(S04E10) For some reason, while I was watching this episode I got to thinking: "What if this had been the second season of Heroes." Would it perhaps still be a top-rated show; one that NBC could rest its laurels and future on instead of Jay Leno? As with that first season, I feel that sense of wonder about what's going on, and things are really coming together.

That said, there is some sloppy thinking on the parts of both Tracy and Hiro this week. But there's also the continuing consolidation of power by Samuel, and finally an explanation of both why he's doing this and what Mohinder's been up to.

I'm going to admit to being wrong now. For weeks I've been saying that I haven't missed Suresh at all; that I would be just as happy if he never showed up. But his return and appearance (and even explanation for his absence) were handled so well, that I liked him all over again.

I reiterate, wouldn't this have made a wonderful season two? No The-Fly-Mohinder. No super-powered Mohinder ripping the doors off of cabs. I assume he still has his super-strength, unless I've forgotten something, but it wasn't in evidence. Instead, we got the overly curious about his father's work scientist that we first grew to love. And he proved himself a stronger man than I, because I don't know if I could leave the country if I had Kavi Ladnier in my bed; especially if she told me she wouldn't wait.

There were a lot of revelations about Samuel in Mohinder's flashback storyline, including that it looks like killing Mohinder eight weeks ago was the first step on this darker path he's on. Even more interestingly, we learn that Samuel's abilities grow exponentially when he's surrounded by other people with abilities, and that when his brother Joseph was alive, it was Joseph who was keeping Samuel in the dark about his potential strength.

After he saved the video reel for Samuel, in an attempt to get Charlie freed from wherever Samuel sent her, Hiro had to silence Suresh for eight weeks. I'm not sure why he couldn't just take him into the future with him. Maybe with the tumor, he feared it would kill him. Either way, the mental institution was an unusually cruel fate to bestow on one he would consider a friend. That's a villain move!

The biggest villain move of all, though, came when the do-gooder Petrelli brothers arrived at the hospital to save Matt, and despite everyone's warnings "Nathan" still brushed hands with him. Only it was Sylar in control when they brushed hands. While it's left unresolved as to where Sylar's psyche is now, I think we can assume that it's back inside his own body and won't have too much trouble usurping control from fragments of Nathan's identity.

It was refreshing that the Haitian didn't just go in and wipe the brothers' minds on Angela's word, as he probably would have in the past. He's always had a lot of potential as a character, and I like the idea of him maintaining his own counsel and becoming a whole person in his own right. I was, however, curious as to what would have happened if Nathan had gotten too close and perhaps had his abilities shut down. Would Sylar have stood revealed? ... I'd like to think so.

As for Tracy, when her powers first manifested and she didn't have control, she shattered a man by freezing him. Losing control again, she'd just shattered a coffee mug the same way. Considering this, I was a little surprised that she was manhandling frozen-Claire quite so aggressively. I'd say she's smarter than that, but maybe she's not. That and she was clearly distraught. The scene later, after Claire healed and the girls were finally bonding with someone who understood them (each other), and Noah walked in to find Claire's thawing foot sitting next to her two normal ones was kind of funny.

But somebody needs to reveal that Samuel is up to no good. I wish that just once when they're getting together to save the world, these Heroes would swap cell phone numbers. That way Hiro could send out a mass text. Of course, he'd probably send out "Bad Butterfly Man is no good!" and that would clarify exactly nothing for anyone.

I'm glad that I still don't know what's going on, or which force of evil will rear its ugly head first: Samuel or Sylar. Neither seems inclined to play nice with one another based on what we know of their characters so far. I'm sure their stories will converge, because this is Heroes, and all stories converge by the finale of each "Chapter." But how, and in what way is the intriguing question of the hour.