What I’m Watching: Heroes

Heroes: Season 4, Episode 7 “Strange Attractors” (F)

Trying to integrate college life with a Halloween-themed episode just results in more typical inanity for this show, further reducing the quality and enjoyability of this show. The hazing methods practiced by the sorority girls at Arlington University seem a tad vicious and over-the-top, and Rebecca’s attempts to get rid of Gretchen are becoming a bit obvious. This episode feels too much like a horror movie when this show has never been all that scary, even when Sylar was trolling around looking for some cheerleading scalps to break open. At this point, Rebecca should just try and introduce Claire to Samuel without needing to make her feel separated from humanity. The college stuff is just getting ridiculous. Sylar imprisoning Matt in his own body is a terrible direction in which to head, specifically because it’s almost identical to the abysmal Niki/Jessica plotline from season one. Matt trying to get rid of Sylar by drinking himself silly was obviously a bad idea, and his spiraling downward isn’t going to help anything, unless it somehow (hopefully) gets him killed off the show. His former co-surrogate parent Mohinder isn’t missed, so his absence would be a boon for the show. Hiro and Peter didn’t even appear in this episode, so clearly some characters are dispensable. Noah and Tracy’s failed efforts to save a kid with a lethal power weren’t all that intriguing, but the violent reaction it elicits from Samuel means that there’s clearly a war brewing, and maybe that can make the characters come together and become legitimately interesting again.