So, a simple throat-slitting wasn't really a reasonable action at all. It, thought of superficially, satisfied the audience's desire to see good triumph over evil, but really looking at the event it becomes clear that it was out of character for HRG to only slit Sylar's throat. There was no way that such a simple single injury would have kept Sylar down in the long term and HRG should have known that. In fact, I'd argue that if the writers had been true to HRG's character at that point they would have had him decapitate Sylar (always a sure-fire way to end a bad guy, provided the head and body are kept a large distance from one another).
However, the writers didn't do that. They tried, instead, to satisfy both the audience's desire to see the bad guy "get it" and a general desire to not have to introduce a new villain when the current one remains so popular (because, let's face it, Sylar is a guy you just love to hate). It simply didn't work. HRG is smarter than he acted last night; he knows far more about folks with superpowers (even when said superpowers are temporarily gone) than he demonstrated by only slitting Sylar's throat.
Admit it, if you were watching you knew that without a decapitation Sylar would be back before the episode's end and you were yelling at HRG to inflict a more permanent sort of death on the villain. It's okay, it doesn't show some sort of bloodlust on your part, just a deeper understanding of the world.
Article comments
1 - Greggbert
"but we already knew that Bennet was betting on a return of powers to the superfolks " hence his suggesting that his daughter need not go to the hospital for a gunshot wound (he figured she'd be able to heal herself when her powers returned). "
Actually the reason that HRG didn't take claire to the hospital was not because he was betting on the return of her powers, but because he had to keep her identity secret, and because he had first-aid training and could tell her wound non life-threatening. He simply failed to predict that her immune system would be compromised.
2 - Phillip Winn
Greggbert is right, but so is Josh.
Bennet didn't know Claire was dying of infection, after all, so he most likely just assumed she'd be fine. Still, he's much, much too smart to leave Sylar's head attached to his body.
That whole scene played out stupid, and marks the last episode of the show I'll watch. I've given it far too long; I should have stopped after the first season.
3 - Baronius
I was fine with the scene. Bennet was in a hurry - he didn't even bother to kill Elle. He didn't know that anyone's powers would return after the eclipse. And he had to get out of the storage room, which is always trickier when you're carrying a head.
But I agree with the thrust of your article. Sylar reminds me of the Spike character on Buffy. You can't domesticate him without ruining his appeal. The only way for the writers to respect the character is to kill him.