In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
At Coyote Sands, the team continues to dig and unearth the bones of those killed, but Peter finally asks Angela what happened, which sends us into a flashback to 1961, when Coyote Sands was a "relocation center." We see a young Chandra Suresh greet "Angela and Alice Shaw," and he tells them and everyone else that he's there to help them. We also meet a bunch of the ElderHeroes' younger selves -- Charles Deveaux, Linderman, Bob Bishop -- but while Angela is charmed by them and excited for the adventure of being on their own, Alice is not. Angela, however, tells her that the place will make her nightmares go away, and I try to shy away from superlatives, but that could very well be the worst prediction ever. Back in the present, Angela tells Peter that her sister and many others died there, and they all need to settle their differences so history doesn't repeat itself. She goes on that when the government found out about them, they rounded them up, claiming they could cure them. When that turned out to be a lie, the ElderHeroes formed Primatech with the idea never to let something like Coyote Sands happen again. She also informs them that she's been dreaming that her sister is alive, and they need to get to the bottom of that.
In the past, Angela's dreams get worse, and Deveaux tries to make her see that the government doesn't have their best interests at heart. She confesses that her dreams are telling her not to trust Suresh, and then gets a jolt when Alice tells her she can control the weather. Said jolt carries back to the present, as a dust storm mysteriously kicks up, during which Mohinder appears, having followed his dad's notes to Coyote Sands. He and Bennet get each other up to speed, but what they don't know is that in the past, Angela warned Chandra that he was going to unwittingly kill everyone there, but he didn't believe her. In the present, Angela goes out into the storm alone to confront Alice, which causes the dust to abate but Angela to vanish, and the rest of them split up to look for her. As time goes on in the past, Angela and the ElderHeroes hatch a plan to escape and tell the cops what's going on, but they leave Alice behind, thinking she'll slow them down. We see Angela totally lie that she had a dream that it would be safe for Alice at Coyote Sands, so when Angela finds Alice in a bomb shelter, it's no surprise that Alice doles out a heaping helping of guilt for her sister. Angela gets Alice to admit what happened -- Chandra came for her and she got scared and resistant, so she summoned a storm, and chaos ensued, with the guards killing a bunch of the people with abilities. Angela apologizes to her sister and promises to keep her safe, but when she admits the lie she told, Alice freaks and starts shooting lightning bolts until Angela talks her down. However, Alice ends up disappearing, leaving us only with an explanation for Angela's penchant for stealing socks that could just make you cry. In the end, everyone leaves except Mohinder, who stays to come to terms with the sins of both his father and himself, while the extended Petrellis resolve to forgive each other and rectify their mistakes. Unfortunately, that may be even harder than it sounds, as Sylar is now imitating Nathan. We'll just have to see if he's willing to commit to brother-touching to make it really convincing.
Want more? The full recap starts right below! Man, I can't believe they aired an episode that's so completely filler when we've only got three to go. I was so psyched for Bryan Fuller, and yet the show has managed to completely ruin any momentum it had from "Cold Snap." So boring! Anyway......it's back around to day in Coyote Sands, and the team on hand has excavated many more corpses. Peter complains about what they're doing, as well he might given that I don't see any evidence that any of them have slept since they got there, and then Nathan tells him to trust Angela, which is kind of hilarious all around. Needless to say, Peter is not interested in having his traitorous brother weigh in on what he should or shouldn't be feeling, so Claire goes over to him and tries to get him to give Nathan a chance. "He knows what he's done and he's carrying enough guilt for all of us." Here's my exceedingly witty rejoinder: No he doesn't, and no he isn't. Seriously, it's Claire's business if she wants to make peace with Nathan, but for her to say that Nathan has earned that consideration from any of them, least of all Peter, the only family member he didn't protect from the government initiative, is funnier than anything I'm talented enough to write. Peter isn't particularly impressed with Claire's plea, and decides instead to do something constructive and ask Angela what the hell is up with them coming to find a sister they didn't even know she had. Angela cinematically swivels her head...
...and then we're thrown into a black-and-white flashback of an old-style bus pulling into the location we just left in the present as a chyron informs us it's February 1961. The place is fenced in, and a sign on the gate reads "Coyote Sands Relocation Center," and even without knowing what's coming, if that euphemism doesn't vaguely chill your blood, you're not paying close enough attention. Amid a line of people who've just disembarked from the bus, a teenaged girl turns to face the camera for a moment before Younger Chandra calls her name -- "Angela Shaw," and on looks alone, this is a great cast, because this girl bears a lot of similarities to Cristine Rose. YC also calls the name of her sister, "Alice," who looks perhaps the slightest bit, er, "off," before introducing himself and affably inviting them to follow him. As they walk, he points out the playground, dining room, and game room, and all the place needs are some canvas tents and an archery range to be the summer camp I went to when I was ten. After he sings the center's praises some more, Angela asks where he's from, and he tells her Bombay. "I've come a long way to meet you. To help you." He points to a building that he says will be theirs, and adds that their parents will be just across the way. He then tells them "Dr. Zimmerman" will escort them, but the friendly mood is dampened somewhat when Angela observes the presence of armed guards, and between them and the fact that their parents are there, I have to agree that the camp atmosphere is seeming less fun by the second. YC, however, assures them that the guards are only there to keep them safe, and Angela seems to buy that, which goes to show that mistrust and paranoia are made, not born. The bunch of them head off...
...and soon after, in their cabin, Angela and Alice are busy unpacking when three boys enter, and I'll just tell you right now that they're the younger versions of Charles Deveaux, Daniel Linderman, and Bob Bishop. YDL offers, "Welcome to Crapola Sands" in a manner that manages simultaneously to be kind of lisping and over-enunciated, and given that there's also an accent that tries to be English but is barely in the same hemisphere, I'm not sure how we're supposed to buy that this kid eventually turns into Malcolm McDowell. He'll probably have a hell of a time doing Caligula, though. YCD is clearly the leader of the group, and he hits on Angela a bit before the three of them withdraw. We see that it's raining as Alice complains that she wants to be with their parents, but Angela assures her that being on their own will be fun. However, when she opens Alice's suitcase, she finds only toys and books, and Alice points out that she told her only to pack what she'd need. I know this is meant to show that Alice relies on Angela and also to set up the sock thing later, but frankly, I'm kind of getting the sense that Alice would have gone around the bend at some point without any help from her sister. Also, didn't her parents check her suitcase? Anyway, Alice tells "Banana" (?) that she wants to go home, but Angela happily says that the doctors told their parents that this place is going to make her nightmares go away, and I already gave my comments about that in the recaplet, so I'll move on to where the doctors also said her issue is genetic, so it's something that could affect them all, and as such they all need to deal with it. There's also a bit about Alice being addicted to Alice In Wonderland, and between that and the suitcase she is again coming across as young or challenged for her age. They have some moments of sisterly bonding in which Angela drops an Anvil of Ironic Foreshadowing on my foot when she promises she'll always be there for Alice, and everything seems to be looking up when the rain suddenly clears. They clasp hands and smile at each other...
...and then, in the present, Peter and Angela are holding hands as she says that her sister and parents died there, and the same will happen to them if they don't settle their differences. Peter takes me back to last chapter as he gives his mother his best Blue Steel, and then, from inside, we see a mysterious person's hand in frame. It would be a more interesting development if there were more than one possibility of who the hand belongs to, but don't tell that to the portentous music. Title card.
Back from the break, Angela talks about how JFK was President and they were all patriots, and when the government found out about them, they told them they could be cured, as if the military wouldn't have pointed them toward Cuba faster than you could say "Bay Of Pigs." Angela goes on that she survived, but almost everyone else died, and thank God for Peter as he asks her to get to the goddamn point already, again. Angela says she's been dreaming that Alice is alive, which doesn't make sense, and if I thought her editorial commentary was genuine, I'd appreciate it, but I think it's more the show trying to throw us off the scent. I mean, despite Angela's claim that her dreams are often confusing and open to interpretation (which is utter bullshit anyway, given how zealously she's believed the literal interpretations in the past) you'd think, without evidence to the contrary, she might at least entertain the idea that her sister is still alive. Peter upbraids her for not telling them about her sooner, and Angela replies that she didn't want them to know her pain, and that "Mothers are allowed to do that. I'm allowed to protect you." Between this preposterous sentiment and the ridiculous idea that Nathan is so gigantically remorseful, I'm surprised it's going to take another three minutes for Peter to fly the hell out of here. Nathan kisses his mother's ass some more, and she goes on that "they" made everyone forget what happened. Yes, apparently out of the ashes of what happened at Coyote Sands, Primatech was formed, and no, that doesn't really make sense either, especially since it doesn't account for the motivations of people like Eric Roberts and George Takei, but she goes on that they did whatever they needed to do to make their existence a secret once more, and it worked, for fifty years, and now they have to do what they did before and put the secret back. "It's time to go back to the old methods." Even if you bought all this, it doesn't provide any kind of plan for dealing with Sylar, but the whole thing makes so little sense that even bringing up that huge problem seems beside the point. Also, without The Haitian, who hasn't been in this chapter at all, I don't know how she plans to execute this gigantic cover-up. Claire can't believe she's talking about erasing people's memories and committing murder again, but Angela says it's a necessary evil. Peter is not having any of this, though, and exits the cabin and flies off, with Nathan in kiss-assy pursuit. Angela watches them go...
...and then her younger self is waking up with a gasp, now in March 1961. We cut to her going outside for some air and finding the three boys, and YCD says they've heard her talking to her sister about how her nightmares come true. He tells her she's not the only one who's different, and calls for YDL, who minces, "How'd a pretty skirt like you get a scar like that?" Hmm, misogynistic and gay at the same time. They should send him over to Mad Men so he and Sal can hang out. He's referring to a gash on her leg she says came from a bicycle accident, and he kneels down and reaches out a healing hand, and the scar disappears. YCD likens their situation to that of an internment camp, which given the creepy sign seems hard to argue, and when Angela demurs, saying they can trust the people there, he asks what her nightmare was about. She tries to disclaim that her dreams aren't always right, but it's no more convincing than when her future self does it, and she then tells YCD not to trust YC. Well, if that's her feeling, I can see why she has so much confidence in the place! Seriously, I know I'm using a lot of abbreviations here, but WTF? Anyway, Alice comes outside, prompting Angela to break up the party and head back in, where Alice tells "Banana" (?) that her feet are cold. Angela tells her they have these new things called "socks" that can remedy such a situation, and promises to find her some, presumably at the Desert Relocation General Store, where one can also purchase stationery to write letters to relatives one will probably never again see. Angela tells Alice to say goodnight, and Alice repeats, "Goodnight, Alice," which I'll allow for the moment as long as it's understood that I might change my mind at any moment. Once they're settled into bed, Alice whispers that she heard what Angela was saying to the boys, and then basically admits that she unwittingly almost killed their father with a hailstorm one time after he punished her, and that's when she realized she can control the weather. Angela looks fearful, but Alice goes ahead and demonstrates by making it snow, which ISN'T GOING TO DRAW ATTENTION IN THE DESERT OR ANYTHING. She then asks Angela if YC is going to come for her, and Angela already looks like she's at her wit's end...
...so while she's casting around for something to say, we might as well head back to the present, where Claire is asking why Angela didn't tell her kids about her sister. Angela changes the subject by asking where Bennet went, and Claire confesses she asked him to go away so she could spend some time alone with her grandmother, because she wants to help her. Angela's touched in spite of herself, and recalls that she was almost Claire's age when she came to Coyote Sands, but she was hopelessly naïve and now wishes she'd had half her granddaughter's strength. "If I had had your spirit, if I had trusted myself, maybe things would have been different here." Claire brings things back around to Angela's sister, and Angela asks if she's ever done something "so awful you think if you ever talk about it you might never stop crying?" Claire looks worried, as well she might, because if Angela thinks whatever she did to her sister is a standout among her misdeeds, it's got to be a whopper of a doozy. As if to agree, a storm suddenly and viciously kicks up outside, and Angela says this is what happened in her dream, and it must be Alice, even though she just said it didn't make any sense to think she might be alive. She runs outside, with Claire in pursuit, calling her sister's name as a maelstrom of dust swirls around them. I would have chosen a blizzard myself, just for the irony, but this is a decent enough place to go to commercial.
Peter's sitting in the Coyote Sands Café (I'm serious, that's what the chyron says) when Nathan walks in, and the look Peter gives him of amusement crossed with boredom is one of the finer acting choices Milo has made. Nathan appallingly says they need to get through "whatever it is" that's between them, like he has no idea why Peter would think he's a lying scumbag, and on top of that, Nathan then has the gall to chastise Peter for running away when the going gets tough, and instead of using his righteous anger to summon all the powers his dad stole from him and simultaneously freeze Nathan, cut his head open, and make him explode, Peter settles for pointing out that Nathan ran away from D.C. when he could be back there helping clean up the mess he made. Nathan condescendingly laughs that no one can look down his nose at him like Peter can, and I'd submit that's because he's had both the most reason to and the most practice. Peter, however, brings up an old wound about involving playoff tickets back in 1986, and it's not bad but my upbringing prevents me from relating any story about the Mets that doesn't end in them losing tragically, so suffice it to say that Peter's point is that Nathan has always been a con artist: "Even in your generosity, Nathan, you are selfish. That is just who you are." Well, he's super-hot, too. I'm not arguing with Peter generally, but that is a point that's not only hard to forget but also goes a long way to explain why he gets away with fitting that description. Nathan continues to be disgusting as he says that they have to forgive "each other," like Peter's done anything wrong here, but Peter says he's trying. Their conversation is then interrupted by the emergency broadcast system coming over the TV and informing them that a severe storm warning is suddenly in effect...
...and Bennet's out in it, searching for Claire, when Mohinder suddenly drags him into a nearby shack and demands to know if there are more agents coming. Bennet yells that he's not working with them anymore, and explains about Angela's childhood experience being the reason they're there. Mohinder lets him go and shows him the folder about his father working there...
...and we cut to a closeup of the two Shaw girls' folder, being carried by YC in April 1961. He asks Angela if the two of them can speak, and they leave the girls' cabin and walk off as Alice watches worriedly...
...and then YC is testing Angela's ability to tell him what's on the back of several flash cards. She's put off by the other people in the room silently filming her answers, but still gets every one right. She then explains that she's not reading his mind -- she simply had a dream that showed her all the answers. Yes, real murky, those dreams she has! He asks what else she's dreamt about, and she confesses she's seen him, and he's going to kill everyone there. He looks fazed for a moment, but snaps out of it and assures her that won't happen. She persists, though, saying that while he's a good man, the place is going to get out of his control. He replies by starting a quote from Einstein, the remainder of which she finishes, but again, it's because of her dream, not because of her familiarity with the words. He tells her that she's probably misinterpreting what she saw, and that everything will be fine, but then steps on his own argument by coming at her with a large needle...
...and back with Claire, Angela's talking about how she tried to make them stop in order to save Alice and whatever, and when Claire asks why, if Alice is her sister, she's trying to send them off to the land of Oz or whatever, and Angela duhs that she's angry. Noting Claire's skepticism, Angela then rushes out into the storm, which immediately abates -- but when Claire heads outside seconds later, Angela's gone. Nathan and Peter return, and Claire tells them about the disappearance, and we then pull up to an aerial shot of everyone looking around uncertainly before going to commercial.
When we return, Mohinder is boo-hooing about the apparent fact that his father was a mass murderer, as if we all don't have our sad stories. Also, if he's that broken up about it, maybe he should take solace in Chandra's brutal eventual murder. Bennet opines that working with the enemy doesn't necessarily make you the enemy, and Bennet, I like you, so don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you're not the best person to render an objective opinion on that subject. However, he adds that he knows from personal experience that Chandra was a good man, and Mohinder shouldn't make any assumptions, and wow, with less than three episodes to go, do I really not care about Mohinder's emotional crisis over his father, so let's move on to where Nathan, Peter, and Claire join them after unsuccessfully attempting to locate Angela and they split up into two groups to look for her...
...and soon Peter and Mohinder are examining barracks in which Peter attempts to stem the tide of Mohinder's self-flagellation over being like his father and fails. I appreciate the effort, though. I also have to point out that the configuration of the two search parties means that Peter and Mohinder are the Shaggy and Scooby, which seems just about right to me. Peter then informs Mohinder about Angela's plan to start a new Company and what a bad idea that is, but Mohinder sees things a little differently -- he suggests that what Angela and the other Company founders went through at Coyote Sands colored everything they did in the future, and maybe Peter would be a better choice to lead them. There was a time when I would have nominated that for Most Hilarious Sentence Of The Year, but it's a testament to the rehabilitation of Peter in this chapter that I actually think Mohinder's on to something here. Mohinder wraps up by saying he has to believe there's hope for redemption, even for Nathan...
...whom we visit, and wow, I didn't realize how much shorter Adrian Pasdar is than Jack Coleman. Claire's being the Velma as she stays off to the side while her two dads whine about the mess they've made of things. Bennet then tells Nathan about Sylar's new power and how he almost killed Sandra because of it, and it would have been funny if Claire suddenly piped up from across the room, "Say what?" However, she's found the cover of Alice In Wonderland that's miraculously survived lo these fifty years, which cues a labored transition to how Claire doesn't remember the last time she did normal things, but while she should be a basket case, she's not. However, she tells them both she was trying to impress them by becoming an agent or whatever, and it was moronic, but she just wanted to grow up. I guess her overall point is that she accepts the life she's leading, although she kind of gets lost along the way, but who cares, as it's time for another flashback...
...to May 1961, and Alice is lying on her bed and watching sullenly as Angela and YCD speak in hushed tones across the room about sneaking out that night and figuring out where they are and how they can get help. Angela's having second thoughts, even though the whole thing was her plan, because she promised Alice she wouldn't leave her alone. YCD, however, thinks she'll slow them down, which... she's not a toddler. I can think of many reasons to leave her behind -- a bigger party is more easily detected, the more people gone the more likely the guards are to notice, she may freak out about the plan, she cant stop saying "Banana," etc., etc. -- but foot speed isn't one of them. I mean, at the very least, she could summon a nice tail wind to get them moving faster. Anyway, though, this is all so Angela can clunkily ask how she's supposed to get Alice not to freak out, and so YCD can answer, "Lie." Groan. He leaves, and Angela marches over and tells Alice that she's going out with the boys that night, and Alice isn't invited, because Angela wants to hang out with kids her own age. Given that it is, as the title tells us, 1961, I'd think one girl going off with three strange boys at night for unspecified social interaction at which her younger sister is unwelcome would freak Alice out a lot more than anything they're actually planning, but as the upcoming dance will show, it's only forty-eight years ago when it's convenient to the script. Angela starts to go, but Alice grabs her hand and says she's scared, and to emphasize that, thunder rumbles ominously in the distance. Angela lies that she had a dream the night before that Alice would be safe, so she just has to stay there and everything will be fine...
...and then Angela awakens with a violent start in yet another building. However, this one's furnished with, among other things, stacks and stacks of old newspapers and Alice's now-coverless copy of Alice In Wonderland. The door opens, and Angela sees a pair of feet walking down the stairs (I guess it's actually a bomb shelter). Angela looks red-eyed and paler than usual, by the way, which seems realistic after two days in the desert with no sleep, but she finally gets a good look at the woman, and it's longtime Bryan Fuller favorite Diana Scarwid, wearing a long gray fright wig that makes it look like she's about to start hurling hissing cats right and left. Angela breathes, "Alice?" I'd forgive the unlikelihood of her familiarity with the reference if Alice responded with a comment about not living there anymore, but all we get is a commercial break.
When we return, Angela is begging Alice to talk to her, but Alice is too busy sending us into another flashback as she puts a record on an old player and "Crying" by Roy Orbison kicks up......which continues in the flashback on a radio at the Coyote Sands Café. Angela slams the phone down in disgust and reports to the others that the cops don't believe her, and goes on that they have to try to convince them. Inexplicably, though, the others completely don't care, with YDL babbling something in the accent that defies description and YCD asking Angela to dance, because he knows she loves this song and missed her prom. Angela says she never told him that, so I guess we're meant to assume that YCD is telepathic, even though he only seemed to be able to dream walk earlier in the series, and also, if he can actually read minds, they should have been using that power to figure out what was going on at Coyote Sands the whole time instead of relying on Angela's "confusing" dreams, and this episode really kind of bites. Also, speaking to my point that it's only 1961 when the show wants it to be, YCD and Angela dancing earns only an eventual mild rebuke from the proprietor, which is pretty unbelievable given that they're out in the sticks here, but it gives YCD a further chance to show off the powers he doesn't have when he commands the guy to pretend like it never happened, and he complies, like, BEING ABLE TO BEND PEOPLE TO YOUR WILL WOULDN'T HAVE COME IN HANDY BACK IN THE PRISON CAMP OR ANYTHING. Angela then remembers she needs to get socks for Alice, but just then, the Emergency Broadcast System warns of a severe storm...
...and back in the present, Alice tells Angela that she's alive, and Angela's not going crazy. Once again, a second opinion seems warranted. Angela asks if she's been hanging out in this dump for fifty years, and Alice explains that when she found the shelter, it was packed with food, so that lasted her a while, and then when it was gone, she did "what [she] had to do." The potential ugliness of that remark is tempered by the fact that the street trade is probably pretty barren out there, and Alice goes on to clarify that she stole food and clothes. Angela asks the obvious question of why she stayed, so Alice points out that Angela told her she'd be safe if she stayed there, which obviously sounds insane until she clarifies that she thought isolating herself would keep the world safe from her powers. Angela is guiltily heartbroken to hear all this, and asks what happened the night she left. Alice tells her YC came for her...
...and in flashback, we see him attempt to inject her with that same needle, and I can't blame Alice for freaking out because that thing would make a stork jealous. In Alice's particular case, however, her fear causes a storm to brew, and soon a lightning bolt zaps one of the flunky guards in attendance. Horrified at what she's done, Alice runs out into the night, but YC, seemingly aware she's the cause of all this, rushes after and grabs her, assuring her that everything's all right. She's beyond the capacity for calm, though, so he slaps her to try to snap her out of it, but even though he immediately apologizes, another patient misinterprets what happened and uses his power to knock Chandra back, which gets him shot by one of the guards. Alice hides under one of the buildings as a full-scale riot breaks out, and she sees that the lab in which Chandra has been conducting his experiments is called "Building 26." She covers her face in despair...
...as does her older self in the present. Angela consoles her, saying it's time to go home before telling her she has socks for her - whenever she feels lost, she steals socks for Alice "to remind myself there are simple ways to protect the ones we love." Aww to the sentiment, overwritten as it is. Alice cries, "Oh, Banana" (?) and says it's not her fault, but Angela demurs, and confesses she lied to Alice because she was trying to protect her. Even without the suddenly-very-ugly expression on Alice's face, I'd think Angela made a mistake here based on Alice saying "You" in a voice that sounds like the Balrog from The Fellowship Of The Ring, so it's no surprise when the wind starts swirling and a lightning bolt glancingly zaps Angela. Just then, however, Peter and Mohinder enter the place, and Peter grabs Angela and asks if she's okay. Mohinder, however, tentatively approaches Alice, which is a mistake, because all she sees is YC telling her to calm down and slapping her in the face again. Mohinder gets another lightning bolt for his trouble, which knocks him out, but that doesn't deter Angela from trying to talk Alice down. She tells Alice that Peter is her nephew and she has a family, and they can make everything all right. The wind dies down, and Angela reiterates her apology, but when she tries to get her to come with her, Alice refuses. She runs up the stairs, and when Angela follows, she's gone. Angela looks empty and broken at having lost her sister again, and while I think this episode was a big misstep, that's not to take anything away from Cristine Rose, who's surely done some of her finest work here. I want to see her and Ashley Crow have a spinoff, and if they can toss Jessalyn Gilsig in there somehow, so much the better.
When we return, Peter reports to Mohinder (after an aerial search, I'd assume) that Alice is definitely gone, but he found a film canister in the lab that he hopes will give Mohinder some answers about Chandra. Mohinder, however, points out that Alice's storm covered all the skeletons back up, and maybe he should take that as a sign to leave Coyote Sands alone. Peter agrees, and starts to head to the waiting car, but Mohinder says he's not going with him. Instead of being all "More room for me!" about it, Peter asks why not, and Mohinder tells him he's not ready to move on, and man, Sendhil Ramamurthy is nice to look at but is it ever painful to watch him "act." Also, I'm not sure why Mohinder's declaration that he's not ready to forgive himself translates into hanging out at the abandoned Coyote Sands, especially since he JUST SAID HE'S NOT INTERESTED IN DISTURBING THE PLACE FURTHER, but I don't care much about Mohinder at the best of times, so you can be sure I'm not going to slow down for him at Minute 56...
...so let's head over to the Coyote Sands Café, in which Angela is regretfully watching from a short distance as her family chows down...
...and in the past, she's telling the boys that they can never let something like this happen again. "No one can know about us." She's obviously been crying, but still, I'm not sure I'm buying she just lost her sister and parents, especially given how that occurrence at least partially resulted from a lie she told to the former. Different people cope differently, but still. Anyway, though, she says she had a dream that they're going to form a Company that will protect people like them, and they'll do anything to keep the secret safe. Also never really got the idea that's what Primatech was about, even on paper. (Oof, sorry -- I sometimes get punchy this close to the end.) However, without this leadup, Young Angela might not have had the chance to echo her older self's declaration that what they're going to do is "a necessary evil..."
...before coming back to the present, in which Nathan joins his mother and gives her the copy of Alice In Wonderland with the cover back on it. Angela opines that she'll never see Alice again, but Nathan gamely says she doesn't know that before offering that he gets her guilt, but she's got to let go of it. Yet again, I would suggest he's not the right person to say this, since he never had any guilt in the first place. However, I'm with him when he invites her to join them, and she accepts with a grateful smile. Once they've sat back down with the others, Peter supportively takes Angela's hand and announces that they're not a Company, but a family, and as such, they have the capacity for forgiveness. Nathan asks if he means that, and Peter replies that they're stronger together than they are apart, and besides, it's been so long since he and Nathan have caressed each other that he's almost forgotten what it feels like. He goes on that they have to stop the hunting and make their existence a secret again, and Nathan volunteers to go back to D.C. and take ownership of his mistakes by talking to the President. However, as Claire's sudden bewildered expression shows, that's going to be more complicated than it seems -- because Sylar has taken Nathan's form, and on live TV, he's telling everyone that "nothing will ever be the same." After this episode, I certainly hope not. See you week!
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. You can reach him at couchbaron@gmail.com.
Discuss this episode in the Heroes forums, and check out our Heroes power rankings!