‘Heroes’: Mohinder, Sylar and lying in wait

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Sylar is still the sneakiest hero or villain or whatever on ‘Heroes,’ and I’ll tell you why.

Don’t buy for a minute that he’s on Peter’s side. Yes, he saved him when he threw him out of the Pinehearst window. Don’t believe that he really wants to do right by Angela Petrelli. Yes, he’s all ‘Momma, Momma’ and doing her bidding in what looks like a play for her affections. And, most obviously know that he’s not on daddy Petrelli’s side. Daddy P. knows it, too. Gabriel is up to something -- some head-slicing plan is being played out, and it’s great that we don’t know exactly what it is. Arthur P., though, is wasting no time showing his fangs.

Last week, most people believed that Maya and her black tears would be the next casualty (36.7%) and you were right, so to speak. She got the chance to walk away sans powers thanks to the generousity of the Pinehearst Corp. Her power in the hands of Arthur Petrelli is frightening. But hold on ... everyone’s No. 2 choice -- Matt’s daddy the nightmare man Maury Parkman (15.8%) -- was also picked off by AP, though not so gently. We’re not macabre people, but it’s good to see that the superpowered herd is being thinned a bit, if only to be able to concentrate on good storylines.

Good ones, not slow-moving, spirit-walking ones. Sure, Hiro’s adventures in Africa are leading somewhere, and his banter with Ando provides the comic relief needed in this constantly dire world, but we shouldn’t revisit the paste-eating, no-eyeball world anymore if we can help it. I’m not turning into one of those NEEDS action now people, but this is just not that interesting. Maybe the paste is another piece of the puzzle?

Speaking of puzzle ... Mohinder has become a hindrance. It seems that every decision he makes is wrong or backfires or is just plain stupid. Guess we can understand why he, and Elle for that matter, rushed to Pinehearst, but his good sense is always overruled by his passion and scientific curiosity. He did do a nice job of bashing Sylar’s head multiple times. Didn’t expect Suresh to take him down. It’s all playing into my Sylar’s-lying-in-wait theory.

And the two blonds that got away from him were right at the front door. The Claire and Elle teamup was bound to happen. Lights flicker, there’s a quick fight, then they go on a quest and bond (‘It’s nice to know that you’re as messed up as I am’). Elle not being able to control her power is a good twist, and will probably blow up in everyone’s face, literally, once she’s at Pinehearst.

The Daphne-Matt dynamic is going well, and Knox’s fist-through-the-body thing didn’t fool me at all, but it was a good illustration of what Matt can do. And he even did it without the camera quickly moving to the side with that slicing sound! Too bad that Daphne’s pulling the double cross, but who knows what side she’s really on or where she’s going.

We do know where everyone else is going, though. Pinehearst will be the party place for powered people soon enough. Nathan and Tracy are going, Matt’s going, Elle’s just arrived, Mohinder and Sylar are already there and have set up streamers.

Viewers aren’t having much of a party, it seems, as the ratings continue to slide. Commenter Wag is even bored with these posts! What can be done? Maybe there needs to be a new slogan, like ‘Old gay vamps like ‘Heroes’ ... So should you!’ Click it, you’ll get it.

But it’s possible that people just don’t want to think too much. I was prepared to dispute TV Guide’s Matt Roush as he mused that viewers don’t want to watch something that they have to keep intimate track of and remember small details. But then I read Caitlin’s comment (‘the devotion and amount of attention to details required to comprehend the show just makes me tired’) and others like it. Maybe there’s your reason in a nutshell: the newness wore off last season. What do you think?

-- Jevon Phillips

Photos: NBC.com