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Shooter: 1 Nathan: 0

Powerless - In this mid-season wrap-up, Peter saves the world AGAIN, this time by destroying the virus before it hits the floor; Niki may or may not perish in a building fire; Bennet goes back into the fold; Sylar gets his powers back; and Nathan winds up with two bullets in his chest. Don't worry, it's probably all just a dream. How many people hope the end of the season is Nathan in a shower? Huh? Anyone?

Erin

Get Your Flu Shots

Truth & Consequences - Because this virus is coming, and it can't be cured unless you have, say, some of Claire's blood and some of Mohinder's blood. Peter and Adam are on the hunt for a mutated strain that Peter wants to stop but Adam wants to release. In other news, Bennet's not dead but his family thinks he is, Monica's been captured by a gang, and Hiro is on the rampage.

Erin

Dawn Of The Dead Dads

Cautionary Tales - Bennet's Death Painting comes true when he is forced to make an exchange with Tobby in order to get his little Claire Bear back. Mohinder really DOES shoot him through the eye and Claire really DOES hug West in the background. But it's all good, because Bennet gets dosed with some of Claire's blood and comes back to life. You didn't think he'd actually DIE, did you?

Erin

Meeeemmmmory! All Alone In The Moooonliiiiight!

Four Months Ago... - Peter meets up with Adam and travels down memory lane in an effort to remember who the hell he is and why he's here. Peter apparently holds all the memories for the rest of the Heroes as well, because we catch up with everyone who's done anything over the past four months, including the Wonderless Twins, who continue to annoy with their useless storyline. Maybe if their heads were made of queso, we'd be more inclined to pay attention?

Erin

So, This Time It's "Stop The Plague, Save The World"?

Out Of Time - When Peter discovers that the Shanti virus has taken out over 90% of the world's population, it becomes clear that this season's mission is clear: Stop the Virus. And when Takezo Kensei shows up as Adam Monroe, the season's secondary mission becomes clear: Let's Kill the ElderHeroes! And the tertiary mission is that Adrian Pasdar is hot. What? That could be a mission!

Erin

A Virus Without A Cure -- Kind Of Like Britney Spears

The Line - Only with fewer paparazzi and more underwear. The Company is developing a "vaccine" for superpowers and, if the end of the episode is any indication, this does not bode well for the future. As for the rest of the plots, the Twins and Sylar make it to America, Monica digs her powers, Hiro breaks time, and Bennet returns to his old ways when he shoots a poor Russian clown in the head. He is going straight to hell, y'all.

Erin

If I Choose Flight, Do I Get Frequent Flyer Miles?

Fight Or Flight - Because Momma needs a vaycay. There are like a quintillion storylines in this particular episode, so it's practically impossible to nutshell all of them. Suffice it to say that Monica learns what her power really is, Veronica Mars shows up to hunt down Peter, and Matt's daddy is a big ol' meany who likes to hand out nightmares like they're M&Ms.

Erin

All TV Is Educational

The Kindness Of Strangers - Matt persuades Molly to look into the abyss, and the abyss looks back -- in the form of Matt's dad. Maya and Alejandro meet up with Sylar, Claire's secret relationship with West gets off the ground, and Micah's cousin Monica discovers a superpower that should soon have her spending a lot more time in front of the tube. If only I had that excuse.

M. Giant

Kissing a Fool. Or Two.

Kindred - There's a lot of kissing happening in this episode. Well, at least, there's SOME kissing in this episode, which is more than we've ever had in any other episode. Claire kisses West after he flies her to the beach without a plane, Caitlin kisses Peter after his chest spits out some bullets, Maya and Alejandro don't kiss because that would be incest, and Hiro wishes he could kiss Yaeko AND Kensei because he loves them both so much!

Erin

How To Avoid Expensive Pedicures

Lizards - Just cut off your toes. Claire does it, and it's saving her a fortune! But in this instance, she's trying to see what she can and can't do: apparently, she can grow new limbs just like a newt. Hiro faffs around back in 1671 some more and learns that Kensei is a "godsend" in more ways than one. Mohinder delivers the Haitian Sensation to Mr. Bennet as the Irish hooligans deliver Peter's name to him. But Peter has his shirt back on by then, so we're really not paying much attention.

Erin

Meanwhile, In A Cargo Container In Ireland...

Four Months Later... - It's four months after the Peter and Nathan show exploded in the sky over Manhattan. Nathan's a drunk, Peter's shirtless and chained up (for which we are very grateful), Hiro's in seventeenth-century Japan, someone's targeting the Old Heroes, Claire's in a new school and has a floating stalker with a crappy attitude, Bennet's a copy boy, Matt's still annoying, and Mohinder's trying to infiltrate the OWI. So, yeah, it's business as usual in the Heroes-verse.

Erin

A One-Way Ticket To Explosiveville

How To Stop An Exploding Man - Sylar's set to explode, and it's up to Peter to stop him. Until Peter figures out that it's actually HIM who's set to explode, and it's up to Claire to stop him. But then Nathan shows up to save the day, and the world, and he and his brother fly off into the ether so New York can live, live, LIVE! All we're left is a question: Does Sylar crawl off into the sewer to live with the cockroaches? And will Moyawnder's annoying voice-overs continue next season? Wait. That's two questions.

Erin

Note to New York: Watch out for the guy with the glowing hands and the crazy eyes.

Landslide - The Heroes start gathering in New York and the results look to be explosive. There's too much going on to distill into a couple of sentences, but the gist of it is that Nathan wins the election, Linderman dies, Hiro gets samurai lessons, Bennet and Matt realize the tracking system is a little girl, and Sylar steals Ted's power. Gee. Wonder who's going to blow up New York?

Erin

This Just In: Sylar Has Mommy Issues.

The Hard Part - Sylar thinks he's the bomb that blows up New York, so he goes to visit his mother for comfort. And then he kills her. Hiro's supposed to kill Sylar, but he chickens out at the last minute because he's a girly man. And Peter and Claire meet up with Bennet, Parkman, and Sprague, only to have Peter start to absorb Ted's ability, and he starts to develop a nasty case of Fire Hands. The Heroes are all starting to come together, yo.

Erin

"I could kick Hayden's butt."

The Jack Coleman Interview, Part II - In a fight to the death, Jack Coleman thinks he might fare better against Hayden Panettiere than Eric Roberts. He's probably right.

Erin

"My heart bleeds for Sendhil."

The Jack Coleman Interview, Part I - Jack Coleman is funny. And smart. And concerned about his nose hairs. Find out why.

Erin

The Future's So Blight, I Gotta Wear Hades

Five Years Gone - It's five years in the future and everything sucks. Sylar's in power as President Nathan, the Heroes are all on the run, and everyone's really, really hot. It's up to Future Hiro and Future Peter to break Past Hiro out of a temporary prison so he can go back to the past and kill Sylar before he takes over the world. God, I hope they can do it!

Erin

Peter Is Da Bomb. And Not In The Good Way

.07% - Bennet, Matt, and RadioacTed bust out of OWI and partner up to take down the company. Peter dies, but Claire brings him back to life, and they ponder why incest has to be illegal for just a second. Nathan learns that he's supposed to be president, but that Peter has to die in order for that to happen. And no, the first death doesn't count.

Erin

Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well.

Parasite - Leaving the Korova Milk Bar behind, Malcolm McDowell joins the rest of the Heroes as the Big Bad, Mr. Linderman. And it turns out he knows alllll about everyone's superpowers. In other stories, Bennet gets a new partner who turns on him, Claire meets her grandmother, and Peter gets his head sliced by a supremely pissed off Sylar. Well, at least we'll be rid of the emo bangs.

Erin

The Way We Were

Company Man - Via flashbacks, we learn that Bennet and Claude used to be partners. Also, George Takei forced Bennet to adopt Claire. In the present, Sprague goes nuclear on Bennet, but Claire saves the day. Unfortunately, her prize is a life on the road with the Haitian, who erases her dad's memory at his request. Well, at least she knows he did love her. Sniff.

Couch Baron

Ladies and gentlemen, Simone has left the building.

Unexpected - That's right. Simone takes a couple bullets in the chest, courtesy of her ex-boyfriend Isaac, and she don't have no powers of regeneration, so her ass is outta there! In other news, RadioacTed and his new best friend Hana "Wireless" Gitelman recruit Matt to join their cause. Unfortunately, their "cause" involves kidnapping Bennet and his family in order to get some much-needed answers.

Erin

Oh, We'll Run Alright.

Run! - We'll run from the endless storyline of Hiro and Ando and how they're in Vegas but can't seem to get their hands on the goddamned sword that Hiro's so uselessly interested in. And we'll run from Claire's non-meeting with Nathan and the silly gunplay between Jessica and Matt. Look. I only run when chased. Could we actually get to the guts of this show soon so I don't have to run anymore? I'm out of breath as it is.

Erin

Who's Yer Daddy? Oh. It's Nathan.

Distractions - ): Claire's mother is a firestarter, and her father is none other than Nathan Petrelli. Claude throws Peter off a building in an effort to teach him how to control his powers. Sylar is thwarted in his attempt to murder Ma Bennet, but winds up getting away because the Haitian Sensation is pretty to look at, but not all that quick on his feet. And Jessica's back, this time for good.

Erin

Hold still, Sylar--there's something sticking out of your head.

The Fix - Peter and Claude team up for a mentoring relationship that involves Claude teaching Peter how to not blow up. Hiro's kidnapped by his dad, who turns out to be George Effin' Takei, which is totally awesome. Sylar dies but then comes back to life and is about ready to kick some serious HRG ass. And Claire discovers her birth mother, who is alive and well and flammable.

Erin

They're Baaaaaaack

Godsend - The Heroes have returned after a nice, long winter vacation, and all they brought back was a fake sword, a straightjacket-clad Niki/Jessica, a comatose Peter, a whacked-out Sylar, and a cheerleader who can't figure out if she's been saved or not. I would have preferred a shot glass or something, but I'm so happy to see them all that I'll just say "thanks" and ask to see their vacation photo slideshow!

Erin

January 22nd? We have to wait until January 22nd? Shut up, NBC.

Fallout - Eden kills herself rather than let Sylar take her brain, Niki turns herself in to the police so that Jessica can't harm her family, Isaac paints the future and it has a dinosaur in it, Claire discovers that her dad might not be such a good guy after all, and Peter has a dream about the future where he blows up. I can't believe we have to wait over six weeks to find out what happens.

Erin

Wait -- maybe we should go back ANOTHER six months…

Six Months Ago - It's six months ago and Niki's alter ego, Jessica, shows up for the first time and we learn that she's really Niki's dead sister or something, Claire discovers she can miraculously heal, Hiro tries to save Charlie and fails, and Sylar turns out to be a guy named Gabriel who has some serious ego issues. The "how it all began" answers are in short supply, really. But Pasdar is hot, so who cares?

Erin

Save the cheerleader…check. Save the world…not so much.

Homecoming - Peter manages to save the cheerleader, but another cheerleader dies, so does that mean he saved the right cheerleader? And it doesn't really matter anyway, because Sylar gets away and then gets captured by Eden, whose voice brings men to their knees. Literally.

Erin

The Ballad Of Charlie And Hiro

Seven Minutes To Midnight - A cute diner waitress with a photographic memory ensorcells Hiro, adorably. Elsewhere, Isaac goes back on the junk, Mohinder goes back to India, and Ted -- after briefly cooling down while comparing origin stories with Matt -- goes back to irradiating his foes instead of just using his words.

Wing Chun

Comings And Goings

Nothing To Hide - Checking in: Mrs. Nathan Petrelli and her wheelchair; ikiN's real name; a potential Hero with "rad" powers; and Micah's calling plan. Checking out: Charles Deveaux, who dies; Isaac, who takes his paintings and bolts; Matt's marriage, because Janice is a cheating cheater who cheats; and any interest Sars may ever have had in Mohinder's pompous narration.

Sars

"My Husband's Back And He Phases Through Solid Matter"

Better Halves - "Hey la, hey la, he broke my GI tract!" Also, Claire meets some actors pretending to be her biological parents.

Wing Chun

Save the cheerleader. Save the -- wait, how does it go?

Hiros - It seems that, in order to save the world, the Heroes, in particular Peter, must save the cheerleader. She's a little busy needlessly lying in a hospital bed while her father has her would-be rapist's brain wiped, but I'm sure she'll be needing a hand at some point in this series.

Erin

Heroes Here, Heroes There, Heroes Everywhere!

Collision - The Heroes are starting to intersect, and the world it is rejoicing. Or just us comic book geeks. Peter and Mohinder meet, then Niki/ikiN and Nathan meet, then Hiro and Peter meet, and then Claire decides to take Jock the Rapist out of the picture by driving him directly into a wall.

Erin

Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve...

One Giant Leap - Hiro and Ando embark on a global road trip to save the world, Mohinder discovers that Sylar is an OCD freak with a sin complex, Matt discovers that Sylar can do all sorts of shit he never imagined and that a bald black man has it out for him, Niki digs, Peter falls in more ways than one, and Claire gets stabbed in the head by a rapist, only to wake up on an coroner's table with her internal organs waving at her FROM HER CHEST.

Erin

So many heroes, so little time.

Don't Look Back - Hiro has teleported into the future by about five weeks, Niki's alter ego has cleaned up her murderous mess and led her to a killing field, both Petrelli boys can fly, Claire's father is a creep, and Suresh decides to track down all the heroes to carry on his father's work. And a new Hero makes an appearance in the form of Matt Parkman, a telepathic cop who discovers a hidden child. Oh, Agent Sean. Welcome back!

Erin

We Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day.

In His Own Image - How soon before I run out of songs with "hero" in the title? Let's take bets. It's exposition central in this first episode. We meet some of the potential heroes, including a teleporting Japanese cutie and a stripper who sees an evil version of herself in the mirror. There's tons more that happens, but utterly NO WAY to deliver all the goods in this small amount of space. Trust me on this.

Erin