Heroes - Episode 25 "An Invisible Thread"

Nathan Petrelli has bit the dust, and good riddance! For those Heroes fans that were anesthetized and strapped to gurneys all through Volume IV - "Fugitives," rejoice! The actual villain of Season 3, Sen. Nathan Petrelli, died at the hands of Sylar after the brothers Petrelli failed to subdue him in an epic, 5-star battle at the Stanton Hotel.

Before getting to meet the show's own black president, Sylar trips up Danko for lodging a knife into the base of his temple. However, it gets revealed that his alleged Achilles heel can be . . . well, anywhere inside his body now because of his shape-shifting ability. Posing as Danko, Sylar then executes a Building 26 agent as they begin closing in upon Sen. Petrelli's office, only to remorph into Agent Taub. Still stunned his nifty Boy Scout knife did not defeat the world's deadliest hunter, Danko is briskly escorted by his goons to a comfy cell in Building 26 . . . until Noah gets his comeuppance.

In the meantime, Sylar stashes the tranquilized body of Nathan in his office bathroom and digs up Nathan's fancy duds to dress as the high-powered senator. Unsure of whether or not to trust her father, Claire immediately challenges Sylar to reveal himself. Unfortunately, because the Petrelli's are in such a giving mood, the clairvoyance that Angela fed Sylar "like a snack" gives him the opportunity to intuit memories attached to objects. It only takes one stroke of Claire's necklace for Sylar to recreate their wild night in Mexico – dodging the worm – for him to gain her trust.

Elsewhere, Hiro and Ando slip undetected into Building 26, and cause me to wonder if the lawn gnomes from the Jhonen Vasquez-cartoon, "Invader Zim," are better-suited to do security's job. Anyways, Hiro takes another hit for trying to freeze time with successive ear and nosebleeds. Ever the loyal friend, Ando quits squabbling with him for a moment and they release all of the hostages from their medicated imprisonment, only to replace them with the office secretaries, temps and those lousy security guards.

Sadly for Hiro, getting to rescue Noah's butt from Danko's two-faced assault with an elephant-tested tranquilizer is perhaps the last "heroic" action he may do without his head popping off.

Back at the 5-star hotel, which is a definite step-up from the Coyote Sands ranch, Sylar can't help but keep dropping character in front of Claire – forgetting her dad is a righty, and not a southpaw – among other missteps. While they await the president upstairs, Sylar tires of the charade and reveals himself to Claire. Sylar then uses this opportunity to find his "real" heart – and not one belonging to a morph – by slovenly pitching woo at Claire. While he rattles their many similarities off like a grocery list – adopted, left alone, indestructible – Claire still vows to snuff him out someday. How sweet.

Noah had tried to alert Claire about the trap she stepped into, but by then Sylar already had his nostrils buried into her cornflower hair, trying to figure out what shampoo she buys. Fortunately for her, Peter and Nathan gallantly appear, only to be trapped inside the suite with Sylar as Claire gets kicked to the curb. Trying to sneak a glimpse through a crack in the double-doors, Claire and the rest of us must imagine how truly epic the battle must be – as all the money for special effects was apparently diverted to the wardrobe of Parkman's wife.

When the doors are opened, Peter is the only soul left, as Nathan and Sylar have flown the coop to tussle mid-air. But, right after they leave, Sylar sits the self-loathing senator down and gives him the gift of a ruby necklace. Now with Nathan out of the way, and the interview apparently cancelled, Sylar snuffs a presidential adviser to acquire his morph, and get his last chance at shaking the president's hand.

Surprisingly though, the commander-in-chief who awaits Sylar in the limo happens to be none other than our boy Peter, who promptly injects Sylar's jugular with an elephant-tested tranquilizer.

There is no time for celebration though as Angela mourns the death of her Golden Boy, and she finds herself, Noah and the recently-arrived Parkman faced with a choice. Can they afford to let the world learn that a "hero" murdered a U.S. senator, or can they learn to live with a Nathan-duplicate?

Despite his initial opposition, Parkman relents and transfers all of Nathan's memories into Sylar's body, and forces the dazed murderer to morph into the senator from New York. To squelch any additional suspicion, Noah retrieves the body of the original shape-shifter – still disguised as Sylar – for a family bonfire where their dearly, departed villain is supposedly cremated for all the other heroes to see. How long the actual Sylar stays dead though is still undetermined.

In conclusion, I accept Tim Kring and company's apology for the all-too-expository, touchy-feely farce that was Season 2 with a truly high-flying, action-filled Season 3.

Unfortunately, it looks as if Niki/Tracy is going to be dripping all over my carpet again with Volume V - "Redemption."