The tide continues to turn for Heroes, albeit slowly. This week, “Into Asylum” brought something of a mixed bag to the party. With the return of Sylar, and I mean that both in the literal and figurative sense, we were treated to one third of a great episode. The remaining two thirds… not so much. That part of the episode brought some new information that will be important going forward, but did it in a rather dull way. That being said, the newfound partnership between Sylar and Danko is more than enough to carry an episode.
Starting with the lesser two thirds, it was a little boring, right? That was a whole lot of screen time spent on Nathan/Claire and Peter/Angela to get to the end of the episode reveals. Was watching those two pairings work on their family issues really the best use of precious time? Especially when so many other characters were missing in action? It felt even more out of place given the events of last week. We were finally back in touch with Hiro and Ando, and the identity of Rebel had been revealed. Now, it’s all suddenly back on hold.
I suppose it’s good to know that Claire can drink as much as she wants and not get drunk. And that Nathan finally accepts that he screwed up. Although, two things stick out with that one. First, the fact that he has the unmitigated gall to ask for, ” a little bit of gratitude?” Seriously? And second, did anyone cringe when Nathan pledged to “fix this.” His track record doesn’t exactly inspire the confidence. As for Peter and Angela, dang. That was a long way to go to get to her knowing what they have to do, and not telling us. Other than confirming that Noah is still with Angela, it amounted to a ‘tune in next week’ stall.
Really though, none of that mattered. Sure, it would have been great to cut down a little of the fluff there and catch up with some of the other characters. But Sylar and Danko made the episode. Sylar is back on the screen, but he’s also back to doing what he does best. In the process, he’s managed to finally get Danko where he needs to be. These two finally make for a genuine threat to all the characters. No more of this being captured and given the sleepy-time nasal enema until the Keystone Cops bungle things and there is an escape. If Gabe and the Bald Man capture someone, they will die. That’s what we need.
Their part of the story played out so well. I saw the shapeshifter coming, and also guessed that they would find him in his Danko suit. But they threw me with the showdown. I had it completely backwards, expecting that to be the real Sylar, and looking for the mental lie detector to sink Jenkins. Of course, that was just the start of things. Everyone now thinks that Sylar is dead. Or, almost everyone. I’m not quite convinced that Noah bought it.
Either way, that’s not the really important part. With Sylar acquiring the shapeshifting power, everything gets thrown into chaos. Every scene from here on out will now hold the question. And the partnership with Danko just ratchets up the tension. There are still issues to be sorted with the show, but this was another step in the right direction.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Mar 31, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I’m not fully on board with the whole Sylar/Danko team-up at this point. The motivations behind it seem weak.
Danko is someone who seems to fervently believe people with superpowers are a threat. So why jump on board with helping the most powerful and homicidal of them all (the truest embodiment of what he claims these people to be) and allowing him to accrue more power and become a threat even more difficult to put down? (He made an impassioned speech about avenging the deaths of the men killed by the shape-shifter, but Sylar has killed far more of his troops than that.)
On Sylar’s end, teaming up with Danko seems pointless. He demonstrated that he knows where Building 26 is and that he could gain access if he wanted to, even prior to obtaining the shape-shifting ability. Now WITH his newly acquired shape-shifting powers, his ability to tell if someone is lying, and his ability to know the history of something just by touching it, what does he need Danko for?
The only boon I can see for Sylar is that he wouldn’t have to bother hunting down people with powers and could simply have them brought to him, but then I thought part of the appeal in all of this for Sylar was the act of the hunt itself. And there could be some appeal for Danko in using Sylar as a weapon, but even exercising a little bit of forethought he should be able to see that he has no discernable leverage in this arrangement, something which could easily come back around on him.
Maybe I’m missing something?
*POST AUTHOR*
I actually saw it just the opposite to you, ushizo. For Danko, it makes sense because he very much wants the recognition that comes from something like bringing in the body of Sylar. In addition, while you’re right, Sylar is the most powerful of them all, I think Danko is looking at it as a means to an end. Sylar will help him with the dirty work, and then I’m sure he has every intention of turning on Sylar.
From Sylar’s side, he does, of course, gain powers. The partnership also gives him access to all of the government (and Noah) research sources. It makes the job easier. And as a bonus, the fact that everyone believes he is dead let’s him fly under the radar. I also have a less convincing theory that the only person Sylar really fears is Noah, and this is a way of insulating himself from that threat.
I’m not liking how Sylar is so powerful and there isn’t a counter balance. It was great when we knew that Peter was as powerful if not more powerful than him, but now it just seems like he’s impossible to defeat, especially with his new shape-shifting ability. I hope Peter can somehow move back to being that balance. Also, Angela having a mystery sister is a bit lame.