Episode Report Card Couch Baron: C | 936 USERS: C YOU GRADE IT Swing Low, Sweet Chariot…
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 25 | Aired on 2009.04.27
Peter and Claire are about to split up when Bennet catches them, and after taking a moment to be sure she's not Sylar, Bennet asks Peter if he took Sylar's power, and Peter affirms that. They smile about that development, but moments later, some G-men appear and order them to freeze. Bennet tries to tell them about the President's life being in danger, to no avail, but when Claire walks forward and presses her forehead to the lead dude's gun all, "I dare you to shoot the new sassy bangs straight off my head," it looks like she's got his attention.
Upstairs, Matt and Angela run into the ONE GUY separating them from the scene of the supposed fight earlier, and Matt has no problem convincing him they're not the 'droids he's looking for, and then they're inside, with Matt valiantly trying to shield Angela from the sight of Nathan's corpse, and Angela pushing past him and letting out a couple of chilling, guttural shrieks before closing his eyes (that'll get you every time) and embracing him. She gasps that she doesn't understand, as Matt was supposed to save him, and Matt just looks guilty and uncomfortable for not having ponied up for Amtrak.
Adrian Pasdar does a pretty great Sylar walk into the hotel kitchen, where he witnesses the President's entourage hustling through. Liam heads over to greet him, and they shake hands before Sylar informs him his part in the story is just about done...
...and moments after, Sylar has taken Liam's form and is following the group down a narrow corridor. The President (Michael Dorn, again, whee!) gets into a town car, followed soon after by Liam, who wastes no time in shaking his hand. Dorn doesn't let go, though, as he lets his expression turn triumphant, and "Liam" looks down in consternation. He then quickly shifts into several of his recent forms (and Peter's among them, tellingly) before turning back to his true face -- just in time to get a hypo of that tranquilizer stuck into his neck. Dorn turns into Peter, which rules, and Peter breathes, "Bet you didn't think I took that one from you." Excellent development, although I'm not sure Liam's rapidly cooling corpse would agree with me.
Later, Nathan's body has been covered with a bloody white sheet, and I'll just get it out of the way now: Why didn't they try to use Claire's blood to restore him, as was done with Bennet himself? I could have lived with it if they tried it and it didn't work for some reason, but not even to remember it as a possibility is really insulting to the few people still watching who pay attention to continuity, not to mention the fact that it makes two of the smartest characters on the show look like complete chumps. Anyway, Bennet dumps the drugged Sylar in front of Angela and Matt as the latter complains that their plan is nuts. Judge for yourself: Bennet sent Peter and Claire on a false errand to try to locate Nathan in order to buy time so Matt could secretly use his mental mojo to convince Sylar that he's actually Nathan -- permanently. Matt's power will combine with all the memories Sylar already took from that other ability of his, and no one will ever know the difference. Even though it's been done in the comic-book world before, I could have gotten behind this plan if it truly meant getting rid of Sylar, but we already know from the look at Chapter Five that that's not happening. Anyway, Angela and Bennet tell Matt that without Nathan, there's no hope of convincing the President to stop the government initiative, which is difficult to believe given that Heroes JUST SAVED HIS LIFE, but Matt eventually gives in. Sylar twitches as Matt tells him he's no longer Sylar, nor Gabriel Gray, and we see memories flashing before Sylar's eyes -- his own first, then Nathan's. Sylar then goes into convulsions for a few moments before shifting into Nathan's form and regaining consciousness, and I just hope he's still too blurry to look over at the bloodstained sheet and be like, "Um...who's that?"