Hands down, the best scenes in this week's "Heroes" [1] were the ones featuring Sylar! Welcome back, villain. I am so intrigued to find out what his deal is right now, and as much as I love Sylar being evil, I think I love it even more when he struggles.

Meanwhile, there's a ton of stuff going on with all our gazillion heroes — Niki and Micah are back, Hiro does some more stuff in old Japan, Claire and West share some special moments, Peter finds Irish thug life to his liking, and more happens with the twins, Maya and Alejandro. Sheesh. For more of my thoughts about this week's episode and to share your own (spoilers ahead!),

• Again: Sylar is back! But he's injured and may not be able to use his powers at all. Even after eating Candice's brains (or doing whatever he does), he can't access her shapeshifting power. Speaking of Candice, we finally see her real size, which she alluded to last season. Before getting Sylar-ified, Candice tells him, "The people I work for they’ll make sure you’ll get better."
• Also, the montage in which Candice shapeshifs for, um, sexual role playing purposes is bizarre and creepy.
• Niki and Micah are also back. DL, however, not so much. On his tombstone it reads "Husband — Father — Hero." Micah goes to stay with family in New Orleans while Niki gets help (or, "cured") from the golden spoon guy, Bob.



• When Alejandro gets arrested, Maya pulls her Tears o' Death trick and she gets Alejandro out of prison. When Alejandro makes everything better for Maya, he also revives the American kid in the nearby cell. But why didn't he revive the wardens as well? I really hope this storyline connects to another hero's soon because it's starting to get annoying.
• Okay, hold the phone. West shows Claire he can fly by zooming her up into the air while Enya-type music plays in the background. Anyone else find this unbearably cheesy? I started to feel embarrassed for them.
• Peter helps the Irish thugs and is welcomed into their little crime family. Caitlin also happens to be a tattoo artist, so she gives Peter a tattoo of the "family crest." Yet, at the very end it looks like a marking of the Godsend symbol disappears from Peter's arm.
• Also, Peter's gunshot wound spitting out the bullet made me giggle.
• The only thing I liked about the Hiro/Kensei storyline this week was this quote: "Kensei? He does not run away from danger, he runs toward it. And punches its face!" Otherwise, I don't understand why we needed the scrolls to Ando in the sword. And after all that trouble convincing Kensei he's really a hero, he takes to his new life (regeneration, being with the princess) remarkably quickly. For the first time, I think I could have done without Hiro's story altogether this week.
• There's a big "family" theme to the show recently. The Irish thugs tell Peter he's now a part of the family, and Bob says the same thing to Mohinder when he shows him the laboratory. Micah goes to stay with his family in New Orleans, Alejandro and Maya are siblings, Mohinder and Parkman have formed a family with Molly, and, of course, there's always the Bennets.
• Speaking of which: hello crazy eighth painting! Creepy. It seems to depict HRG bloodied on the floor, glasses broken, eyes bulging, while Claire is apparently kissing someone.

What did you think of "Kindred"?

Photos courtesy of NBC [2]