Heroes 3x24: I Am Sylar

Wesley Snipes*: Agent Taub
Heroes, of late, as been in the disquieting habit of inserting scenes cut from previous episodes into the "Previously On" segment preceding a new episode, but never has it been more egregious than in this episode, in which the entire plot point upon which this episode hangs (Sylar is having identity issues while masquerading as one of Danko's agents), not to mention the implication that Danko is "feeding" his own agents to Sylar and all that entails for Danko's character, is introduced in the "Previously..." segment. Wow. That's just...wow. Talk about telling and not showing: "Oh, and Sylar's been pretending to be another agent for awhile now, and it's causing him some problems. It was never important enough to establish before now, but it's important now. Trust us."

Harrison Ford: Shapeshifting
I was all ready to flame the show for having Sylar impersonate Nathan despite the heavy implication in previous episodes that shapeshifting requires physical contact with a subject, and Nathan and Sylar never met after Sylar acquired that power, but the show sidestepped my criticism by not only confirming how the power works, but by making Sylar's acquisition of Nathan's DNA a plot point. Kudos.

Wesley Snipes: Shapeshifting
Of course, the show then squanders that goodwill by showing Sylar's clothes change when he shifts to another person, despite the fact that in previous episodes this wasn't the case. And by having Sylar talk about how the power changes his DNA, despite the fact that when the original shapeshifter died with Sylar's form, he possessed his own DNA, not Sylar's. And the confirmation that physical contact is required to assume someone's form begs the question of when the original shapeshifter had contact with Sylar in order to impersonate him.

Wesley Snipes: Hiro and Ando
Their constant bickering about Ando's power and the nature of their relationship (partnership vs. mentor and sidekick) is becoming as tired as the Claire-Noah "I love him-I hate him-I love him" merry-go-round. Enough already.

Wesley Snipes: Hiro's glasses
Seriously, it took THAT long for one of the agents to realize one of his team members was wearing glasses when he never has before?

Wesley Snipes: GPS
Based on Hiro's ability to use an agent's GPS device to locate Building 26, are we to assume that every agent has the location of their secret headquarters programmed into their GPS units? That seems pretty sloppy.

Furthermore, didn't Hiro inject Ando and himself with GPS tracking chips? Meaning Hiro wouldn't have had to tag along in the van with Ando to keep dibs on him and track him to Building 26?

Harrison Ford: Danko's Watch
I enjoyed the scene between Sylar and Danko, in which Sylar studied Danko's watch and knew the make/model and how off it was. It was a nice throwback to Sylar's origins.

Harrison Ford: "I Am Sylar"
Similarily, Sylar writing "I am Sylar" in blood on the wall of Clint Howard's apartment was a nice nod to his mysterious, pre-Zachary Qunito season 1 days.

Wesley Snipes: "I am Sylar"
Yet at the same time, that bloody scrawl didn't make any of the non-Danko agents suspicious that Sylar was alive? No questions along the lines of "if Sylar is dead, why is someone killing using his MO and proclaiming themselves to be Sylar via blood on the wall?" It seems like they just shrugged and moved on.

Wesley Snipes: Rebel's operation
Mrs. Teebore wondered how Danko was suddenly able to locate Micah when they hadn't been able to do so before. My answer was that since the show has yet to show us how Micah operates as Rebel beyond the vague implication of "he can talk to machines, that's how," it's difficult to ascertain how those methods might have led Danko to his location.

Also, assuming that's the last we'll see of Rebel in this volume, I should add that, overall, I was dissappointed in the Rebel subplot. I LOVE that they brought Micah back (now, where's his cousin?) but it seems far-fetched that he was running an entire counter operation by himself, even with his power. It sure seemed like the show was setting up "Rebel" as a network of agents, including Micah, some of which had access to future info (suggested when Hiro and Ando were in India-Rebel knew they'd be there before they arrived). It's mildly disappointing that in the end, it was Micah and Micah alone.

Wesley Snipes: Parkman and Janice
I get that Matt wants to be a part of his child's life, and that's fine. I have no problem with him attempting to work things out with Janice to make that happen, and going out of his way to protect them both. But yeesh, Matt, you're already talking about romantically getting back together with Janice? Already? Is Daphne's body even cold yet?

Wesley Snipes: Sylar's meeting with the President
So Sylar can enter Clint Howard's apartment, pour himself some hot chocolate and sit down on the couch, all without making a sound or otherwise making his presence known? Fine, I'll grant some artistic license in the name of making the villain creepy and whatnot. But then, shouldn't Sylar be able to similarly sneak undetected into the President's office, nab some DNA and take his shape, all without having to perpetuate the entire "pretend to be Nathan and force the President to meet with me" ruse?

*Key:
Harrison Ford: Things I liked about the episode.
Wesley Snipes: Things I did not like about the episode
Tommy Lee Jones: Questions, comments or other non-qualitative items about the episode.