the mini-movie, "Claire's Strange Adventures In Collegeland" In the adventures we find Clarie and Gretchen thrown into a hazing situation. Eventually we see the Rebecca setting this up all along to kill Gretchen to follow the Carnival's plans to alienate Claire. I can't wait to see how the eyewitnesses are dealt with by the writers. All in all the college adventures are nice for the writers/producers to fill in minutes but horrible for entertainment volume. Samuel destroying the police station in the end was at least halfway decent but seemed convoluted a bit. I'm afraid it is indeed a slight glimpse into a X-Man style plot; I won't be surprise if Heroes goes that route but I hope they don't attempt a "Heroes" version of the X-Man theme.





Heroes needs to lighten up on the obvious telegraphed plots and actions, get to the point, and build up the tension that was always present in S1.





Read detailed review at http://dailytoiletbowl.blogspot.com

This whole Samuel "join the carnival family" is getting a little far fetched for my taste.





I mean, approaching every single of the main cast but Noah and trying to lure them into his family is like a perverted Charles Xavier making a twisted X-men of sorts..





I'm trying to figure out what's the endgame of this season. Like everyone is gonna feel sad and lost and go find redemption with Samuel?





What? That it? And what happens when Sylar gets his memories back? He's a wild card and definitely not a team player. And nobody there can stop him. What will keep him from slashing everyone's skulls and get their powers?





I'm watching Heroes because I'm a fan but I don't see this season going anywhere at the moment...





Cheers!

Heroes should have gotten a spike in its rating this week as CBS' comedy block has taken its time out. The show has been a DVR hit, nonetheless. But I guess fewer people should have pushed the record button this time.





And yes, I was actually satisfied with this offering. We had some cool heroes-using-their powers show. Jeremy the new hero involuntarily or voluntarily uses his power again to kill a protester only to get killed by a cop. Tracy is lured by Samuel into joining the carnival group. And the ending where Samuel exacts his revenge by pushing the police station into the ground was pretty cool.





Matt Parkman's storyline was OK, though I wasn't entirely thrilled at drinking too much to kill Sylar part, I mean that sounded ridiculous. Claire's track, much like the Saw franchise was good. The gay storyline seems a little too forced, and I'm hoping they put an end to it. I hope they kill Madeline Zima -she is like the most annoying person on the show.





Fine episode overall.