Heroes Report: "The Kindness of Strangers"

Let's all thank Matt Parkman for providing tonight's excitement, for without him we would have fallen asleep.

Don't get me wrong, tonight's episode wasn't the worst thing we've seen out of this show, but it certainly was predominantly a plot-mover.

My problem, I think, is that there are too many groups of people who, right now, I really have no interest in seeing.

For instance, Maya and Alejandro. Finally this week these two became relevant -- and only because Sylar showed up and joined their little gang. He was lying in the road, said he had been walking for three days (and I guess that's the writers' idea of explaining where he was last week?). They're all on their way to NY to see Mohinder.

And really, Sylar has caught my interest only because he seems more conflicted now than ever. On the one hand, I really believe that we will see Sylar fighting on the side of good this season, especially with how he was talking in this episode. On the other hand, he killed his second person in as many weeks. So we'll see where that goes.

Meanwhile, I still can't stand Stalker-West. And now that she's falling for him, I can't stand Claire lately. After all that she's gone through, she has to be one of the dumbest girls in the world to keep on lying and endangering her family by hanging out with this creep. Tonight, he took her flying again, she told him more about herself, and the two kids kissed a whole bunch -- all while she lied through her teeth to HRG. It's just such a dumb move that I want to throw things at the screen to try and get her to wise up.

The saving Grace of the Bennett family's story, though, is that the Haitian showed up at the end, and the Dynamic Duo are about to go on another Most Excellent Adventure.

I've never been the biggest fan of Micah, either... but in this episode we did get to meet his cousin, and you do have to be intrigued by her ability. It seems she can learn how to do anything instantly by seeing it on TV. And while it resulted in a cheesy wrestling scene in this episode, in which she used a Ray Mysterio move to stop a thief, it should make for interesting moments in the future.

And you can blame Phil Strum for my knowing that was a Ray Mysterio move. I'm annoyed with myself.

Oh, but I wasn't a fan of being hit over the head with the whole Hurricane Katrina angle with this cousin. It felt forced, unoriginal, insincere, and frankly I don't want this show to start lecturing me. But that's just me.

Finally, Parkman. In an episode with no Peter, no Hiro and little HRG, Parkman provided a little punch to the week.

Jaw dropping moment No. 1: Molly's bad man is Parkman's Daddy.
Jaw dropping moment No. 2: Parkman coerced Molly into finding him, and she now seems to be mentally trapped by his Daddy.

Wow wow wow. These two moments saved this episode from being possibly the weakest in the show's two seasons.

The only downside is -- THAT guy is the man who can see into Molly's dreams? Seriously? That guy looks like a used car salesman!!! Put him together with Bob and you have two of the lamest looking bad guys in the history of superheroes. Lex Luthor looks like the Incredible Hulk next to these two.

Anyway, the preview for next week looks especially strong. I just hope we get to see more of Molly's story and I'll be happy.