Why Samuel Sullivan is so Scary

For those of you who haven't been watching Heroes this season, you probably have no clue who Samuel Sullivan is. And even for those who have been watching it, you might not consider Samuel to be scary. Truly, when anyone thinks of the villain of Heroes, they go directly to Sylar. Sylar is one of the "best" villains in TV history, after all. But, I'm here to say, there's a new villain in town and he is Samuel. He scares the crap out of me.

Why? Sylar is a self-proclaimed bad guy. He takes pride in the fact that he is an evil murderer. Since finding out that he doesn't have to actually kill the "mutants" to take their powers, he continued to kill them anyway, just for his pleasure. Samuel, on the other hand, is not so straight-forward. He has fuzzy motivations for the things he does. But if you think he's more sane or balanced than Sylar, you crazy! He is willing to do anything, even kill his own brother, for power. So he's evil...so what?

Sylar has limitless powers, and he uses them freely in stalking his prey. Samuel is also powerful, and he uses that power to accomplish his goals. But, he has something that Sylar doesn't have. And this is why he is so scary. He has the power of persuasion and manipulation. He has a way of convincing people to listen to him, trust him, do what he wants. Even people who know he is unhinged will soon be doing his bidding, if they only listen to his sweet words. There are people who trust him completely, even when they are warned of his true self by close family and friends. Now to my favorite part: examples!

Who knows Samuel better than Lydia? She saw him kill his brother, she knows he's dangerous, and what his evil plans are. But, she still does whatever he tells her to do.

Peter tries to tell Emma about evil Samuel, but she refuses to believe him even though they have been close friends and confidantes for awhile. She's only met Samuel once. Claire also falls for Samuel's spell, even though her father tells her time and time again how dangerous he is.

Hiro knows Samuel is evil and plans to make himself more powerful by luring other people with powers to him. He knows that this will result in the end of the world. And yet, because Samuel is so good at manipulating people to get what he wants, he convinces Hiro to get him exactly what he needs to do all the destruction.

And my best example yet: Vanessa. She is Samuel's old flame and he is still in love with her. He wants her to come away with him. He has become increasingly scary to her: stalking her, etc. Then, he kidnaps her and takes her to the carnival. She demands he take her back, obviously, but somehow, by the end of the day, they are kissing and sharing strawberry milkshakes. How? Samuel sweet-talked her to the point that she calls him "romantic" instead of what he is: obsessive and scary.

Samuel is rapidly rising into a bonafide villain role. Sylar is working hard to regain his evil-ness. What could be worse? If they join forces. My fingers are crossed that that doesn't happen.