NBC Photo: Adam TaylorMilo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere are swingers!
But before you get too excited and start trying to figure out how you can invite them to your next key party, we should tell you we're talking about their characters on Heroes, and that the teams they're switching are that of good and evil.
A little less scandalous, granted, but still juicy!
If you've seen tonight's episode of Heroes, blast on in here for exclusive, inside dish on what went on, what will happen next, and what it all means...
WHAT WE LEARNED
Claire Has Killer Genes: We always knew HRG (Jack Coleman) and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) could be ruthless killers, but who knew our little Claire-Bear has a black heart, too? Of course, it's only natural that a girl might flip out a little after her uncle slices open her brain and plays Operation, and her biological mother (Jessalyn Gilsig) locks her inside a burning shipping container. Claire is compelled to admit that her current overriding instinct to fight is neither altruistic nor defensive, but driven by pure vengeance. She wants to "hurt them because they hurt [her]." And judging by what we've seen of black-leather-clad Future Claire (Sandra Dee postmakeover), she succeeds.
Sylar and HRG Make An Awesome Odd Couple: Did anyone else laugh uproariously when Sylar swaggered into the crime scene wearing a suit, an attitude and a heavy accent? I'm not great at dialects, so I wasn't sure if Zachary was doing something Bostonian or closer to his native Pittsburgh, but either way, it was so unexpected, it rocked. Sylar does the voodoo he do so well on two of the bank robbers, and HRG takes down another baddie with good old-fashioned gunplay. Fabulous. Angela Petrelli, you might be evil as all get out but you are a good matchmaker.
Hiro and Daphne Are Well-Matched Adversaries: I loved Hiro (Masi Oka) calling Daphne (Brea Grant) "Nemesis" (much to her annoyance), and I really loved Hiro's annoyance in return when Daphne dubbed him "Pikachu." These two could give Lost's Sawyer a run for his money in the nicknames department.
WHAT LIES AHEAD:
- Hiro and Ando (James Kyson Lee) look up an old frenemy. Actually, they dig him up, right out of his 400-year-old grave. Sarkie-poo, oh, how I have missed you!
- Dr. Zimmerman has answers to Tracy Strauss' questions about her mysterious origins, and we'll learn of a fifth version of the woman who looks just like Ali Larter. (Wait a minute, were their parents named John and Kate?!) So just to make the math clear, here: We've met Niki Saunders, her two alternate personalities Jessica and Gina, and now Tracy Strauss, but we'll learn there is another person running around with the same pretty face. Seriously, Haley Mills never had it so bad.
- In the future Sylar is not only living with his son Noah in the Bennet house, but he has Mr. Muggles. Will the violations never end? Actually, we'll see that Sylar has become a new man. As Zachary Quinto told me when I visited the set during the production of episode four, "I believe that there may be some waffle-making in this episode. This is an alternative sort of reality—you catch glimpses of times that may or may not actually come to fruition, but that are possibilities." Let me say it now: Not really gonna happen.
SUGGESTION BOX:
Mercy Killings: While I'm digging the core storyline, it seems there are just a few too many characters and plot threads going on this season (we need a flowchart and football commentator's magic pen to follow it all!) and the show could benefit from streamlining a bit. Sure, this series has always been complex and the time jumps make it inherently involved, but I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to give a character or two the axe...Or rather, the (Sylar) finger. Agree? Disagree? And if so...Who should go?
Weigh in below (the higher-ups may be listening!) and give your take on episode three...
Oh, and if you do hear anything about a key party with Milo, do let me know, will ya?
—Additional reporting by Jennifer Godwin