Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is grappling with her sexual feelings for Gretchen (Madeline Zima), as I'm sure many fanboys are "grappling" with themselves over the pair's lesbian kiss in episode 5 (ahem). Here, as Claire and Gretchen are kidnapped by the sorority sisters and abandoned in a slaughterhouse as part of a creepy initiation test with two vacuous Valley girls. As Claire and Gretchen wander around the house of horrors, trying to interpret clues left behind to succeed at various challenges, they're both attacked by Becky -- the head sorority girl who's actually an invisible pest sent by carnival barker Samuel (Robert Knepper) to ensure Claire's isolation. Complications are sure to arise from the fact Claire manages to prevent Becky strangling Gretchen with a metal chain, but the invisible girl gets away after a brief fight witnessed by the co-ed airheads.The most irrelevant storyline came courtesy of Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman), whose plan to get teenage life/death-dealer Jeremy's (Mark L. Young) life back on-track hits a snag. Despite having convincingly made the death of Jeremy's parents look like monoxide poisoning, local cops are aware of Jeremy's reputation in the community and decide to keep him in for questioning. Bennet decides to summon Tracy (Ali Larter) down to Hicksville, to pose as Jeremy's "Aunt Tracy" after he (somehow) managed to forge credible ID to backup this lie. City slicker Tracy arrives and tries to convince the indomitably insular Jeremy to let them help him. Outside, Samuel appears to Tracy and transports her to his carnival, imploring her to release Jeremy into his charge. Even working girl Tracy is half-tempted to join the carnie, after hearing Samuel's alluring talk of safety and protection with his mindful family.
Finally, Matt (Greg Grunberg) is alarmed to discover that Sylar (Zachary Quinto) is growing more powerful in his mind and has found a way to control his body while he's unconscious, or asleep. After finally revealing his mental torment to wife Janice (Lisa Lackey) and telling her to leave town while he battles his psyche's squatter, Matt discovers that he can erase Sylar by getting drunk. It's an amusing, if on-the-nose symbol of Matt's alcoholism (he's literally drinking his inner demons away, geddit?), but it worked quite well. The twist, that Sylar has managed to gain full control of Matt's body while he was in a stupor (their situation reversed) was an inciting way to end things this episode.Overall, "Strange Attractors" was impossible to hate, tough to love. A few moments prodded our understand of the season's story arc along (the spinning compass is just a means for "supers" to find the carnival, boringly), and there was enough to keep you interested to see what happens next. I'm still intrigued by Samuel, mainly because his objective to gather the characters together (to be acts in his travelling carnival?) doesn't appear to be that malevolent. He appears to be offering them genuine sanctuary from the difficulties of social integration as Übermensch. In the closing moments, it's even possible to cheer for him, as he uses his ability to bury a police department containing cops that killed poor Jeremy by dragging him through the streets tied to the back of a squad car.
26 October 2009
NBC, 9/8c
written by: Carlos Coto directed by: Tucker Gates starring: Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Ali Larter (Tracy Strauss), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Randy Flagler (Deputy Gill), Robert Knepper (Samuel Sullivan), Lisa Lackey (Janice Parkman), Erin Allin O'Reilly (Fire Breather Mom), Kat Purgal (Allison), Mark L. Young (Jeremy) & Madeline Zima (Gretchen Berg)
