Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT The Kindness Of Strangers
By M. Giant | Season 2 | Episode 4 | Aired on October 14, 2007
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Bennet's understandably freaked after seeing the ElderDeath painting of his own demise, and the only way he can think of to stop it is to prevent Claire's kiss in the painting's background. So he latches onto that, spooking Claire into trying to ditch West. It doesn't work, though, and she agrees to one conditional date. That goes pretty well, with a sweet moment atop (and hovering directly in front of) the Hollywood sign. Claire's cover story for her dad, so she can get away with continuing to see West? She made the cheerleading squad. Bennet says that's okay, as long as Claire promises not to date anyone. Claire agrees, lyingly, so Bennet feels safe in agreeing to accompany the Haitian Sensation to Odessa. The one in Ukraine, that is.
Maya, Alejandro, and their new stoner friend Derek nearly run over a derelict lying unconscious on the road. Guess who? It's Sylar, who is more than happy to assist the twins in their quest to find Papa Suresh. Especially when he finds himself present for a display of their respective powers and totally wins their trust. Oh, and he killed Derek, too, in case that isn't obvious.
Micah's host relatives have slightly more prosaic concerns. His cousin Monica is thwarted in her burger-management ambitions, and his other cousin Damon wants to catch the big wrestling match on pay-per-view. Micah's tech-fu only helps one of them. But the other one, Monica, may not need Micah's help, as she discovers her own power: she can do anything she sees somebody do on TV. Think she watches this show?
Matt's got problems at home and work; Molly's nightmares are getting worse, and Mama Petrelli has given a blatantly false confession to having killed Hiro's dad. So Matt enlists a newly shaven Nathan (who's still tortured by his disfigured reflection in the mirror) to help him continue the investigation and figure out what's really going on. That leads them to Nathan's copy of a photo of the ElderHeroes, a group that included not only Nathan's parents and Kaito Nakamura, but also Linderman, Deveaux, Tobby the Company Elf -- and Matt's dad. But when Matt shows Molly the photo to ask for her help finding his dad, she freaks. You guessed it -- Papa Parkman is her Nightmare Man. She eventually agrees to find Matt's dad for him, but at a high cost: in the course of tracing Papa Parkman to a third-floor apartment in Philadelphia, she winds up catatonic, while Matt hears her voice in his head screaming for help. Happy now, Parkman? Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Bennet sits at the kitchen table -- "Bennet House, Costa Verde, California," the subtitle helpfully informs us -- examining the JPG of his death foretold. In addition to his own bloody, mangled mug in the foreground and a cheerleader-skirted Claire getting kissed by a dark stranger in the background, the composition includes a lot of sky with a couple of unidentifiable objects zipping around either directly above Bennet's head or in the distant background, depending on their size. I hope they're not blowflies already. The missus and Mr. Muggles come in, prompting Bennet to close his laptop with his most innocent just lookin' at some porn, dear manner. Bennet ignores the wife's babbling about power-walking, because he's got a job this episode. And that job is to clumsily attempt to derail the prophecy of his own death, as fathers have been attempting to do ever since Oedipus's. It never works, but they're compelled to do it, if for no other reason than to make the inevitable end that much more poignant and ironic. Especially since they tend to do it stupid. To wit: Bennet asks his wife whether she knows if Claire's dating anyone. While they're discussing that, Claire herself comes downstairs, quickly realizing that something's in the air. She cringes when her dad brings up the subject of "boys," but it's not the sex talk -- it's her dad's warning that her getting involved with the wrong person could end up threatening the family. Claire all but accuses him of being paranoid, and Bennet quite reasonably says he would just want to meet any potential suitors, so he can help her decide whether they're trustworthy. When he puts it that way, Claire looks like she's considering it, then seems to remember that her dad already has met West, and a reunion probably wouldn't be a joyous one. So she says there are no boys in her life. Her parents seem to accept this. Bennet: 0; Prophecy: 1.
Manhattan skyline at night. Images of a table covered with sketches. One of those sketches shows an eye, and inside that eye is a golden "S" symbol. And Molly sits up in bed screaming. Matt bursts in instantly, followed by Mohinder. I happen to notice that neither of them is hastily buttoning his shirt or fixing his hair. So careful, they're being. Molly asks for water, but before Matt gets it, he has to have a quick, whispered conference in the doorway with Mo, while the little girl lies in bed recovering from her night-panic by herself.