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Remember when back-to-back episodes would have been something to get excited about? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, Claire sees her roommate dead on the ground and insists that it is murder, not suicide. Her strange new friend Gretchen, who has an unhealthy obsession with dead bodies, says that they should try the age old Jump, Push, Fall test to determine the real cause of death, if only they could find a cadaver. Claire naturally leaps from the window herself, and new pal Gretchen sees her ribs sticking out and whatnot and is notably wigged out.
HRG gets a call from Tracy, who swears she didn't kill Danko. Instead, HRG determines that speedy knife guy must have wanted something, and after some digging in Danko's guts, HRG pulls out a key. The key leads to a safety deposit box, and HRG enlists a reluctant Peter's help to get it. Peter's the muscle in this scenario. Go ahead, laugh. I'll wait. Done? Nope? Yeah, it's a pretty hysterical concept. Anyway, they eventually find the box, containing a broken compass, and then speedy knife guy shows up and tries to kill them. Peter steals his power and they battle all blurry for a while, while HRG stands to the side and does literally nothing. Then knife guy runs off. The compass works for Peter, so HRG asks Peter to be his partner, but Peter turns him the hell down. Later, Peter gets called in for an emergency and it's a sliced up HRG who just got his little compass stolen. Then Tracy weirdly goes to the hospital and now she's friends with HRG or something and it is just strange.
Also strange, Hiro accidentally sends himself back to the carnival, but doesn't stop his young self from going to get his fortune told. However, T-Bag (also known as Samuel, apparently) encourages him to make another small change that won't rip the fabric of time apart or anything. Except that it sort of does as Ando and Komiko are dating now. Hiro sees this as a good thing (because even though he's not a pre-teen any more, he's still an idiot) and decides to go back to undo everything he's done wrong in the past. Well, that should take a long, long, while.
Meanwhile, in the storyline I just can't stand, Matt Parkman is hallucinating Sylar, who is looking for his body. Matt tries to ignore him, as he's apparently gone power-free for six weeks and isn't looking to get addicted again. There's group therapy, an annoying interrogation scene where Matt tries to do whatever job he's got this week, and then way too much of Matt's wife, who is having an affair with the water delivery boy. Matt finally caves and uses his power to send water boy away, and Sylar is delighted because now Matt will help him... in theory. Also, Nathan is having weird facial ticks, which is gross and apparently just there so that we realize the internal conflict going on inside him. Subtle.
Aside from taking advantage of stupid Hiro, who is apparently on tap to replace the ailing old time-traveling guy, T-Bag and crew need to take up a collection of heroes for some sort of mission. The tattoo seems to be of Peter, Sylar and Claire... for whatever unknown and presumably nefarious reason. - Angel Cohn
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what which Heroes have the Lamest Superpowers.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Without a break between episodes or chyrons that introduce us to Chapter Two, we keep right on going. Claire heads to the mixer, where we see Annie playing Guitar Hero. Claire sees Gretchen, who apologizes for being nosy. Claire says it's okay; she just wasn't allowed to talk about it before, so it was weird to do so. She gets philosophical about how she thought she could take what she liked about her life and leave the rest behind, but apparently not. Annie finishes her game and calls Claire over to play with her. Gretchen says Annie's horrible and has been hogging the game all night. Claire says it's her roommate, then walks over to Annie. Claire tells Annie she was going to play with Gretchen. Annie asks if Gretchen knows how, and Gretchen snits, "No, but Gretchen doesn't care." Okay, I actually prefer Annie to Gretchen, even though I don't think that's the intent. Claire says she'll play with Gretchen since they both don't know how. They start to play, and I refuse to recap this other than to say: They play. It's dumb.
Ando has wheeled Hiro on a dolly back to the office, and is hiding him from Kimiko. He manages to get him into an office, where he shakes him and finally wakes him up. Hiro doesn't know what's going on, so Ando explains that instead of freezing time, time froze Hiro. And Hiro's nose is bleeding. Ando wants Hiro to talk to a doctor, but Hiro won't do that. He says he's already seen a doctor for the nosebleeds and headaches, but didn't tell Ando, because it's bad news: Hiro's dying. Wait, that's bad news how, exactly? Ando thinks Hiro should time-travel to save himself, but Hiro says he can't. He pulls out the photo of the three of them as kids again, though, and says that was the day he wanted to become a hero, after he got a fortune at a carnival saying he would be one. But Hiro says he can't change the past. It's his code. Hiro freezes again for a moment, and then comes back and says he's not sure what happened, but he was back at the carnival, and... then he disappears. I like that better than him having to squeeze his eyes shut all the time. And now he's at the carnival 14 years ago.
Then Hiro's face shows up on the tattooed lady's back. She tells Samuel his name, and that he was at this carnival 14 years ago. Samuel leaves and approaches an old guy with breathing tubes, and says he knows he's sick, but needs him to use his power once more to send Samuel back 14 years, where there's a guy who can help them fix the past. The old guy thinks it's a good idea, so he'll do it. [Or, Samuel could wait for him to come back to the present? Maybe? - Zach]
Claire comes back to her dorm room, telling Annie she didn't see her leave the party. She notices the window is open and looks out, where Annie's laying dead on the ground in a pool of blood. Claire covers her mouth. Either out of shock or because she is excited that she can now do nothing and still get a 4.0 this term. Isn't that how the rumor goes?
Matt walks through his house, and steps on a toy car. Meanwhile, Nathan tries to move a cup with his mind again, but can't. Matt walks into Baby Matt's room, and he's not there. He starts screaming for him, and actually says, "Matty, are you hiding again?" Because babies so often get out of their cribs and "hide." Nathan gets up and walks to the bathroom and turns on the light with his mind, but doesn't seem to notice. He stares into the mirror. Back at Matt's, Sylar's holding Matty. He looks at Matt and says, "I want my body back." Matt wants Sylar to put Baby Matt down, and wonders how he's here. Sylar says he's part of Matt, and is inside his head. Matt's like, "So, you're not real?" Sylar wonders how he could be holding Baby Matt, then? Sylar says he's not going away until Matt undoes whatever it is he did to leave him body-less. Janice comes in, and Sylar throws Baby Matt toward Matt, who reaches up to catch just as Janice walks in. But Sylar was a figment of Matt's imagination, so he just looks crazy standing over their sleeping son with his arms outstretched. He makes up a lame, "I thought I heard him cry" story, but Janice thinks he's lost it and tells him to come back to bed.
Back in his D.C. apartment, Bennet is busy burning microwave meals in his toaster oven. So, he looks in his fridge and we see just mustard and a bottle of water, which he grabs. Then he makes a phone call. A man answers, and Bennet says he must have dialed the wrong number. The guy's like, "Who are you looking for," and Bennet says "Sandra. Bennet." The guy's like, "Yeah, she's here," and puts her on the phone. Bennet hangs up. His phone rings again, and he thinks it's her, but it's Tracy, calling him to Danko's. How do all of the people who hate each other on this show always have each other's cell phone numbers, anyway? Do you make it a habit of exchanging cell numbers with your enemies? Bennet walks in and sees dead Danko, and Tracy says she didn't do it. Well, duh, it's knives not water.
Hiro's still at the carnival and freaking out about it. He'd like to leave again and tries, but he doesn't seem to control his power. Young Hiro comes up behind him and asks him to take their picture. Hiro himself snaps the photo of the three of them as kids. Young Hiro tells him he looks familiar, and Hiro says he has one of those faces. They did a great job casting Young Hiro because he could be Masi Oka's brother. Hiro watches Young Hiro go into the fortune teller, but he won't change it. He tries to leave again, but can't. Samuel interrupts him, in Japanese, then in English, calling Hiro by name. Samuel introduces himself, saying he thinks they'll be great friends.
Back at college, a rigidly-line-reading cop is asking Claire if Annie expressed any suicidal thoughts. Claire thinks that's ridiculous, what with the life plan and all, but the cop shows her a suicide note found on Annie's pillow. Claire swears it wasn't there, but the cop thinks Claire just overlooked it. A bunch of college kids are hovering in the doorway so the cop asks her colleagues to please get the gawkers out of here. Claire says she wouldn't do this, since she was just beating the entire floor at Guitar Hero. That's what passes for your argument, Claire? Try harder. The cop asks, "What then? Murder?" She asks why someone would want to murder Annie, and Claire asks the cop if that isn't her job. She says it is and thanks Claire for her help.
Ando's pacing when Kimiko comes in and asks where Hiro is. Ando says he just left, but she didn't see him leave. Then again, she didn't see Ando wheel him in on a dolly, so I'm not sure it matters what she saw. Instead of pointing that out, Ando says that maybe Hiro's hiding. Hiding? Really? Why are all of the characters on this show so stupid? Kimiko gets mad and wants to know where Hiro is. Ando decides to tell her the truth, that Hiro slipped out of time and space and is now at a carnival 14 years ago. She wonders why she even bothers and leaves the room.
Back at the carnival 14 years ago, Samuel asks Hiro if he's a time traveler. Hiro wonders how he knew, and Samuel says he has a gift, too. He shows Hiro a compass tattoo on his forearm, and the needle's spinning. Hiro's excited, but no one bothers to explain what power that is, anyway. I guess it doesn't matter. To Hiro or to us, because even if this show explained it, we'd probably still be confused. Samuel asks if Hiro's being here has to do with Young Hiro, and guesses that it's him. Hiro says yes, but he can't interfere, because then he'll never be a hero and he won't save the cheerleader or New York. He says it's the butterfly effect. Samuel agrees that would be bad, but Hiro could probably change some butterflies. Hiro says he can't, because everything's connected, but Samuel says sometimes you can change just one thing. He asks if there's anything else Hiro would care to fix. He points to Ando and Kimiko, who are drinking slushies. Hiro says he bumped Ando and made him spill his slushy all over Kimiko, making her hate him. But he can't fix it. So Samuel pushes Hiro in the way as the slushy spills, so it gets all over Hiro. He says "Oh no" in Japanese, and then disappears. Samuel watches lazily.
Back in present-day Tokyo, Ando wonders what happened and Hiro says he went back to the carnival, but didn't stop himself from getting his fortune read. He says he couldn't change that because many people would have died if he didn't become a hero. Ando asks if Hiro didn't change anything, then, and Hiro says that's not exactly the case. He asks if anything's different for Ando and Kimiko, but Ando's like, "No. Same as always." She walks in right then and lectures Hiro again about his spending habits. Hiro leaves the room and watches as Ando tells Kimiko to be easier on Hiro. Then they kiss, and Hiro "Yatta!"s.
At Danko's, Tracy's explaining to HRG what happened, and how Mr. Knives tried to get her, too, but she turned into water instinctually. Whatever. Bennet wonders why she's even there, since he told her he'd handle Danko. She didn't know if she could trust Bennet, and she needed to know. She got there and saw Bennet had kept his word, so she was going to leave and then this happened. Thanks for reliving that for us, Tracy. She tells Bennet that knives guy was definitely a hero. She heard him say he was looking for something. She thinks maybe it was revenge since Danko had a lot of enemies. Bennet can tell by where the cuts are that it wasn't revenge. He thinks the killer was looking for something. He reaches inside Danko and pulls out a key that says "372" on it.
Matt Parkman is putting on an FBI badge in front of a picture of yet another child playing another version of Baby Matt. And, really? FBI detective? Do the people who give Matt jobs think that none of us ever watch this show? Because Matt would be a lousy FBI agent. As he's getting ready, Matt hears some guy talking to Baby Matt and rushes out all defensive and weird, even more when he learns that Roy has been the water delivery guy since Baby Matt was born. Roy can't believe how time flies and calls Janice by her first name. Roy says the heating unit on their cooler is busted, so he'll fix it later. Janice thanks him sweetly, and Matt does so snottily. Roy leaves and Janice and Matt argue. He is annoyed Roy calls her Janice instead of being professional, but he admits this is mostly because Roy's been here and he hasn't been. Janice is worried about him because he's not sleeping, blah, blah, he blames work, blah. She tells him if he could read minds to get some answers at work, that would help, but she's proud of him for kicking that habit for good. He says it's under control and leaves.
Peter's listening to a scanner in his dark apartment when Bennet shows up and asks if they can talk for a minute. Peter doesn't answer, which is weird, but then he's offering Bennet something to drink. Peter says he has water or mustard, and Bennet chooses water. [They're like peas in a pod! - Z] Again. Bennet wonders what Peter's been up to, and he says he got his paramedic job back. Bennet says it must be keeping him busy, since Angela says she hasn't seen him in weeks. Bennet notices Peter's wall of savings, and wonders if he's using powers to do this. Peter says it's useful in his line of work to be strong and fast, and adds, "Thank you, Dr. Suresh," so that we know how he got all Spider-Man-y. Peter wonders if Bennet's there for a reason, and Bennet explains the key from dead Danko, and the guy with the fast knives who will probably be waiting for someone to come open the box it goes to. Bennet needs a partner he can trust on this because of the super-fast knife guy. Peter: "How fast?"
Sandra and Claire, both wearing horrible clothes (Claire's wearing a baggy, grandma-looking top that makes her look fat, which she isn't; Sandra's wearing a bright orange cardigan over a white shirt, and the orange just makes her look pale and old), are walking through campus. Claire thanks her for letting her stay with her last night, which is really just the writers' way of letting us know that Sandra also lives in the D.C. area. Sandra and Claire argue about whether Claire should tell Annie's parents about the suicide note. When Claire and Sandra arrive at the room, Claire's stalker Gretchen is waiting outside. Claire introduces them to each other and Gretchen jumps right in, asking Claire if she thinks Annie's death was murder or a horrific accident, since Gretchen somehow heard that Claire told the cops she didn't see a note. Sandra tries to silence the gossip by saying Claire might have been mistaken. Gretchen thinks suicide makes no sense for someone with a trajectory of the 50 years. Sandra fist-bumps Claire and then leaves. Gretchen's like, "So, it's murder, right? How do we prove it?"
Bennet and Peter are in New York Federal Bank in Manhattan. Peter wonders if the knife guy is going to show, and Bennet doesn't know but feels better with Peter there. Then he tells Peter that he thinks he should seriously consider how he's living. Peter's like, "Where did that come from?" Is Peter so dense that he actually doesn't know where that came from? He has a crazy serial saver wall of clippings in his otherwise bare apartment with no food, doesn't talk to his family or friends or anyone else, and has made it his mission to save people to the point that he beats himself up if he doesn't save them quite perfectly enough? Really? He doesn't know where Bennet's question came from? God, these characters are idiotic. Bennet points out the same stuff I just did: Peter knows everyone's name that he's saved but no one knows his. He has no connections to anyone, which is a dead end. Bennet says to trust him, since he's exhibit A, all alone, eating cereal for dinner. It's no way to live.
Just then a bank employee brings them their box and calls Bennet, "Mr. Danko." Bank employee says he'll wait right outside. Bennet opens the box to find a tiny leather pouch that contains the compass. Peter's like, "Really? Danko got killed for a compass?" Bennet taps it and adds, "A broken compass." That'll happen if you bury it with your dead brother. A knock on the door as the bank employee appears to be entering, and Bennet says they'll need another minute (which they really don't, right? I mean, can't they just take it and leave? It doesn't matter anyway, but it still seems weird he'd request more time). But the bank employee falls into the room because his back's all sliced up, julienne-style. Edgar's standing behind him, and he'd like that compass, please.
Super-strength Peter grabs Edgar and knocks knives out of his hands. Then Edgar picks them up and throws one. Peter catches it as it almost hits Bennet in the face. Bennet asks if Peter got Edgar's power, and Peter replies, "I got it. I got it." He wields a knife and Edgar actually says, "Bloody hell." Who does he think he is, anyway? Spike? Peter and Edgar battle it out in slow-mo super-speed (oxymoron, right?) until Edgar takes off, without the compass. Peter notices the bank employee's not dead yet and gets into paramedic mode.
At the hospital, Bennet wonders if the employee will be okay, and Peter snots that he will be, and he hopes that was worth it for Bennet. Bennet's like, "Not really." But he'd like to figure out why Danko thought this compass was worth dying for. He pulls it out again and holds it. Still broken. Peter asks if he can see it, and as soon as it's in his hand, it starts spinning. Bennet wonders what Peter did, but he didn't do anything. Bennet thinks it must only work for Peter (but I think it probably works for all heroes, which is how Samuel leads them all back to him, or how he finds them, or something?). Bennet tries to give the compass to Peter, but he doesn't want it. Bennet tries to convince him by citing Edgar and saying there must be more like him, but Peter says his life makes sense now that he's saving people, as opposed to the past hour he's spent with Bennet, in which an innocent person almost got killed. Peter wants to stay away, so he can be happy. Because he seems to be incredibly happy. Peter thinks Bennet should just let the guy have the compass. Peter doesn't want his life to get complicated, so Bennet asks why Peter came with him. He says he wanted the ability, to help him with his real life, where he actually saves people. They have a sweet parting that ends with Noah saying, "Hey!" and Peter turning back to hear Noah say, "Call your mother." Peter smiles. Okay, maybe he's happy. But, no, he's really not.
Gretchen brings a stack of books about murder in to where Claire's eating lunch, and Claire wonders if she was at the homicide bookstore. I wonder how she can afford those, on top of textbook costs. Gretchen wonders if Claire doesn't want to prove her roommate was defenestrated, and Claire does -- oh, and she also knows what that word means without Wikipedia, which I did not. Gretchen asks if Claire knows about the "Jump, Push, Fall" test, in which cops supposedly use a dummy the size and weight of the victim to solve the murder or suicide or accident. Depending on where and how they land, they can help determine the method. Gretchen saw it on Crossing Jordan. Nice Tim Kring shoutout, Tim Kring. Gretchen manages to throw her apple onto the table to theirs while describing how the test works. It looks like a table of former cheerleaders, so these girls are being permanently labeled outsiders, of course. Gretchen suggests stealing a cadaver from the medical school, but Claire thinks that's a terrible idea. Gretchen shouts, "This is murder!" And Claire says she's trying to not be a social pariah, thankyouverymuch. Gretchen tells her that "chip's already sailed." No, really, the way she says "ship," it sounds like "chip." I hate everything about Gretchen.
Matt's in some sort of drug recovery meeting (entirely made up of law enforcement people) talking about how it's been six years since he's used and now he's seeing things. Sylar appears to prove this point. And, as some forum posters pointed out, it's sort of cool that Sylar is like Six here, as the leader of the group therapy is none other than Rick Worthy, who played a Cylon. I want to give the show credit for the wink, but do you think the people who make this show could ever be that subtle? Anyway, Matt rambles on about how he's being haunted, as Sylar taunts him. He thinks he can make him use his powers. Matt yells, "Go away!" Rick Worthy asks if Matt's okay, and Sylar's like, "Does this guy look okay? Seriously?" Matt yells at Sylar again and Sylar laughs evilly, while Rick Worthy moves on to someone else.
In Tokyo, Hiro asks Ando if there are wedding bells for him and Kimiko. He says maybe, and Hiro giggles. Ando wonders what's so amusing since they've always liked each other. Hiro tells him they haven't, though, that they used to hate each other until he went back in time and fixed it. He says he's the reason they fell in love. Because Hiro has to take credit for everything. He does acknowledge the slushy spilling was his fault in the first place, but then he fixed it. So his new goal is to go back in time and fix everything he's messed up. Including this show, maybe? How cool would that be? Ando reminds him he's dying, but Hiro's doing it anyway. He runs out of the room, excited.
Matt wants to question a suspect about something. Rick Worthy isn't sure he should, but Matt assures him he's doing okay. Matt goes into the room to find out the drug supplier of the guy he's questioning, but then Sylar appears and starts taunting Matt again. He tells Matt to use his powers if all he wants is a name, and Matt says -- OUT LOUD -- "I don't do that anymore." The suspect is like, "Don't do what?" And Matt snits, "I'm not talking to you." Well, that would be the suspect's mistake, thinking you're talking to him when there is no one else in the room. Sylar continues to try to get Matt to use his powers, and ends up saying that Janice is having sex with the water boy. Which doesn't mean she is, of course. This is all in Matt's head, after all. Sylar's like, "Come on, she's done it before, and she needs a real man who's not afraid to use powers." Matt throws a chair at Sylar and calls him a sonofabitch, who is right behind the suspect, so it goes just over his head and hits the wall behind him. He cowers and gives Matt a name as Rick Worthy runs in all, "This is your definition of 'okay'?"
Peter's partner crawls into the ambulance with him and makes small talk. He looks at Peter, who looks happier than ever to me, and asks, "Are you okay?" I'm not sure where that came from, but maybe Milo Ventimiglia was supposed to be acting like something was wrong, so it really isn't the other guy's fault? Or the script's? I don't know, though, because Milo's pretty good at looking distressed. Peter's fine, in fact he's eating clam chowder from a place in Boston. The partner's like, "How'd you get it down here?" Peter says he knows a guy, and Partner chuckles. There's a call on the radio, and Partner wants to ignore it, since there's five minutes until they're on duty, but Peter dashes out while the Partner's not looking. Peter shows up and it's Bennet, all slashed up. Peter tells him to hang on, and Bennet whispers, "They took the compass."
Tracy shows up at the hospital to visit Bennet. He tells her he looks worse than he feels. So he must feel great, because he doesn't look bad at all. Tracy says he called her, and she figured she owed it to him, so she's here. Bennet tells her about the key leading to the compass. Tracy wonders if he's going after the guy with the knives. He doesn't know, because he prefers the old way of business, with one hero and one non-hero. It's too dangerous for him alone. Tracy thinks maybe the knife guy is like her, just looking for a way to get his life back. She offers that maybe the best thing isn't to stop them, but to figure out a way to help them. He says, "Maybe." Tracy asks him, really, why did he call. He says he couldn't call his wife, then corrects himself and says ex-wife, and he didn't want to worry Claire (no mention of Lyle, of course), so he called her. Because he's lonely. She gets that he doesn't want to be alone. She finds clam chowder in a bag by his bed, and says it looks like he has someone looking out for him. They share the chowder, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be a new friendship forming or a romance. If it's romance, I will be more annoyed at this show than at any other time. And I actually stopped watching it for all of season three and caught up later, so it has definitely annoyed me in the past.
Matt comes home, kisses Baby Matt, and then hears Roy talking as he and Janice come into the room. He's explaining how he fixed the coil or whatever. She thanks him, and Matt does too, but once again in a snotty and threatened manner. Janice hugs Matt, asks how work was, and then picks up Baby Matt as Matt follows Roy out. Matt thanks him for fixing the cooler, and Roy says it's his pleasure since it's tough out there for a single mom. Matt's all, "Uh, me, right here? Do you see me? Janice isn't single now, dumbass." Or something like that. Matt gives Roy a twenty, and uses his powers to convince Roy to start a new route tomorrow and not come back. I'm not sure why he tipped him the twenty when his brain mojo would have been enough. Roy leaves and Sylon is standing there smirking at getting Matt to use his powers again. Except I think Matt would have anyway. He was threatened by Roy before Sylon said a word about him. Matt goes inside and Sylon continues to smirk as clocks tick.
Claire's wide awake in her dorm room. She turns on a light and opens the window. She steps up onto the ledge, says, "Jump, push, fall" to herself and then jumps as our theme music starts up. She lands all broken and injured, but quickly bends her broken hand back into place and sits up. She sees she's on Annie's chalk outline, so she says, "Huh? I guess she did kill herself." Then she pushes her ribs back in and rolls her head around. When she looks up, she sees Gretchen looking down in shock. She waves, though, and Claire waves back.
Samuel tells Edgar he had him worried, and Edgar apologizes that the compass job was harder than he thought. He says he met an empath. Samuel seems impressed and wonders if he got a chance to talk to him. He didn't. But he doesn't explain that he sort of was in the middle of a knife fight with him. Edgar says that he heard from Lydia (tattooed lady) that Samuel found a time traveler to replace the old guy. Samuel doesn't like that word, because you can't replace family. Edgar ignores this and says, "The Chinese guy?" And Samuel says, "Japanese." Samuel says he put Hiro on a righteous path, but he'll come back. Edgar wonders what's , and Samuel says, "We gather the rest." He puts his pen on Lydia's back and tattoos of Claire, Peter, and Sylar show up. Not sure what that means or why it's those three, but I guess we'll figure it out eventually. Or, you know, not. I'm not sure I like this Carnivale thing the show has going, but at least it's something different and not more X-Men copycatting, I guess.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what which Heroes have the Lamest Superpowers.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, loves carnivals but has yet to come across a carnie with superpowers. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.