Heroes: Gray Matters

I’ve definitely been critical of the “Who’s Sylar’s Daddy” storyline in my recaps this season.

I don’t so much mind the idea that Sylar needs to find his father because of his desire to learn “who he is” and “what made him this way.” Though that stuff DOES seem sort of like a waste of time (we’ve already explored genetics, formulas and eclipses as far as the origins of our heroes’ powers are concerned) it’s not my main problem with the plot line.

What’s bothered me the most are all the fake outs regarding Sylar’s father’s identity and the fact that the whole thing seems oddly disconnected from everything else that’s happening in the “Fugitives” volume. Well, in “Shades of Gray” we finally got to meet Samson Gray (for real this time!) and — though most of the scenes still felt like they were happening in a separate season’s storyline — the show finally put Sylar back on a collision course with the “Fugitives” (and, more specifically, their Hunter).

Of course, another factor was the fun, creepy performance by John Glover as the terminally ill Samson (pictured, right with his son Gabriel, who disappointed Sylar by actually wanting to be killed by his vengeance-seeking son. Samson and his taxidermy gave off a distinctly “Psycho” vibe. Glover also infused his character with the right amount of playfulness as he taunted his son for going after easy prey and, despite looking like a homeless man desperately in need of a day-long shower, still hinted at Samson’s past abilities.

Eventually Samson did more than just hint as he found the will to live (and kill) again and attempted to get at his son’s regenerative powers. At first, I was a little shocked at how Sylar was being overwhelmed, but it turned out the son was just playing possum. Instead of killing his dad, he left him alone to die slowly, though I’m pretty sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Samson. More importantly, Gabriel Gray became inspired to go after a more challenging target. Overall, a nice recovery for this storyline.

It was also a nice job by the writers of getting Sylar instantly involved with the fugitive storyline by having him go after Danko, who was probably too consumed with proving Nathan had an ability to notice.

Since the show still insists on dumbing things down for the audience AND its characters, it took Nathan getting from one point to another suspiciously fast a second time for Danko to put two and two together. In a related story, I was happy to see the Parkman bomb scare resolved relatively early (instead of having it dragged out), but since the whole D.C. explosion WAS the cliffhanger for an episode a few weeks back, it still felt anti-climactic.

Danko, interrogated Tracy who, for some reason, concealed Nathan’s secret. HRG then gently guided Danko toward Angela Petrelli who coolly sidestepped Danko’s interrogation and suggested she had a secret about Danko up her sleeve. (In fact, she was a little TOO cool in the restaurant scene, one of the few times I haven’t believed Cristine Rose as an actress.) Finally, Danko took a chance, shot out a window that had been very conspicuously established behind Nathan and pushed him to see if he would fly. And fly Nathan did (with the help of not quite top-notch green screen work).

I really like that Nathan has apparently become a fugitive himself. He flew all the way from D.C. to California to pick up his biological daughter, who’d been engaged in some heroics herself.

For some reason, Claire had a harder time helping people with abilities who didn’t look like models (Alex). Of course, the fact that Doyle the puppet master had also terrorized her family probably contributed to her hesitation in lending a hand. Eventually, she caved in and helped Doyle escape (how is she able to set up these new identities she’s been handing out?) which is a good thing because I believe the guy when he says he’s trying to change (despite the episode’s attempt near the end to throw us off). All I know is that the guy had the chance to kill at least three separate times and let each person live.

What is more interesting is seeing Claire become a bizarro version of her dad. Like HRG, she’s struggling to lead a double life, but instead of hunting heroes while appearing to be a normal person (like daddy), she’s trying to help them while holding down a job (I liked the stereotypical nerdy guys in the comic book place). How funny is it that no matter how much she thinks she hates her dad, she still turns to him for advice because maybe they’re not so different after all. Less effective was the whole “what kind of hero” thing, because Claire is CLEARLY the kind of person who acts without thinking out every angle first.

Finally, Hiro and Ando made their (not-so) triumphant return in this episode. They arrived at a house to save “Matt Parkman” only to be handed a baby by an impatient babysitter. I’m guessing this “Matt Parkman” is the baby of Parkman’s ex-wife. You know? The wife he found out had been cheating on him with a co-worker of his when he read her mind? No, don’t remember? It’s ok — she’s a pretty insignificant character, so I wonder why they’ve potentially brought her (or at least her baby) back into play. Also, do you remember when Hiro used to do important stuff? (Me neither.)

So what’d you think of this episode? Who are we likely to see again first — Luke or Samson Gray? Why is Tracy still on this show? Finally, don’t you think they’re dragging out this whole “Rebel” thing a bit too much? At least offer us some clues to his/her identity?