Episode Report Card Erin: A | 66 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Save the Cheerleader -- Check. Save the World -- Not So Much.
By Erin | Season 1 | Episode 9 | Aired on 2006.11.20
Zach seems surprised by her statement. "Me?" he questions. "Sure, why not?" she trills. "Uhâ¦for a million different reasons," he says. Claire asks if it's about what Jackie said about him being gay, because she totally doesn't care about that. "I don't care about that," says Zach. "You think I care about that? She can call me whatever she wants, I'm not gonna be embarrassed by it. I know who I am. I like who I am. I like who you are. I justâ¦I just wish that you liked who you are." Hm. Not sure if he's gay anymore. I hope he is, because the more out and proud gays we have on TV the better, as far as I'm concerned, but he's deliberately not directly saying he's gay, soâ¦not so sure. Claire says that she's finally realizing who her real friends are and that maybe being different isn't the end of the world. "That's just who I am," she says. "Exactly," Zach says happily. "You gotta embrace your inner freak. Because the only thing that you'll regret is denying who you really are." Damn. This is a mighty deep discussion for a couple of teenagers on homecoming night. Shouldn't they be getting drunk in the art closet and barfing in the punch bowl?
Burnt Toast Diner. For some reason, Ando's now standing outside the diner, instead of sitting at his table. Doesn't this diner ever close? Ando's standing there with his back to the street, hoping that maybe his change of position will make Hiro miraculously appear. Someone does miraculously appear, but it's just Peter, who's taken Tesseract Airlines from New York to the sticks of Texas to meet up with the boys from Japan. Milo's so cute, I don't care how ludicrous this timeline is. Peter introduces himself to Ando and asks where Hiro is. They go inside the diner and Ando shows him the picture of Hiro and Charlie, explaining about the time-traveling back to the past to save her life. Peter asks what happened to Charlie and Ando tells him the whole story. He even calls the killer a boogeyman. Hiro seemed to think Charlie's killer would be the same man who attacked the cheerleader. Ando tried to convince him not to go, but Hiro said that a man who is too afraid to use his power does not deserve to have that power.
Peter shows Ando the picture of his death and says that he knows when and possibly where the killer will strike. Ando asks if Peter has a power and Peter gets this hilarious "Keep it on the QT, dude" look on his face as he says, "Sort of." Ando asks if he bends time and space like Hiro and Peter sort of sheepishly says, "Iâ¦kind of absorb the abilities of others. But only when they're close." Ando's all, huh? What the hell kind of power is that? Also? Thanks for tossing that load of exposition my way, dude. I'm sure that'll be valuable information here in a minute. "Truthfully," says Peter, "when I'm by myself, I'm not reallyâ¦anything." You're CUTE! That's something! He looks at the clock on the wall and says that he's got less than an hour and that he has to go. Ando chooses to stay behind and wait for Hiro. "Without him," he says," I am not really anything either." Aw. He wonders if maybe Peter shouldn't stay too. "There's no time," says Peter seriously. "I have to save the cheerleader." Heh. I know it's serious, butâ¦heh. "But Peter!" Ando calls after him. "You die!" Peter just glowers at him from behind his bangs and resolutely heads off to his fate.