And despite the interesting mixup we had on the “Villain” side of the table, just the fact that Daphne’s on the “Hero” side makes up for Elle, Sylar, AND Tracy. Yes. She’s THAT awesome. (WHY DID THEY KILL HER????)

It just seems rushed and ill-conceived to me.

Sort of like Maury and Matt. Maury has evolved his ability of Telepathy into a dangerous form of Mind Control. And Matt did too - and can keep evolving his ability further. Essentially, what I think the show was saying was that the backgrounds of Peter and Sylar led to how they used their power absorbing abilities. Sylar grew up as a Watchmakers son so it grew clinically, and Peter grew up the son of a dreamer so it grew emotionally… but they’re both capable of using multiple ways of gaining abilities.

Basically, Peter and Sylar can absorb abilities a number of ways. It’s a genetic pass-down from Arthur: who could coldly take them. So Peter and Sylar have a range of options.

Great review as usual; you hit pretty much everything on the head.

I mainly enjoyed this episode. Kristen Bell was amazing, really shining above everyone else, but I feel that Hayden Panettiere is slipping. She was great in the first two seasons, but she’s beginning to appear contrived and over-the-top.

Anyway, two major flaws stopped me from fully appreciating “It’s Coming” - Hiro’s plot thread, and Sylar magically gaining the power of empathy. The former because it’s juvenile, ridiculous, and bound to lead to more garbage, and the latter because it sends a conflicting message (the show is trying to make Sylar a hero, yet just reveals that his murders over the last two seasons were all utterly pointless?) and just doesn’t fit.

Hiro remains such a disappointment, however. I was excited to watch him again this season after the seeing the place of maturity and gravitas he reached by the end of season two, after he put hatred in the heart of his boyhood hero over a forbidden love, a hatred that later led to the death of his father, only to bury that hero alive rather than succumb to the darkness of revenge by killing him outright.

I mean, that’s intense, almost Shakespearean (well, comic book Shakespearean) stuff, and within five minutes of this season, it’s completely brushed aside and now, eight episodes later, the character is literally a child again and remains so far removed from the main narrative it’s laughable.

Seriously, show, it’s okay to let Hiro’s character develop naturally away from the cherubic innocence of the first season. If you’re unwilling to let it, then what’s the point?

As for Sylar’s power, even after his intuitive aptitude power got spelled out, there was a gap between how that led to him using all these other powers; after all, I know how a car works but that doesn’t mean I could build one. So I have to give the show props for at least trying to address the gap in his abilities between “knowing” and “doing.”

But having said that, it raises more questions, because “intuitive aptitude” and “empathic power absorption” seem like two completely separate and unrelated powers where, until this episode, everyone seems to have only one “root” power.

Oh, and maybe I’m being overly negative, but the observation that Flint dived out of the way of the gas fire is an indication that he can be hurt by other flames seems to me to be exactly the kind of detail the writers would willingly ignore if the plot called for it (assuming they even remembered it).

Wow, this comment seems really negative. Seriously, I enjoyed the heck out of this episode and am looking forward to how things play out (and crossing my fingers we finally get a big “powers on powers” brawl at some point)!

Word. Fortunately, HRG is back this week. At first, I thought is was just because HRG is a favorite character, and that’s certainly part of it. But, I’ve also felt the absence of JC on an objective level, as well. He just makes the show better, along with AP and CR when they’re on screen. Experience really counts.

I don’t usually get picky over any of those things mentioned. Especially because I was proved right about Sylar being like Peter. Woo-hoo!

I fun with the inconsistencies.
… even when being vaporized, Sylar musters the strength to TK the lightning away from his pants region.

He’s pretty sure it’ll grow back, but no guy’s gonna chance it.
… now that he can live through hottie-psycho!

Watch again, see that his pants were totally untouched!

Hiro: Sigh. I give up. Honestly, I thought you were spot-on about this part. It was sweet, it was entertaining, it was funny. And it absolutely highlighted the fact that the writers have ignored all of Hiro’s emotional development. 10-year-old Hiro is not significantly different than 28-year-old Hiro, and after everything he’s been through (future Hrio, feudal Japan, loving and losing TWICE, death of dad, etc.) that’s just wrong. The writers have let his character stagnate in pool of cuteness. Over it.

Matt: His impulse to help Angela was totally in character. He’s always wanted to be a hero, and always behaved that way: “adopting” Molly, idiotically shooting at Sylar because “I’m a cop, dammit. Matt truly is one of the good guys, if occasionaly short-sighted because of it.

Claire: “I have a plan to help you escape, Peter. Go down the fire escape, while I cleverly leap out the window…thus leading the BAD Guys to the fire escape.” Still, in Claire’s defense, it must be incredibly frustrating to have a purely defensive power.

Tracy: I love Ali Larter! She’s played 4 distinct characters on this show. She’s playing Tracy so well, I don’t even remember Niki most of the time.

Sylar & Elle: Um, yes great scene visually, and good acting, but I agree that the writers are playing fast and loose with motivations and character development here. From “Kill, kill!” to “wink wink” in 30 seconds. Not buying it.

Arthur: Forester did a great job this week, although I still don’t like his character. BUT, his slightly tongue in cheek reaction to Nathan, the sinister-yet-concerned dad to Sylar, and especially his release of Angela actually gave him a little much-needed depth, and very effectively. It also outlined just how little regard he has for Peter, as he’s treated EVERYONE else in the family, even the ones that tried to prosecute and kill him, infinitely better than The Nurse.

Villains v. Heroes: Wow. Are the Heroes outgunned, or what? Better grab the Haitian fast! I know we like to root for the underdog, but seriuosly…I know this volume is “Villains,” but the moral ambiguities and character reversals are at times a little too extreme, or rapid, to believe.

9th Wonders: Yeah, what the hell was up with THAT? Are precognitive writers and artists just growing on trees these days? I hope for a better explanation, otherwise it’s just a bad plot device to swirl the soup of a stagnant story.

All in all, better episode than many this season, with great acting and direction, but the writing is still irking me. I’m holding out ’til “Fugitives,” but the frustration and disappointment in the storylines is getting harder to ignore. I do so hope Bryan Fuller comes back; maybe he can touch this show back to life.