Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

(Episode: The Art of Deception. Spoilers ahead. The episode aired last week.)

After a visit to her stepdad's apartment, finding only his investigation papers and Lauren there, Claire c=goes to the carnival with a radical proposal: Samuel will give himself up if Bennett promises to leave the rest of the carnies alone. Samuel consents to giving it a try.

At the time Claire makes the proposal, Bennett and Lauren are already outside the carnival. Bennett has a sniper rifle, planning to assassinate Samuel. Claire calls his cell phone. He sends Lauren down to meet with Samuel and stays at his position. Suddenly, shots fire on the carnival - but it's Eli shooting, not Bennett.

Eli is apparently an expert marksman; the very first shot hits Samuel his boss in the shoulder, Lydia is shot fatally, and intentionally shoots wildly hitting scarcely anyone after that. Eli finds Bennett in the woods, knocks him out, and brings him to the carnival. Claire is with Bennett long enough to hear him say that he didn't do the shooting.

Samuel has ridden himself of a disloyal empath, and has chosen to build carnival unity around a manufactured enemy. He announces to the carnival that the outside world will never accept them, and he will lead them to "show the world who we really are."

Lauren was wounded by a shot from Eli's rifle. She saw him take Bennett to the carnival. She calls Tracy near the end of the show.

Meanwhile, Sylar brings his own scheme to Matt Parkman: he wants Parkman to bury his memory of his own powers so they won't control him anymore. Parkman tries a few times and runs into some sort mysterious roadblock. Sylar tries threatening Mrs. Parkman to get Matt's cooperation. Parkman gives it one more try - but double-crosses Sylar.

Recall that Parkman is not only a telepath, but can also trap people in their worst nightmares. Sylar is trapped in a nightmare in which he is totally cut off from human contact. Victims of this ability are comatose during the nightmare. Taking a cue from The Cask of Amontillado, Parkman starts laying bricks in a corner of his basements where he plans to entomb Sylar "for eternity."

But there's a hitch in the plan - Peter shows up. He's been dreaming of Sylar's role in rescuing Emma from playing a role in Samuel's murderous plans. He got Angela to tell him where Sylar is; evidently she dreamed he was at Parkman's. He sees the situation in the basement, takes Matt's power and tries to break up the nightmare on his own. As he enters Sylar's mind, we see Peter standing on a deserted street.

Will Peter break Parkman's curse? Will he have the smarts to tell Parkman to psychically access the memories of his dreams so he'll know what they're dealing with? What will Lauren and Tracy do? What's Claire's next move? What will Samuel do to Bennett? Edgar showed up at Lydia's deathbed - how did he find the carnival without a compass? Did he follow Bennett? Will he buy Samuel's story? Stay tuned.

Labels: Heroes, Television