TV Makes You Smart

The Sylar Show

Peter and Sylar are trapped in a mutual psychic urban wasteland for a few hours but while they're there it feels like years.  For them and us.  They swing sledgehammers and wear black and bicker.  At least they look good doing it.  Eventually they bond and Peter forgives Sylar for killing Nathan and they escape.  Meanwhile, the guy with the glasses has a backstory, does anyone care?  No?  Samuel sinks him and indestructible girl in a trailer underground, does anyone care?

The Sylar Show

Sylar goes to Matt to get help with his humanity, but in a total dick move, Matt traps him in his own head to wander a wasteland of loneliness.  Next Matt intends to seal him up in his basement behind a brick wall.  Someone somewhere realizes that without Sylar this show is completely unwatchable and sends Peter to get him.  That's right.  Sylar's future depends on Peter.  Good luck, Sylar!  At least he looks good while all of this is going on and at one point he gets to use the word "Nosh."

What Did We Learn?

We have to admit that we were not that excited about Caprica.  We loved BSG fiercely and loyally but did not buy into that love being transferable to a prequel.  And maybe it isn't, but we have found a whole new love in Caprica.  We're in.  In the first two hours, we learned Admiral Adama was an adorable kid who probably faced a lot of discrimination and has always liked to read.  We learned his dad is smart, proud, complicated and at least a hundred different kinds of sexy.  The Admiral inherited a gift for crafting moving speeches from him.  We learned racism is fairly acceptable on Caprica and that just like our Earth, immigrants dumb down their names to fit in.  We learned Greystone is brilliant, at least a little insane and perhaps inappropriately fond of his dead daughter.  We learned Caprica is awesome and totally exciting.

The Sylar Show

Sylar gets lots of screen time this week as he forces then tricks the indestructible girl into mutual psychoanalysis.  At the end it seems as though he's decided the only way to regain his humanity is to rid himself of powers.  If this show turns Sylar into a good guy he's likely to be just as boring and insufferable as every other good guy which would be a tremendous television tragedy.  As a reminder of Sylar's awesomeness, a dream(y) version of him shows up in that Japanese guy's dream and we remember that we miss him terribly. 

About Last Night

Project Runway was pretty dull last season.  We still watched it, but for the clothes, not for the people.  This season looks much more promising because of Anthony Williams.  He's hilarious and adorable and we really hope he has the chops to go the distance so this season stays interesting.

Fringe was good last night.  We've missed Olivia and her team and the story was cool and surprisingly touching.

The Sylar Show

Sylar is barely even in his own show this week, even with the promise last week that he would stalk the indestructible girl.  Mostly this week is about other people doing stuff like talking about ratatouille and cellos, trying and failing to get to Samuel and breaking Mohinder (he's still alive and has powers?  huh) out of a straitjacket by reminding him that he's strong.  It's way more boring than it sounds.  Forty-four minutes in we get a glimpse of Sylar, but he's only in Peter's dream.  Lame.  And next week he has non-consensual relations with indestructible girl?  C'mon!  Give Sylar something worthwhile to do!

The Sylar Show

During the first hour of this episode while we're waiting for Sylar to appear, some stuff happens that's kind of hard to care about, like the Japanese guy using every geek dream to communicate and the hot multiple guy telling the indestructible girl to "Run along and beautify" (that part was funny).  Who told Claire she's in charge of the future of humanity?  They lied.  Nathan's wife and kids may have been at his funeral.  Just wake me when the Nathan mourning is over. 

Finally!  At 1:01 Sylar shows up.  And before too long he's shirtless and in the midst of a hot make out session.  The bad news is it doesn't last long and that's about all he gets to do this week.  He may not even be a killer anymore.  The good news is that if he's going to be stalking Claire we'll get to see a lot of him, since someone lied and told the writers Claire is interesting.  Also, Edgar and the guy with glasses have kind of a cool meeting over tea and miso but it doesn't last long enough to matter.

The Sylar Show

Samuel's got himself a hot new henchman to replace Edgar.  He's called a multiple because he can make copies of himself.  He has the same feelings about wearing black clothes and smudged eyeliner as Samuel, which is to say he's for it.  Samuel sends him and his copies to take some papers from the guy with the glasses.  Later the indestructible girl shows up at the carnival and Samuel has the power to make even her marginally interesting.

Peter arms himself with the Haitian's power and goes after Sylar, who gets the jump on him by disguising himself as a harmless nurse and then awesomely and literally going for Peter's throat.  By the time the elevator stops he is the real Sylar, actual and whole.  But not for long because Peter takes his powers away.  How is Sylar supposed to give Peter his brother back without powers?  Peter has not thought this through.  A powerless Sylar is still a pretty good fighter and many fists are thrown before Peter crucifies Sylar with a nail gun and punches him relentlessly.  Suddenly he's Nathan again and we are instantly filled with despair.   Nathan has been having a hard time fighting Sylar because Sylar is magnificent and Nathan is a Petrelli and, you know...dead.  We feel sorry for Nathan, but it barely lasts long enough for us to register it, because the next thing we know it's taking him half the episode to kill himself.  It turns out to be worth the wait when the real Sylar, actual and whole, heals himself, stands up and waves to Peter before walking away.  Killer.

V Is For Very Bad Tyler

John May lives!  It was great to see Joshua standing there next to Anna and difficult to watch every other scene he was in.  Tyler sucks in numerous ways too desperate for Valerie-the-shrink to cure and Anna knows just how to work him.  What government would allow its citizens to get injections from aliens?  It's insane.  Bliss is creepy.  Does Chad Decker actually have what they say he has?  What will Ryan and Valerie's hybrid baby look like?  So many questions!  How long until the rest of the swarm arrives?  So many Tuesdays until we get answers!  Long live Fifth Column!

The Sylar Show

Last night on The Sylar Show, three non-functioning (that's worse than dysfunctional) families had a competition to see who could have the worst Thanksgiving dinner.  One of the families was Samuel's not so merry band of misfits.  We learned some things about Samuel last night, like he smiled while he watched the destruction brought about by his birth and he sounds more and more like a dictator, saying things like "our destiny" and painting himself as a savior.  Also he killed his own brother but he felt really bad about that afterward. 

The Bennett family Thanksgiving was awkward and boring, just like a real Thanksgiving!  By the end of the day, the indestructible daughter has decided to find Samuel.  Maybe she belongs with the misfits.  Probably not, since her whole deal seems to be not fitting in and whining about it.

The Petrellis win the Worst Thanksgiving prize.  First Mama P shows up with food and Thanksgiving cheer and Peter immediately tells her they've seen Nathan's body.  There's an awesome ripple of Sylar across the face of The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan (but suspects he's not).  Mama P tries to talk her way out of it.  She's lost her mind for reals.   Forty minutes into this episode we get to see the real Sylar, actual and whole.  After a lot of electricity and noise he emerges from his Nathan-ness.   He immediately sits down to eat.  He talks about pie and existentialism and tells Mama P, "You have raised the evil incarnate bar to an entirely new level.  Thank you.  For giving me something to strive for."  It's great, he's back, but then he tries to kill Mama P and gosh darnnit if Nathan isn't still in there fighting him.  B.S., we are calling it.  There is no way Nathan fights Sylar and wins.  Except that he does and gets in one last dig at Mama P before flying off.  Peter, of course, is going after him.  Them.  Congrats Petrelli family!  Worst Thanksgiving for you, best for us.  We are thankful for Sylar.

V Is For Vile

Okay, Fifth Column, that was badass.  Although, you have your work cut out for you because the humans in your universe are pretty thick-headed.  Even Erica, who is awesome and fearless managed to spawn a completely idiotic tool.  And why on earth would the FBI just hand over a shooter who is (seemingly) human to the Vs for confinement and/or punishment?  It's absurd.  Is it because Erica's boss is himself not human?   Erica and Father Jack cannot do it alone, people.  Other humans have to show some intelligence and rational thinking, too.  Especially because Anna is way better at dealing with the polarizing widow faction than our universe's ex-president was at dealing with Cindy Sheehan and the 9/11 widows. 

The Sylar and Samuel Show

Oh, good.  Mohinder is back.   Because if there's anything this show needs it's another speed bump.  It takes 27 minutes for Peter and The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan to show up at the hospital and heal Matt.  The Sylar in Matt's Head says, "Good things do come to those who wait."  Don't get ahead of yourself, The Sylar in Matt's Head.  After roaming around the room in a creepily awesome way while Matt tells The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan that he's actually Sylar, The Sylar in Matt's Head takes over Matt's body and after some excruciating boredom disguised as suspense, manages to touch The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan and something happens.  But nothing satisfying, because The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan still thinks he's Nathan.  Listen.  Let Sylar be Sylar, okay?  Matt escapes from the hospital, which like, Sylar's soooooooo scared.

Remember how Peter had the incredibly useful power to heal people?  And how the guy he got it from is dead now?  He decided to ditch that power in order to fly around with his brother.   More accurately, fly around with The Sylar Who Thinks He's Nathan.  Good move, Pete. 

Samuel, it turns out, only recently became the leader of his merry bad of misfits.  Prior to that, his brother Joseph was in charge and kept him in the dark about the full extent of his powers.  Samuel was just a miserable genie in a bottle, hurt and confused by his brother's betrayal.  It's good when Sylar and Samuel's plot lines diverge because then there are at least two interesting things going on.

V is for Vicious

ABC managed to get this very ambitious show off to an exciting start.  There was nice detail in it, a dedication to the "What if?" factor that we all think about.  For example, it was interesting and totally believable that there would be geek ecstasy over The Visitors, that people would be anxious to see inside a real spaceship, thinking they're finally in their own Star Trek story.  There would be others so desperate for saving, so ready to have all our problems solved without any effort on our part that they would immediately offer devotion.  And there would be hatred from some and others who beg for tolerance.  There would be doubt, fear and confusion.  Men of god would be disagreeing on how to handle it, the same way they disagree on everything.  Parents would be scared that they can't keep their kids safe.  It makes sense that The Vs have their equivalent of the Nazi youth movement.  That they would infiltrate law enforcement.  Their "Healing Centers" are the perfect cover for all manner of frakkin scary things.  But they have weaknesses.  It appears their bodies are as fragile as ours.  Underground movements are onto them and have been for years.  V sleeper cells end up on the FBI radar.  Anna (who we found super creepy) makes her toy journalist mad with her on-air comment about asking her anything after she specifically told him he couldn't.  Why hasn't anyone asked exactly how long they plan to stay?  And did anyone else immediately fall in love with Erica the moment she first saw the ship and pushed Tyler behind her, as though she could single-handedly save him from an alien invasion?  Was anyone else glad to see her and Father Jack meet up?  All in all, we are very excited by this show.  On the other hand, we were excited by Flash Forward after the pilot and rarely since.

The Sylar Show

Once upon a time in Texas a Japanese guy who is kind of adorable but also kind of annoying, almost as though the plot to his life has been convoluted beyond repair, shows up at the diner where Sylar is having breakfast.  The Japanese guy is in love with the waitress who takes Sylar's food order.  When Sylar wants to take her super memory power and kill her, the Japanese guy stops time and messes with Sylar.  But then the waitress is going to die anyway and Japanese guy needs Sylar to save her.  First Sylar throws him against a bus and then tries to take his power and kill him but he keeps stopping time.  He says he knows how Sylar dies and if Sylar saves the waitress he'll tell him.  Dr. Sylar is successful.  But then he learns only that he dies alone.  Also, some guy in glasses almost cheats on his wife but it doesn't seem at all important.  Why does this show call itself Heroes? 

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