Heroes Review:
"Villains" (Episode 308)

It's the season of villains and episode 42 ("Villains") looks back at how they came to be through the whitened eyes of Hiro during his spirit journey. Mohinder's narration during the intro talks about how some people choose the path of darkness. But almost all those crossroads have been manipulated by a single man, either directly or through his work at "The Company."

We also see some level of humanity squeaking through. For Sylar, it's his remorse for killing his first victim and his early resistance to the hunger that eventually turned him into a phsycopath. For Linderman, it shows up in his healing of Angela's mind. For Elle, it's her struggle to help Sylar resist his murderous impulses, thwarted by her orders from The Company to tempt him to kill. Even "Flint" Gordon briefly saw hope for a purpose when he was recruited by The Company to become an agent.

But the one who shows no capacity for mercy, no consideration for anyone and a ruthlessness that led him to nonchalantly plan his own son's murder is the villain-in-chief Arthur Patrelli. Arthur serves as almost a singular source of evil, corrupting not through temptation and persuasion but by the direct force of his original power of mind-control (he also has the power to absorb other superhuman abilities through physical contact). And now that he's absorbed Peter's array of abilities, he seems invincible. Hiro learns about the truth of his new nemesis, but the episode ends with that information being useless moments after he wakes up.

The stage is set, but it's going to take more than a single hero to even put up a decent fight. Arthur's original plan was to blow up New York, but it looks like his villainy knows no bounds. It's a fitting challenge for a dwindling cast of heroes on a show that's beginning to recover its original mojo.

Related Links:
Heroes Episodes 301 & 302 "Villains" review
Heroes Episode 303 "One of Us, One of Them" review
Heroes Episode 304 "I Am Become Death" review
Heroes Episode 305 "Angels & Monsters" review
Heroes Episode 306 "Dying of the Light" review
Heroes Episode 308 "Villains" review