I thought this was a great chapter to end the year with. The Sylar/Nathan conflict is over, we find out a bit more about the carnival, and Noah is back in business, in more ways than one

About this 'showdown' with Peter and Sylar, it was pretty smart Peter got René's ability, but why not use it more to your advantage Peter? He could've wiped everthing there is about Gabriel Grey, so all that's left is Nathan, but instead he just took bits here-and-there until Sylar succumbed to Nathan, which is still odd considering all Sylar had were some of Nathan's memories, not his whole consciousness, so there was not much of anything to fight Sylar's. Also, Nathan was functioning pretty well have have four nails driven into him and Peter blocking his healing. Speaking of that, when Sylar took the shape of that nurse, and the two were in the elevator together, why didn't the proximity negate that ability and telekinesis?

A little drunk or not, I have a hard time believing that guy would attack Claire with a broken bottle over a few bucks. Unless that guy's already done time, punching Samuel is one thing, but attacking a teenaged girl with a weapon will surely get you a few years. I guess we don't have to worry about that now, considering he was dead in a truck bed. It was kinda funny to see the puppet man in the carnival. He should fit right in there.

The three or four chapters of the new year have been decent. Last week's ep, Pass/Fail, had a scene with Sylar asking Claire to help him, because he saw Claire's face by using Lydia's ability. He thought she would help because they are similar in very minute ways. Sylar compared himself to her saying both their fathers are killers and both can heal. Well Gabe, your real father was a killer and Claire's was not; Sylar's adopted father owned that clock shop and Claire's is of course HRG. The regeneration abilty he obtained from her so that hardly counts as a good detail for comparison.

This week's chapter, Art of Decption has Matt turning off Sylar's abilities and Samuel getting a tighter grasp over the carnival, despite destorying a whole town. I don't buy this whole thing with Sylar being so afraid of being alone and rejected that he can suppress his hunger and actually want to turn his abilities off. It is not in character, and neither is being so naive to think Matt will take away his abilities and leave it at that after all he's done. I also don't buy Sylar's powers not working on Samuel in another ep because of these fears. I took that to be because Samuel's growing power somehow negated Gabe's, especially since Sam was still pinned to his trailer until Sylar collapsed. Then there's Claire trying to get Samuel to surrender to HRG instead of shooting him, and of course he isn't going to go quietly. Noah should've been better prepared for that situation. Considering Claire was shot, the shooter wasn't very good, and Noah's rifle wasn't even fired those carnies sure do swallow Sam's BS easily. It's too bad Lydia was killed; she was hot and a good character.

Considering that Samuel "destoried" the town with an earthquake, does anyone else think "Too soon"? (Especially when you consider that Jimmy Jean Louis lost several relatives in the Haiti quake.)

This weeks chapter, The Wall, was ok, but of course contained a few things that stood out. I'm also a bit surprised the finale is next week. Another multiple-volume season perhaps?

The whole scene in the house of mirrors showing off Benett's memories wasn't all that strong of a case for Samuel. Obviously it wasn't since Claire didn't fall for it but here's what we learned: Noah was married before, she was killed while pregnant by a 'special', he tracked down one of them to get information, he shot the other dude in self defense, was hired by the company, due to some of the bag and tags turning up with corpses Thomson ordered Noah to get married and pointed out their server, who turned out to be Sandra. The only thing that's a little shocking is the last part, and Claire already knew Noah and Sandra cared about each other, even though they are no longer together.

Then there's HRG's semi-new blond partner, sorry forgot her name. These people live in that carnival next to a forest and she manages to elude mister multiple man with a hole in her shoulder? Apparently, after yet another attack on Sylar's psyche, he has repented out of fear and will now be a hero, just in time for the end of the volume, which will probably change for the next one.

My apologies for my occasional fast fingers.