Broken Frontier

The latest Heroes episode, titled “Brother’s Keeper,” successfully moves several storylines forward, but one can’t help escape the feeling that this season is playing catch-up at this point. This episode is constantly shifting back and forth between characters—and across time—to connect the many stories currently at play. For a prime-time drama, Heroes can be exhausting.

One of the major plot points revealed in “Brother’s Keeper” is the true motivation behind Samuel Sullivan and his carnival. Jumping nine weeks back in time, we learn that Mohinder Suresh had uncovered a 50-year-old film reel in his father’s research. Labeled “Samuel” (you can tell where this is going), the film shows a terrified Chandra Suresh describing a boy born at Coyote Sands, whose destructive ability is amplified in the presence of other super-powered people. This is bad. But, fortunately for the rest of the world, Samuel’s brother Joseph—who is dead in the present-day—kept this information from him to prevent him from abusing this power. This revelation is actually pretty cool, and establishes Samuel as a greater threat than we previously thought.

Two episodes back, in “Once Upon a Time in Texas,” Samuel kidnapped Hiro Nakamura’s beloved waitress Charlie to force the time-traveler into helping him correct a mistake in his own past. Initially, it seemed as though Samuel wanted Hiro to stop him from killing Mohinder. Instead, we learn this week that Samuel recruited Hiro to prevent Mohinder from destroying that film reel. If not for Hiro’s intervention, Mohinder would still be dead. To keep him hidden from Samuel for a few weeks, Hiro has him institutionalized. After all, if Samuel were to find out that Hiro had saved Mohinder, he’d never get to see Charlie again.

Last week’s episode, “Shadowboxing,” featured one of the most surprising Heroes moments in recent history when Matt attempted to sacrifice himself to destroy Sylar. But, as expected, that act of bravery was all for naught, as Sylar’s mind and body are reunited this week. With the help of his healing ability, Peter Petrelli—with his brother Nathan in tow—rushes to Matt’s rescue and saves him from certain death, not knowing that he is also saving his arch nemesis.

Now, keep in mind, the real Nathan is dead, and “Nathan” is actually Sylar separated from his villainous psyche, which is now taking residence in Matt’s head (still with me?).

When Nathan inadvertently brushes against Matt in the hospital, Sylar enters his old body. He hasn’t resumed control just yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Seeing Nathan grapple with the idea of being dead and living a lie is powerful stuff, and it’s a shame that actor Nathan Pasdar has been mostly sidelined this season. But, in all fairness, he’s been sort of dead for the past few weeks.

This episode also catches us up with Tracy Strauss, who is still having trouble controlling her freezing/water abilities. She seeks out Noah Bennet for guidance, but instead she finds Claire in his apartment. Following some bizarre antics between the two—including Tracy accidentally freezing Claire and breaking off her foot—they have a heart to heart.

Their discussion eventually turns to Samuel and the carnival. Claire convinces Tracy that joining Samuel might be a good idea, giving her the chance to find acceptance among other people like her. While this decision is troubling for Tracy—especially since we now know how dangerous Samuel is—it’s also worrying how open Claire is to the idea of running away with the carnival herself. Will she be swayed too?

“Brother’s Keeper” is certainly well executed, but the sheer number of storylines advanced in it can be a bit disorienting when compared to the more straightforward narratives we’ve seen thus far this season.