‘Heroes’: Mother’s day

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Video of Monday night’s episode:

Yes, even Sylar has a mother. And the Big Bad of “Heroes” isn’t such a purely evil guy after all. This week he practically begged his mom (guest star Ellen Greene, a long way from her days as Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors”) to put an end to his nefarious plans by letting him know he’s good enough just the way he is. But an average life just won’t do for her son.

Mother Sylar was duly impressed when he revealed some of his superpowers, but not so pleased with how he acquired them. Sylar’s visit ultimately resulted in her death, not a good sign that he’ll end his ways anytime soon. (But does anyone think this “humanizing” of Sylar might lead to redemption down the road? I’d like to see him dead and buried and the show move on to the next supervillain, but maybe one day he’ll be fighting side by side with the heroes?)

That storyline had an interesting parallel in the ongoing Petrelli family drama, as materfamilias Angela (recurring player Cristine Rose) continues to develop as one of the show’s most mysteriously intriguing characters. This week she informed her oldest son Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) that the big New York City explosion that many of the heroes are hoping to prevent will actually be a good thing.

Right now, with her murky motivations, it’s unclear if she means good for the world or simply good for Nathan’s political career (or is what’s good for Nathan’s political career actually good for the world?). And considering her wealth of knowledge, does she know that the “bomb” just may be her other son Peter (Milo Ventimiglia)?

We all know the show isn’t going to actually explode its leading man, unless he resurrects himself like “X-Men’s” Phoenix, but wouldn’t it be a juicy twist to have a mother knowingly sacrifice one son for the good of the other?

In other “Heroes” news, Entertainment Weekly has the show on its cover this week (actually five covers featuring various cast members) and ranked “Heroes” #18 on a list of the top 25 sci-fi movies and TV shows from the past 25 years. That places it ahead of “Futurama” (#21), “Quantum Leap” (#22) and “Doctor Who” (#23), but behind “Battlestar Galactica” (#2), “The X-Files” (#4), “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (#8), “Lost” (#11) and “Firefly” (#15).

Too low? Too high? It’s a little hard to say at this point. “Heroes” is only just beginning to define its legacy.