Heroes Ep: I Am Sylar

[the_other_sandy]

Yes, I know. And I didn't really need an entire episode to convince me.

This identity thing isn't going to be The Hunger Redux, is it? Because Poor Woobie Sylar is my least favorite flavor of Sylar.

Ever since we met Sylar's mother/aunt/whatever, Virginia, back in volume 1, I've been saying that the two of them were one wig and a rocking chair from starting their own motel. Now Norman Sylar doesn't need the wig or his mother. He can actually be her all by himself. Now all he needs is the rocking chair. Meanwhile, I pass on this piece of sage advice:

"Be kind to your mother, now and then have a chat
Buy her candy or some flowers or a brand new hat
But maybe you had better let it go at that."

--From "Oedipus Rex" by Tom Lehrer

I normally really like Hiro, but I thought he was being kind of a jerk in this ep. Okay, so he's having issues with Ando being an equal instead of a sidekick. All friendships have to weather transitions. But setting up Ando not only to be darted, but to be darted four times? That's not buddies. If one of those darts was enough to bring down a person (as we've seen in the past), Ando could've seriously O.D.'d, especially since they shoved more tranquilizers up his nose as soon as they got him in the van. Not cool, Hiro.

Micah proved that he's still a kid, no matter what he's accomplished as Rebel. He's too naive to live. Him sending Eric Doyle to Claire for help makes so much more sense now. He really thinks that every single person with an ability is a hero and that they're all on the same side. I mean, did he even read Sylar's file? Sylar may have the ability to save them all, but since he's also a psychopathic serial killer, he doesn't really have the inclination. Micah needs to learn in a big hurry that not everyone needs a key to the clubhouse, or he will not be long for this world.

I think next week's finale is probably going to kill me. And probably at least one character, too.

Comments

[fey-cooks.livejournal.com]

LOL it's amazing how cool I can think you are when I disagree with so much of what you say. Gabrielle (the light) as opposed to Sylar (The psycho) is my favorite take on Sylar... as mr bad ass I just want to kill everything he makes me want to puke... you've god parent issues I get it. Your mom expected you to be special - wah my dad thought I never would be and told me I would be better off if I killed myself... you don't see me running around cutting people's heads open.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Hey, I totally appreciate your ability to disagree with me so much without flaming, especially with the way you've been plowing through the reviews. I must be really trying your patience at this point. 8-)

you don't see me running around cutting people's heads open

That's because you're not a sociopath. I think that even if Gabriel didn't have an ability himself and didn't know such things existed, he still would have cracked eventually. The odds were too stacked against him, coming from the batshit crazy branch of the family tree.

That said, if the show had gone with Poor Woobie Sylar from the beginning, I probably could have coped with it. But after watching him gleefully slaughter his way across the country, suddenly having him be tortured and remorseful because he didn't really want to kill anyone and was just a victim of The Hunger seemed to come out of left field this far along in the series.

I guess my basic problem is that I've been watching too many shows with tortured, angst-ridden characters. It was just so refreshing to see somebody wholeheartedly embracing who he was, even if that somebody happened to be a homicidal maniac.

[fey-cooks.livejournal.com]

No reason to flame - for the love of Pete (no pun intended)in the end it's a TV show, plenty of room for mutual respect and I love your writing style... I just wish you had started doing all of this earlier in the show's run.

My point was that if all it took to make someone bat shit was a messed up home experience and an abusive background - I should by all rights be out there killing people. But then most people who know my history in it's entirety are amazed I'm not - so perhaps I'm just stronger then you're average basket case.

But Gabrielle had always been conflicted as far back as season 1. Even without the season 2 flashbacks that show him trying to kill himself to stop his reign of terror. Season 1 when Mohinder found Sylar's room there were words scratched across the walls in blood - saying things like "Forgive me I have Sinned"... that conflict has been there since day one, they just hadn't fully explored it yet.

I can't get behind a sociopath with no remorse, they bore me. If I can't give a shit if you live or die (beyond not wanting you to hurt the people I do care about) you're going to bore me... and without remorse I have nothing to hold onto.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

My point was that if all it took to make someone bat shit was a messed up home experience and an abusive background - I should by all rights be out there killing people.

I totally agree. I think it takes a combination of circumstances and having something not wired quite right in the brain, and based on pre-Sylar Gabriel and his family, I think Gabriel wasn't wired quite right.

I just wish you had started doing all of this earlier in the show's run.

I held out against signing up here for a long time and just hid out on Yahoo!Groups. Now that I've been here for 2 1/2 years, I have no idea why I was so resistant. But yeah, I didn't show up here until after season 1. I'm kind of sorry I missed all the squee.