Not the best episode, but still a lot of fun. It felt like a lot of things were just kind of circling around and killing time though. However, I can forgive that for fun scenes, and this episode was chock full of 'em.
Sylar was pretty much in classic form. He's back to being his old murderous self, and seeking to be the last one left, so he can be special again. I like bringing that motivation back to the fore. While I think Sylar works best alone, I also like when he has good people to play off of, and the awkward partnership between him and Danko was very intriguing.
Speaking of those two, I loved the musical choices this episode. The first song Danko was listening to, well, I said "I love this song" at the exact moment Sylar appeared and shared the same sentiment. Us Grey boys have to stick together. And boy, I just got ten kinds of creepy. ;) That following scene with Sylar on the roof in the rain, beautifully shot. A smiling Sylar, drenched, was very evocative in my head of the ending to Blade Runner.
Getting inside Mama Petrelli's head this episode was fun. You start to feel for her a little bit, understand how someone could make the decisions she's made. And she's starting to reconcile, or at least come to an understanding with Peter, and hopefully patching together the rest of the family. Something that is long past due, and she knows it. I've stuck with this show because of the characters, and it is so good to see them acting like characters again, and not just plot devices. If the characters feel real, then I can live through any number of bad plots and shoddy writing, and that has been really lacking this season, especially the first half. These characters are so strong because they're so well conceived and not just two dimensional. That was majorly lost in volume three, and I can't say enough how good it is to see them acting like people once more.
How fun was it to watch fake-drunken Claire? Heck, drunken Nathan was a hoot too. Once Nathan failed, you just knew Claire would step up and her liver would survive. A good, realistic use of abilities to get them through this tough time. I also nearly bust a gut at the skeevy hotel manager suggesting that they could also just pay hourly for a room. ;) Because of course that's what a sharply dressed American with a hot young girl would be doing at a fleabag motel across the border.
It was good seeing those two bond some more, since we haven't seen much of them together at all since, what? First season? Not at all during the second, and almost nothing coming to mind for the third, outside of bumping into each other and sending her home this year. And again, a child helping their parent towards redemption. Good parallel storylines. I'm really rooting for Nathan to come through in the end.
J
