The 10 best things on television this year, that I can recall.

10. Liam. - Sigh. Modern day Dylan McKay, complete with boat building skills and poor-little-rich-boy problems? I'll take it. When is 90210 coming back on again?!!

It's cool everybody, he's 26!

9. The knowledge that if you're dancing to House Music, it isn't cheating. -Now it might seem crazy for me to find something that could be labeled "best" in the "so awful you can only watch silently with your mouth agape" Jersey Shore, but it was pretty damn amazing watching Snooki explain to J-Woww's (Yes those are their names. Feel free to call her Snickers though, everybody does.) boyfriend that since J-Woww was dancing to House Music and not R&B, the fact that she was rubbing herself all over Pauly D. was actually some kind of dance "battling" and not cheating. Or even flirting! The best part? He totally accepted it as true and correct. Thank you Snooki, you have added so much to my life.


8. Dexter's Season 4 Finale "The Getaway"
-In a season that seemed determined to at least rearrange the show's premise a bit, making Dexter less of a monster a more of a family man, the season finale not only gave us hope that Dexter might become something better, it also showed us the price he pays for giving into his "dark passenger". After a beautiful scene with his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) that helps him realize that he actually CAN connect with other people, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) goes home to find that his wife Rita, murdered by the man he just killed. "The Getaway" gave us everything we could ask for in a season finale: great work by the cast, excitement, suspense, tender moments and a shocking twist.

7. Torchwood: Children of Earth America, this is how you do great sci-fi. This 10 hour miniseries left me speechless, a little depressed and hungry for more. After a couple of fun but uneven seasons, creator Russell T. Davies fearlessly made sure that Torchwood would not be remembered as a some goofy Doctor Who spin-off, but as a gut-wrenching, unforgettable series of it's own.


6. JAMES FRANCO ON GENERAL HOSPITAL. - Confession time: I watch soap operas. When I got Soapnet on my cable system, I physically jumped for joy. Sometimes they get so terrible, I can't even watch them for months at a time. But sometimes, amazing things happen on them, and this was one of those times.I don't know how this happened, if it was performance art, a practical joke or a lost bet, but whatever it was, it was awesome.



5. Lost, Season 5 -Time travel? Love triangles? Nuclear bomb detonation? Sign me up. This season Lost got back to what it does best, showing us the humanity (and inhumanity) of these characters while putting them through twisty, turny suspenseful hell. (The actual best thing I saw on TV this year? Kate's hair in this episode.)

4. Jim and Pam's Wedding, The Office -If The Office's "Niagara Falls" didn't bring a tear to your eye, you are not human, man. You must be nothing more than an incredibly realistic looking human style robot or something. I mean Kevin was wearing tissue boxes as shoes! It was great.

3.Chuck, Season 2
-If a smart, adorable show about a nerd whose brain accidentally becomes the CIA's most important super computer doesn't sound like your cup of tea, get a new cup. Chuck has the most like-able cast on television, great music, an only deepening mythology, more laughs per hour than most comedies and more real, raw moments per hour than most dramas. Season 3 is coming in January, and if you're smart, which I think you are, you'll be watching.




2. Modern Family
-Ask anyone who knows me, I cannot say enough good things about this show. It is hilarious, has an amazing cast, including some incredibly gifted child actors, and kinda warms your heart sometimes too! Also, a giant clown named Fizbo threatening to kick a jerk's ass if he doesn't apologize to his boyfriend. Welcome to awesometown people.


1. Mad Men, Season 3 Finale, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" -Part fun and jaunty caper flick, part heart wrenching family drama, there was nothing better this year than the season ender of this great show. As usual, creator Matthew Weiner made sure that everything, from the cast to the clothes, was perfect. This was Don Draper's hour, and Jon Hamm did beautiful work as always. The look of pride and triumph that he has as he surveys that tiny Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office just made the episode for me. He is ready to value the people he works with, and he is ready to build something that is his. You can tell from the look in his eyes that he can't wait to see how it all turns out, and I can't either.

Melrose Place blew my mind this week!

Well, I didn't have any Melrose Place related dreams this week, but that doesn't mean that a ton of stuff didn't happen! We found out so many things! It was amazing! Most of them made sense even!

-Ella loves Jonah because "He gets me." And she can be herself around him. They are cute. I'm just saying.

-Riley is "scared" and "not ready" to get married.

-Jonah is pissed.

-Ella has super pretty hair.

-The CW's website had like 10 versions of the same two pictures from this episode, and not one of them features Ella's pretty hair.

-Lauren's still whoring.

-Lauren and David are still cute together. (I wonder if that first thing about Lauren will somehow affect this second thing?!)

-Amanda is looking for not something with 'sentimental value', but for a 19 million dollar painting that she believes Syd stole from her.

-Amanda and Michael were sleeping together at some point in the recent past.

--Jonah's movie dreams might be coming true.

-Riley is not ready for any inappropriate post-engagement-break-up sex. (Sorry Auggie!)

-Jonah is. (Good for you Ella!)

-Sydney and Violet actually made up the night Sydney died (Sydney did so much that night!) and were going to be a part of eachother's lives.

-When Vanessa called her a whore, Sydney actually used the line "Takes one to know one" on her. These two should meet Lauren!

-But the most important thing we learned tonight?! Scary-face Brooke Burns/Micheal's wife Vanessa killed Sydney! And not just because Syd was sleeping with her husband, but because Sydney knew that David is Noah's father! WHAT?! Yeah, I did not see that coming. But now I know why they cast a blonde actor as Noah.

-Violet went all crazy and after an intense girl on girl pool fight, actually drowned Vanessa! I hope Noah was sleeping or watching TV or something. That kid is going to need some serious therapy.

-David had a really bad night. He made some bad decisions (letting Violet watch his son/brother, telling her Vanessa killed her mother), but I don't think he could have imagined when he woke up that morning that his girlfriend was going to OD on some kind of made-up drug that a john gave her while she was whoring, and that his neighbor would kill is stepmother/former lover who killed his father's mistress/his former girlfriend. No one can really.

-Amanda saw the whole thing, and then totally covered for Violet, hoping, I guess that she knows where this 19 million dollar painting is. Okay, sure, maybe she does. Still, maybe yell or something when you see someone drowning a lady in your pool.

-No one is ever going to swim in that pool again. Two deaths officially makes it cursed.

-They used such a scary-faced actress for a reason! Because she was a murderer! A lot of casting decisions are coming into focus for me here.

-Micheal's innocent and was just trying to protect his scary-faced wife, who he seems to totally hate. I guess for the sake of the kid or something. I'm just glad we're not losing Michael Mancini!

Melrose Place will be back 'soon' they say! With new cast members! And more fun stuff! I'm ready for it.

What does 'Coming Soon' mean?! Need more 90210 now!

Looking through my notes about 90210 this week, there are no fewer than 7 sad faces! That's a lot of sad faces! It was a sad episode, with lots of drama, miscommunication and general angst. A lot of stuff went down. It was actually a pretty awesome show this week!

I have to say that even thought I kind of felt bad for Annie here, I did not actually make a sad face next to her name (sad faces next to: Teddy, Ivy, Ade, Teddy again, Silver + Dixon, Ivy again.) However, even though I pretty much hate Annie, there was a lot I liked about the whole Annie/Jasper take-down story such as:

-Naomi sincerely apologizing to Annie. That was nice. Even though Annie is pretty terrible, she didn't deserve what Naomi did. (She did kill that bum so...maybe she did?)

-Naomi going all mama bear on Annie when she found out that Jasper was a drug dealer.

-Liam apologizing to Annie, which he really should have, because he did let everyone believe they slept together, which is not cool.

-The whole original gang (minus the more likeable new cast members) got together to talk to Annie! It kind of made me miss Ethan, but what can you do?

-Ade stepping up and admitting that she bought drugs from Jasper, which made Annie believe them AND brought her and Navid a little closer together. (Man, I really miss my favorite teenage almost-marrieds. Adrianna and Navid 4eva!)

-Annie actually believing them! Finally!

-And of course, the kicker. JASPER KNOWS ANNIE RAN OVER HIS UNCLE. What?! How one earth could he know, and why would he date someone who killed his uncle? Oh man this guy is more twisted than we knew. I am sure this will kick off a story of poor Annie being forced to stay with him or something, before it is revealed that she really hit a black bear or something. Or a minotaur.

(She's actually an expert life ruiner Navid, give her a crack at Jasper.

)

But Annie isn't the only one to suffer heartbreak at the incredibly well advertised (Ballerinas in the halls?! What?!) "Winter Wonderland" dance. Poor Teddy and Silver both suffer the heartbreak of miscommunication. Aided by Dixon, coming back to remind us that even though everyone is being pretty nice on this episode (excluding villain Jasper) that he is still the biggest jerk on the show. When he didn't tell Silver that the blonde was Teddy's sister, I actually yelled "Ugh, what a jerk!" to no one in particular. Why does Dixon suck so much? Teddy and Silver are my new Navid and Adrianna, as in I care a weird amount about the progression of their relationship. Way more than I should. Damn you Dixon!!

Speaking of Dixon, I actually really liked the scenes with him and Deb where they talked about his adoption and his trouble feeling like he belonged in the family. It is pretty cool that they touched a little bit on the whole Black kid in a white family thing. I am not so sure I am too excited about the "finding my birth mom" thing, mostly because they did that last season, it was pretty sweet and it made me stop hating Annie for five minutes. I don't think this can happen again.

Well I knew this day would come. And even I have to admit, the Liam/Naomi reunion was super sweet. He even showed her what was under his tarp, (heh) and it wasn't a Jen killing machine or an Annie killing machine! It was a boat! He's so sensitive! Honestly, even though I really like Ivy and I think that Liam and she are super cute together, you got me CW, Naomi and Liam are pretty great too. Liam I guess, is just awesome. And hot. Anyway, if there had been a pic of Naomi and Liam instead of Ivy and Liam on the CW website I would have put it up. That is how much I am ready to buy this couple. They really stretched out their separation pretty well, and gave them a totally nice reunion. Facilitated by Ivy! Love that girl.

So let's review, because you might need to refer back to this 'soon' (whenever that is!) when 90210 returns!

-Annie knows Jasper is a drug dealer.

-Jasper knows Annie is a bum killer.

-Adrianna is clean and getting back into everyone's good graces.

-Silver and Teddy like each other, but Silver thinks Teddy is a player and Dixon decided to prey on that and kiss her. Cause he's a jerk.

-Teddy is sweet.

-Dixon is jerk.

-Naomi and Liam are back together.

-Liam is making a boat, not a killing machine.

-Liam is hot.

-Ivy is heartbroken. Or at least sad.

-Navid is still taking the hard line when it comes to forgiving Ade, but he's softening a little. Maybe.

-Ryan Matthews is drinking at work, I guess because Jen is a horrible person. Or because he is an idiot.

-West Beverly High School spends an inordinate amount of money on their dances.

-I love snow cones. Great refreshment idea Dance Committee!

See you 'soon'!

Heroes-The last two episodes until 2010!

At this point, it is pretty rare for me to be able to understand any character's motivations at all. I spend most of my Heroes watching time cringing and spouting out better solutions to these people's problems, or trying to explain their stupidity away, saying things like "Well I guess I can understand where Peter is coming from, I mean he just found out his brother is dead and all..." Also, I can never bring myself to watch it on time, obviously.

Let's just start with "Thanksgiving":

-Everyone on this show needs an interior decorator. Do all the Heroes have to live in the most drab, depressing places imaginable?

-Oooh it's that blonde woman who likes Bennet again! If this show needs anything, it's definitely MORE characters.

-Awkward Thanksgivings all around. Sandra brings her boyfriend. H.R.G stalks the blonde; invites her to the worst Thanksgiving ever. Claire threatens to quit school. Over at the Petrelli's, Angela lies, threatens and generally stomps around like a child before admitting that Nathan is both dead and Sylar, then Sylar eats all the pie. Seriously.

-At the Carny Thanksgiving, Hiro time travels to when Samuel killed Joseph, showing Lydia, instead of time traveling to when Samuel took Charlie and saving her. Okay. Sure. Not exactly what I would do in that situation, but really, who am I to judge?

-Claire stole the compass and then she and Gretchen went on a ROAD TRIP! You are an idiot Claire.

"The Fifth Stage" marked the last episode of Adrian Pasdar (one of the few actors on this show to combine being hot with being a good actor) as Nathan Petrelli. He and Peter had a scene which was supposed to be gut wrenching but just seemed completely ridiculous because of what had come before. (Namely, Peter running around trying to make Sylar become his dead brother, taking away all his powers and then not killing him. I know we want to keep Zach Quinto on the show, but man, the reasons for not killing Sylar are getting ridic.) Then he fell off a building for what seemed like ever,became Sylar and walked away. So, good plan Peter. Real good plan.

Meanwhile, Nathan's bio-daughter, who has no idea that he's dead and seems completely unconcerned with her bio-family at this point anyway, was conned and joined the Carnival with Samuel. I don't think it could have been more clear that Claire was being snowed, and I can only hope Gretchen's decision to weirdly accept Claire's terrible choice just means she is driving straight to H.R.G.'s and getting his help.

H.R.G. and that blonde woman worked on finding Claire and on their own relationship issues. I like H.R.G. being with someone who actually likes him and is nice to him. I am sure the writers are working on that as we speak, and it will be all ruined in January.

The closing montage reminded me of that lame Emma woman, and let me know that apparenly Hiro, Ando and Mohinder are running around in a jungle or something. Even though last we saw Hiro he was trying to save Charlie, the last we saw Ando he was about to marry Hiro's sister and the last we saw of Mohinder he was in a straitjacket in a padded room, I'm not even wondering why or how. I just don't care.

Heroes will return in January. At least I think it will.

-

90210-The Destruction of Jen!

So, I missed the last episode and half of 90210 before this one, and there were a few important plot points there including:

Navid's okay!!

-Annie's parents don't want her to see Jasper.

-Adrianna is a mess.

-Ivy and Liam are "casual"

-Silver and Kelly's mom died.

-Jasper pushed Navid down the stairs for telling Dixon he's a drug dealer!!!!

So we're starting there, with the whole, yay! Navid is okay! And of course he has memory loss so he doesn't know how he ended up at the bottom of the stair. I am willing to bet he also doesn't know why he was wearing those weird male jazz shoes either.

He is sort of a drama queen about the whole thing, and he shoots down Adrianna TWICE, once when she actually tries to explain to him why she kissed Teddy. (basically, she was engaging in self-sabotage.) Navid is harsh man. But he has had a tough couple of months, so I'm willing to give him a break.

I don't know where Kelly is during this whole thing, but Naomi and Silver have such good friend chemistry! I loved Naomi trying to be goofy and make Silver feel a little better. It was sweet. Still, Kelly should probably be there for her sister, since her mom just died and everything.

In other Silver news: her and Teddy kissed! They are so totally going to be in love and all that stuff. Adrianna is going to be really mad if Teddy breaks his "no relationship code" for Silver! Also, Silver and Dixon made up, and Dixon behaved generally decently in this episode, though it is still mind boggling that all these people had no problem being friends with Liam even though they believed he slept with Annie but all of them pretty much hated Annie for the same thing. If Annie weren't so awful I would have to charge a little misogyny, but Annie is terrible so maybe people were just looking for an excuse to be mean to her or something.

Speaking of Liam: Here is a dreamy picture of him:

Oh. So what about the absolute super BEST part of the episode?!! The greatest part? All of our favorite characters (plus Dixon) banded together to TAKE JEN DOWN. I was a little disappointed that since were getting all of these Ocean's 11 references that we didn't get to see a little more of the planning, but it was still a sweet payoff in the end. Not only did Naomi find out about Jen sleeping with Liam just to get back at her, Ryan Matthews, idiot of the year, finally wised up and realized that Jen was a teenager-schtupping, sister-money-stealing, gold-digging biatch! It was a beautiful sight.

I really shouldn't be taking this much joy from the take-down of a fictional character, but man, I really hate Jen. I do feel very bad for Naomi, pretty much finding out that she has no one in her family that she can count on, but I guess that is still better than being scammed by her awful sister. I even felt kinda bad when Ivy kissed Liam in front of her, even though I am an Ivy + Liam 4eva kind of girl. I mean she called Annie right away to apologize, which you have to admit, is pretty stand up. I hope they don't completely destroy Ivy's character or any potential Ivy and Liam have just to get him and Naomi back together though.

Other thoughts:

-Silver looked like a waiter in her outfit. (I was going to change that to 'waitress, and then I thought, no, it's definitely 'waiter.')

-I love the HUGE plate of food Naomi took at the horse race, and how she plopped a giant lobster on top.

-Best line, Ivy to Teddy, re: her and Liam "Don't Tweet about it, pretty boy."

-Worst line, Jasper to Annie re: her parents hating him "It sends me into a dark place."

-I love that Silver and Naomi were listening to Hall and Oates.

-I totally called that Teddy wouldn't be able to go to Jackie's funeral because it reminded him of his own mom's.

-Jackie Taylor's funeral was offscreen?!!

-Another awesome music choice, PJ Harvey for Adrianna's "wake up and find out everything has gone to hell while you were in a drug induced haze" scene.

-Teddy, Dixon, Ivy and the waiter/actor really should have celebrated their victory over Jen in another location, away from Naomi, whose entire world had just been busted open. AND she didn't really have a secret admirer!

-Dixon covered for Annie! I hate these two slightly less when they don't hate each other.

-NAVID REMEMBERS WHO THREW HIM DOWN THE STAIRS! Next take-down? Jasper perhaps?

Next week:

Ooh! A dance!

I dreamed a dream of Melrose Place.

Last night I dreamed that visiting L.A. from Western Mass, I met David and he totally became my boyfriend (with apologies to my real boyfriend, who would never wear that horrible weird vest thing over a t-shirt that David is rocking in the above photo), but we were having some issues because I wanted to do some "touristy" things around L.A. but he was stuck dealing with his crazy roommates (Lauren and also Serena from Gossip Girl). THEN people were protesting outside the window, and it turned out they were people from Western Mass protesting about how much L.A. sucks and how WMASS is so much better. So David went down there and they ended up knocking him over and sort of beating him up by rolling all over him weirdly. It was strange, but I think it showed me one thing, Melrose Place must be getting better, because my subconscious is still totally interested!

So what happened on the actual show you might ask? Well:

David and Lauren (Still no nooky there, because of her whoring) worked together to get Michael arrested for Sydney's murder. It certainly looks like he's the culprit at this point, but I am sure there could be a TWIST!! I am liking David and Lauren together by the way. Maybe he, of all people, can totally accept her hooker ways and they can make a real go of it!

Ella got Jonah a job as an IT guy at WPK, then promptly used him for her own means. But that backfired when he discovered that she hadn't fought for him to get the music video credit in some episode I didn't watch, and so he fired her as his agent, manager AND friend. Harsh dude.

Riley's on Jonah's list as well (as usual) because she stuck her nose in where it didn't belong and consequently a psycho dude broke Jonah's very expensive camera.

Riley really did not explain herself very well in this situation though. Instead of saying "I kind of got between Violet and her brother" she should have said "This crazy guy forced his way into our apartment and smashed your stuff!" Both are true, and that second one is sure to keep your fiance from being mad at you.

"What did Riley stick her nose into anyway?" You might be asking. Well, let me just tell you this, it is pretty epic. Get ready. Are you ready? Okay... Violet has a BROTHER/LOVER. Yup. That's right. She has an adopted brother who is also her lover. Eww. Also, he's a meth-head. This dude is going to be so pissed when he finds out about her Auggie obsession.

This Violet development also shows us that pretty much everything she has said so far to everyone has been true. (From Oregon, stole $ to run away from a messed up upbringing, was looking for her birth-mother for years.) So that is kind of an interesting development. The brother/lover did seem to mention that becoming lovers instead of siblings was her idea, but he also seemed crazy, so it is hard to take him at his word.


Amanda is on a search for some object that she gave Sydney that is very important to her. So important in fact, that even though she is a multimillionaire she is going to live in the apartment complex she lived in 10 years ago to intimidate it's residents into giving her information on said precious object. Poor Ella. No one wants to live that close to their crazy, evil boss.

Best line of the night: Michael, re: Amanda and Sydney becoming friends again "Did you see each other at a support group for women who faked their own deaths?"

Worst part of the episode (for those afraid of Brooke Burns only): Seeing Michael trying to get it on with his freaky-faced wife.

Next week:
WHOA! Jonah and Ella hooking up?! Jonah and Riley breaking up?! How did I suddenly become so interested in Jonah?!!!

Melrose Place- "Cahuenga". Yup, that's what it's named. "Cahuenga". Really.

I can't even talk about these terrible episode titles anymore, so I'm just going to try to move on here.

Picture this. You are an attractive twenty-something living in LA. You move into an apartment building. For some reason, the owner of this apartment building, an attractive forty-something, seems verrry interested in all of the residents of the complex. Then, she's horribly murdered. Suddenly, all these other people who used to live there come out of the woodwork, and a good portion of these people actually profess the desire to make your life hellish. What's your plan here? Mojitos by the pool? Or, I don't know, maybe you should MOVE?

I think the contrast of the old Melrose Placers to the new ones is quite funny actually. I mean all of the old people seem pretty much insane at this point. They are girlfriend murdering, young people sexing, life destroying maniacs! They make art thieves, hookers, and teachers turned models seem like the sanest most normal people in the world. Even Auggie, who has actually killed someone, seems measurably more sane than say, Jane when she showed up and just started blackmailing people willy-nilly.

I don't know if I want the young people to become more crazy (and therefore less boring) or the old people to become less crazy (and therefore more logical). Maybe a little of both?

So what even happened last night? Well:

Amanda Woodward returned! She's here, she's blonde, and she's bitchy!! And Riley pissed her off by not using a fake bio (which was a ridiculous plan because someone could just google her and find out the truth...but okay.),so she RUINED HER. Watch out Melrose Place kids, this lady has no problem taking away your teaching job. Riley and Jonah celebrate before Amanda Woodward RUINS them.

She also fired Caleb (cute gay boss of Ella), has some kind of weird interest in Ella so she sent some hot lesbian chick to try and seduce her away as a test, and tried to force Ella to do the Riley ruining, which Ella would not, because she is not twisted and evil from too much Botox. YET.

We did finally get some girl on girl action from the "supposedly bisexual but usually just pining for Jonah" Ella, so score another one for Amanda Woodward!

Amanda is looking for something that Dead Sydney has hidden from her, so maybe that accounts for her interest in Ella, as Ella and Sydney were once friends, before they were bitter, bitter enemies.

I have to agree with Amanda on one thing, the amount of PR these people were doing for this dude's denim line did seem to be a bit much.

So Amanda's return was pretty good I would say, and next week she's gonna RUIN everybody's life, just for kicks.

I guess other, non-Amanda things happened too, including:

David decided he was totally into Lauren (the hooker) so he created Fall in her apartment and got her chili from her hometown. I don't really know where his sudden intense romantic interest in her came from, but they did have some intense making out before she decided that she "just couldn't". (She hates being reminded of work at home!) I kind of like these two together I have to say!

Everyone turned on Auggie in a matter of minutes after he was arrested in Mexico for Sydney's murder (hey, he did flee to Mexico), besides David, who thinks it was Michael and seems to have found evidence of that, and Violet, who is crazy and always sleeps with Auggie whenever he is upset about anything. She's probably the real killer, right?!

Because of that whole RUINING thing, Jonah has to get a job now that Riley is unemployed. I do love that they actually had an argument about which one of them should get a job. I've got a bright idea guys, why don't you both get jobs, like normal people!

The show comes back Dec 1, and Amanda introduces herself to the rest of the gang and promptly RUINS them all. Or at least starts making plans to do so.

My 100th Blog post is about Heroes! That's kind of sad really...

So I watched the last two episodes of Heroes one right after another last night. Kind of like a movie. Or a some kind of torture. "Shadowboxing" was so terrible that I don't even want to talk about it. I'll just list the ways it was awful.

-It had Parkman and Sylar arguing constantly, even though they are the same person. And Matt actually said to Sylar, who is let's not forget a remorseless serial killer "This is ridiculous. Just give me back my body." An ineffectual argument from an ineffectual man.

-They faked it like they totally killed Matt! It made me happy for like five minutes, until I realized it wasn't his firing I'd been reading about all week...then it made me angry because you shouldn't give someone something beautiful and then snatch it away.

-They made me root SO HARD for a character who randomly murdered some nice old man who was trying to help him. I actually yelled "In your face Parkman!!!" at that point. Heroes is making me a sick, sick person.

-It had Emma in it, and she admitted the reason that she quit medical school (death of her nephew), got over her fears about it and pretty much decided to become a doctor. So her story's over now, right?

-Peter's powers are making him weak. Remember when he used to be awesome?

-Claire's lesbian roommate left. She was pretty likeable and it lamely isolates Claire AGAIN. I wonder if Hayden Panettiere gets bored of playing the exact same story line over and over over.

-Clarie met the Carny, and of course, kind of liked what he had to say.

-Claire was forced to hear another person's boring monologue about how evil her father is. Did you guys know that HRG operates in world where everything is just shades of gray? SHADES OF GRAY! ARE YOU GETTING IT YET?

-Emma and Peter work in a hospital where they just throw sick children into supply closets! Someone report that place!

-Peter and Emma's romance seems to be progressing. Ugh.

Three great things happened:

-The Haitian came back, and we learned that his name is Rene (maybe we already knew that...LOVE him though!)

-There was a cute HRG/Claire-Bear scene (Sniff. Those two always get me)

-And...Peter took his shrine to himself down! Why? I don't know! Maybe because he can't use powers very well anymore? Or because he wants to invite Emma over for dinner and even he has to admit that the shrine thing is pretty weird? Because he wants to ponder the one clipping not about himself, which happens to be about Samuel? (Newspaper clippings are inordinately important to Peter Petrelli's life.) I don't know why he did it, but I'm pretty glad he did. "Hero Paramedic Takes Down Creepy Shrine to Himself!" Now that's a clipping worth saving Peter.

Okay then, on to "Brother's Keeper" which I have to admit was a much better episode. It wasn't what I would call good, but for Heroes, it was kind of compelling. Kind of.

So the last episode started at the end of the one two weeks ago, and I guess Hiro's been sitting around the carnival pouting about Charlie and staring at her nametag for god knows how long at this point. The timelines of this episode make absolutely no sense to me. I know we haven't seen Mohinder in awhile, but I still don't think it has been long enough for him to get a new teaching job, develop an amazing rapport with his students AND get a new hot girlfriend that he has made a home with, all the while giving up on researching people with abilities, even though he has one now. (The fact that he is super strong was never mentioned or acknowledged in any way.) I mean Mohinder got a new job and a new woman before Nathan's body could even begin to decay!

So basically Hiro has to go back in time to stop Mohinder from burning a film that is evidence that Samuel can "increase his power one thousand fold" when surrounded by a certain number of other people who have powers. Or something like that. Samuel of course didn't even know about this until Mohinder came strolling into the carnival like an idiot, letting him know about how he could become powerful beyond all belief and basically rule the world. Why would you give anyone, anyone, that kind of information? Sometimes it physically hurts me how stupid Mohinder is. Samuel's brother Joseph agrees with me on this one, and tells Mohinder to get the heck out of the carnival. Of course Samuel heard, probably killed his brother, went and killed Mohinder. So Hiro gets the film, saves Mohinder, and then in a particularly sadistic turn on Hiro's part, hides Mohinder in a mental institiution (complete with padded cell and straighjacket!) to keep Mohinder from hindering Samuel's plan and not saving Charlie. Or something. It really seems like these two could have figured out a way to work together against Samuel but, blah blah blah, they are stupid, you know the rest.

So we learned some good things there, like all of this is Mohinder's fault, why Samuel is trying to gather the heroes and who probably killed Joseph. (Samuel). So that was good.

Also good? The brothers Petrelli, together again! From the almost inappropriate reunion hug to the final "Tell me it isn't true" moment, something about the chemistry of these two actors really makes all the scenes they are in together really pop! I mean contrast Peter and Nathan scenes to any scene with Peter and and any of his love interests and you'll see what I mean.

Pasdar and Ventigmiglia are good together! Also, they are super hot, so everyone wins!

Besides smoking hot dudes with chemistry, this episode also brought us a few refreshing things including:

-People talking about their issues/weird things that are happening to them etc., instead of just acting cagey and then doing something rash. (Nathan told Peter about waking up in the carnival, Tracy confided to Claire about her out of control powers.)

-Cute bonding between Tracy and Claire! (First time I've liked any of Ali Larter's characters in forever!)

-The Haitian! I mean, Rene!

-Tracy AND Claire going to see HRG independently! (I just don't want him to be lonely.)

-Disgustingly funny severed foot jokes!

-Forward motion of the plot! Nathan and Peter find out Nathan is a) dead and b) Sylar. Sylar got out of Matt Parkman's head!

-Maybe less Parkman now that Sylar isn't in his head anymore?

-Everyone, including Mohinder himself, seems to be able to acknowledge that he is an idiot and only bad things happen whenever he inserts himself into any situation. I mean his girlfriend's prediction that he would go all crazy over his father's research came true in a matter of hours!

So at the end of this episode, I was kind of intrigued and excited about what might happen next week! There IS a casting spoiler I would like to discuss that kind of takes the wind out of my sails and squanders the tiny bit of goodwill that I now have towards this show but...that'll have to wait.

Next week:
Where's Sylar? Inside his Sylar/Nathan body or what?

A Window in Your Heart: Mad Men, Season 3, Episode 13, Shut the Door, Have a Seat.

There was so much awesome in this episode I don't even know where to start. The episode almost felt like two, one with an incredibly depressing and dramatic tone, and one with a fun, jaunty tone. My favorite part was most definitely the creation of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce which was like watching the best caper/ heist movie I can think of starring my favorite actors in the world. It was that good. Highlights include:

-Don got out of his contract, cut and ran, yet got everyone awesome to go hobo with him!

-The way Roger snapped his hand up when Don asked if they should vote. He doesn't even need dialogue. John Slattery is a genius.

-Roger: "Join or die?! That's your pitch?"

-Roger on Jane:"The most interest that girl has ever had in a book depository."

-Bert on Jane: "You sold your birthright so you could marry that trollop!"

-Pete in his pajamas. That is the nightmare man. You are faking sick and your bosses come to your house! I kind of loved Pete again that scene. Oh show, why do you want me to love all these horrible people so much? I don't know why, but I do.

-Trudy as Pete was losing his temper "Oh Peter, can I speak to you for a moment?" Despite their obvious problems, I always feel like Trudy and Pete really do match each other well. She knows his rhythms and how to respond to them.

-Peggy to Don: "I don't want to make a career of being kicked when you fail." Even though I really wanted Peggy to come with him, I was also really proud of her for standing up to Don. I'm pretty sure he was as well.

-Pete, completely freaked out that Harry isn't supposed to be in on the plan, yelling so obviously as they walk in "Hey everybody! Harry Crane is here!"

-Harry Crane (Luckiest bastard in the world by the way. They wanted him? Hopefully Joan will be running media within the month.): "Are you kidding?" Roger, in that perfect deadpan: Yes. Yes we are. Happy Birthday."

-Bert Cooper threatening to tie Harry up and throw him in a closet for the weekend. That guy is so great.

-Roger making the call! Of course we knew it was Joan!

-Joan striding in triumphantly and saving the day. Don: "Joan. Of course."

-Roger and Joan sniping at each other like an old married couple. "I can't read your writing. What does that even say?!" "It's very clear, it says 'correspondence." ROGER AND JOAN 4EVA people! 4eva.

-Don awesomely breaking down the door to the art department. How can you not love his guy?!! Oh right, there's that whole total liar thing.

-Don showing up, hat in hand, to make things right with Peggy. It was great to see him admit to her how important she was, and how much he valued her work. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." It was great for him to tell her that he sees her as an extension of himself because it shows you how important she is to him. They really are so much alike, and they are both amazingat their jobs because work is the only thing either of them feels safe putting all of themselves into. Don needs Peggy as a mirror, but I think she needs him just as much.

-Pryce's look of jubilation as he was fired from PPL. "Very good! Happy Christmas!"

-Joan helping Don get a new place. "Furnished?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." My friend Eric said it best, she's so discreet, she's like a spy. Love Joan. So glad she's going to back with the gang next season!

The fun of the creation of a new agency by all the old players we love (except Sal! Sadness.) was a stark contrast to Don's home-life scenes. Watching Don and Betty tell Sally and Bobby that they were going to separate was gut-wrenching. I thought both child actors did an incredible job there, and was especially impressed with Jared S. Gilmore as Bobby, who we haven't seen a ton of this season. The way he threw his arms around Don and begged him not to go brought even ice queen Betty to tears. It was like we were watching Sally be forced to grow up right there on screen. I think Kiernan Shipka has been great this season and I loved her line to her parents "You say things and you don't mean them and you can't do that!" Both Don and Betty would do well to learn that lesson.

One of the incredible things about Jon Hamm's performance as Don Draper as that even when you are completely repulsed by the character, you are inexplicably drawn to him, and in my opinion, rooting for him. Even though Don has lied to her for their entire marriage and cheated on her constantly, I still found myself completely outraged and saddened by Betty's treatment of him. Maybe it is because she dangled the hope of the two of them finally getting to live an honest life together in front of him for awhile. Maybe it's because she's "built herself a life raft" in the form of Henry Francis. (Can't believe Roger knew about that! I loved his, "I was going to tell you. No I wasn't.") Maybe it's because Don is right about one thing, she is a snob, and when she learned about Don's lies about his life, she couldn't abide living with the son of a whore when she had the chance to live with a real man of wealth and power. I don't know, but when Don told Betty he was going to take the kids because "God knows they'll better off" I really wanted that to happen! And when he called her and told he wouldn't fight her, I couldn't help but feel a little sense of defeat.

I think the fact that the writers have been giving us glimpses of Don's absolutely horrific childhood is one of the reasons he remains sympathetic. The scene where Don remembers himself as little Dick Whitman seeing his father killed leads him to realize something that Archie never could: You can't handle this world all on your own. It's taken Don Draper a long time to realize that he actually needs people, (Roger: You're no good at relationships because you don't think they're important.") and though he used this realization to fix things at work, it was too late for his marriage.

I am left wondering where this leaves Don and Betty for next season. After this episode and the interview creator Matthew Weiner gave in The Daily Beast this week it seems pretty clear that there will be no getting back together for the Drapers. But will Henry really be the knight in shining armor he claims to be? And if he's not, will we get to see that play out next season at all? Their entire relationship, from him hitting on her while she is heavily pregnant to his proposal after having spent no more than a few hours total with her has been very strange, and I can only assume that he isn't exactly all he claims to be. Unfortunately for Betty, she seems to be attracted to men with that quality.

In the end, it's Don Draper's show, and I guess that's why we can't help rooting for him despite some of the awful things he's done and said. The look of pride and triumph that he had as he surveys the tiny Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office just made the episode for me. He is ready to value the people he works with, and he is ready to build something that is his. You can tell from the look in his eyes that he can't wait to see how it all turns out, and I can't either. August can't come soon enough.

Great Mad Men Spoof by Sidecar

I especially love the beginning! You know I hate those previews!
Milk Men - A Mad Men Parody

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Spoofs | TV & Movie Spoofs

Melrose Place- "Gower" The CW needs a new episode namer ASAP. That isn't even a real word!!!

cwtv.comFriends don't let friends...whore themselves out?

Okay there is just one thing I have to get off my chest after seeing last night's Melrose Place. Maybe I'm a meddler, maybe I'm a fixer, maybe I get too involved in other people's lives, but I have to say, if I found out my "bestie slash roomate" had become a high class hooker I am pretty sure I would not be able to tell her, as Ella did "I'll never mention it again, unless you want to talk about it." Um, WHAT?!!! Your friend has become a whore because she can't afford med school. There is really a host of problems that come with that, especially since you are her roommate!! You should get her a second job, loan her money, bring her to a freakin' loan officer, I don't care what you have to do, it will be beneficial for both of you if she STOPS being a hooker. So that's where I stand on that. I mean at least try Ella. Even one "are you sure this is the right choice for you?" conversation would be nice.

Other mind boggling choices made by on Melrose Place:

Auggie decided to sleep with crazy Violet. That was after she infected the chef with her serious case of "sexy face" by sharing a fork with him. Lord knows what Auggie's going to get form her. I have heard that "ass chin" can be sexually transmitted...

Jonah and Riley decided to be on the show and be boring. And kiss other people. Ugh just break up already.

David buried the knife he thinks he murdered Sydney with (no way was it him) at a construction site, where it would surely be disturbed but all the construction going on. I can see how this guy is some kind of art thief, he is super great at being a criminal.

cwtv.com"You're not really the kind of person moms are proud of, David."

Both David and Ella think they could possibly be responsible for Sydney's death, which really does not speak well of either of them.

Sydney continued her streak of meeting a distraught young man at a difficult place in his life and sleeping with him almost instantly.

Lauren decided that certain kind of integrity were more important than others. For me, very little is more important than me not having to be a prostitute, but we all have different priorities I guess.

The worst detective ever continued his murder investigation.

Rick Fox decided to do a 30 second cameo as a jerk.

A woman at the wedding Riley and Jonah were videoing wore a ridiculously ugly hat.

Ella wore an INCREDIBLY weird and hideous white pantsuit.

cwtv.comOUT!

So before we move on to the "next week" bit, we do have something to talk about here. Casting news is NOT spoilers, and there has been some BIG casting news for MP. Specfically it looks like Heather Locklear will be back as Amanda Woodward (working with Ella!) and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (eee!) and Colin Egglesfield will be exiting the show soon as Violet and Auggie. Any bets on how those two leave? Murder-suicide? Romantic getaway that never ends? Jail? What do you guys think?

Next week: Ella kisses Jonah. I don't really get those two.

90210- "Women's Intuition" Who is naming these episodes?!!

So, since I already uploaded that horrific picture of Annie and Jasper, let's just start there. They are just so awful I cannot even describe it. Shanae Grimes was 'facing it up' (copyright me, 2009) so much that I couldn't even begin to ignore it. The episode started with some horrible 'acting' (and there were some crazy faces made my friends, let me tell you.) and just went downhill from there. She was mean to Navid but yet still kind of believed him that Jasper was a drug dealer, confronted Jasper BEFORE lunch, causing the loss of some delicious looking hot dogs, and then showed up behind the Hollywood sign and pathetically begged for forgiveness. When these two kiss, all I can say is "Eww."

(There were so many women begging men for forgiveness on the CW last night that it started to make me feel a little squeamish. I think we should have only one woman balling and begging a night. Maybe I could get behind a one-per-show type of limit, but I don't know.)

While we are discussing awfulness, we might as well talk about Jen, who is queen of awfulness. (I cannot believe Pharell was nice to her at that weird adult/teenager party with famous-ish people like Samantha Ronson they were at. Why do the adults on this show sleep with/go to the same places as/spend any time with all these teenagers? I mean even when you were 22, would you really want to sleep with a high schooler? It's weird. Though someone who shall remain nameless did say last night, "Seriously though, if high schoolers looked like Liam, I would sleep with them." Which is totally understandable and not weird, because the guy who plays Liam is 26, so don't get all uptight about it people!!) Anyway, she was terrible, being mean to chicks Ryan was trying to date, ruining Ryan and Liam's adorable student/teacher relationship (he called him "One of my favorite students"!! Aww!") and just generally being awful. PLEASE let whatever Liam has under that tarp be a freakin' Jen killing machine. PLEASE.

So those were the terrible things! Awesome things coming up!

Deb totally knew Sasha was faking that pregnancy from moment one! Go Deb! Now you just have to parent that other kid who is a bum killing booby flasher that dates a drug dealer!

Oh Dixon, I almost kind of liked you and felt bad for you for five minutes tonight. You're still kind of a jerk though, let's be honest.

I'm kind of with Harry on the "We should tell Dixon that crazy woman was faking a pregnancy to keep him" thing. Not having that info could be a problem in the future I think.

Liam and Ivy! Super cute! They might not want something serious yet, but I want them to be together forever, get married and have little surfing babies. Yeah, I said it.

Teddy, Liam and Ivy- best group of BFF's ever. I like every single one of them better than any of the original cast members from last season. Well everyone besides Navid. That dude is pretty cool.

Liam always looks at blueprints when he's sad. Blueprints of a JEN KILLING MACHINE perhaps?

Poor Adrianna. Her serenading Navid and falling deeper and deeper into depression really got me. I would have taken her back in a second! Navid is so much more mature than I am.

I'm actually getting kind of excited thinking about when Ryan finds out what a sociopath Jen is. I am sure he will be totally self-righteous about the whole thing. I just hope he feels REALLY stupid about not seeing through her.

Liam loves N.E.R.D.! Cute!

Liam is always too slow too react. Whenever someone is mean to him he never explains himself he just stands there staring. I really want to believe he's planning his revenge, but I'm not so sure... Now we know why he and Teddy get along so well.

I wish that after I went through a terrible break-up, Samantha Ronson had been there to tell me to go and flirt. I think really gave Navid the boost he needed there!

Jasper bought a cool car with that drug dealer money, I will at least give him that.

Next week:
Annie wants to sleep with Jasper. Gross.
Jasper deals to Adrianna and Navid wants to take him down! Yay Navid!

Heroes-Reminding me why I liked this show...

Remember Charlie, and how cute she was?

Remember how cute Hiro and she were?

Remember when we thought that Future-Hiro was going to be awesome and tough?

Remember when Sylar was all cool and scary?

Remember when HRG was bad-ass and not a pathetic shell of a man?

Well I kind of forgot about all these things, mostly because so much insane crap has happened on this show in the past 3 years, and so many timelines have been changed that I have no idea what really went on and what didn't anymore. For example, I totally forgot that Hiro actually believes that Sylar is dead when he was telling him about how he would die.

So basically we learned that 3 years ago HRG almost cheated on Sandra with Elisabeth "Is this because I'm a lesbian" Rohm, but decided not to because he loves Claire. Poor Sandra. I mean maybe I am being unrealistic, but no one wants her husband to tell the woman he was about to cheat on her with "I can't because I love my family". Cause let's be honest here, he was about to cheat on her, so that doesn't say much for how he's feeling about Sandra, and no one loves Lyle, so it was obviously just about Claire-Bear. Well thanks Heroes for showing us that HRG is a multifaceted, complex man whose actions are often morally ambiguous. It's not like you don't show me that EVERY OTHER WEEK. So thanks again then.

The thing is though, this week was kind of enjoyable (minus most of the HRG stuff, I have to say.) I liked the Hiro figuring out how to preserve the time-line AND save Charlie, and I even felt like the ending, if thoroughly unsatisfying (poor Charlie!), was a pretty good twist. BUT I feel like I was into the show because it was the show from 2006, and every time the 2009 part of the show intruded (I'm looking at you, Carny guy) I was disappointed we couldn't just stay in this time-line forever. I think I would watch a show about Charlie and Hiro on vacation in Otsu every week if it would keep me from EVER having to watch the Parkman/Sylar comedy hour ever again.

Things I am actually interested in:

Will anything have changed in the present for Hiro or any of our other characters?

Will we ever see Charlie again (remember Peter's girlfriend that got stuck in the future!?)

Now that he and Sandra are divorced, is HRG going to hit it with the other agent that liked him so much she Hatianed her feelings for him away?! (If she's still alive. What happened to all the people who worked for The Company anyway? I am not saying it wasn't explained at some point, but I literally have NO idea what went on.)

Um, the Carny killed Mohinder?!!!! Okay, I'm kind of intrigued by that.

Will I ever find out more about Lydia's daughter from those Sprint, "Slow Burn" commericals?!! (Just kidding, no one cares about that.)

Can we just all get to the carnival already, if that is where this is leading?

Next week:
Parkman's on. Great.

It's Never Over: Mad Men, Season 3 Episode 12, The Grown-Ups

The Kennedy assassination has hung over Mad Men like a spectre this season. As soon as we saw the date November 23, 1963 (the day after the assassination) on Margaret's wedding invitation we knew there would be an episode dealing with this huge event in history. Matthew Weiner had actually said at one point during the second season that he didn't feel like he had anything to add to the story of the Kennedy Assassination, but a man is entitled to change his mind, right?! And change his mind he did. The entire season was building to this moment, and even though I feel it was a slow (and oh my god so depressing) episode, it was a major game changer plot wise for many characters.

The Don and Betty storyline just broke my heart in so many ways. When Betty looked at Don and told him "And then you tried to fix it. But there's no point anymore...", it just killed me. The Don of this episode was almost an entirely different person than the man we had come to know, and honestly he seemed entirely better. His face looked open, hungry and full of love for his wife. When he tells her 'everything is going to be okay', it's because he believes it. He believes that she loves him for who he really is, something he never though possible. He is stretching out and getting comfortable in this new life, this life without lies, just trying to gloss over all of the damage he has done to Betty. He is a master at forgetting, and he is ready to forget all the pain he has caused with his lies and his cheating and start a newer, more honest life with his family. And even though that is ridiculous, selfish, and even a little crazy, I just couldn't help wanting it for him as well.

What made Betty realize that she was done? Was she done already, and just letting the whole Dick Whitman thing blow over before she left? Was it the death of the president, seeing the Oswald shot or feeling the despair that came over the nation after these events? Or was it simply seeing someone she wanted more, and having Henry Francis tell her he just wants to take her to see her favorite movie (and MARRY her?!! speaking of crazy...). Even though it is hard not be sympathetic to a woman who has been cheated on and lied to throughout most of her marriage, there is still a part of me that feels like Betty is a petulant child, not making any kind of measured decisions but just deciding on a whim that she doesn't love Don, that even with him trying, she can't make it work.

It doesn't help Betty that Jon Hamm has been playing Don with an openness we have only rarely seen from this character. That look of fear on his face when Betty tells him she is going out for a drive, and the look of love he gives her at the wedding just had me melting. You know a guy is good when he can make you feel bad for a lying womanizer like Don.

This episode also brought big changes for Pete. He is ready to move on from Sterling-Cooper it seems. Oh Pete. Hated him, wanted to like him, kind of started to like him, hated him again and now...kinda had some affection for him again. That is a long winded way of saying that he is an incredibly complex character, and I think Weiner and Co. as well as Vincent Karthheiser do a great job bringing him to life. I really love that Pete's downfall is being too attentive to his clients, because he is such a weird robot human that of course that's what it would be! As we see when he is fixing the secretary's heater, Ken is just a naturally, genuinely nice guy, whereas it is just so hard for Pete to figure out how to be nice, how to be likeable, and he just reeks of trying to hard. I thought the scenes of he and Trudy were interesting because they showed their relationship as it is (she's poor little Petey's Mummy most of the time) but how on some level that works for them. Pete does need someone to take care of him and Trudy doesn't seem to mind doing it. At least for now. He might want to leave Sterling Cooper for Gray, but he won't do it until she suggests it. Maybe that is how Trudy can abide by his cheating (what she knows of it), because she holds the true power in their relationship.

And then there was Roger. The Roger story got me on a lot of levels. Roger was in it, for one, so I was pretty happy about that. I just loved the speech he made his daughter's wedding. Roger Sterling is a man who knows how to make toasts, you have got to say that for him. I like that he made going on with the wedding feel like a triumph instead of an act of stubbornness, or apathy towards the national tragedy. That guy is such a charming rogue! I can't help but love him. And of course, his call to Joan, his need to talk to her and his acknowledgement that "No one else is saying the right thing about this." Call me a romantic, or a fool, but I still love the idea of Joan and Roger together. She had his number right away. She knew he had found something that he just didn't know how to deal with by himself. "Because there's nothing funny about this." It is interesting that when talking to Annabel about Jane Roger said "I finally found a girl who doesn't care about the future." He loves Jane because she's not a grown up and doesn't expect him to be one. He can't have that with Mona or with Joan, but maybe now that he's carrying his drunken child bride out of his daughter's wedding, he realizes that he doesn't want it as much as he thought?

Stray thoughts:

-Loved Margaret's temper tantrums, and the fact that she was crying "It's all ruined" after the assassination.

-I think I'm in love with Mona, and I cannot believe Roger would leave her for Jane. Joan, sure.

-I hope Harry Crane does die unnoticed in that office! This season has certainly shown us what a complete dolt that guy is.

-Sometimes this episode was a little slow, having us watch people watch people watch TV and react to a situation. There were a few great moments pulled from that though, I especially liked Carla sitting down next to a sobbing Betty, taking out a cigarette and crying. A little of the facade she keeps up at work went away there.

-Henry Francis- Is he going to be as disappointed as Don when Betty can't live up to her "perfect woman" image?

-This was definitely an episode about the end of an era. The world is passing "The Grown-Ups" by, Roger, Don, etc. and they don't even know it yet.

-It was really sweet when Sally comforted her crying mother after the President was declared dead. Another instance of the children taking care of the grown-ups.

-There is always a lot of talk about how Betty and Pete are parallel characters, both overgrown children. I'll be interested to see if either of them keeps to the decision they made in this episode.

-I'm pretty sure that Peggy was just as disturbed as I was at the fact that Duck kept the news of the president's assassination from her until after they had sex. That's real class.

Next week: Season finale! I'm ready.

Heroes-It's another double post, because I can't bring myself to watch this every week.

So I finally watched the last two episodes of Heroes. What happened? Here goes!

Sylar/Nathan/Gabriel- Did a lot of looking good, showing off his chest, flirting with Lydia and being confused in the first episode. The show also did something with him that I find utterly confusing, which was to show pretty definitively that the only memories he can actually recover are Nathan's, making it seem like Sylar is most definitely out of his own body and in Matt's mind, BUT then, they had Nathan/Sylar remember things that Sylar did and some Rasta guy projected them onto some mirrors or something. So which is it? Is he in himself or Matt? Or both? Or have you just really not thought this out much? In the second ep there was just a protracted battle with stupid Matt over his body, which of course Sylar was going to win, because Matt is just so so stupid it hurts me to watch him. Zachary Quinto was smoking hot in these two eps though, during the carnival parts especially.

Matt- See above. Got totally tricked by Sylar, now we are having this weird Quantum Leap thing where he's in the mirror and Sylar is in his body or something. I don't even know. I hate him.

Hiro- Showed up in Peter's apartment, all dying and stuff. Peter went off on a trip to save him, cause that's what Peter does, he saves people! He'll probably add a clipping about this to his shrine to himself, even if he has to write it himself! Anyway, after being predictably childlike and helping Deaf Emma accept her powers and whatnot, he traveled back in time to stop Charlie from getting killed by Sylar.

Peter- I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that he is pretty annoyed that he teleported to Ohio with HRG, got shot in the chest and then healed by some healer/killer kid, and then flew back to NYC all to get the healing power and heal Hiro, and when he gets there, Hiro had gone back in time. I would be pissed! He's gonna have to wait god knows how long for his "Hero paramedic saves childish Japanese man" headline now!

Claire- Though the whole horror/sorority hazing thing was kind of boring, I think this storyline has had the best payoff all season so far! We actually moved forward with the whole invisible girl is trying to get you plot, Claire's ability was revealed to some stereotypically idiotic college girls AND she admitted she liked Gretchen and maybe liked her "that way"! College lesbian love story here we come!

HRG/Tracy- These two had the tragic story of the last episode, with them trying to save the poor killer/healer teen and then it ending up that the kid gets dragged to death on the back of a pick up truck. It was pretty sad, and it of course led to Tracy telling HRG "Don't ever call me again", because if there's one thing you can always count on Heroes for, it's giving you a promising team up with good chemistry and then blowing it up one episode in. Tracy was also visited by Samuel, the Carny dude, and kind of sort of convinced that maybe she wanted to join his Carnival of People with Abilities Who Do Crazy Tricks and Manual Labor. HRG, as usual, was left alone and despondent, because apparently he can never be happy, even though he is the most tolerable character on the show. Maybe that's why! Maybe watching him constantly suffer makes me like him more or something. I don't know, I hope he calls Claire when he gets home, because they seem to be getting along okay these days.

*

Samuel the Carny guy- wants to turn Nathan/Sylar/Gabriel back into just plan Sylar, because apparently he did not read enough about him to know that when he is Sylar he is a remorseless serial killer of people with abilities, so he will probably just saw the heads of Samuel and all of his friends/employees and get lots of new powers and be psyched about it! Come to think of it, I can't wait until this happens.

Oh and Mohinder got a mention! I told you guys he wasn't dead!