Ghost in the shell
You know it's Token Environmental Gesture Week on NBC when crazy carnies are reminding us of the virtues of recycling.
PETER AND "NATHAN": Peter and Nathan get a visit from the Haitian (the plot device kind, not the memory wipe kind), find Nathan's corpse on ice, help Parkman get rid of his head!Sylar, and contemplate what they should do now that they know "Nathan" is technically just a head!Nathan.
This is a storyline that could have worked really, really well with a little suspense built into it. Imagine if we hadn't seen Nathan die at the end of last season, we didn't know anything of Matt's storyline, and the stuff with Sylar at the police station and carnival was reserved for a flashback a few episodes from now. Granted, it may or may not have worked - that's what they tried with Peter in season 2, and it fell flat - but it helps to have an iota of suspense and mystery still kicking around before a big reveal. When the audience already knows everything even though the characters don't, the only thing keeping it interesting is to see how everyone reacts when the shit finally hits the turbine.
And how does everyone react? Very confusedly. The scene in the hospital was like watching two different scenes at once, and trying to follow who said what (and who heard who say what) was kind of clusterfucky. End result, in any case: Sylar may or may not be back in his body and quietly planning some mental redecorating, "Nathan" is still in charge for now and understandably freaked that HE IS DEAD AND ALSO SYLAR, and Peter's going to tough it out as long as possible so he doesn't have to accept his brother is just a very lifelike ghost in the shell.
MATT: Gets revived from a coma nap by Peter, passes head!Sylar on (despite his best efforts to get two equally thick Petrelli brothers to leave him the hell alone), and makes a break for it in what appears to be a much-deserved moment of "screw you guys, I'm going home."
I've been finding Matt a whole lot more interesting and likable this season, and this episode was no exception. During the scene in the hospital room, I was more interested in Matt's side of things than Peter and Nathan's. Now that head!Sylar's apparently been passed on, it's hard to tell where that leaves Matt. His escapades with head!Sylar have left him on the no-fly list, possibly has his prints on a murder weapon, stuck with a "suicide-by-cop" attempt and faking his death hanging over his head, and God only know what else. Everything he's done this season suggests he won't want to sit idly by while Sylar is looking for cozy brain to move into, but I also wouldn't blame him for taking a time-out from all the CRAZY and leaving the Petrelli clan to their own devices. Guess we'll see where he goes from here.
I really, really doubt your wife cares about where the man in your head has gone, Parkman. If it weren't for Samuel's recycling, this would have been the clunkiest unnecessary exposition part of the episode. YOU GOT LUCKY.
TRACY AND CLAIRE: Tracy has more ice-fueled panic attacks, gets wet with Claire, has some girl talk over hot tea and a severed foot, and runs away to join the circus.
Have Tracy and Claire met before? I honestly can't remember. I suppose HRG might have mentioned her to Claire at some point. If he hadn't, I can't help but imagine Claire going, "You know, you look exactly like that chick who wanged Sylar with a parking meter back in Kirby Plaza."
I think Claire's found her calling: special people career counseling. Get that degree and you can start getting PAID for what you're doing in every other episode, Claire.
MOHINDER AND HIRO: Hi there, Mohinder! You've been a stranger. Apparently because you decided to go back to India, move in with your old girlfriend, go back to teaching, and try as hard as we have to forget your lame story arc last season. I don't blame you. And look, your father's research is screwing up your life again! Just like old times. This time, instead of formulas, Mohinder finds an old film reel among his father's possessions that suggests Samuel could be a very, very dangerous person if he ever manages to get himself surrounded by enough special people. Mohinder tracked him down to the carnival either weeks ago, and promptly got himself killed by Samuel.
Hiro to the rescue, LOL. WITH A KEVLAR VEST. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Like, say, how it might have been easier to TAKE MOHINDER INTO THE FUTURE WITH YOU RATHER THAN DUMPING HIM IN AN ASYLUM. (Wasn't Mohinder supposed to be dead anyway? I get that Hiro wants to be careful not to change too much by playing temporal musical chairs, but...SERIOUSLY? If you really want to make sure Mohinder can't change anything for eight weeks, how is that a better plan than just fast-forwarding him eight weeks, dumping him somewhere, and letting him get busy from there?)
Anyway. Mohinder's un-deadened with no fuss or muss, and a straitjacket is at least a step up from being dead. Hell, he might even have a shot at NOT having a shitty/non-existent storyline. Between this and "Nathan"'s storyline, is it too much to ask for some Jacob's Ladder-style mindfuck? (ANSWER: yes. Way too much. I can still dream, though.)
THE CARNIES: Well, THAT certainly puts a new spin on things. Until eight weeks ago, Samuel was just a 40-year-old drunken black sheep of the family, being an irresponsible lout with his big brother keeping an eye on him to keep his supervillain potential in check. So there's your scheme: Samuel is using his dead brother's "family" rhetoric to gather people into the fold and increase his own potential. Just when I thought there might be a motive OTHER than "MOAR POWERZ!!" this season. Drat.
You suck at interrogation, Samuel. Generally, the idea is NOT to kill the person before they give you information.
I think Joseph has been in the graphic novels and/or online content already, but I guess this is his formal introduction. Posthumously.
RANDOM STUFF:
- LOL, why does everyone suddenly know the Haitian's name? Did he have some kind of party between seasons, or update his Facebook profile, or what? Everyone's all "O HAI RENÉ" all of a sudden.
- It would have been nice to see Molly during Mohinder's scenes in India. There's been vague, nebulous references to her being with his mom in India, and it would have been nice to get some kind of confirmation that he (and Matt, for that matter) could be bothered to remember her.
- Oh anonymous permanent storage lockers, where would TV show plot devices be without you? I was half expecting Peter and Nathan to run into Sam and Dean Winchester, Olivia Dunham, and Mulder and Scully while they were poking around looking for Nate's corpse.