That's the right episode number, right? I've lost count.
Anyhoo...
Yes, Nathan died. Yes, Sylar is hidden (for now). Yes, Hiro and Ando are getting super annoying. And yes, I have no fucking clue what they're doing with Matt's character, but seriously, C'MON PEOPLE. You knew it was going to fucking happen. Nathan has died at the end of every fucking season so far. Why is this such a new revelation?
Technically, Nathan is still on the show. Sure, it's Sylar brain-fucked into thinking he's Nathan, but he's still Nathan. And Sylar. For a fandom that's so incredibly kinky, I'm surprised no one's talking about all the Nathan/Sylar/Peter plotbunnies roaming around right now. Srsly.
Besides, Adrian is still on the fucking show. And I've always liked how he's portrayed Sylar portraying Nathan. He has ZQ's nuances down, man.
Plus, think of the emotional content this is going to bring to the show. For 1) Nathan finding out he's not really Nathan but is, in fact, a serial killer is going to be a super blow to his psyche, filled with lots of angsting, and 2) PETER DOESN'T KNOW IT'S NOT NATHAN. When he fucking finds out (AND HE WILL), he's going to SHIT FUCKING BRICKS. You know it's true. And when he finds out it was Angela's idea, and that HRG and Matt were in on it too, OH FUCKING MAN IS HE GOING TO BE PISSED. Not only might this send him over the edge to his bitter 5YG version (fingers crossed), but have you stopped to wonder why Nathan's body just sort of disappeared, with Angela not even really saying goodbye on screen? I bet she has it in cryo-storage or something, and when Peter finds out, he'll probably beg Claire to use her blood and bring Nathan back.
And can you imagine if Sylar starts to emerge and then Peter has to make the decision whether or not to kill him? ANGST CITY! Especially if Simon and Monty are in this volume, like spoilers say they are. I am actually really excited for all the emotional boundaries they can push in V5, so I have no idea what everyone's so fucking pissed about.
But that's just my personal take on the matter. Now I'm off to jot down some of these massive amounts of plot bunnies jumping around my head.