HEROES 3.12 "DUAL"

Last Night's episode was the end of Volume 3 : 'Villains". Though there was quite a few cringe inducing moments, caused by either bad acting or poor writing, this half of the season ended on a high note.

Let's start with what was good. Sylar seems to be back on his evil kick, though it looks like he has developed a conscience by this point, where in his very last scene he is begging Angela Petrelli to tell him there is good in the world, and that not everyone is a monster like he is.

The entire sequence where he trapped and terrorized Claire, Angela, H.R.G and Meredith was one of the most intense scenes of 'Heroes' ever. Each of Sylar's prisoners had a chance to showcase the traits that had made them memorable in the first place. Claire was the courageous victim, not caring about what happened to her, but what happened to the non-super healing people around her. H.R.G. and Angela had great opportunities to manipulate others. H.R.G. was the bigger bastard- he released three of the level 5 prisoners, to use them as bait for Sylar. Sylar, of course took the bait, dispatching the Puppet Man, the guy with the metal fist and the third villain (who must not have been very impressive when he first showed up, because I didn't recognize him) pretty quickly.

Claire's hatred for Sylar has only deepened by this point, since her biological mother, Meredith, was on his list of victims. Speaking of that scene, the 'Heroes' writers deserve a little slack. They wrote a beautiful set up for Meredith's death. Sylar injected Meredith with adrenaline, causing her to lose control over her pyro-powers. He then tricked H.R.G. into walking into a cell with Meredith, who was about to explode. With time running out, H.R.G had to make the choice, shoot Meredith between the eyes and prevent her from exploding, or die in the blast with her. In typical 'Heroes' fashion, Claire showed up to save the day, the typical last minute, 3rd option to prevent any of the characters from making life changing decisions.

Claire had the last laugh. At a moment when Sylar was focused on Angela, Claire snuck up behind him and shoved a piece of metal into the back of his head. We all know this isn't the last we have seen of Sylar, though how awesome would that have been, to have a major villain die, once and for all? Give it time. I say the third episode of the next volume ends with Sylar coming back to life.

What will be left for Volume Four : "Fugitives"? The Petrelli brothers are now enemies. Peter has his powers back, after injecting himself with the formula (wow, didn't see that coming) and Nathan is using his influence as a U.S. senator to have the military track down everyone who has abilities.

Ando now has a power, as well. In an "are the writer's kidding us?" moment, Ando injected himself with the formula, in the hopes that he would randomly get Hiro's power. I think only a four year old child would believe that plan would work. Ando, of course got another power, one that is actually exciting. He has the ability to supercharge the powers of the other heroes.

Finally, for those of you who were itching to see some of the main characters get killed off, your prayers have once again gone unanswered. The two worst characters on the show (possibly on television at the moment) are still alive for Volume 4- Mohinder Suresh and Tracy Strauss. As luck would have it, Mohinder survived the explosion at the Pinehearst building, and while hitchhiking, actually got picked up by Tracy. We can only hope, for those of us who are still willing to watch 'Heroes' when it starts again, after the Superbowl, that the first episode ends up with the two of them, engulfed in flame, as their car explodes!