Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT You May Not Believe It…
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 12 | Aired on 12.08.2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.A definite improvement, although there are still plot holes right and left. First the preliminaries: Sylar tells Arthur he's not working for him anymore, and after burning Elle's corpse, he goes to see a woman who knows when people are lying. She tells him he's on the wrong path, but he kills her and takes her power anyway. Daphne superzips Ando and Matt to Manhattan in an attempt to find the messenger, and after some judicious use of Matt's mind mojo and a quick chase scene, they get hold of Isaac's sketches, which depict Hiro as being "lost in time." Nathan shows up to Pinehearst, where he discovers that Tracy is already in bed with his father, figuratively at least. He tells Arthur that he's taking over the Pinehearst operation, and Arthur accedes to this power play while knowing that Nathan is a fluffy bunny whom Tracy will run like a dogsled. Tracy then takes Nathan on a tour of their New Order, and Nathan is somewhat chagrined to discover that the military types they're training actually want to obtain mutant abilities.
But the best stuff happens in the past, as Claire and Hiro observe Kaito and Hiro's heretofore-unseen dying mother. Turns out Hiro's mother was the holder of the catalyst, and she wanted to pass that honor on to Hiro, but Kaito overruled her, opining that Hiro was too immature, and chose Claire instead. Also, Hiro's mom was a healer, and Hiro and Claire both get the idea to get Hiro's mother to repair the damage to his brain. Elsewhere in the past, Claire adopts a pseudonym and helps her mother with her younger self, in the process getting some info on what her dad was like back then, and then even meeting his super-suspicious ass in person. Claire exhorts her past dad to protect her younger self, and gets him not to take her in to become the catalyst. Meanwhile, Hiro confesses his true identity to his mother, and they have a touching, tearful reunion before she restores his memory and tells him how much she believes in him. He gets her to give him the catalyst, which is her last living act, and after everything they've put Masi Oka through this season I am so glad he got to do this excellent scene. However, Arthur turns up in the past (er, how did he know exactly when to show up?) to steal Hiro's powers and send him over the edge of the building -- but Hiro survives by grabbing onto a flagpole. Haaaaang on Hiro, Hiro hang on! Via Isaac's sketches, Hiro's friends in the present see his plight.
Back at Primatech, Angela gives Peter and The Haitian a gun with which to finish Arthur off. On the way, The Haitian tells Peter that he knows he's conflicted about offing his father, but Peter sucks it up and says he has to get rid of him for the good of the world. The two of them successfully infiltrate Pinehearst and are about to kill Arthur, but meanwhile, Sylar has showed up, and after getting in the right frame of mind by enduring some elevator music, he stops Peter's bullet from killing Arthur -- only to use his new power to ascertain Arthur isn't actually his father and kill him himself. The catalyst leaves Arthur's body, seemingly gone forever, but as The Haitian goes after Sylar, Nathan, Tracy, and Mohinder watch the effect of the new formula on one of the military guys -- which is to give him super-strength will seemingly no ill effects. Unless there's a Jessica inside him, but we'll have to wait and see about that.
Want more? The full recap starts right below! So after reliving a bit of what we saw at the end of the last episode (without Claire's "Holy sh...", because when a scene spans two episodes you can count on continuity to take a vacation) Claire and Hiro realize they're going to have a little difficulty chatting, since according to Hiro, the only English he learned in a semester involves finding trains, waffles, and places to take a dump. Well, he sounds like he's got some key building blocks for going on The Amazing Race, at least. They watch as Kaito instructs Hiro to follow him, only as he leaves, Young Hiro calls to his mother, which didn't happen in "Company Man," for sure. Regardless, it gets our Hiro's attention, and he chases after his younger self with a reluctant Claire in tow. Downstairs, he and Claire surreptitiously observe as Young Hiro puts an arm around his warm, laughing mother until Kaito reappears and sternly tells him to quit it, since his mother is ill. She says it's okay, but Hiro moves off and turns his attention back to his GameBoy as Kaito sits and asks his wife how she is. She switches to English as she sadly tells him that they must face the inevitable, and she thinks she'll pass on out of this world that night. "We must make arrangements for the catalyst, before it is lost forever." I'll point out just this once that getting rid of the catalyst would MAKE SENSE if they don't want the formula ever to be perfected. The discussion in English is lost on our Hiro, but Claire pays rapt attention as Kaito tries to hold it together, telling her nothing will be the same once she's gone. Hiro's mom ("Ishi" is how her name is listed) emotionally tells him he must think of the future, and after a moment of consideration, he solemnly tells her he'll have Bennet return with the baby. "She is the perfect candidate." Ishi looks at her son as she tells Kaito she wanted to keep the catalyst in the family, but Kaito tells her absolutely not, underscoring his onetime belief that Hiro was a useless moron who couldn't be trusted with anything. If only he'd see how effectively Hiro guarded the formula this season! Just then, Hiro notices that one of the doves they have in a cage in the room is looking on its way to being an ex-dove, and that reference will mean more to you if you're in, as I almost am, your ex-thirties. Ishi, with equal parts sadness and steel, tells Kaito their conversation isn't over yet, and then, after he withdraws, has Hiro place the motionless bird in her hands. Once it's lain there for a moment, though, she kisses it, and it stirs and comes back to full health, to everyone's delight. Hiro observes in wonder that his mother is a healer, and then there's a pretty funny bit where Claire and Hiro have simultaneous epiphanies and talk at each other without caring that they're not being understood -- Hiro realizes he can get his mother to heal the damage Arthur did to his brain, while Claire decides she needs to prevent the catalyst from being given to her infant self. By the way, I think I've become so inured to the time-travel stuff that I'm beyond caring at this point, but it doesn't mean I don't know that the way they do it doesn't make sense, ever. For example, when Claire succeeds in her mission here, the timeline should be reset, and a New Claire that doesn't remember anything about the catalyst should exist in her stead. Or possibly, there should be both an Old Claire and a New Claire in the present when she returns. But simply to make this change in the past and have the present then be exactly the same except that the catalyst is in a different host makes zero sense. Anyway, they split up, and once Claire's gone, Kaito catches Hiro, but mistakenly concludes he's the new chef, and Hiro plays along and heads to the kitchen. I hope there's no waffle batter in there, because I'm pretty sure Hiro wouldn't be able to resist, and that would make a pretty crappy last meal.