"Heroes" Chapter Eleven 'I Am Sylar' (2009)

Director:

Allan Arkush

Writers:

Tim Kring (creator)
Adam Armus (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Heroes" (2006)

Original Air Date:

20 April 2009 (Season 3, Episode 24)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Sylar begins to feel confused and more uncertain about himself when his new shape-changing powers begins to get out of control...

Plot Keywords:

Mental Blackout | One Word Title | Insane Asylum | Regeneration | Psychic

Cast

Jack Coleman	...	Noah Bennet
Greg Grunberg	...	Matt Parkman
James Kyson Lee	...	Ando Masahashi
Masi Oka	...	Hiro Nakamura
Hayden Panettiere	...	Claire Bennet
Adrian Pasdar	...	Nathan Petrelli
Zachary Quinto	...	Sylar
Sendhil Ramamurthy	...	Mohinder Suresh
Cristine Rose	...	Angela Petrelli
Milo Ventimiglia	...	Peter Petrelli
Noah Gray-Cabey	...	Micah Sanders
Ellen Greene	...	Virginia Grey (also archive footage)
Elizabeth Lackey	...	Janice Parkman (as Lisa Lackey)
Gabriel Olds	...	Agent Taub
Clint Howard	...	Tom Miller

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Company:

Tailwind Productions

Quotes:

Sylar: You're right - I can be anything I want. I can be President.
[he changes shape]
Sylar: [as Nathan Petrelli] I won't let you down, Ma.

Creepiest episode ever

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Oh my god, this episode had me completely in shock... And I'm going to have to spoiler-tag it, because there is no way I can convey why without spoilers, though I'll try and keep it at least slightly non-specific.

It's not like Sylar's parental issues didn't occasionally seem a bit Norman Bates-ish even before this, but this episode, which basically centres on him gradually losing his sanity (such as it was), took that to its ultimately conclusion. At first I thought his conversations with his dead mother were just hallucinations... But when what was really happening became clear I just about screamed out loud -- while at the same time being in awe at just how well they played it.

Heroes has always been at its most interesting when it delves into the psychology of the characters, and Sylar has a more twisted psychology than most to delve into. But this really took it to new heights... or depths, maybe. It's like a walking tour through a particularly fascinating and disturbing madhouse, and the result is both incredibly creepy, and really amazing.

This episode is easily tied with Cold Snap for most impressive of volume 4, which I already found to be overall the best since the original season. Anyone who stopped watching Heroes due to volumes 2 and 3 being a little lackluster really, really needs to get back into it. Now.

The only flaw in this episode is that there was no way the season finale could top it... and it didn't. Otherwise, this was an absolute triumph, and an excellent reminder of why this is pretty much the only series on North American television that I'm really, truly addicted to.