Heroes--The Invisible Thread (spoilers)

[sheryden]

First of all, I need to show some love to Mohinder's narration. When it's not there, I feel very unsettled.

Okay, now for the meat of the episode...

Sylar/Claire: Okay, this is something I hope we never see. Ick ick ick. It doesn't surprise me that Sylar would get all creepy and handsy, but those scenes made me want to hose Claire down and bathe her in hand sanitizer. Especially considering he kept shifting back and forth into her father.

Nathan's Death and "Rebirth:" Speaking of the aforementioned daddy, I'm still pretty numb. I had pretty much figured out that he was going to die, and Jason, Kelley, and I speculated that things would happen much the way they did tonight. When we heard that Matt would be asked to do something dark, we couldn't think of anything else it could be. For my part... I like it. I love the potential ramifications of Sylar being brainwashed by Matt. I love that Angela and Noah were complicit. I love that Adrian is still around. I love it. I was stunned that Claire and Peter weren't consulted. Oh, Peter will have SUCH a chance to be emo and wounded when he finds out. He might as well start growing his bangs right now. They need to be at least an inch longer for this kind of angst. And when Sylar finally figures out who he is... yikes! Who knows? He may decide he likes being Nathan.

I'm glad the writers had the guts to do this. They killed a Petrelli, a Season One main character, and then they proceeded to mindfuck us instead of copping out or giving us time to mourn. This was a great leap for the show, and I think it'll be wild. If they had jumped the shark and had everyone survive, people would be complaining. They didn't. They sucker punched us. Good for them!

Claire's Blood: Btw, I'm glad they didn't use Claire's blood to revive Nathan. 1) That would be a tremendous cop-out. 2) I don't want it to be a crutch for them to continually fall back on.

Matt: Oh, Matt. You are so in bed with the Company now. This could seriously screw him up psychologically. As a telepath, he's easily one of the most powerful people on the planet, and he's one of the most inherently good characters in the show, and now he's carrying around a Big Dirty Secret.

Matt/Mohinder: I have to wonder how this will affect Matt's relationship with his BFF, Mohinder. From the looks of "1961," Mohinder will be dealing with the baggage his father left him. If he finds out what trustworthy, rock-solid Matt has done, he'll be devastated. On a slashier note, it was nice to see Matt and Mohinder standing near each other. Matt should be careful, though, because it looks like Peter and Mohinder are pretty chummy.

Angela: Oh, she just destroyed me this episode. When she lost her composure and started screaming, I got chills. And then to have her turn around and ask Matt to brainwash her son's killer into becoming her son... dude, of course I love her. She's a fabulous, complicated mess.

Peter: So... did he just absorb the shapeshifting? I reckon so, because he didn't look like he was healing from his ouchy wound. I hope he didn't absorb more than that, because I don't want him to be uber-powerful. Also, if he picked the power he wanted from all of Sylar's many powers, that means Peter is gaining a lot more control. Also, he was dead sexy when he was pwning Sylar.

Tracy: Tracy as a villain. THAT I can handle. I like it.

Some thoughts as we head toward next volume:

1. I hope Mohinder gets a decent storyline next season. The character has loads of potential, but the writers waste him. I want to know more about Chandra, I want to see Mohinder learn from his mistakes and make better decisions, I want to see hanging around with Matt and Peter, and I want to see angst. And shirtless scenes.

2. I'm not sure I want Matt to get back with Janice, even though I think they're headed that way. First of all, it totally disregards Daphne. Second, it would make Matt look like an emotionally needy and rather fickle guy. He needs to be around for Matty, but with Janice? No.

3. The upcoming Hiro arc could be interesting. We'll see what they plan to do with it.

4. I want some Ando backstory!!!

5. Now that they've forged more specific relationships between the characters, I want to see some cohesion and connection next season. Mohinder's narration at the end seems to hint to that. I want these people to interact in a meaningful way.