After the cliffhanger last week, Heroes fans gathered at the edges of their seats waiting to find out what will come of Nathan Petrilli, but the writers leave us hanging and focus this episode around Claire, Peter and Sylar.

Claire meets Gretchen, who happens to know everything there is to know about Claire’s past. Bizarre as it seems, Claire feels refreshed to have someone she can confide in and be a normal girl with. When Claire and Gretchen are invited to a local sorority mixer, things with Gretchen get a little weird. All Gretchen talks about is Claire, and later back in the dorms, Claire discovers  Gretchen’s been Googling her and finds a strange link between Gretchen and another girl in a mysterious murder.

When Claire’s secret is almost exposed at a sorority party, she confronts Gretchen, but Gretchen admits that her obsession is a crush. She kisses Claire, but before we find out what Claire thinks, the sorority girls come in and ask them both to pledge. We also discover head sorority girl, Rebecca is plotting mayhem from the Carnival in attempt to lure Claire.

Peter is trying to make a connection to humanity, which leads him straight to Emma, a deaf woman from the hospital filing room who can see sound. After saving her life, Peter picks up Emma’s ability and the two of them make a strong connection as he explains about people with amazing abilities. Emma feels hurt when he mentions getting her out of the filing room, and later we see Emma at home playing her cello, channeling the energy of the music until it bursts forth and damages the wall in her apartment. Peter is at home, regretting his behavior when Hiro arrives. As the two embrace, Hiro collapses at Peter’s feet.

The police pick up Sylar on the roadside and take him in for interrogation. He remembers nothing about his past, or who he is, and is terrified by the hideous images in his mind of being shot. Dr. Gibson arrives on the scene to help police discover his identity, and while she is questioning him alone, she starts to help him uncover tiny pieces of himself, including his longtime connection to watchmaking. As she’s questioning him, the detective in charge comes in and tells her they discovered who he is, then dismisses her to try and get a confession from Sylar about killing his mother. He doesn’t remember, but when the detective surges at him with violence in mind, he holds up his hands, and static protection sends the man reeling through the window. Sylar runs, tracking down Dr. Gibson in the parking lot and begging her to help him. She convinces him to turn himself in, but  electric energy pulses in his hands, and the police start shooting. He and Dr. Gibson roll down the nearby hill, and she tells him to run for it. Sylar runs into the woods and comes out in a field to find the Sullivan Brothers Carnival, which welcomes him home.

Next week, Peter finds a young boy with healing powers and tries to convince him to save Hiro’s life, while the Sullivan Brothers Carnival leads Sylar to embracing the beast within. So much for a well-behaved Sylar, but hey, what would the show be without his wicked antics anyway. Tune in next week for Heroes: Tabula Rasa.