Recap: "Ink"

Most loyal viewers of NBC's "Heroes" are well aware that the show has spiraled downward into a convoluted mess over the past two seasons. Between the excess of characters, nonsensical and repetitive plotlines, and the fact that continuity has been completely shot to hell, FlyBy is seriously hoping for an upward turn. Perhaps the volume's title "Redemption" is self-referential, but after watching this week's episode, we aren't getting our hopes up.

Spoilers abound, so beware.

Claire internally debates whether or not to tell her friend about her power/Daddy is interfering but he only wants to protect! his ClaireBear. As always.

Last week Claire let herself fall out her bedroom window, proving that her hyper-achieving roommate actually committed suicide and was not pushed. However, her friend-slash-stalker Gretchen happened to witness her healing. Oops.

Claire spends the entire episode avoiding Gretchen, whining about how she wants to trust someone and stop hiding the truth, while battling overprotective Daddy Noah Bennett along the way.

The Good: Claire finally stands up for herself; Claire bitches about orgo; we see a shirtless guy reflected in the mirror of the coed bathroom.

The Bad: Claire's whining about wanting to be herself and stop lying is getting really annoying and redundant. We sympathize, but enough is enough.

The WTF?: Noah Bennett never gives in that easily. NEVER.

Matt Parkman is totally losing it and seeing visions of Sylar because he just feels SO SO GUILTY about putting him in Nathan Petrelli's body. Or is he?

Matt Parkman is out on the job as a cop trying to shake down some drug dealer. But that's not important. What's important is that while inside this guy's house, Sylar shows up and starts totally screwing with Parkman's mind, in some cases saving his ass and in others making him see things that aren't there. But since, of course, the department doesn't know he's a telepath, Parkman has been telling everyone he's trying to kick the habit of "using."

The Good: Sylar and Matt's hilarious rapport; Sylar telling Matt that the dealer was in the closet and had a gun--and being correct; Matt finally using his powers again.

The Bad: Can't Sylar do something on his own, already?

The WTF?: Wait, we thought Sylar was just evidence that Matt was losing it. Is he real now? Is he just a figment of Matt's imagination? We're seriously confused.

Peter Petrelli gets sued but not really because it's the Samuel the carnival-ink guy trying to find him and use him to replace his brother, and oh wait, he also meets this new deaf girl who can hear colors. WTF?

So. There's this new guy, Samuel, whom we met last week, who can control ink, but his actual described power is to control the earth. He wants to find someone to replace his dead brother within his entourage at the carnival. So he goes after Peter Petrelli by pretending to be someone he previously saved and suing him for injuries. They bond. And simultaneously we are introduced to a new character Emma, who is deaf but can apparently see sound in the form of colors. At the end, Samuel collapses a big fancy house into a sinkhole.

The WTF?: This entire storyline. Maybe we weren't paying close enough attention, but we still don't totally understand what the deal is with Samuel.

OVERALL RATING THIS WEEK: B-

Most badass hero: Sylar. Hands down.

Most useless hero: Emma. Seeing sound as colors is kind of a cool effect, but we wish she could have done something interesting with it this week.

Character whom we wish had been killed off a while ago: Claire. Notice how she NEVER asks Gretchen about herself? That's because it's ALWAYS about Claire and how important she is and how hard it is to be her, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, given the rapid cellular regeneration thing, we're guessing we're stuck with her. Forever.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/JeffyP