Episode 17 - The Art of Deception
28 March 2012
Synopsis: Claire decides to tell Noah about what Sylar did. But when Lauren tells her what Samuel did she races to the carnival to stop anyone from being hurt. She convinces Samuel to give himself up and Noah agrees a trade. But then Eli shoots Samuel and Claire and kills Lydia, masquerading as Noah. Samuel’s plan works to remove Lydia from the picture and turn the carnival against the outside world. Meanwhile Sylar asks Matt to take away his powers. Janice advises Matt to get rid of Sylar once and for all. So Matt traps him in a nightmare and walls him up in his basement. But Peter arrives insisting Sylar must be freed and heads into his mind.
The Good: Samuel’s plan was brilliant and well written. He is now bent on corrupting the whole carnival and uses the random gun fire to not only spread fear but to murder Lydia and get her out of the picture. She was the only one who knew what he had done to Joseph and what he was now capable of. It’s a rare moment for the show. They have built Lydia up as a character, making her a part of the show’s reality. To see her killed was actually a bit of a shock and unexpected. It also generated a good emotional reaction against Samuel. Just what they needed to do.
It was a very well written con. By killing so many people it made sense that Noah would have to act now and take out Samuel. The sniper rifle was a nice simple and logical plan. Claire quite rightly came to try and save lives. It made her look moral and sensible and allowed Samuel to “prove” his guilt and remorse to his followers by agreeing to be imprisoned. But now his schemes can come to fruition and with Edgar returning and Claire and Noah locked up, there is good intrigue afoot.
Hooray for Janice Parkman! The first character in a long time to say the obvious: kill Sylar now. You could see Matt might have gone along with Sylar’s request but she managed to push him over the edge and help him to do the sensible thing and bury Sylar for good.
The dream sequence of Emma playing the cello now has Eric Doyle standing behind her forcing her to play. That explains her tears and the fact that she would be involved in any kind of mass killing.
The Bad: Sylar’s plan was a bit stupid though. There was no exit strategy, shall we say. Assuming Matt had just taken his powers away, was he not at all worried what would happen next? Did he not think about all those who would like to take brutal revenge on him? But then Matt looks dumb for walling him up in his own basement. First off because why would you want him near your family at all? He might wake up and be really mad one day. But second why not actually kill him? I know his shape shifting has meant he conceals where his one vulnerable point is now but that doesn’t matter. Chop him up into bits and drop him in an incinerator. Peter comes across as annoying and unthinking as both of them too. Why does he trust the dream so implicitly? His mother’s dreams have been thwarted before yet he leaps in to save Sylar without discussion. Then he jumps into his mind without thinking either. Will no one just pause and think?
It was slightly annoying to see Claire and Gretchen arguing again. The argument made sense, Gretchen wants Claire to be with her and stop putting herself in danger. But the previous episode was all about Claire putting Gretchen making up and working together so this felt like an unnecessary regresion.
The Unknown: It would be nice to know more about Eli and why he was so happy to murder for Samuel. How does Samuel know Emma is going to be so important to him? What’s Tracy been up to all this time? Why is Sylar’s mind an empty cityscape?
Best Moment: Samuel admitting to Lydia what he had done as she dies in his arms. For once a death felt meaningful, unexpected and consequential. Well done.
Epilogue: The Samuel con was very good and the other stories moved in a more exciting direction. But the same old logic holes fill the journey.
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