Review - Heroes Chapter 10 - Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving sense is strong with this episode. Mohinder's father has helped clear up Samuel's motives (via video) for the season as he explains the power that the mutants have in the aggregate. His viewing is interrupted by an angry Hiro, and rightfully so I suppose since he really wants to get Charlie back. He makes it clear to Lydia that he's not actually family and is actually being held against his will; this causes all sorts of questions to arise between her and Edgar. Their first question is why wasn't Joseph revived if Hiro fixed the past? She decides to seduce Hiro in order to "feel what he feels" which will supposedly help him find Charlie. Hiro doesn't know why he wasn't asked to save Joseph prompting another trip eight weeks to the past to discover the truth. I'm getting the sense that Samuel is actually not the preferred brother of the two. Lydia and Hiro show up when Samuel confronts Joseph about just about everything. The scene takes place in a beautifully moonlit field where Joseph admits that he's kept things from Samuel because he's too dangerous. Joseph refuses to tell Samuel the secret to his immeasurable power and as you can imagine that sort of thing doesn't go over so well with a psychopath. Samuel is even more upset when he finds out that Joseph sent for an agent (via compass) to come back and take Samuel away. Out of anger Samuel flings a rock at Joseph and nails him right in the neck, killing him. Hiro and Lydia view the whole thing and make a timely escape right before Samuel can find them snooping. As he lords over the gathering in the present he brings up another one of his reassuring lectures where he offers hope for the future. Clearly he's seen the video. And clearly he knows of a traitor, the traitor that killed Joseph. Edgar calls him out on killing Joseph but when he turns to Hiro for help Hiro doesn't offer it, mainly because he still needs to find Charlie. Right as Samuel is about to kill Edgar with a rock (it was a big rock) Hiro stops time to set him free and the two of them vow to kill Samuel, but not yet. Hiro also grows a pair and stands up to Samuel, telling him that he'll leave if he doesn't learn where Charlie is, prompting Samuel to call upon the dreadlocked memory man. Apparently his mind warp didn't go according to plan and Hiro is off to who knows where at this point. Lauren is in Washington, DC, where she runs into Bennett at the grocery store preparing for the upcoming holiday. She offers to help him with his meal preparation which is a thinly veiled attempt to hit on him. The hit worked because he took the opportunity to invite her to allay some of the ex-wife awkwardness. Claire probably won't be happy with this (and of course she's not). She expects the fireworks to fly when her mom and her boyfriend (Doug) arrive. Always a good sign when your ex-wife mistakes your date as the hired help. This is probably going to be one of those gender things but I don't really see that Sandra has any right to be upset about Lauren being there. Not to mention Doug being a complete tool that has been thrust into an awkward situation when true Primatech modus operandi is exposed (subtly of course). It didn't take Doug very long to piss me off with his whole "say what you're thankful for." Of course he would be thankful for his freaking dog Ms. Lovegood and Sandra (the two women in his life). This turns even more awkward in a hurry with Claire's admission of her desire to drop out of school. Claire bursts into her spiel about not fitting in at college. This is all between Noah and Claire (of course) because of their relationship and Sandra really knows nothing about it. I have to give insane props to Claire for shoving the knife in her arm and healing to show Doug that he has no idea what he's gotten into. I'll admit the looks on Sandra's and Lauren's faces were priceless in this scene as well. I don't really get why Lauren feels the need to approach Sandra about the evening's events but sure (I guess it gives her more character). I also don't get Claire saying Noah can't know what she goes through in lying to everyone. He did lie to his entire family for YEARS before the truth came out. Their night ended on a happy note. Gretchen showed up (courtesy of Noah) and her being there convinced Claire to stay in school. Sandra and Doug hit the road and Lauren offers Noah the chance to call her for dinner. Claire continues to show her maturity by swiping the compass from her dad and decides to take her Thanksgiving break to find out where it leads. Nathan has taken up residence at Peter's where he's watching him sleep. This is the perfect time for Ma Petrelli to show up with servants in tow to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for the three of them. It's of course also the perfect time for Peter to confront Angela about the events of last season. Does she really think that she'll pull her persuasion act AGAIN and actually fool Nathan and Peter? It's a little tired and her desire to gloss over and move on is rather repetitive, but at least she used her knowledge as leverage to keep them there. Thank you Nathan and Peter for cutting through the crap and getting right to the point. No more dragging out what we already know for countless episodes. Angela recounts the entire events of that fateful evening in the hotel and expects her sons' forgiveness. Hearing this has to be like encountering your actual clone in real life I've got to imagine...Nathan is handling it quite well. The both of them actually handle it by just staring into space no doubt collecting their thoughts and attempting to reconcile them. Until the power surge where Sylar wakes up. I guess that answers that question where the brief, glancing touch did put Sylar back in his rightful body. He's of course famished and chows down on some servant-prepared turkey. Right before he goes to kill Angela he kisses her and his ceremonial head-splitting is cut short by Nathan. Nathan is still in there and he fights his way to take back control of his (Sylar's body) and promptly bolts after fearing what his mom did to him. I like that Sylar isn't completely back yet and hopefully this whole back and forth will go on for a while. It adds a nice air of unpredictability in that Sylar can really appear at any time. For a holiday themed episode that was actually titled "Thanksgiving" there was some pretty solid overarching and unifying ideals. The episode focused on three families: Samuel's, Noah's and the Petrellis. I really liked the complete juxtaposition among the three families and the episode did an excellent job in describing the various dysfunctions. Claire continues to grow on me as she seems to mature every episode. Even Hiro was decent this week and showed he can stand tall against Samuel (except now he's banished himself to somewhere random). Lydia and Edgar know the truth about Samuel which will inevitably come into play later on in the season. Sylar/Nathan will basically be flipping the switch every week now, going back and forth. Next week boasts Peter with a nail gun and a scream of pain, supposedly Sylar/Nathan's. I'm sure that Parkman isn't gone for the rest of the season as I know he's going to have to reappear to work on this Nathan/Sylar thing again. I don't remember the last power that Peter grabbed but I think it was the healing, which means he could probably heal Nathan's body in the storage locker. He might have grabbed Parkman's power though so I'm not sure. I really like this season. So far everything has been done right. Maybe the shortened season (18 vs. 22 episodes) made it easier for the writers because they don't feel like they have to drag everything out for the sake of filling a season. The continuity has been pretty solid and this season has done phenomenally by focusing on three main character scenarios: Claire, Hiro and Parkman/Sylar/Nathan. This is when the show is at its absolute best because things are consistent and really make sense. I'm pumped for next week, which is something I haven't said in a long time. Editor's Note: You may have noticed that there's no rating added to this review. Omnicomic is moving away from providing numeric ratings for movies, TV shows and games.

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