This article may contain spoilers.

From the How-to-be-a-Villain handbook, if you are caught killing hundreds of people, you had better frame the good guys with a massacre

Last week we watched with trepidation as Vanessa (Kate Vernon) turned down Samuels (Robert Knepper) invitation to live in paradise; for as she softly told him, This is your fantasy. Its not my life.

Afterwards, Samuels anger knew no bounds and we watched helplessly as he cruelly and callously destroyed the beautiful oasis with one twitch of his hands. Because it was so public and visible, I had wondered how he could get away with it. Thus, it was nice to see that the writers addressed this glaring question immediately.

This week, the episode opened with Samuel looking around him and noting with sorrow that many of his family had vanished overnight. He sadly noted, Theyre afraid of me. To which Lydia (Dawn Olivieri) quietly said, What did you expect after watching you destroy that town?

Samuel knew that in order to redeem himself in the eyes of his followers, he needed a miracle - something significant to sway public opinion back on his side; and the resulting massacre was shocking to behold. Despite Claires (Hayden Panettiere) plea that, If you care about this family, protect them, Samuel threw back the glove of truce offered.

Instead, he had conceived a diabolical plan to frame Noah (Jack Coleman) for the shooting-spree at the carnival which had left Samuel, Claire, and Lauren (Elisabeth Rohm) bleeding from gunshot wounds and Lydia (poor Lydia) lying in a pool of blood. It was only as Samuel kissed her good-bye that Lydia realized in horror what he had done. As she gasped, You did this?! Samuel mockingly said, They needed a villain. Someone worse than me.

With the villain-within fully revealed, it was with further horror that we saw that Samuel had summoned Emma (Deanne Bray) to help with the wounded. As he ushered her back into the depths of the carnival standing amongst the dead and dying, we felt with growing dread how easily Samuel was going to manipulate Emma, preying on her sympathy and fears, in order to align her with his demented interests. Thus, it was with a chill running down our spine, we heard Samuel ominously say, Its time we showed the world what we truly are.

The gauntlet had been thrown down and Samuel was eager to demonstrate just how lethal his family can be. It remains to be seen if Samuel can rival the revulsion and fear that Sylar (Zachary Quinto) has inspired. It will also be intriguing to find out if Sylar will align with Samuel or be the savior of them all.

What Worked

Perhaps acknowledging that Claire can never really be normal and that she will never have a normal life, the look on Gretchens (Madeline Zima) face as she watched Claire take off with her car keys was telling. It was with a look of sad realization that she could not fight back fate, nor Claires desire to embroil herself in the thick of any controversy involving anyone with abilities. She finally understood that no matter how much Claire may think she wants a normal life, she goes out of her way to embrace and pursue the problems she claims she wants to get away from.

The final spectacularly cool moment was when Lauren picked up the phone and made the call that will help spur an epic villainous confrontation; for she had called the one person Noah said would help. And who did not get chills upon seeing that it was Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter) on the other end of the phone? It seems fitting that in the end of this epic journey, it would pit Sylar and Tracy against Samuel.

What Didn't Work

In what was supposed to be a momentous confrontation between Sylar and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), instead what we got was an absurd request from Sylar that Matt help get rid of Sylars acquired abilities. It seemed surreal and un-genuine when Sylar moaned, I cant live with them anymore, so you need to take them away.

But Matt, seeing the opportunity to finally turn the tables on Sylar, leapt at the chance to lock Sylar inside his own mind. For he knew this is Sylars greatest fear: to be forced to live alone forever. Eternity alone is indeed a nightmare of an existence. Thus, it felt even more absurd when Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) arrived just as Matt was cementing Sylar into a wall in his basement, and Peter tried to rescue Sylar, which prompted Matt to lock Peter up in his own mind - or was it Sylars mind? Either way, with two of the most powerful heroes stuck inside someones head, who will come to their rescue? With Angelas (Cristine Rose) warning ringing in our ears, One isolated incident does not make Sylar your friends savior, we are also left to wonder if Sylar should be rescued or left to rot for eternity inside his own lonely mind.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Heroes" stars Jack Coleman, Greg Grunberg, James Kyson Lee, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, Cristine Rose, Milo Ventimiglia, Robert Knepper, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and Zachary Quinto. "The Art of Deception" was written by Mark Verheiden and Misha Green and directed by SJ Clarkson.

"Heroes" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC.