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Peter spends the whole episode shirtless, so I really have no idea what went on in scenes that didn't involve him. Do you? The Hideous Irish Accent Gang beats up Peter and demands to know where their Oi-Pods are. Peter doesn't know, so they just keep hitting him. Bennet learns about Kaito's death and remembers that Isaac painted the very scene of Kaito plastered across the pavement. Matt's assigned to investigate Kaito's death, and of course he sees all sorts of signs that make him think that this whole thing might have something to do with superpowers. Meanwhile, Hiro's still back in 1671 and he's quickly getting nowhere in his quest to make Kensei a better man. Due to Kensei's alarming drunkenness, Hiro is unable to rouse him to perform the tasks that will make him a hero. So, of course, Hiro steps in to impersonate Kensei in order to right the past. He dons the mask and armor and rides to the aid of the swordsmith's daughter, winning her heart in the process. The real Kensei agrees to help the daughter rescue her father, thinking it will bring him many rewards, but his enemies show up and shoot him full of arrows, so it looks like all will be lost. That is, until Kensei's wounds heal and he looks up in surprise and Hiro realizes that Kensei has a superpower as well. Mohinder flies to Haiti to meet a dying man whom he might be able to cure. The man he meets is none other than The Haitian Sensation, and he takes Mohinder's memory of their meeting as soon as he's cured. But all this really just leads to The Haitian Sensation partnering up with Bennet again, so it looks like Mohinder and Bennet have a long-arching and complex plan in the works. Catching up with The Wonder Twins, we learn that they're getting an old friend to help them across into America, but Maya's scared that she's going to make people leak black stuff from their eyes (it's not blood like I originally thought), which, of course, she does as soon as she's separated from her brother during their crossover into America. And apparently, Alejandro's superpower is the ability to suck the blackness out of Maya and anyone she's attacked. Peter gets some TLC from the sister of the head Oirish thug, and they discover that although Peter is covered with blood, he doesn't actually have a mark on him. When the thugs run out to get a cuppa, Peter takes the opportunity to phase right through his bindings and attempt to escape. But before he can, he has to step in and save the sister from some rival thugs. He uses some electric fireballs and some super-strength on the dudes and impresses the shit outta the sister. Claire expresses a fanatical interest in genetics in science class, and West takes this as a sign that she's a freak like him, so he talks to her about this awesome book some Indian doctor wrote. I wonder who that might be? Matt interviews Ma Petrelli about Kaito's death, and she totally clues in to him reading her thoughts. This doesn't prevent her from being attacked by an invisible assailant from behind locked doors. Due to Peter's interference with the rival thugs, Team Oirish demands that he make things right by doing a job for them. As incentive, Captain Oirish offers a small box that contains clues to Peter's identity. If he does the job, he'll get the box, fair and square. And finally, Claire performs a pinkie toe removal experiment to see if her toe will actually grow back. It does. And it's cool as hell. Unfortunately, Stalker West sees the whole thing from his stalkerish perch outside the window. Claire runs out to confront him, but is greeted only by Papa Suresh's book because Stalker West's gone and floated away on a wing and a prayer... Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: the second season started; Hiro woke up in the past and messed with Takezo Kensei's future; the Bennet family moved to California; Claire was stalked by a floating jackass; Mr. Bennet opened up a can of whup-ass on his pube-stache sporting boss; Parkman and Mohinder became Molly Walker's Two Daddies; Mohinder partnered up with Bennet to take down The Company; two Guatemalan siblings ran for the border, and one of them wound up killing a whole bunch of people with her special power; and Peter was found chained up in a container. Shirtless. You heard me. And you'll hear me again, because Peter's pretty much shirtless throughout this episode, and I don't care if you're a straight male who's watching this show: it's really all about Milo Ventimiglia without his damn clothes on and you know it.
We begin with Shirtless Peter, strapped to a chair, getting splashed with a big bucket of water. Oh, great. So now he's shirtless AND WET? I'm never getting through this episode. The two Irish henchmen from the end of the last episode are basically torturing Peter for information. They keep hitting him and hitting him, demanding to know where their damn iPods are, and all I can think is that Ireland must not have an Apple store anywhere in the country or, like, access to THE INTERNET because when the fuck did iPods become gangster currency? ["One thing I have learned from recapping Season 2 of The Wire is that folks love to fence stolen goods, and they don't really care what. Digital cameras, acetone, cars...I could go on." -- Wing Chun] We learn that the Irish gangsters hang out in a pub called "Wandering Rocks," and that's how I know that no one on the writing staff has ever been to Ireland: no self-respecting Irish publican would ever name their fucking bar "Wandering Rocks." That's practically like naming it "Shillelagh Stick" or "Erin Go Bragh's!" So, whatever, Peter's wet and shirtless and the leader of the Shamrock Boys is demanding to know where the hell Peter stashed the iPods, even though, hi, he was practically stapled to the inside of the container, with no iPods in sight, so I'm thinking that someone LOGICAL would maybe realize that Peter was a PRISONER not a THIEF. Why am I so angry? Shirtless Peter tells Sir Shamrock that he has no idea how he even got into the container, which might indicate that he also has no idea where the iPods are, but Sir Shamrock thinks it's fishy that Peter wound up in the one container they were going to rob. This storyline is completely retarded, but it affords us the opportunity to see Milo wet and naked, so I suppose I can allow it. But this scene can be summed up thusly: Shamrock Boys want the iPods, Shirtless Peter doesn't know where they are, so the Shamrock Boys continue to try and beat the information out of him.
Cut to the Bennet household, where poor Mrs. Bennet has accidentally dropped her wedding ring into a large pot of boiling water. Claire comes up and just reaches into the pot to get the ring, effectively blistering the shit out of her hand. It heals, of course, and her mother hilariously says, "We do have a colander, dear. No need to be flashy!" Hee. Claire thinks it's no big deal, but her mother points out that it WILL be a big deal if it gets her noticed. Claire thinks she should be able to be herself at home, at least, seeing as she can't be herself anywhere else. Her dad pops in and tells her that they want her to be herself, but that she has to lie low. Claire points out that, in high school, laying low is akin to announcing yourself as a gun-toting sociopath, so she'd really prefer it if she could get an identity already. Bennet tells her that they trust her, but that doesn't mean she can just go healing herself all over the dang high-school campus. Claire totally goes snotty on his ass, all, "Oh, sure, it's perfectly well and good for you to dress up in that stupid shirt and go to that boring-ass job at the copy place, but it's not okay for me to, like, join the cheerleading team or whatever because that's not BORING enough!" Bennet rightly snaps at Claire, saying that wearing the stupid shirt is not his job; working at the copy place is not his job; in fact, KEEPING THE FAMILY TOGETHER IS HIS JOB, so he'd appreciate a little more respect and a little less lip, thank you very much. Claire backs off and realizes that she's being unreasonable; she kisses her father and apologizes. They share a nice family moment when her mom brings her a poached egg and her father pours her a juice and they all realize that this is about as normal as they're ever going to get.
Claire leaves for school shortly thereafter and the second she does, Mrs. Bennet shows a newspaper article about Kaito Nakamura's death to her husband. "I knew this would happen" is all he says. "What do you mean, you knew this would happen?" she asks. He doesn't answer. She reminds him that they no longer keep secrets from each other, so he'd better cough it up already. He smiles at her and then brings her into his office and shows her one of Isaac's paintings. It depicts Kaito in the exact position he died in, surrounded by a pool of blood. "This was done by a very gifted artist from New York, Isaac Mendez," says Bennet. "Everything he's ever painted has come true. Except for a series of eight -- I was only given the first." Mrs. Bennet can't believe there are seven more of these paintings, and wonders what's in them. Bennet declares that he doesn't know, but he's going to damn well find them.
Superroof of Superheroes. Ando is being questioned by the police. Parkman arrives with his chief, and hesitates before crossing the yellow tape because he's spent so much time on the other side of it that he's...forgotten how to cross it? I don't know. He says he wants to "savor the moment" of finally being a full-on detective; his chief welcomes him to the big leagues. The chief fills him in on Kaito's death, and shows him the picture of Kaito with the big "S" symbol on it. Matt immediately recognizes it, of course, but pretends he doesn't, saying he's never seen it before. The chief walks him over to the edge of the roof where Kaito was knocked off, and mentions that Ando swears he saw another man push Kaito off the edge, but that there's only one body. "Well, either the killer fell twenty stories and got up and walked away, or flew away," says the chief. "You know somebody who can do that?" Matt looks at him like, "No, not at all. I don't know any flying people. Or, like, I DID know a flying people, but he done gone and blowed himself up. Along with his brother. Who is currently wet and shirtless in a badly-named fake Irish pub. So...yeah, no. Don't know any flying people!" Angela Petrelli's fingerprint was found on the photo, so Matt thinks they should bring her in immediately. The chief just gives him a "no shit, Sherlock" look, and leaves.
Matt goes over to Ando and asks him whether he's ever seen the "S" symbol on the picture before. Ando says that he has: it's a kanji that means "great ability" or "godsend." He says that it's also the crest of Takezo Kensei, a hero who featured greatly in the stories Mr. Nakamura used to read to his son, Hiro. Matt mumbles that he'd like to talk to Hiro, and Ando just looks sad and says that he'd like to talk to him, too.
Unfortunately, Hiro's back in 1671, so he's not available to come to the phone right now. He's running around looking for Kensei, and finally finds him, drunk and slumped against a tree. Immediately, Hiro plunges Kensei's head into a trough of water to wake him the hell up. Once again, he tries to convince Kensei that he has to go after the swordsmith's daughter in order to make her fall in love with him and get the mythology back on track. Hiro blabbles at Kensei until he just quietly looks at him and says, "You look like a fish when you talk." Hee! My love for David Anders knows no bounds. "I promise that if you do this, they will tell your story for four hundred years -- minimum!" says Hiro. "Like a giant carp!" says Kensei. HEE! Hiro just plunges Kensei's head back in the water. Awesome. However, no matter how many times he semi-drowns Kensei, the guy is utterly fucking useless. Hiro says that Kensei needs to be a hero today. And that's when he spies Kensei's discarded armor over by the tree, and a light bulb goes on over his fish-shaped head.
thing we know, Hiro's wearing Kensei's armor and riding a horse across the countryside. "Ando'll never believe this!" he says from behind the mask. "Yahoooooo!" Heh.
Superhero Science Class. Claire's listening attentively as her science teacher explains that lizards are capable of cellular regeneration. She immediately, and inappropriately, pipes up and asks, "You mean, like people who can heal themselves?" The teacher chortles, "No, not people, Claire. Lizards. And raise your hand, please." Claire's hand pops right up, and the teacher bemusedly calls on her. She asks whether it's possible for people to regenerate, and he says that there's controversial research with stem cells that might be leading in that direction. Claire totally draws attention to herself by wondering aloud if this means that soon we'll be able to culture organs and limbs for people who need them. West looks at her like she's just donned a cow costume and wandered into a bull pen. The teacher says that the step for humans isn't regeneration, it's getting rid of the stuff we don't need, like appendixes, wisdom teeth, and pinky toes. "I've read that some people may have evolved a different code already," says Claire, setting off alarms all over the high school with her advanced curiosity in genetic research. "Is that possible?" The teacher laughingly tells her that she'll need an advanced degree in genetics to get at those answers, but that he hopes she thanks him in her dissertation. He moves on to the subject as Claire slowly realizes that everyone in the classroom is staring at her as if she's a newt who's growing a new limb right in front of them. West, of course, is smiling at her smugly, because he knew she had it in her and he's a jerk.
Mohinder pays a visit to Tobby the Company Elf, who immediately sends him out on an assignment. Mohinder's like, "Uh, you wanted me to work on my research, dude. Nobody said ANYTHING about assignments." But Tobby explains that a guy showed up in Port-au-Prince with symptoms that suggest he might be suffering from the virus Mohinder wants to research. Tobby also points out that, so far, there have only been two presentations of this disease: the first in Mo's sister and the second in Molly Walker. If this Haitian dude has it too, that might mean the disease is spreading. Mohinder agrees to go to Haiti and take a look, and bring the dude back if he has the disease so that they can go to work on him. "Oh, and doctor?" says Tobby. "As of now, your blood is the only cure for that virus. So try not to get yourself killed." Mohinder just looks pretty and leaves.
Guatemala. Time to catch up with the story I could give a shit about. Alejandro and Maya show up at the home of an old friend. She greets them warmly and tells them to come inside. We learn that she has agreed to help them across into Mexico. She tells them to go rest, because they're in for a long night, and others are coming to join them. Once alone, Maya immediately begins bitching at Alejandro that they shouldn't be risking their friend, and should find a way to cross alone. She's worried that her power will rear its ugly head again, but Alejandro promises that he won't let that happen. And...scene. And...yawn.
Top O' the Mornin' Pub. Peter's still tied up and still shirtless. The door creaks open, and a pretty girl stands there. "Bet you were prettier-looking yesterday," she quips in a Northern Irish accent. I doubt that, lassie, because he's pretty damn gorgeous today, lemme tell you. She asks him what the "S" symbol around his neck means, and he says he has no idea. She asks him his name, but he doesn't know that either. She introduces herself as Caitlin and starts cleaning the blood off his face. Peter asks her what the Shamrock Boys are going to do to him. She says it'll be whatever her brother feels like doing, and Peter realizes that the aforementioned brother is Sir Shamrock. Caitlin mentions that this iPod deal or whatever is bigger than just a bunch of electronics; apparently, it was going to be some sort of leverage in an existing situation with someone named McSorley. She continues cleaning Peter up as she asks him for a name or a face -- anything that will help them identify who took the swag. Peter says that the first thing he remembers is waking up in the container and some guy taking a swing at him. She laughs as she recalls the story of an electric flash knocking the hitter on his arse. Peter hesitatingly tells Caitlin that he thinks the flash...came from him. She laughs a bit, but then she realizes that she's swabbed up a hell of a lot of Peter's blood, only to find that he doesn't actually have a single wound on his face. They both look at his face in the mirror across the room, clearly spooked out of their minds.
Haiti. Damn, the production crew on this show earns their paychecks. I'm watching the show in HD and it totally looks like Mohinder's in Haiti. This is wicked. Also? I might be kissing my HDTV right now. Maybe. A little. Ahem. So, Mohinder's running around, looking for the sick Haitian. He finally locates a door and knocks, announcing his entrance in French. He shuts the door and tells whoever's there that he's a doctor. He sees someone in a bed across the room and goes over to him. Mohinder touches the patient's shoulder, and the patient turns, and of course it's the Haitian Sensation that Swept the Nation. Mohinder tells HS that he's sick and that there's a cure. HS doesn't want the cure. He wants to die. God gave him this gift,and he used it for evil instead of good, so now God wants him to die. Mohinder ignores this comment and says there's a chance that he's suffering from some other virus that Mo doesn't have the cure for, but if he's suffering from the virus Mohinder thinks he is, there's only one cure: a distillation of Mohinder's blood. Mo says that he was led to HS, so that's another kind of sign from God, isn't it? HS wonders what kind of sign he's talking about, and Mo says it's a sign that God isn't quite done with him yet.
Guatemala. Again. Some more. Maya's lying in bed, not sleeping. Some creepy-ass woman totally sticks her nose in their business and says that Alejandro watches over Maya. She also drives home the point that they're twins, in case we haven't figured that one out yet. Alejandro lets spill that they're going to America to get Maya medical help, because she's sick. Nosy Parkermundo takes this as an opportunity to offer her services as a healer. Maya's not into this idea, but the woman insists, and takes Maya's hands in hers. Right away, something's wrong, because Nosy Parkermundo starts muttering and fretting and saying things like, "You fear...yourself" and "What you carry inside you is black." She rips her hands away from Maya's and says that no one can cure her because she's cursed. Nosy Parkermundo grabs her family members and gets the hell out of there, saying that there's no way they'll cross with the Twins of Blackness.
Japan. 1671. The swordsmith's daughter is fighting a losing battle against a shitload of samurai thugs. She's making a valiant effort, but she's outnumbered like twenty to one, and the lead thug just wants her dead. All hope looks lost until Hiro suddenly appears, dressed as Kensei, and demands that they leave her the hell alone. The samurai all ready their swords, but Hiro declares that he is the greatest swordsman Japan has ever seen. The head thug is all, "How the hell can you declare yourself a great swordsman if you don't even have a dang sword?" Hiro says he doesn't need a sword if he has all of theirs. And then he blinks his eyes and, instantly, the swords all disappear from their hands and reappear stabbed into the ground directly in front of Hiro. The thugs are stunned, but the head thug just tells his men to grab their bows and arrows and have at it. "I wouldn't do that!" chides Hiro. Sure enough, before they can release their arrows, Hiro nabs their gear and laughs at them. All the thugs freak out and start to run away as Hiro and the daughter chase them off. Hiro goes to get his horse, and the daughter stops him and wishes him good fortune. He rather eloquently invites her up onto his horse, and manages to lift her up onto it with one hand. They ride off into the distance.
Tam O' Shanter Pub. Peter's quietly trying to get out of his bonds. Through the door, he can see Caitlin and her brother talking about him. The brother seems to be leaving, and warns her that if Peter makes a single move, she can shoot him. "What am I, twelve?" she snits. "Always," he snits back. She slaps his chest, and it's pretty clear that Caitlin can reasonably handle herself. The Shamrock Boys leave, giving Peter a chance to concentrate fully on getting himself out of the ropes. He grunts and struggles and closes his eyes until, finally, his wrists just...phase through the ropes. He looks at his hands in surprise, stunned that this has actually happened. Peter then gets up and runs over to a window, which is conveniently easy to climb through. He grabs a shirt off a shelf and puts it on DAMMIT. And thus ends the Shirtless Peter portion of this show. And now I'm bored.
Out in the pub, Caitlin's busy cleaning up when a couple of guys walk in and give her the eye. She says that the Shamrock Boys just left, but it's fairly clear that these dudes aren't here for the boys; they're here for Caitlin. Peter watches all this from the back room, unsure as to whether he should come to Caitlin's aid or run for the hills. He chooses hills and climbs up to the window. Meanwhile, Caitlin reaches under a towel for a gun, knowing full well that these guys aren't just dropping in for a pint. She spins to shoot them, but one of the guys grabs the gun before she can fire. She knees him in the nuts, and he throws her up against the bar and whips out a tire iron.
Just then, Peter appears, and knocks the guy back with a blue ball of electricity from his hand. The other guy whips out a rifle, but before he can shoot, Peter sort of instinctively waves his hand and the rifle flies away and slaps against a far corner. The guy takes a shot at Peter, but Peter just casually pulls back his left hand and takes a rather generic punch...that winds up catapulting the guy into a wall across the room. Caitlin breathes heavily, looking at Peter and wondering what she's just seen; Peter seems to be doing the same thing. Hee.
Superhero SuperHigh. Claire's at her locker as the bell rings. Of course, West shows up, because he's her stalker for today. He gently teases her about her love of lizards and how he thought she'd be more into unicorns. Claire's like, "Unicorns? What is this, 1982? Do I have ribbon barrettes in my hair? Am I holding a Trapper Keeper? For fuck's sake, dude, I'm BLONDE, I'm not one of the Square Pegs!" West says he thinks it's cool that she's into genetics, but Claire says she's not "into" genetics, and West gets all lecture-y on her ass again and tells her that she doesn't have to hide every interesting thing about herself, and she's like, "Dude? If you want me to make out with you, then you'd BETTER STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO." But West gets all excited about biology and genetics and tells her that he's just found this book by some Indian guy and it's about people who've evolved, just like Claire was talking about. Claire covers her obvious interest by snarkily saying that she's leaving all her awesome genetics textbooks for summer reading. West wants Claire to see the book, but she says she doesn't really care about all that, and that if he loves lizards, that's cool, she's gotta go. She turns to bleep-bleep her car but...it's not there. "Where's my car?" she says in disbelief. "If it was up your butt, you'd know it," says West. I'll just say right now that I don't get the car being stolen side plot, and if it doesn't have more significance than Claire being an idiot and not locking the car, then I'm going to have a fucking bone to pick with Tim Kring. A big huge brontofuckingsaurus bone to pick.
1671. Hiro and Yaeko step down from the horse as he apologizes for being a lousy rider. She says she owes him an apology, because she thought he'd run off with their money. He promises that her father will be rescued, and she says he's as honorable as he is brave. They stop beneath some cherry blossom trees and say some stuff that's pretty stilted and romantic and I think they're actually saying the same stuff Hiro used to hear in the stories his father told them. She's totally falling in love with him and he with her. She asks him to remove his mask, but he won't. He tells her he has things to say that he can't with the mask off. Hiro tells Yaeko that it's no surprise Takezo Kensei's love for her will be the stuff of legend, and she blushes. She raises her face up to be kissed. Hiro stops time and takes off his mask, apparently about to kiss Yaeko. But then he gets this really sad look on his face and stops. When time starts again, Yaeko is still waiting to be kissed, but she opens her eyes and sees that the cherry blossom trees are showering her with petals and Kensei has disappeared.
Haiti. The Haitian Sensation is all better, so Mohinder's cure has worked again. He's distressed, though, because this means that the virus is spreading. And it's getting worse: if he hadn't shown up, HS would have been dead by morning. He tells HS that The Company wants to bring him in for observation. HS's alarm bells start ringing, and he gets up and stands across from Mohinder. "Of course," he says calmly. "There's always a company." Mohinder looks up at him and the camera swivels around...
...until we're looking at Tobby, not HS. "Where's the Haitian?" demands Tobby. "The Haitian?" asks Mohinder, confused. "Isn't he in Haiti?" Tobby informs Mohinder that they're IN Haiti, and that he's been out of contact for hours. Mohinder says the last thing he remembers was being in Tobby's office. "He wouldn't have been able to take your memory unless the vaccine worked," says Tobby. "So...apparently it did." Mohinder looks stunned. He's totally faking it, y'all. He and the Haitian Sensation are in cahoots! Tobby lets Mohinder off with a warning, saying that he'll chalk this up to a rookie mistake, but that he'd better not let it happen again.
Guatemala. The Blackness Twins and their guide are tromping through some woods on their way to the border. They stop alongside a road, and the guide points out a pipe across the way that goes under the river which I guess separates Guatemala from Mexico. She immediately runs across the road and into the pipe. Maya goes . Before Alejandro can go, however, a truck approaches. The guide begs Maya to get in the pipe and leave Alejandro behind. Maya doesn't want to, but she eventually climbs inside. Cops get out of the truck as Alejandro stays out of sight.
Once on the other side, Maya tries to tell the guide that she won't leave without her brother. The guide is adamant that they get the hell out of there before they're caught. Maya starts breathing heavily and freaking out, and when the guide reaches out to touch her, Maya spins around and we see her eyes filling up with black stuff. I thought it was blood in the premiere episode, but it's definitely black, and it's leaking down her face. The guide springs back, and suddenly starts clutching at her neck as if she's being choked. She drops to the ground, and Maya calls out for her brother. She kneels to the guide and starts praying. The guide now has black stuff leaking from her eyes as well.
Alejandro shows up and sees the black stuff everywhere. Maya tells him it's too late. But he tells her to take his hand and he'll make it okay. They hold hands, and he sings softly, and slowly, the blackness disappears from her eyes and gets pulled into his. Only in his eyes, it disappears. It also disappears from the guide's eyes, and she gets to her feet, declaring them both devils. Alejandro seems exhausted by his deed. He begs the guide to stay, as they have no idea where they're going. The guide's not interested in hanging out with people who have serious waterproof mascara issues, though, and she just beats tracks outta there.
Klinko's. Claire enters the store and goes right to her father, who's busy stocking gummi bears for receptionists with popularity complexes. Claire asks him to promise not to freak out after she tells him something, and she grimaces as she confesses, "My car kinda got stolen." Bennet breathes a sigh of relief, saying he thought it was going to be something far worse, like, she cut off her own head and grew another, right in front of the principal or something. "I know," smiles Claire. "What's a stolen car when you're running for your life?" Bennet looks around to see if anyone overheard her comment, but they seem to be in the clear. That's when Claire rather stupidly says that she loved the car a whole bunch and if he ever wanted to give her another one, she'd totally never leave it unlocked ever again. Sure, Claire. He just bought you a $20,000 fucking car and you LOST IT; he's totally going to buy you ANOTHER ONE. Bennet's like, "You left it UNLOCKED? It has a dang auto lock keychain thingy! It's not like you have to stick the key in and lock it yourself! What the hell is WRONG with you?" He hastily ushers her into the back room as they discuss how he needs to be able to trust her because they're in hiding and it's dangerous. "We're in hiding because of something I can do," she says, "and I don't even know what that is." Bennet tells her that she knows plenty. Claire starts to go off, saying that she doesn't know the limits of her own gift; if she cuts off her arm, does it grow back? Is she missing her opportunity to help people? If her skin regenerates after being boiled, would her blood maybe help a burn victim? SHE WANTS TO KNOW! Bennet's finally had enough and he snaps at her to give it a rest. She says that he can yell at her all he wants about the car, but that this is who she is, and she's tired of having to hide it! He gets right up in her face and tells her that he's kept her in hiding all these years so that she wouldn't have to find out her limits, and if The Company finds out where she is, they'll cut her and test her and ruin her life. He ends by saying that he realizes this secret life stuff sucks, but that the cage he's keeping her in now is far freer than the one she'd be in if The Company got hold of her. He walks off to go back to work, leaving Claire to wonder what would happen if she cut off her own leg and beat her father over the head with it.
Interrogation Room. Matt and the chief are questioning Ma Petrelli about her relationship with Kaito Nakamura. Matt asks her if she had a fight with Kaito; she says that they were old friends, and that friends sometimes argue. He asks whether she slapped him, and she coolly responds that Kaito made an offhand comment about her son's death that she felt deserved a smack. The chief mentions that Angela is a major shareholder in Kaito's company, and that the stock has been in the toilet for some time now. "You think I killed Kaito over money?" she asks. "The most common reasons for murder are money and sex," mumbles Matt. "Well, I don't need the money," she says, "and Kaito and I weren't sleeping together." She pauses and looks down at the table fondly. "Not for a long time." D'oh! Matt and the chief are like, "Hee!" Matt passes Angela the picture of Kaito with the "S" symbol on it, and asks whether she's ever seen the symbol before. She pushes the photo back and says that it's the logo of her husband's law firm, which it totally isn't. He asks her why it's drawn across Kaito's face, and she says she doesn't know. But her thoughts say, "Because we did something terrible and now someone wants revenge." Matt then asks whether anyone would want revenge on Kaito or her or anyone she knows. Angela shuts down completely and demands her lawyer as the chief is all, "The huh?" "Who wants revenge, Mrs. Petrelli?" demands Matt. She stares at him and he stares at her and then she thinks, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!," and Matt totally flinches. Angela sees this and instantly knows what Matt can do.
Outside at the desk, Nathan's Beard is signing the necessary documents to release his mother. Matt comes out to shake the Beard's hand, but he can't find it because OH MY GOD THE BEARD IS AS DEEP AND DARK AS A BOWL OF BLACK FOREST PUDDING. Christ almighty -- is that the Pasdar's real fur? Because you could harvest that shit and make a year's worth of pot scrubbers out of it. Dang. So Matt and Nathan meet, and Nathan's like, "I know you," and Matt reminds him that they met back in Texas when Peter was in jail. He tells Nathan to follow him to go see Ma Petrelli. "She's not gonna want to see me," says Nathan. "I just came to get her out." "Then why'd she ask us to call you?" "She doesn't have anyone else."
Just then, the lights flicker on and off, finally going out and reverting to generators. Back in the interrogation room, Angela screams. Matt and Nathan run toward the sound. We see a glimpse of Angela in the room, fighting off something that seems to be slashing at her. Matt tries the door, but it's locked, even though you can't lock it from the inside. They all run into the viewing room as Angela continues to scream at her attacker. Matt grabs a chair and heaves it at the glass until it breaks, revealing that Angela is alone in the room, even though her face and body have clearly been cut. Matt asks who did this to her, but she says nothing. He grabs a photo out of her hand and sees the shot of her with the "S" symbol scrawled across it.
Gosh and Begorrah Pub. It's Peter's turn to tend to Caitlin's injuries. He puts some ice on her hand as she asks him to explain about the stuff that he did. He says he didn't do anything. "Make up a story," she says. "Tell me you lost your memory about tonight, too. But don't pretend I'm stupid." The door bangs open, and it's Sir Shamrock, royally pissed that Peter's fucked with McSorley's sons, even though Peter had no idea they were McSorley's sons, nor did he care. "time," he snits, "I'll leave him alone with your sister." Sir Shamrock grabs Peter's shoulder and whips him around, pointing a gun at his chest. He says that Peter's actions turned a fixable monetary problem into a full-on blood feud. Caitlin throws a "Ricky" at her brother as a warning, and he puts away his gun. But he's not done talking. Ricky tells Peter that he's going to help them throw one last heist -- something big that'll put a stack of money on McSorley's desk. Peter says he's not a thief. Ricky replies that he may not be a thief, but that he certainly handled the McSorley boys like a pro, which makes him something else, all right. Peter threatens to do the same thing to Ricky and walk the fuck outta there, but Ricky pulls out an ornate box and says, "You might want this...Peter." "My name's Peter?" "Sounds about right, doesn't it? Just something I read. This here's everything you had on ya when we found ya. Credit cards, maybe a train ticket. Could even be a love letter." Peter reaches for it, but Ricky holds it out over the fire and says that it could easily be his if he'd just help them out with one little job. Now, why Peter doesn't just teleport that box into his own hands is beyond me, but I guess doing so would eliminate the need for...the rest of this storyline.
1671. Again. Some more. Hiro enters a building, calling out for Kensei. He finds him, and soon learns that Kensei's pissed that Hiro took his armor and left him with fuck-all. Hiro explains that he did it so that people would think he was a hero instead of a drunk: "And I did it! "You did?" says Kensei. "And what exactly did I do on this day?" Hiro informs him that he disarmed eleven men and rescued a beautiful girl. Kensei can't believe that Hiro did all that and didn't take the credit for himself.
Yaeko shows up just then, and runs over to Kensei to give him the sword that's rightfully his. She hands it to him, and their hands touch, and I can't tell if the look on her face is, "Ooooh, he touched me!" or "Heeeeey, he's a white guy!" She runs off before I can examine the question further, and calls after Kensei to hurry the hell up. Kensei's all, "Errrrr?" Hiro reminds him that they still have to rescue Yaeko's father. She tells him to meet her at the stables, and runs out. Kensei grabs his armor from Hiro and says that he's in. Hiro can't believe it. Kensei's only in it for the rewards and women, though, and he asks if Hiro can make him into the hero everyone believes he is. Hiro says that he can, as long as Kensei stops drinking. "No promises," says Kensei, echoing my own sentiments exactly.
Kensei walks out the door, only to be greeted by the eleven samurai whom Hiro bested earlier. They shoot him with three arrows and he goes down. The men run off, and Hiro drops down to Kensei and pulls out one of the arrows. Kensei apologizes for not being able to follow through on their plans, gasping, "Guess I'll be a hero time around." Hiro shakes him and tells him he cannot die, but Kensei goes ahead and dies anyway. Hiro's about to have a big old sob-fest when he sees one of the arrow-wounds close up. Kensei's eyes open and he looks up at Hiro. "Godsend!" says Hiro. Kensei looks well and truly spooked.
Mohinder's Apartment. Molly's asleep, with Matt snoozing in the chair to her bed. Mohinder comes home. His cell rings as he's pulling Molly's blanket up to her chin. It's Bennet, who asks whether Mohinder's trip was successful. "You should have the answer to that very shortly," says Mohinder. Bennet asks whether he aroused any suspicions. Mohinder doesn't think so, but The Company will be watching him more closely now. Bennet tells him not to worry; he'll find the rest of the paintings himself. "Are you sure?" asks Mohinder. Bennet turns and smiles at someone coming in the door, telling Mohinder, "You've given me everything I need." Across the counter from him is none other than the Haitian Sensation. Bennet welcomes him to Klinko's and they smile at each other and shake hands. Aw.
Bennet House. Hee. Claire and Mr. Muggles are watching a dog show on TV as Claire does her nails. Claire's barely paying attention to the show, but Mr. Muggles is riveted, all, "I'm studying the competition, that's all. It pays to be informed as to one's possible chances in future races, no?" Mrs. Bennet walks in with the laundry and demands that Claire change the channel, because watching shows like that just rubs salt in poor Mr. Muggles's wounds. Mr. Muggles: "I told you, I'm STUDYING the COMPETITION. God, she's so sensitive." Claire apologizes to Mr. Muggles, saying that it was inconsiderate of her. Mr. Muggles: "Aight." Then she changes the channel. And Mr. Muggles gets PISSED, like, "What are you DOING, you stupid blonde freak? I was WATCHING that. Do you know that Pomeranian bitch is in HEAT month? Mr. Muggles is gonna get his sex on! I may not be able to compete, but I can give some little fluffball a run for her money, n'est-ce pas? TURN IT BACK ON." Claire looks at him and says, "You're right, it doesn't help to avoid it." So she puts the show back on and settles back into the pillows to read about lizards. After a second or two, she looks down at her right foot and seems to get an idea. She spots some scissors on the table and grabs them. And then? SHE CUTS OFF HER PINKY TOE. Oh, for real. She grimaces with pain and orders her toe to grow back, but it doesn't. She orders it again: nothing. Then, miraculously, a small nub of bone appears, and veins and muscles grow around it, and then the whole toe completes itself, only without nail polish. "No way!" says Claire. "There's a dude staring at you through the window!" says Mr. Muggles. "Shit, she saw me," says West, and runs off. Claire runs out of the house with Mr. Muggles following. She stands in the driveway and looks around, but no one's there. However, Papa Suresh's book is lying there. Claire picks it up as Mr. Muggles continues to bark, seemingly at nothing. Mr. Muggles: "It's not nothing! That guy's hovering up there watching us! Gross!"
on Heroes: "What's in the Box" becomes the new "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World."