In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
I have to admit, this one was a big improvement, although the storylines are still wildly uneven. Nathan and Tracy are boning, and she tells him about killing The Greatest American Reporter. She thinks she should turn herself in, but he doesn't want her to tell people about them, and reiterates his belief that God gave them their powers. Tracy, however, disabuses him of that notion, at least when it comes to her ability. Meanwhile, Peter, unable to control Sylar's power, almost kills his mother, only being stopped in the nick of time by Sylar. Nathan and Tracy then come to see Mama Petrelli, who tells them Zimmerman was instrumental in developing "synthetic abilities" -- one of which was given to Nathan. He's stunned, of course, that she and his father used him in this experiment, and although she begs him for help to find the formula so the synthetic abilities can never be given out again, he tells her to go to hell, and suggests to Tracy that they need to go see Mohinder. This is not the greatest idea, however, as Mohinder is keeping up appearances with Maya, but is secretly kidnapping people and cocooning them, so it looks like he's becoming a spider, as it seemed might be the case last episode. Maya gets wind that something's wrong and tries to free the neighbor from last week, but Mohinder catches her, and although she initially keeps him at bay with her black tears, he talks her into stopping, only to capture and cocoon her. DUMB. Back at The Company, Mama Petrelli has another horrible dream, this one of Tracy and Nathan and Peter all dead, and then a mysterious man she knows and fears shows up and seems to imprison her inside her own body. I hope her dreams at least get a little less scary, because that's all she'll have to keep her company for a while.
Across the country, Sandra figures out that Claire is going after a villain, and worries that she might be targeting a guy whose power is to create vortexes -- vortexes that could make even invulnerable Claire disappear forever. Meredith, however, is more worried that she's going after "Eric Doyle," whom she knows to be a "horrible man" and who's nearer to them, so she goes to check him out. Sandra's instincts are correct in that Claire does confront the vortex guy, but even though he gets her in his power, he merely tells her that The Company forcibly separated him from his family, and he never meant to hurt anyone. Claire ends up helping him set up a rendezvous with his family, but things go pear-shaped when Sylar and Bennet show up. Vortex Guy uses his power to escape, and it's again Sylar who saves Claire from being sucked away for good. This does not stop Claire from being HELLA pissed at her dad for working with her attacker, but he does talk her into giving up Vortex Guy's location. Claire finds him distraught, as his family didn't show up. Things then get really tense as Bennet appears, puts a gun to Vortex Guy's head, and instructs him to use his power to get rid of Sylar. Vortex Guy kills himself rather than kill anyone else again, though, and from Claire's face it doesn't look like she's ever going to trust Dad again, even though she tells him she understands why he does the things he does. Oh, and Meredith wasn't kidding about that guy, by the way. I mean, he likes puppets -- how much scarier could he be?
Finally, Hiro tries to get Adam to tell him who's behind the formula theft, but we find out independently that it's Linderman, who's apparently running that Pinehearst company from last episode, and tries to get Daphne to recruit others who have "lost their way," such as Knox and Mohinder, to their cause. Adam takes Hiro and Ando to a bar that's apparently the go-to place for hiring "specials," but this only results in Hiro getting knocked out and Adam escaping -- only to be knocked out in turn and kidnapped by Knox. Hiro and Ando drown their sorrows, but things turn when Daphne and Knox show up, and Hiro and Ando fake interest in signing up with them. Knox asks Hiro to demonstrate his loyalty by killing Ando, WHICH HE DOES, to Daphne's chagrin. Of course, he'll probably time-shift back or something and save him, but that was still quite a twist. Linderman pooh-poohs Daphne's distress before ordering her to recruit Matt. But when she's gone, the world is overturned -- it turns out Linderman isn't really Linderman, just a vision that Maury Parkman has been causing to appear to Nathan and Daphne, at the behest of the man who attacked Angela -- PAPA PETRELLI! He's alive! ALIIIIIIIVE!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The guy who sometimes voices over the previouslies is back. Considering everything he tells us is then explicitly depicted in the scenes shown, I'm not sure why they bothered. On the other hand, anyone who chose to skip the first four episodes should be rewarded for such foresight. But as I said in the recaplet, this episode is a big improvement, not least because Peter's in it for only about fifteen seconds. Onward!
Nathan's awake as he spoons the sleeping Tracy in her bed, and apparently some people on the show are listening to some degree, because Mohinder's voiceover has been replaced by one by Nathan. Either that, or Mohinder is too unruly to get into the recording studio now that he's a spider. Nathan talks about getting touched by God and second chances and purposes and it's repetitive and boring, so know that the VO goes on in this vein as we see a replay of Peter materializing and grabbing Sylar, and considering we saw this not only at the end of last episode but also IN THE PREVIOUSLIES LIKE TWO SECONDS AGO, they could have cut this part out. In her car, Claire shows us some sort of weapon before putting it away in her jacket, and then we get another replay, this one of Adam grabbing Hiro by the throat. That one I could stand to watch a few more times. We see Mohinder sitting in a wooded park, watching someone shiftily, as Nathan concludes by wondering if God, or he, knows what he is. "Am I an angel, or a monster? A hero, or a villain?" Given that the shot is of Nathan in a tight v-neck, I know which one I'm going with. He stumbles to the refrigerator, and when he opens it, we see a chyron with the episode title on the door; then, we switch angles to the other side, so when he shuts the door, it reveals Linderman standing there. He doesn't even flinch, which is impressive, merely holding the milk out (hmm, drinking milk, just like Mohinder. Probably a coincidence, but what is he, twelve?) and offering Linderman a drink. Linderman doesn't react, so Nathan gets all "Ah HA" about the whole thing, saying that Linderman isn't really there. Nathan catches the viewing audience up some more on the events of last episode by way of asking for "some straight answers," and Linderman suggests that his timely rescue of Tracy was due to guidance from a higher power. Nathan is skeptical that Linderman is a messenger from God, but Linderman babbles about the burning bush and the Virgin Mary and Samuel and man, between the previouslies and this boring scene I sure was surprised that this episode ended up being worth watching. Linderman wraps it up: "God resides within. The answers will come." Tracy then calls from behind Nathan, and when he turns, Linderman is gone. Tracy uncertainly asks Nathan who he was talking to, and his response is nobody. "Just clearing my head." Tracy looks at him like, "Could you maybe do so by taking a walk or doing some yoga? Or anything that's not certifiable?"
Out in the park, Mohinder accosts a dude out of nowhere and asks him what he's got. The guy does not go through the usual weed-out-the-cops precautions due to time constraints, instead asking Mohinder what he needs. After a bit of back and forth, he becomes aware that Mohinder is, if you'll excuse the expression, bugging, and draws a knife, but Mohinder easily overpowers him and says he doesn't need his drugs. "I need you." I'll point out that gay sex has not yet been ruled out.
Speaking of which, we replay part of that scene YET AGAIN as Sylar tells Peter he's just like him, but from a different camera angle -- this time we can see Mama Petrelli come into view through the window. After Sylar calls him "brother," Peter yells in denial and snaps Sylar's neck. Mama Petrelli comes rushing in, which is really silly since she knows Sylar's in no actual danger, and she barely has time to tell Peter to stop before he reaches out a hand and immobilizes her, just like he did Future Nathan. She tells him he doesn't know what he's doing, but he points out that she never told him Sylar was his brother, and wonders what other secrets she's keeping. She looks truly terrified as he threatens to cut open her head and extract them himself. Again overwhelmed by Sylar's power, he raises a finger and starts to do just that, but Mama Petrelli's bloodcurdling screams are enough to get Sylar to his feet, and after he wrenches his neck on straight (nice effect there), he TKs Peter into the glass, knocking him out. Another little bit I wouldn't mind watching again. And again. Sylar rushes over to his mother and, with genuine concern, asks if she's all right, and she says she is, even though Peter did draw some blood. Sylar then asks after Peter, and Mama Petrelli, presumably referring to his battle against the hunger, says she'll make sure he's okay. She goes to his side, leaving Sylar to see Bennet appear through the broken window and silently beckon to him. Sylar exits, and Bennet tells him they have a lead on a new target. Sylar disbelievingly asks if Bennet wants him to accompany him, and Bennet replies, "Don't make this harder than it already is." Heh. He walks off, and Sylar, with a look back into the cell, follows.
Costa Verde. Sandra is urgently looking through her husband's files when Meredith appears and asks what's up. Sandra disgustedly says there was no cheerleading retreat, and Claire isn't answering her phone. She berates herself for falling for Claire's ruse, and speculates that she's gone after one of the villains. Pointing out Claire's invulnerability, Meredith isn't too worried until Sandra produces the file of a "Steven Canfield," who apparently can create vortexes and make people disappear forever. Does he take requests? This gets Meredith's attention, but she gets ten times more freaked when she comes across a picture of a bald, bearded guy she recognizes. She says they'd better hope Claire didn't go after this "Eric Doyle," who's a horrible man. "You don't even want to know." People have been overusing that statement on this show lately, but I've seen the rest of the episode and she's all kinds of right. Meredith says that he doesn't live far from them, and she's going to start there. Sandra volunteers to go with her, but Meredith won't hear of it, and gratuitously demonstrates her power to make her point. And she does have a point, but I still think Sandra and Mr. Muggles are a one-two punch that can't be stopped. Sandra focuses in on the picture of Canfield...
...and we cut to the man himself, who's in a now-empty house on the phone with his sister-in-law, desperately trying to find out where his family is. She refuses to tell him and hangs up, though, and in frustration, he opens a vortex and sucks some papers and other crap into it before it quickly closes. This guy could hire himself out as a maid and retire within a year. (By the way, Canfield is played by Andre Royo, whom viewers of The Wire will remember as Bubbles.) Canfield then hears footsteps, and asks if someone's there. He steps forward, but an angle switch reveals to us that Claire is behind him holding her weapon. Claire tells him she's behind him, and it turns out she's holding a taser, which emits a high-pitched whine and then spits out an electrical charge that sends Canfield twitching to the ground. Claire smiles and gloats, "Gotcha," and even the title card is like, "Honey, please."
Hiro manages to choke out that he needs Adam's help, and Adam asks the reasonable question of why he would help Hiro, given that he buried him alive. Hiro, however, chooses to answer simply by squinting out his Number Two Face, after which Adam is back in the closed coffin. This deft nonverbal parry, however, is followed up by a tiresome conversation about how Adam killed Kaito and he's a VILLAIN but Hiro's a HERO and heroes must take RISKS to SAVE the WORLD, and I'd be totally bored were it not for the fact that Adam has been keeping up a steady stream of invective toward Hiro and continuous knocking on the inside of the coffin. David Anders just totally rules. Hiro calls in that he'll give Adam another chance if he behaves, and the knocking ceases and Adam singsongs, "Okay!" Hee. Hiro zaps Adam back out, and as soon as he mentions the formula, Adam laughs at The Company's predicament. "Even I told them to destroy it." Ando asks if, then, he knows who would steal it, and Adam slyly says maybe, but asks what's in it for him if he tells them. Hiro: "When we finish our mission, I promise to put you in a more special cell." If that's indicative of Hiro's negotiating skills, it's just as well he's not actively running his dad's company. Adam tells them to forget it, but when Hiro makes to put him back, Adam asks him to wait, and spits that he's a "Japanese Nazi." Hiro's like, "I should really argue this point, but this episode has five hundred scenes and we're already over our time quota, so I'll let it go." Adam suggests Mama Petrelli as the thief, but when he learns that she gave them their assignment, he tells them he's out of ideas. Hiro zaps him back into the coffin, which shouldn't be funny but it's David Anders so it totally is, and Adam calls from within that he knows how to find the big villain. "I have a plan!" Hiro gets excited at the word "plan," even though every time he uses it the world gets closer to extinction. Ando looks more skeptical, because he is the brains of the outfit.
Establishing shot of a building marked "Pinehearst," and the logo of the double helix to the name is rather suggestive, no? Inside, Linderman asks Daphne how she feels about recruiting, and Daphne's reply is unfortunately not "Don't get the wrong idea from my hair." Instead, she asks for clarification, and Linderman replies that it would be on behalf of "an organization for a new world order." He goes on that they could live in a world where people like her are embraced and their gifts acknowledged and respected, and Daphne's fine with that as long as she keeps getting paid. In other words: This entire conversation is completely unnecessary. If the show asked whether that was true in every scene, it would be more exciting. And a lot shorter. Linderman instructs her to invite people like her to join them, and gestures to a stack of files in front of him. "Everything you need to know is right here." It'd be pretty funny if the first one contained a conditioner ad. I mean, Linderman's hair is pretty spiky, but I think even he has his limits. But no, the files actually contain pictures of Knox and Mohinder, and after a quick look at the attendant information about them, Daphne concludes that they're some pretty nasty people. "I don't like getting my hands dirty." Linderman has rarely looked shiftier as he says that they've merely lost their way. "It's time for us to give them purpose." Daphne stares like she's trying to look through him, which will make more sense later.
Sylar's eatin' an apple and fiddling with the radio when Bennet snaps it off: "Just... sit." Sylar doesn't respond "Okay, Dad," which I only recommend in his case because he's immortal. Bennet tells Sylar that this was all Mama Petrelli's idea, and he would have left Sylar to rot. Sylar tells him that rehabilitation doesn't happen overnight, and he is trying, which is kind of evidenced by the fact that Bennet is, you know, STILL ALIVE. Bennet, however, feigns a gentle tone and says he understands. "Killing is just in your nature." If among Sylar's many purloined powers is an Irony Detector, it should be going off just about now. (By the way, you really need to read Jack Coleman's blog about filming this scene -- it's hilarious.)
Canfield shakily gets to his feet as Claire keeps the taser on him and tells him she's bringing him back to Level 5. I don't mean to denigrate her efforts, but... how is she going to do that, logistically? Does she have restraints of any kind with her? Or is she just going to make him drive? Anyway, these fascinating questions are rendered moot, as after Canfield tells her he just made one mistake and for that got locked away for two years without even getting to say goodbye to his family, he opens a vortex and sucks the taser into oblivion. Claire's face: "Whoops!"
Mohinder drags the drug dealer, who's either unconscious or dead, into his lab, not particularly caring that he bangs the guy's head on every step of the interior staircase, which leaves a profuse trail of blood from the stairs to the room at the back of the place. Mohinder slaps the guy up on a gurney, and then pulls up the back of his shirt and takes a look in the mirror, which reveals that something is definitely sprouting out of his back. And while it looks arachnid, I have the feeling a cute pig called Wilbur is not going to factor into this storyline. Just then, we hear the front door close, and Maya call Mohinder's name, so he rushes out to greet her. They embrace, but then he notices the flyer she got off his door declaring his abusive neighbor missing. Actually, given that Mohinder beat the guy up, you'd think the police would have been by to question him, but maybe his girlfriend finally broke out of that stereotype and realized she was onto a good thing here. Mohinder changes the subject, saying the stage in his research could be the answer to taking away her ability. She turns away, which seems odd, but if there were any time for her to develop a Spidey sense, it's now. (Oh, come on, you were thinking it.) He nuzzles her neck from behind, but she freaks out for real when she sees the blood on the floor, although she covers competently, saying she should let him get back to work and make herself scarce. When she's gone, Mohinder heads to the back room and puts the flyer on his desk, from which we pan up... to see the guy cocooned against the wall. And while I derided, the abuser storyline last episode as hopelessly clichéd, I'll admit that I've never seen it end quite like this.
Now that Claire has been taken down a peg or eight, Canfield tells her The Company has things wrong -- he never meant to hurt anyone. Claire's phone then rings, and he asks if it's her partner calling. When she tells him she doesn't have one, he recites the "one of us, one of them" rule, but then realizes she's not with The Company. He then produces a Pinehearst card and asks if she's with them, which is interesting, but when she denies involvement with them as well, he asks who she is and how she knows about him. She skips to the second question, saying she read his file and he killed a man, but he swears it was an accident. He tells her he got into an argument with his neighbor that got heated, and the thing he knew, he was gone. Hey, cheer up -- maybe the vortexes send you someplace awesome, like Tahiti! It's not like anyone would come back if that were the case. Canfield's voice breaks as he says he never meant to hurt the guy, but The Company locked him away without a lawyer or a trial, and he just wants to see his wife and children again, even if it's for the last time. Claire's resolve is weakening, and Canfield administers the coup de grace: "I just want to be normal." From Buffy Summers to Veronica Mars, no teenaged television heroine has been able to resist the clarion call of those words. On top of that, Canfield offers to let Claire go, but she uncomfortably replies, "Maybe I can help." Unlike some other similarly-intentioned people on the show, she might actually do that!
Tracy and Nathan are getting dressed, and after some initial resistance, he gets her to admit the reason she tried to kill herself, which was guilt over The Greatest American Reporter's death, the circumstances of which she recounts. Nathan rather blandly opines that it was an accident, like he was so chill when a miscue of his caused his wife's paralysis, and urgently tries to make her see that turning herself in isn't a good idea. He tells her how he was going to let the world know about his power and even called a press conference for that purpose, but he got shot. "I died. And then I saw God. And I truly believe with all my heart that he's got a higher purpose for us." Tracy is incredulous that Nathan thinks their powers came from above, and tells him that hers were courtesy of "a doctor in Reseda, California." Come on, you don't have to tell people where that is! Everyone knows the lyrics to "Free Fallin'," right? Anyway, Nathan looks constipated. I wonder if it's all the milk.
Claire gives Canfield a number for his wife she found in his Company file, and he thanks her for everything before making the call. He gets her on the phone, and emotionally tells her he needs to see her as Claire smiles beatifically. He barely can set a rendezvous, though, before the phone cuts off and Bennet appears, gun drawn. Bennet and Claire are both thunderstruck, and of course when Canfield learns that Claire is Bennet's daughter, he thinks he's been betrayed, so he grabs her as a shield just as Sylar enters and bellows at him to let go of her. Claire asks what the hell Sylar is doing there, and then apologizes to Canfield, who tells her it's not over yet. "Hold on to something." Awwww yeah. He opens a vortex in the floor that's way more powerful than anything we've seen from him so far (I should add that the vortex effects look awesome and are very scary) and escapes as everyone, even Sylar, holds on to pillars and random furniture for dear life. Claire is fighting a losing battle from the beginning, though, and eventually lets go -- only to be grabbed in the nick of time by Sylar. He may be changing his spots, but he sure loves to drag it out until the very last second. Claire stares hatefully at Sylar, and Bennet's impotent expression of terror sends us into the commercial break.
When we return, Sylar only has to hang on for a few more seconds before the vortex closes up, causing Claire to fall flat on her face. She looks at Sylar balefully, which seems like an overreaction given the immediate circumstances, but she's probably still pissed about the brain thing. Teenagers can hold such grudges. Sylar asks if she's okay, and Claire makes me giggle with her petulant response: "Peachy." Bennet pulls Claire into an unreturned embrace, and then Sylar, who went out to check outside, returns and says Canfield is gone. Bennet turns to Claire and asks where Canfield was going, and he at least sounds like he knows he needs to tread somewhat lightly here as he says Canfield is dangerous, but Claire responds that he isn't, and who is he to talk anyway, having brought Sylar here? Sylar steps forward and apologizes, saying when he touched her, he could feel the pain he caused her, but Bennet gets all Protecto-Dad and tells him he doesn't get to talk to her. "Ever." Nice try, Bennet, but in a couple episodes they're going to be IMing about how you just don't understand them. You should see the emoticon they're going to pick out for you! Claire desperately tells Bennet that Canfield isn't a killer -- he's just having problems, like she did, only he has no one to help him like Bennet helped her. Bennet puts on his kindest, most fatherly face as he tells Claire just to let him talk to Canfield, and if what she says is true, he'll make other arrangements. "You can trust me, Claire. I wouldn't send anybody to Level 5 that doesn't belong there." Claire looks pointedly at Sylar, which suggests that on some level she doesn't believe Bennet even now, but tells him Canfield is at the Griffith Park carousel. You can only play the "you can trust me" card while baldly lying once, Bennet. I hope it's worth it.
Adam leads Hiro and Ando into a saloon (well, it's got the swinging doors, anyway) and Hiro gets shirty: "This is your plan? Go to a bar?" You... have met him, right? Adam says he hasn't had a drink in months, and "they make a mean appletini." Hearing David Anders say "mean appletini" is one of life's sublime pleasures. Now if they can just get him to say "nitro-burning funny cars," my life will be complete. (In the British accent, of course -- he does it so well.) Hiro threatens coffin time again, but Adam explains that the bar is the place to contract "specials," and since they know Daphne was hired, it seems like a good place to find a lead. Adam tells them to try to look tough while straightening Hiro's tie like he knows that's not happening, but Hiro gets the last laugh when Ando tries to stand all puffy-chested and broad-shouldered and stiff-armed, and he tells him, "He said took tough. Not like Mr. Roboto." That made me laugh, Hiro. Domo arigato. Adam jauntily tries to order a drink, but when the bartender, who looks like something Dian Fossey would have loved to hang out with, turns to face him, we quickly learn that Adam slept with his wife. And given that the bartender is about a foot taller than Adam and twice as wide, I think it's fair to say that the wife doesn't have a type. The guy hops the bar and swings at Adam, who ducks, leaving Hiro to get knocked out instead. Oh, Hiro. Just because you were told to act tough doesn't mean dodging a punch is off the table. Speaking of judicious avoidance, Adam runs for his life (so to speak) as Ando tries to get Hiro to wake up, even playing with his eyes to try to get him to freeze time, which is funnier than it has any right to be. Anyway, without Hiro there to control him, Adam is gone.
Mama Petrelli is standing over Peter, who's unconscious and strapped to a gurney, just like Sylar a few episodes ago, which seems obviously fitting. Nathan and Tracy enter, and Mama Petrelli tells Nathan she had to put Peter in a medically-induced coma, and then explains what happened before telling him they're in trouble and looking appraisingly at Tracy. Nathan kneels by Peter's side as he introduces her, but Mama Petrelli says she knows who she is, why she's come, and even that she saw Zimmerman. Pull up a chair, Tracy -- you could be there a while. She says if that's true, Mama Petrelli can help her, but Mama Petrelli breezily tells her Zimmerman's work was classified. Tracy threatens to go public, and Nathan asks his mother what she's hiding. She considers for a moment, and then confesses that Zimmerman was instrumental in developing "synthetic abilities" -- a technology they used experimentally on a number of infants, including Tracy, Niki, and Barbara -- and Nathan as well. Peter's like, "Damn, bro, I wish I could open my eyes to see the look on your face."
Maya has returned to the lab, alone, because she is dumb, and quickly checks out the back room and is appropriately horrified to discover what her boyfriend has been up to in his spare time. She's then startled to learn that the abuser neighbor is still alive, and tries to cut away his bonds, but she barely gets started before she hears the front door signaling Mohinder's return. It's odd that he seems to have lost the sensitivity to the sun with which he was struggling, as it's day now and was the same when he attacked the dude in the park, but I suppose the lighting guys have a tough enough job on this show as it is. Mohinder doesn't seem to realize there's anything off until he enters the back room and sees the chair Maya was standing on still to the abuser guy. He examines the cocoon closely, sees the damage, and starts walking gingerly around. A lower angle shows that Maya is hiding under the room's only cover -- the gurney in the middle, which now has a large white sheet over it. I agree that the room needed some sprucing up, but I might have started with the half-dead bodies stuck to the wall. Or maybe some tapestries! Anyway, Maya can't take it anymore and starts to cry her black tears, causing Mohinder to double over in pain. The abuser guy's eyes go black too, and Mohinder manages to toss away the table and tell her to control her power. "You don't want to be a killer again, do you?" Well, given that no one seems to be coming along with a giant shoe to save her, I'm not clear that she has any choice. Oh, wait, she does -- KEEP HIM AT BAY WITH YOUR TEARS AND RUN THE HELL OUT OF THERE! But she doesn't, merely ceasing her attack, then getting to her feet and calling him a MONSTER. Mohinder amusingly cocks his head to one side: "I wish you hadn't said that." He advances on her, and we get the commercial break to contemplate how mind-numbingly stupid she is. I'm not sure it will be enough time.
Hiro, holding his jaw, rushes outside with Ando to the alley behind the bar or wherever and bemoans the fact that Adam is gone. Ando tells him they should look around, so they do, but after they pass a dumpster without checking it out, Adam pops his head up, quietly jumps out, and starts to head the other way with a satisfied smile, which is Knox's cue to pop out from behind another receptacle and wipe the smirk off his face with his fist. Hiro and Ando have apparently gone deaf, as they hear none of this, which allows Knox to get the unconscious Adam into his rape van. (Come on, the thing has drapes on the windows!) I knew Hiro's hearing was very selective, what with him ignoring anything sensible he's ever been told to do, but I didn't know Ando suffered from the same condition. Once Adam's stowed away, Knox calls someone and reports success, and then asks what he should do about "the two Japanese guys." Well, it looked like there was a lot of room in the rape van, but Knox may not want to drive and listen to that at the same time.
In Mama Petrelli's office, Nathan and Tracy are examining some records of what happened to them, and Nathan breathes, "It wasn't God." Thanks for keeping up. Mama Petrelli pipes up that they were trying to be better than God, which does nothing to brighten Nathan's mood. She goes on that Papa Petrelli was disappointed Nathan wasn't born with abilities, but they thought because of his lineage, his system could handle the formula. Tracy asks what about her, then, and Mama Petrelli admits that what The Company did to her was wrong, and that's why they divided the formula and hid it so it would never happen again. Doesn't explain why they didn't simply destroy it (as Adam even pointed out earlier), as I complained about once before, and until they do I can't help but think this plotline makes no sense. Not that I haven't gotten used to that, but she did bring it up. Tracy is still on about the dead guy, and at this point it's starting to get boring, but Mama Petrelli asks for her help, as "they" want to restart the project, and fill the world with dangerous and deadly people. "They will destroy everything." She turns her plea for help to Nathan, but his dark eyes and clenched jaw tell her to go to hell. She doesn't give up, explaining that Peter sacrificed himself by taking Sylar's ability because he knows what's going to happen to the world. Him going around cutting everyone's head open probably isn't going to help the state of things, but what did you expect from Peter? Nathan is unmoved, however, pointing out what she's done to her own children, and wondering who else among her own flesh and blood she used as guinea pigs. From her silence, it seems like he's not the only one, and he storms out as she impotently calls his name...
...and then outside her office, he tells Tracy they should go see Mohinder, who understands all this stuff and is "harmless"...
...which of course is the cue to cut to Mohinder putting the finishing touches on Maya's cocoon. I wonder how he's producing all that material? It'd be funny if he just felt like he should be cocooning people and bought the supplies at an art store. Now that I think about it, the things do look suspiciously like papier-mâché.
Merry-Go-Round Of Broken Families. Claire calls out for Canfield, saying she talked to her dad, and finds him sitting despondently in one of the seats. He tells her his family never showed up, and she's right -- they're afraid of him. Not that he isn't acting the shit out of this, but... he couldn't have tried another phone call? He gets up and walks with her so they can frame the shot, and wonders if he is a MONSTER, and then behind him, Bennet appears and puts a gun to the back of his head. "Couldn't put it better." Claire's aghast at this betrayal, and it only gets worse when Bennet offers Canfield a deal -- Sylar is standing by the car about twenty yards away, and if Canfield will zap him into oblivion, he'll let him go. Canfield is understandably confused, and then we cut to Sylar, who's watching this go down quizzically. I think it would have been interesting if Sylar had heard all this and chose to let it play out, figuring it would drive a wedge between Claire and her dad, but as it is it just seems like the writers have completely forgotten about Sylar's super-hearing, which is annoying. Claire tells Canfield he doesn't have to do this, and he agrees he's not a killer, but Bennet says that Sylar is, and he needs to be destroyed. Obviously, Bennet doesn't see using both Canfield and Claire in this manner is arguably worse than anything Sylar's ever done, but that's part of what makes it interesting -- this is the most character-driven, believable subplot the show's come up with in quite some time. Canfield turns and begs for an out, but Bennet tells Claire he's doing this for them, and for what Sylar did to them. Sylar's still standing there wondering what's going on as Canfield cries that "you people" have taken everything from him. Bennet tells him one last time to do it, but as Sylar starts to approach, Canfield says he won't be a MONSTER, and over Claire's cry of "NO!" he opens a vortex and sucks himself through before it closes. That was chilling. Really great work. Once he's gone, Bennet looks thrown, and Claire stares at her dad in disbelief.
Back at the now-empty bar, Hiro and Ando bemoan their latest setback. Hiro says they're in a slump, but Ando asks if he's kidding: "We are the worst heroes ever." I think you and Peter are still in a horse race, but the point is taken. Hiro says they can't afford to lose heart, but Ando sighs, "At least it can't get any worse." I wonder if these two grow tired of these call-and-response bits. They do seem to get the bulk of them. Anyway, this is Daphne and Knox's cue to appear. Knox (possibly at Linderman's order?) told Daphne that Hiro and Ando were looking to join up with them, but she doesn't believe "those goody-two-shoes" would be into that. Hiro and Ando, though, go with Knox on the fly, saying that they're "bad asses" now and want in on what they're doing. Daphne playfully says they have to prove themselves, but things take an unexpected turn when Knox, after ascertaining that Hiro's the one with the powers, takes a sword off the wall and instructs Hiro to kill Ando with it, as he has no abilities and is no good to them. "You kill him, you are badass." You're also dead to me, but that's probably not much of a concern. Daphne doesn't look too thrilled about this but decides to let it play out, and Ando's eyes go wide as Hiro stands in front of him and apologizes. "I must make some sacrifices to save the world." With that, he unceremoniously stabs Ando right in the heart, eliciting a horrified gasp from Daphne and an appreciative smile from Knox, and then Ando, wide-eyed with disbelief, says Hiro's name before falling to the ground. It's too bad he expired before he could add, "And you were such a pissypantsed little bitch about me killing you in a vision?
Claire and Bennet pull up to their house, and Bennet, in a conciliatory tone, says they'll talk more when he gets home. I'd guess "more" in this case means "at all," because I'd imagine Claire didn't even open her mouth to exhale on the ride home. Backing me up, Claire starts to get out without a word, but Bennet stops her by saying he knows she's disappointed, but he did what he had to do, for them. The camera pans right, and for the first time, we see Sylar is sitting in the back seat. Nice. He tells Bennet that Claire doesn't believe him. "Claire finally sees you for what you are. A user. Isn't that right, Claire? You used her to try to find that poor man, and you used him to try to kill me, because to you, I'm nothing but a MONSTER." That pretty much sums things up, so I expect we'll be seeing this clip in the previouslies for weeks to come. Sylar wraps up by telling Claire that Bennet doesn't see their humanity, and he never will. Claire gets out, with Bennet, who can't afford to let Sylar have the last word, following and saying that Sylar is a deranged sociopath and a killer. He goes on that everything he does is to protect the family, and asks her to tell him she understands. After a pause that's way too long to inspire confidence, Claire says she does, and Bennet pulls her into an embrace. "It's all gonna be okay. I promise." Well, at least he didn't tell her to trust him again, but it's not like this is much more believable.
Inside, Claire greets Sandra with much more enthusiasm than she had for her dad, and Sandra, after the preliminaries about being worried and grounding the shit out of her ass, says she's just glad Meredith found her. This was an effective "Oh, CRAP" moment for me, because it had been so long since she took off to find Claire...
...but we cut to her now, as the ostensible Eric Doyle is asking her if she's enjoying her dinner. Meredith looks like she's had more enjoyable experiences at the gynecologist, but takes a bite in unison with Doyle as we get our first view of him, and he looks pretty much like a stubbly blowfish. He asks her for a kiss, and when she tells him to go to hell, he makes a little hand gesture that shuts her mouth. Forget flying -- that's the power I'd want. He stands, tilts his head, and leans forward -- and she stiffly mimics his movements, almost like a puppet, and I may have enjoyed Farscape a lot but this is still freaking me out. Luckily, he doesn't drag the (closed-mouth) kiss out, but a wider shot lets us see the room is littered with what looks like puppets and -- even worse -- clowns. I hope no one ever again questions Meredith's love for Claire, now that they've seen her be willing to endure this.
Moving on to a scene that's only marginally less creepy, Mama Petrelli is sitting at her office desk when her eyes flutter closed. No sooner have they done so, however, than we hear a scream, which awakens her with a violent start. When we cut to the hallway in which she had her last terrible vision, she opens the door, and Tracy is lying on the floor, dead from a neck wound. Mama Petrelli gapes, and then her vision cuts to the side, where she sees Nathan, sitting up but also dead, from what looks like Sylar (or Peter) having cut his head open. She walks forward, and then sees Peter with his hands covered in blood, so we're meant to think he killed them, as Mama Petrelli does, but he then falls down dead, and we see a pipe buried in the back of his head, and that was also unexpected and very nicely done. You'd think things couldn't get any worse for Mama Petrelli, but when she turns, she gasps in abject horror and says it can't be as a man she obviously recognizes is standing before her. He tells her she can see the future, and he can't have that. She tries to steel herself as she says she'll stop him, but he puts a bloody hand on her shoulder and demurs: "Don't be ridiculous. You won't even be able to move." That still sounds better than the puppets. We flash to the ring on his finger, and then close in on Mama Petrelli's eye...
...and then she's back at her desk, seemingly only able to move her eyes. I hope someone else knows how to get Peter out of that coma. Except for the part where I totally, totally don't.
Daphne superzips up to the Pinehearst building, and after she looks around a bit, suddenly Linderman is behind her asking if she completed her task. She tells him that everyone's on board, but expresses her distaste for what happened with Ando. He blows off her concern, even using the phrase "No pain, no gain," and the thought of Malcolm McDowell as a sports coach isn't really working for me, so let's move on to the part where he tells her she has to recruit one more person -- Matt. Well, if you offer him a ride out of that desert, I think he'll do pretty much anything. Linderman tells Daphne what Matt can do, although he doesn't mention his telepathy, instead focusing on his other ability: "He can make you see things that aren't there." Daphne's like, speaking of which, I can sneak up on anyone -- but not you. She swings a hand at Linderman, which simply goes through him, and crows that she knew it -- he's not really there. Linderman chooses not to explain, telling her just to bring him Matt, and Daphne sighs that she doesn't really have a choice, which doesn't seem clear to me but I've only got two minutes left here. She walks away, looks back to find Linderman gone, and then superzips out of there -- but once she's gone, she sees a man appear from around a corner -- Maury Parkman. I figured this was coming at some point from Mama Petrelli's vision, although now that I think about it, it seems odd that she didn't make a bigger deal of it, what with him being an ElderHero and all. On the other hand, she had Adam released herself, so who knows what the hell she's thinking. Maury heads inside...
...to a chamber that's set up like a hospital room, in which a medical type watches over a man in an ornate bed who's hooked up to all kinds of respiratory tubes. Maury tells the bed's occupant that the team is coming together, and from the focus on the man's eye, we're meant to know he's communicating telepathically. Maury goes on that he caused Nathan to see visions of Linderman, just like he asked. "Now he thinks he's doing God's work." I like this better than it being Linderman himself, but here's a question: Who healed Nathan, if Linderman wasn't actually there? Anyway, we see from the ring the man's wearing that he's Mama Petrelli's attacker as Maury goes on that they're building an army, and Knox reported he'd have Adam there by the day. Maury wraps up by assuring the man everything's under control. "Whatever you say goes, Mr. Petrelli." That's right -- we get a good look at Papa Petrelli, alive and conscious, before the card comes up: "To be continued..." For the first time in a while, I'm happy that's the case!
John Ramos is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles. You can reach him at couchbaron@gmail.com.
Check out our Heroes superpower rankings!