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Okay, time to wrap up this chapter that had no coherent story at all, which is titled "Duality" on Yahoo and TV Guide, but "Dual" on the chyron for the episode, not that I would care either way -- except this episode was really pretty badass. I mean, none of it made any sense, but it was still pretty cool. In the past, Hiro chats with a pigeon, which you might think would be a bit trivial for a chapter finale, and Daphne finally decides she's had enough of Matt's shit and heads off to Pinehearst to get to Mohinder. However, Peter has already accosted the only actor on the show worse than he is, but Daphne superzips in and steals the formula, and Ando injects himself with it. Meanwhile, Hiro has managed to slide down the flagpole and rescue himself without help from the future, and he enlists his younger self's help in getting hold of the formula back in the past. In the present, Ando awakens from his power injection and doesn't have the time-travel power -- but he does have the ability Hiro foresaw in the season premiere, even though it's hard for him to control, and it seems like it's a time-shifting ability that's not what it seemed -- only it's actually that Ando can supercharge people's powers, whatever. The upshot is that Ando and Daphne head back to the past and save Hiro from getting chopped in half by his own dad. Hiro and Daphne then confront Tracy and grab the formula, and whatever, none of that really matters so let's move on.
Over their father's dead body, Peter tells Nathan that the formula has to be destroyed, leading to Peter decking his brother but… leaving him there? However, Flint and Knox then unexpectedly show up and ally themselves with Peter because they don't want tons have people to have special abilities, which actually adds up, so good on the show for that. Knox kills the special Marine from last week on the way to capturing Nathan, and then they beat up on Mohinder, which is awesome because he sucks so bad. Nathan then suddenly decides he has a spine, and he fights Knox, but would still have gotten his ass handed to him if Tracy hadn't shown up and frozen Knox like Robert Patrick in T2. Tracy, however, tries to get Nathan to come away with her, and Nathan cans her ass. Nathan and Peter then face off, and I never thought I'd be rooting for Peter over Nathan, but there you go. Flint lights the place up, and in desperation, Peter injects himself with the formula, which gives him the ability to fly him and Nathan out of there. He tells Nathan he did so because he loves him, but Nathan grits that he wouldn't have done the same before flying out of there.
At Primatech, Claire, Bennet, Meredith (glad to see her, but she came from where?) Claire, and Angela realize they're under siege, and then Sylar shows up and tells them he's going to show them they're all just like him. The bunch of Primatech defenders conspire to protect Angela at all costs, and Claire gets tasked with being Angela's bodyguard. Sylar tries to get Claire to blow Angela's head off, and alludes to Bennet and Elle turning him into a monster, but Claire doesn't bend. Meanwhile, Bennet, with Meredith at his side, releases the rest of the Unit 5 prisoners, including Doyle The Puppet Master, in an attempt to contain Sylar. Soon after, Sylar catches Meredith, only to find himself caught in puppetry by Doyle, but Sylar breaks free and subdues both of them, and he gives Meredith an adrenaline injection which causes powers to freak out. Sylar then traps her and Bennet in a cell and tells Bennet to kill her or be killed himself. But Claire shows up and gets them out of the deadly situation, and she and Bennet go after Sylar, who's gone after Angela -- and after she initially lies to Sylar, she reveals the truth -- she knew she could manipulate him. However, she also knows who his real parents are -- but before he can elicit that information, Claire incapacitates him.
Volume Four, "Fugitives," lets us know that Nathan is ratting Heroes out to the government for internment, like he's going to be creating a Genosha from X-Men in this universe. We shall see what happens with that.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!So the good news, for me, is that I got some enjoyment out of the last two episodes. Some interesting stuff happened, and they kept things moving along, two elements that have been all too rare this season. However, the end of the chapter forces me to take stock of the "character" and "plot" "arcs" it contained. In no particular order, and off the top of my head:
Peter: I hate to say it, but Peter was one of the most consistent characters this chapter. While many of the choices he made were moronic -- deciding that the only way to stop his brother from making a decision in the future was to murder him in cold blood; deciding that taking Sylar's power was the best way to help the world, which resulted in him murdering his brother in the future and almost doing the same to his mother in the present -- he was focused on preventing the future from containing millions of people with artificially-given powers, and, in pursuit of that end, stopping his father once he turned up. But the self-righteousness combined with the "acting"? Tough to take.
Nathan: Ugh. First off, a technical point I've mentioned before: I assumed, when Linderman appeared after Nathan miraculously recovered from his mortal wounds, that he was responsible for the mysterious happening. Only later we learned that it was Maury projecting an image of Linderman, so how did Nathan recover? Leaving that aside, Nathan was the most irritatingly wishy-washy, spineless character this season produced, as he allowed himself to be led around like a dog on a leash by both Tracy and his father who TRIED TO HAVE HIM KILLED AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS WIFE'S PARALYSIS. And it looks like he's going to be the biggest player in the chapter, so I hope he at least commits hard to evil, because otherwise? Zzzzz.
Angela: Oh, Lord. So this episode reveals that she knew Sylar wasn't her son, but she thought she could manipulate him into doing her bidding. Let's think about that. For one, what did she need him for? Just to be a Company agent? She didn't even know about Arthur at that point, so it hardly seems worth it. On top of that, let's recall, she sacrificed an innocent girl just to feed him. At the time, it seemed like she did so out of desire to care for and protect her son, but now we know it was just a cold-blooded murder. Not only that, but she didn't know that Sylar would learn to control his "hunger," so how many people would she have ended up feeding to him? The season wanted us to believe that Angela was leading the righteous party here, when in fact she was the most awful stealth villain of them all. Great job!
Hiro: Could effectively have stayed out of the season altogether. First, out of boredom, he managed to single-handedly cause not one but both halves of the formula to fall into Pinehearst's hands. Then he stabbed Ando with a fake sword, did a drug trip that distracted NeoIsaac enough to get him killed, turned into a ten-year-old, and lost the catalyst inside of five minutes after he took it from his dying mother. Yes, this episode finally gave him something positive to do. What was the first twelve's excuse?
Arthur: Would have had more depth if he'd been drawn by Looney Tunes. But this episode brings up an interesting point: Knox and Flint rebelled because they didn't want tons of other people to have powers, which would make them less special and less relatively powerful. Why wouldn't Arthur, a paranoid murderer, share that sentiment? And what had he told Knox and Flint to get them on his side originally? I realize I'm looking for meaning from a character who made Peter and Mohinder's line readings look good by comparison...wait, that's it! I've stumbled on the point of Arthur!
Sylar: Ye gods. So Sylar takes Angela at her word and believes that she and Arthur are his parents. Let's think about all the ways this turned out not to make sense. First off, in the future Peter saw, Sylar still believed they were brothers. Surely in four years he would have discovered that wasn't the case. Secondly, when Sylar showed up to Pinehearst, the first thing Arthur did was to tell Mohinder that Sylar was his son. Do you grant that in that very short period and with all the chaos of Peter running around that Arthur read Sylar's mind and decided to roll with the lie that Angela told him? I think it's highly dubious, especially since an attractive alternative would simply be to tell Sylar of the lie and turn him against her once and for all. But that's not the biggest problem -- Arthur teaches Sylar to be empathetic, but then Elle gets him to kill a random civilian who didn't even have powers; Sylar has sex with Elle, but when Bennet tells him he's not a Petrelli, he kills her, and not because of the "hunger," since he knew how to control that and also already had her power anyway. I mean, he was less boring to watch than Nathan, but no more consistent, that's for sure. Speaking of which...
Sylar's Power: First off, another technical point. Sylar lost a bunch of his purloined powers when Hiro stabbed him back in Season One. Fine. At the beginning of the chapter, he attacked Claire with his telekinesis and took her regenerative power, which restored him to full health. You'd think that would have restored those powers as well, since he learned how they work and all, but no. So the logical conclusion is that the sword blow permanently erased the powers he had stolen and left him only with his original ability -- except telekinesis wasn't it. It's true he was telekinetic at the beginning of the series, but it's this vague ability to "understand how things work" that's his power -- as "Six Months Earlier" showed us, he stole the telekinesis from that guy Brian in the watch shop. On top of that, though, there's the "hunger." We learn from the past that Sylar was able to control his "hunger" when he was feeling warm and fuzzy for Elle. Then he was able to control it when he thought Angela was his mother. Then he was able to turn it into something else entirely through empathy. (Remember Arthur had Sylar's power too, or should have, from Peter, and we never saw him afflicted by the "hunger.") Then he became a killer again anyway. On top of that, Peter took his power because he thought "understanding how things work" would help him save the world. But that power is complete and utter bullshit -- Sylar didn't know fuck-all about how things work, or he might not have been used as a pawn by Arthur, Angela, and even Elle.
The Formula: Why didn't Primatech destroy it? I asked this in the very first episode, and it was never answered. If it could only be used for evil, why didn't they simply get rid of it? Anyone? Bueller?
Mohinder: Look, you saw it for yourself.
Incredibly Heavy-Handed Religious Overtones: Look, I've watched plenty of ridiculous TV in my day, but when you're completely ridiculous and yet you take yourself so seriously that you insert the most somber religious passages and imagery into your show and unironically think it fits? You've got problems.
That's not even half of what I could have written, but I'm not getting paid by the word and I want to move on to the episode. But seriously, with a budget as big and a mythology as extensive as this show's, what's the excuse for not having a dedicated continuity editor? Or for not firing the one you have and getting someone who can handle the job?
Okay! Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I feel I can enjoy at least the good parts of this episode without guilt. Which do not start with Sylar VOing about God creating people in His own image, so let's move on to the chyron superimposed over Arthur's blood on the Pinehearst carpet. Peter's sitting by his dad's corpse, overcome by sadness? Relief? Guilt? when Nathan emerges and mildly groans that Peter went through with it. Peter admits that Sylar gets the credit, and goes on that the formula has to be destroyed. Nathan kneels by Arthur's body and closes his father's eyes (nice touch) as he tells Peter it's too late, and a dozen Marines are already being injected with it. He continues on his path to zealotry as he adds that the plan isn't Arthur's anymore, but all of theirs, and it's going to make the world a better place. Peter almost unconsciously cocks the gun as he tells Nathan he sounds just like Arthur, and Nathan agrees while picking up on Peter's feelings: "And I can't help but wonder how long it's gonna be before it's me lying here." Well, if that happens, you can always hope a hologram with healing powers happens by. The challenge thrown, the brothers get to their feet, and after Nathan reiterates his desire to finish what Arthur started, Peter levels the gun at him. Nathan's not particularly impressed, and holds out his hand for the gun, but he's not quite as effective as he thinks he is, as Peter starts to give him the gun but then decks him. If you're not going to be as effective as Svengali, Nathan, you'd better work on that glass jaw. That scene effectively turned a couple different times, though! Peter storms out...
...and we cut to Primatech, where Bennet is grabbing weapons for himself, Claire, and Meredith (always lovely to see you, dear, but you came from where exactly?), and with Angela in tow, he reports that the formula is complete, and Peter's going to need help. Unfortunately, he's not the only one, as they come upon some dead guards bleeding from their heads. We get a quick shot of Sylar in a darkened room somewhere on the premises, and then the lights go off and the exits seal themselves in dramatic fashion. Sylar announces via the PA system that Arthur is dead. "No need to go to Pinehearst now!" Speaking of which, can Sylar teleport now and I just don't remember it? I mean, I'm willing to believe that a little time passed between that last scene and this one, but I doubt it would have been enough for a flight from New Jersey to Texas, even if he killed all the security people to speed things up a little. Sylar amuses himself by pointing out that his monstrosity is all due to Primatech. "And before the night is over, I'm going to prove to you, one by one, that you're all monsters. Exactly like me." Thanks for giving me my episode title -- Saw-lar it is!
The Primatech prisoners pede-badass as Bennet says he knows where Sylar's broadcasting from, and hands Claire a shotgun as he tells her to protect her grandmother at all costs. Sylar speechifies some more, and with no disrespect I gotta tell you that he's not exactly giving Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight a run for his money here. Angela thinks Sylar's unstoppable, but Claire points out that since he's got her healing ability, he must also have her weakness, so if they shove something through the back of his head, he'll shut down. And the show has been pretty consistent on that particular point, so good on Claire for bringing it up, although given that Sylar CAN HEAR HER, she might have modulated her voice a bit. But he's too busy pointing out that Claire is surrounded in this scenario by relatives that have let her down, and then actually tells her that they only thing they can't heal is a broken heart, like this is suddenly a Sylarquin Romance here. (Damn, I never realized how many bad puns the name "Sylar" lends itself to.) The pairs have split up, and Claire and Angela are taking refuge in the latter's office, while Meredith and Bennet arrive at the control room, in which they find not Sylar but another dead guard, like, SYLAR CAN SEE YOUR EVERY MOVE, morons, as is reinforced when he unnecessarily tells Bennet that he's the hunted and not the hunter. That might change if you all would think to DISABLE THE CAMERAS.
Hiro's still wrapped around that flagpole when a pigeon shows up, and given that those things take dumps more than most creatures, I appreciate the editorial commentary on the season. Hiro, however, doesn't get it, telling the pigeon everything he's screwed up, although he does recognize that the mere fact of the conversation means, if you'll forgive the expression, he's fallen about as low as he can go. Meanwhile, Ando is telling Matt that he needs to rescue Hiro, but Matt dismissively says Hiro can't get into trouble without his powers, and I think this character has finally exhausted all the goodwill I have toward the actor, because ARE YOU BLIND AS WELL AS A MORON? The drawing is right in front of you! In, as they say, black and white! What the hell is your problem? Instead of asking him this, Daphne makes the point that anything Hiro fucks up could have an effect on their future, which would be a valid point if the show hadn't gone to such lengths to disprove that this season despite NAMING AN EPISODE "The Butterfly Effect." Anyway, they've come to Mohinder's lab for his help, like that's ever a good idea, but he's not there, of course. The odd thing, though, is that they know about his lab at Pinehearst, so why on earth would they think he'd be back in this dungeon-like place? But this is all so Matt can tell Daphne it's "too dangerous" to go to Pinehearst and she can completely ignore him and superzip out of there. I knew I liked her for a reason.
Mohinder is telling his tape recorder that the "infection" he gave himself has spread to his lungs and he's going to die soon, which of course is belied by the fact that he WAS STILL LIVING WITH THIS CONDITION WHEN PETER WENT FOUR YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, HELLO. "I Am Become Death" may not have been the worst episode of the season, but I think continuity-wise it might have been the most nonsensical and destructive. Anyway, Mohinder's decided to inject himself with the new formula as a last resort, and the only thing wrong with that plan is that he's waited this long to do it, especially since the delay has given Peter the chance to enter and tell him he needs to destroy all of it. Mohinder uses the word "special" in explaining that once he came around to believing that people with abilities existed, he coveted them and blah, and again, thank God for Daphne, as with a momentary blur, she steals the formula out of Mohinder's hand. Enraged, Mohinder tosses Peter across the room, but Flint and Knox suddenly intervene, the former ready to pay Mohinder back in flames for the beating he took at his hands two episodes ago. Peter tells him to stop, but another twist presents itself: Knox and Flint want to destroy Pinehearst as well, so they're suddenly Peter's newest allies...
...as outside, the Marine with the super-strength is just waking Nathan up, so either Sylar really got down to Primatech in a hurry, or Nathan's even more of a pussy than I thought. By the way, I didn't mention it last episode, but a reader emailed to tell me that the Marine ("Scott" is his name on the show) is played by Chad Faust, who was Kyle Baldwin on The 4400. I've never seen the show, but given the genre, I'm sure a lot of viewers recognized him. Anyway, Scott reports that none of the other Marines have been injected yet, as Tracy was concerned for Nathan's whereabouts, which I don't believe for a second, but whatever. Nathan orders Scott to stop Peter, but Scott doesn't get two steps before Knox grabs him from behind and snaps his neck. Guess his super-strength didn't reach his head, although if he's taking orders from Nathan that's hardly a surprise. Nathan's stunned that his experiment has failed, and Knox rubs it in that he's going to stand guard until Peter's destroyed the formula, which will presumably be permanent since the catalyst is gone forever. Nathan asks if Knox is really working for Peter, and Knox smiles: "Yeah. He's one of the good guys now." Amazing development, but I am rooting for Peter now, in as much as I root for anyone on this show. Who knew?
Daphne returns, and Ando's about to inject himself, but Matt has to pipe up with more objections. This time, however, he's got a point, that being that Ando has no idea what kind of power he's going to get from the Wheel of Fortune he's currently spinning. Daphne, however, suggests that the powers people get may stem from their own desires -- for example, Matt always wanted to know what other people thought about him, and she always wanted to run. I'd be interested to know, then, the psychological needs behind the powers of, say, Maya, except for the part where I totally, totally wouldn't be, so let's just take this as a working theory. Anyway, Ando validates my faith in him by also ignoring Matt, instead injecting him with the shot and promptly falling over and out of frame.
So the pigeon is still hanging out, hilariously, as Hiro finally decides to shimmy down the flagpole (it slants down as you get closer to the building), turn himself around, and climb back up to the roof, like, I know that conversation with the pigeon was pressing and all, but I still don't appreciate you making Matt's assessment of your predicament correct. Also, if someone were coming to rescue him, wouldn't she (SPOILER) come back to the first moments he was on the flagpole, or better yet, to before Arthur showed up at all? As I said, time travel on this show makes no sense so they should really just drop it altogether. Anyway...
...we cut to Hiro now inside, and he comes upon his younger self, who's holding the dove his mother healed in memory of her. Our Hiro laments the fact that his father gave him a simple task and he failed, and Young Hiro replies that his mother has a saying: "My mom would say if you can fix it today, you won't have to worry about it tomorrow." Well, Ishi was about the best thing in this season, so I suppose I can forgive her a pithy non-sequitur from beyond the grave. Of course, this gives our Hiro An Idea, and he asks Young Hiro to help him find a piece of paper with numbers and figures on it in his dad's possession. Young Hiro is reluctant, but Hiro tells him he can save tomorrow, and Young Hiro is in. Seems a little easy until you consider that Hiro should really know how to manipulate his ten-year-old self, especially considering that he recently got a very painful-to-watch refresher course on how he thinks.
Angela and Claire have a pointless but short exchange about Sylar, and then he calls and offers Claire her freedom, as well as that of Bennet and Meredith, if she'll simply blow her grandmother's head off. Claire looks aghast, but Angela's attitude basically seems to be "Yeah, I probably have it coming anyway." She listens as Sylar complains that she made him think he had a family and then took it all away, and then suggests Claire ask Bennet what he and Elle did to Sylar. Claire looks wigged, especially when she hears Elle is dead, and as Sylar continues to exhort her to kill Angela, she turns to her and pumps the gun, getting Angela's attention -- but she whirls and blows the phone to smithereens instead. It'll suck for her if she runs out of ammo later, but I still have to think it was worth it.
Bennet has opted for utter chaos as his weapon of choice in fighting Sylar, as he's released the Unit 5 prisoners despite the fact, as Meredith ably points out, "they want to kill us as much as Sylar does!" On top of that, Sylar is not a master of creepy PUPPETS and CLOWNS, unlike Doyle, who's standing before her now. Danny Pine is there too, and Bennet tells the VILLAINS that whoever gets Sylar earns his freedom, and they might as well play along, given that Sylar has the place locked down. Of course, there's nothing to stop them from killing Bennet and Meredith and then going after Sylar, but maybe they see the wisdom in not killing people who are on your side, even temporarily. Except when they're gone, Bennet reveals to Meredith that he's just using them as bait, and in some other dimension, Vortex Guy is shaking his head at his former fellow prisoners all "That's what you get for trusting a guy with horn-rimmed glasses."
Peter is making with the smashy-smash as Flint holds Mohinder by the jaw, and if that's meant to stop him from talking, I appreciate the thought but wish he'd try a little harder. Mohinder tells Peter the formula is highly combustible, and points out that he's counting thugs and killers as his allies. "What does that make you?" Maybe someone who doesn't see things entirely in black and white anymore, for which I'd be rather grateful. Flint decides he's had enough of this crap and kicks the shit out of Mohinder, who lies unconscious on the floor as Peter checks on him and reproaches Flint. Flint, however, points out that now the job will go twice as quickly, and just because he's dumb as a stump doesn't mean he never makes any sense. Peter looks down at Mohinder...
...but we cut nicely to Ando, who wakes up after getting some water thrown in his face and excitedly asks if he has abilities. Daphne: "So far all we know is that you can pass out really well." I'm really not that difficult to please -- a few lines like that and I'm in a good mood. Also hilariously, Ando gets to his feet and starts chanting that he's the master of time and space, even making circles in the air with his hands like he's warming up to do martial arts, but nothing happens, so Daphne counsels him to make Hiro's Number Two Face, and she and Matt coach him on how hard to scrunch his eyes up ("Gentle scrunch," Ando says to himself, and this is far funnier than it has any right to be), but all this leads nowhere until Ando hits a table in frustration and his hand suddenly crackles with some pink energy. Not to rely too much on gender stereotypes, but is that the Heroes version of the pinky ring? (God knows they don't get any more overt than that on this show.)
Meredith and Bennet have stupidly split up, and Meredith slowly and terrifiedly follows a trail of body parts (including Danny Pine's partially metal arm) to an open supply closet, out of which a vial of something rolls ominously toward her. She picks it up and sees that it's adrenaline, and from behind her, Sylar intones, "They say adrenaline can kick-start a dead heart." Still couldn't inject life into the monologues, though. Meredith tries to shoot Sylar (why do so many people on the show pronounce it "Sy-lur"? Annoying, and also annoying is her not trying to immolate him), but he waves the gun away and makes to cut her open and presumably take her power. But his hand involuntarily moves to the side, which is just as well because he didn't really need to get any more flaming here. Doyle steps out of the shadows and informs Sylar that Meredith is his, and makes him dance in the air like a marionette. After a moment of this, though, Sylar informs Doyle that controlling him is not the walk in the park he thinks it is, and just like that, he mentally breaks Doyle's hold on him and sends him falling to the ground, blood oozing from one of his nostrils. I'm not sure what power he called on there, or if it's just that his telekinesis is stronger than Doyle's version, but something big is about to happen, which is that Meredith goes for her gun, but Sylar's suddenly behind her and injects her straight in the heart with a shot of, presumably, adrenaline. Pretty sure her body already had that covered, guy. Once she collapses, Sylar breathes, "One more thing to do."
Bennet reenters Unit 5, finding one member of his bait squad dead, and then is horrified to come across Meredith in one of the cells, as the adrenaline has caused her to lose control of her powers. She tells him to run, but when he turns, he discovers that Sylar has locked him in and is telling him his only recourse is to kill Meredith. He wonders what Bennet will tell Claire after he's done so, although if she's put a shotgun shell through her grandmother by then, she won't be able to talk. He adds that Bennet helped make him into who he is. "I just wanted to return the favor." Bennet's face: "Gee, thanks."
In an office, Nathan is trying to project an air of bored superiority by playing with a snow globe as he tells Knox he's backing the wrong horse. "Everybody roots for Peter, but in the end he always winds up losing." Half right. He goes on that he feels sorry for his brother, and to be honest even with Nathan's ideological flip-flopping I'm really not buying this sudden contempt Nathan has for Peter, so let's skip ahead to where Nathan takes the snow globe and bashes Knox in the head with it. If he'd wished him a Merry Christmas, I would have laughed -- I'm not proud. Anyway, fight fight fight, and of course Nathan's literally about to get his head handed to him when Knox suddenly freezes up -- also literally, as Tracy has zapped him from behind, and he disintegrates. She then smiles, "Miss me?" so I guess we're not going to spend the first six episodes of chapter on all the guilt she's feeling over this.
Ando's spazzing out, unable to control his new power, and when Matt touches him, he gets a pink surge and his power goes wild as well. Daphne then smacks Ando in the arm, gets zapped herself, and disappears -- only she reappears at the other end of the lab and sees herself, Ando, and Matt playing out the scene that just happened. When her past self disappears, it reappears behind her and dissolves into her, which totally makes no sense but whatever, and after an excruciatingly lame and half-assed Wizard Of Oz reference (although I will give some points back since Daphne's from Kansas), she theorizes that she traveled back in time. From the look on Matt's face, he's not figuring this one out any time soon, so it's just as well we're cutting out of the scene here.
Meredith is terrified and also, I think, in pain from her power freakout (that's consistent with what Elle went through), and then in a very cool camera move, we back away to see that Claire is viewing this on a laptop via a camera feed that Sylar has patched through. She gasps that they have to save them, but Angela, the look on her face indicating what she knows what she's about to say is futile but she's going to say it anyway, points out that Sylar is surely only showing them what's going on because he wants them to go down there. Claire petulantly answers, "I don't care," and Angela doesn't even have to bother with replying "That's what I thought."
Cut to the two of them in the hallway, with Claire leading Angela by the hand. She lets go to do some business with a door and then reaches back to grab it again, but we don't see Angela this time so we know it's Sylar. He must use some good hand cream for Claire to be fooled, though. Anyway, he holds Claire up against the wall (physically, not telekinetically) and tells her she has the choice to save either Bennet or Angela, but he knows she's going to choose Bennet, even after all the lies he's told her. "What does that say about you, Claire?" He uses his lie-detector power, for what reason I'm not clear, and then tells her, "That's the thing about the truth, Claire. It stings like a bitch." Claire does not ask him what the hell he's talking about, which is only understandable because she's being choked at the moment. Sylar lets her drop, and she runs down the hall, leaving him to stare after her like the enormous drama queen he is.
Claire gets to the cell, and after she discovers that the keypad's been ripped out, Meredith tells them she's not going to be able to hold out much longer, so Bennet instructs her to put as much heat as she can into her hands and press them to the glass, which she does. After he judges the glass has been sufficiently weakened, he tells Meredith to get out of the way and then puts his one bullet into the window -- but it doesn't shatter, instead making only a small hole. Meredith's despondent at what seemed like their only chance, but Claire gets An Idea and tells them to stay back before charging the glass and going straight through it. Er, if it were that easy, shouldn't Flint have been able to escape Unit 5 in a similar manner when he was a prisoner? I mean, sure, he might have impaled himself on a large shard in the process, but you figure it still might have been worth trying. Anyway, Bennet gets out of there, and you can hardly blame him given the temperature he's been enduring, but Claire lingers, trying to get Meredith to come with her. Meredith isn't quite ready for that, though, and tells her to go stop Sylar, so Claire tells her she'll be back. Meredith does not request she bring a hose back with her, but Claire's been pretty smart this episode so maybe she'll figure it out on her own. Speaking of which, though, if Sylar got the adrenaline from Primatech's stores, shouldn't they have something that should counter the effects? Serotonin, maybe? Hope Bennet doesn't kick himself in the ass for missing that one.
Back at Pinehearst, Tracy is telling Nathan that she has to get him out of there, as the situation is still "deniable" but one with which he can't afford to be associated. She adds that if they find the document with the formula, they can start over, like we didn't spend ALL LAST EPISODE ON THE CATAYLST WHICH IS NOW GONE PERMANENTLY HELLO. Instead of pointing this out, Nathan says he's not running away, and fires her for no reason in particular. He might as well have just killed her so we can get Ali Larter on to playing Barbara, no?
So Matt has figured out that Ando can now supercharge other people's powers, and the effect with Daphne was to make her so fast that she can actually travel back in time and save Lois Lane from being buried in that earthquake or some shit. Matt actually explains the theory of relativity, which is pretty funny given what a complete moron he's been lately, but when Daphne comes up with the plan to take Ando with her so he can keep supercharging her powers, Matt objects to the potential dangers. Daphne doesn't quite pinch his cheek and tell him how cute he is, but that's the general idea, and honestly he should be used to it by now. Daphne and Ando clasp hands, and in a flash of wind and pink light, they're gone.
Back in the past, Young Hiro has led our Hiro to the safe, although you'd think Hiro would remember where it was himself, and Hiro retrieves the formula just in advance of Kaito entering and asking what they're doing. Hiro covers that the two of them were just playing, but he's left the safe door ajar, so after Kaito sends Young Hiro off to bed, he draws his samurai sword from its resting place on a table and menaces Hiro with it. Hiro retreats into the kitchen and hilariously tries to defend himself with a loaf of French bread, and if nothing else he's at least keeping his cover story as a chef intact. Reduced to his only option, Hiro brandishes the formula and tells Kaito if it's destroyed, it can never be used for evil. Kaito does not pull a V-8 forehead slap at that revelation, so Hiro rips the formula in half, but when Kaito moves to stab him, Daphne and Ando super-superzip in and grab him. However, when they're gone, Kaito picks up the two pieces of the formula, and I'm no scientist but might I suggest a little invention called Scotch tape?
Back at the lab, Hiro explains about the formula situation, so he and Daphne head out again. Other stuff happened, including Matt talking, but that's all that's relevant.
At Pinehearst, Hiro and Daphne show up to bother Tracy, who's just used her freezing power to compromise the door and get the formula out of Arthur's safe. She makes the mistake of calling Hiro "Pikachu," and he decks her. Well, if throwing a girly limp-wristed punch like he did can be called "decking," but it seems true to the character, at least, and Daphne's "Oo-kay" expression totally makes it worth it anyway. Tracy's makeup isn't even smudged, but Hiro and Daphne still manage to grab the formula and get the hell out of there.
Peter and Flint are doing their last bit of work, which is to dump a giant vat of the formula onto the floor. However, since Mohinder is still lying there, he gets a mouthful of the stuff, which instantly cures him, even though that makes no sense because it would have to be absorbed into his bloodstream first. Not that I care, especially if this means he'll go live with Maya in New Jersey and leave the rest of us alone. Flint then makes to light the place up, and when Peter objects, saying he's got to get his brother out of there, Flint replies, "I don't give a rat's ass about your brother. Or you." Maybe I should let Flint finish the recap for me. No, that won't be possible, as Nathan bonks Flint on the head from behind with a big metal pole, but then bashes Peter in the stomach with it as well. The Petrelli boys face off, but Nathan whaps Peter to the floor again before telling him he broke his heart. Like we didn't know you were sleeping together. Flint stirs with a look of dangerous rage on his face and ignites the formula, which traps Nathan behind a wall of flames. In desperation, Peter takes a handy hypo and injects himself in the leg with the formula, and it didn't occur to me before but it is interesting that he chose to do this only to save his brother's life and not to regain his "special" status. I could almost start liking Peter, but I don't want to make any promises either. Anyway, Flint stands up and makes to incinerate Nathan, but Peter gets a look of Pure Blue Steel on his face and flies at his brother, carrying them both through the window and up into the night sky. Yes, Nathan could have done this himself, but I have to admit that still gave me chills. Nice!
Back at Primatech, Angela conversationally brings up the fact that Sylar killed Arthur. Sylar: "I certainly did." Heh. She tells him he saved the world, then, and she was right about him all along -- he's a hero. If only she knew how much he hates that word. Angela seems not to know how up the jig is, here, but Sylar manhandles her into a chair and yells that she's not his mother. "Are you?" She admits she's not, and when he asks her why she did it, she first reiterates that her sons have been such a disappointment, and she wanted the chance to give a mother's love to someone else. Sylar uses his Sylargraph, however, and says she's lying, although he can only be referring to the second part. He gives her a warning cut on her head, and after she takes a moment, she tells him she wanted him to work for The Company, as he had "a skill" she needed. She doesn't specify what that is, but when Sylar asks if he saw her as a hero, she admits that the opposite is true: "As a killer, a monster. You were flawed, weak, malleable -- someone I could manipulate, because that's what I do. Because you're right -- I'm a monster too." At least she finally admits it. This is too much bitch-stinging truth for Sylar, though, as he whirls and telekinetically holds her by the throat as he asks if there's any good in the world. "Tell me something, anything! Just make me believe that you're not the same as me!" If you'll turn off the Sylargraph for a moment, Sylar, we might get somewhere on that. However, Angela blurts out that she knows who Sylar's real parents are, and Sylar reads that she's telling the truth. She goes on that he's not the son of a watchmaker and a woman who collected snow globes, but if he kills her, he won't find out the real deal. Sylar is not about to play that game, though, as he chokes her and orders her to come clean, yelling that he wants the truth, but just then Claire smacks something into the back of his head, and he goes down like a rather tall and bloody ton of bricks. She does not add, however, "You can't handle the truth," and I don't think any normal person would have been able to resist so that's just more proof that Claire is "special." Bennet then appears and doesn't bat an eye in telling Claire they need to leave now, presumably because of the ticking time bomb on the premises she refers to as "Mom," but Claire merely tells him to get Angela out of there...
...before heading back to Unit 5. But it's pretty clear that there's nothing to be done, and Bennet shows up and he and Claire run out just in advance of Meredith erupting rather spectacularly. I don't know that It means she's dead, and I certainly hope not, but we won't find out now...
...because we have to check back with the Petrelli boys. After they land in some woods, Nathan berates Peter for taking the formula after he was so dead-set against its use, and asks why he saved him. Incidentally, I'm assuming that Peter got his original power back from the formula, the power mimicry, and copying Nathan's power was how he flew, because while The Flying Petrelli Brothers is an amusing name it would still make for boring television. Anyway, Peter gives the obvious answer -- Nathan's his brother, and he loves him. He moves close, but Nathan hisses, "That's not what I would have done," and flies off into the night. And you know he's serious when he didn't even give Peter a goodbye shoulder-rub. Mohinder starts a boring VO over him checking out his newly-restored face and then getting a ride from Tracy, only when he gets in, we see a lesion he didn't notice, and it's not clear whether that's from the beating he took at Flint's hands or if the infection is persisting; Daphne and Hiro returning to the lab and having a joyful reunion with Ando and Matt as Hiro destroys the formula; Claire, Bennet, and Angela watching the Primatech building burn from outside; Matt seeing NeoIsaac in the lab (as a sign that he's followed the right path, I'm assuming, but whatever); Primatech going down hard as Claire mourns her biological mother. We zoom in on Claire's eye to a title card that tells us it's the end of Volume Three...
...and then we fade up on a shot of a State Department limousine near the Washington Monument as the chyron tells us that Volume Four is called "Fugitives." It's three weeks later, and Nathan is telling someone in the car that their "only real option" is to get the Federal Government involved. The other guy is looking over a dossier, presumably supplied by Nathan, and in it we see profiles of Tracy, Micah, Mohinder, Hiro, and Matt, among others, I'm sure, although it's worth mentioning there's no file visible for any of Nathan's blood relatives, complete with their abilities. Nathan tells the guy that they could all be very dangerous, and his solution proved unsuccessful, so he wants to round them up and put them in a facility "where they won't be a danger to anyone." As I said in the recaplet: Genosha. And that doesn't end well.
The guy agrees to Nathan's plan, and Nathan hops out, but turns back to say this: "Thank you, Mr. President." And said President is black, which just makes me all the more thankful for the Obama win, because this would otherwise be pretty painful to watch. The motorcade takes off, and Nathan's thoughtful? Conflicted? Satisfied? visage is what we have to tide us over until February. See you then!
John Ramos is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles. You can reach him at couchbaron@gmail.com.
See who has the best powers on the show.
John Ramos is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles. You can reach him at couchbaron@gmail.com.
See who has the best powers on the show.