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Hiro and Ando are back this episode, and they spend the entire episode in a loop in which Hiro tries to keep a guy from... photocopying his butt. That's right. Hiro's whole mission of wanting to go back and undo his wrongs? Apparently this is one of them. I don't know how that works exactly. Hiro learns a very valuable lesson from all of this looping, though, and ultimately comes clean to his sister, Kimiko, about the fact that he's dying.
Sylar-as-Nathan is on a journey of self-discovery all episode, instigated inadvertently by Angela. She brings him a box of his old things, since she gave Sylar that power where he learns the history of an object by touching it, and ends up reigniting some things that she'd had the Haitian wipe from his memory (how's that for confusing? New viewers shouldn't even bother trying to understand what's going on). He finds out he was present when a girl he liked died, and that his mom covered up her death and made it look like she ran away. Her mom, Swoosie Kurtz, has beaten herself up about it for years. Sylar-as-Nathan decides to come clean, so Swoosie has him killed. Don't worry, though; Sylar comes out of the grave at the end of the episode.
Meanwhile, Peter tells Bennett about the compass tattoo, but Bennett's not interested. He just spends the episode moping around, and Claire's coaching him on life and job hunting (but at least her stalker's not around, so that's a plus). Tracy's back with the governor, but realizes she wants to help people so -- after crying out of the tips of her fingers; that's right -- she quits her job and presumably goes somewhere to do good. The carnies see Bennett's face in the visionary tattoo back and figure that Bennett must be back on the case. Sure enough, he's starting his own Peter-style wall of clippings, only this one is of heroes. Dare I hope we have our old HRG back?
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what which Heroes have the Lamest Superpowers! And check back later this week for the full recap!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Well, here we are again. Another week, another bad episode of Heroes. I really hope that trend will end soon, and we'll get our old Heroes back. Then again, I've been hoping that for more than two seasons now, so my hopes aren't exactly high. So, previously: Nathan can't remember his life, because HE'S NOT NATHAN. Angela thinks it's a midlife crisis, but then Nathan starts finding Sylar's powers. Bennett becomes Peter's mentor, telling him not to become a lonely man like him. Then they found a compass, which eventually showed up as a tattoo on Peter's arm. Hiro went back in time and made his sister Kimiko love Ando, and decided his new mission would be to go back in time and undo the things he's messed up (the opposite of his old mission of never changing anything in the past again). Tracy and Bennett become friends, because he thinks they both want the same thing: redemption. But she actually wants to go back to her old life of overpaid lobbyists, and... zzzzzzzzz. Sorry. I fell asleep. Something about Tracy makes me bored more than any other character on this show. And that's saying something.
We open on a sponge sitting on the ledge of a bathtub. I would try to see it as a symbol for something -- the precariousness of sitting on that narrow ledge, or its ability to soak up what it touches -- but this show isn't known for its subtle symbolism, so I'll move on. The faucet drips into a tub of blue water that has the "Chapter Three: Acceptance" chyron floating in it. Then the water from the tub runs out onto the ground and turns into Tracy. So, I guess she bathes in herself, because now she's wearing a towel. She goes through her closet to find something sexy to wear, puts on pink lip gloss, high heels, and then heads out -- all the while, Imogen Heap sings "Bad Body Double". Tracy struts into a restaurant, where she unzips her jacket to show the governor just how sexy she is. He gets up and greets her, and she tells him she's back. He's not as upset about this as I was when I found out about it.
Yamagato Industries, Tokyo. Kimiko wants to talk to Hiro about how they've never been close because she's always taken things more seriously, but she'd like that to change now that they're adults. He wonders why now, and she says because she and Ando are getting married. Hiro says, "So soon?!" But she's like, "Um, no, we've been dating since high school, idiot." He's all, "Right." He tells her he's happy for her, and then she asks him to give her away at the wedding. He says it would be his honor. Ando's typing something in Japanese and we clearly see it turns 11:00 as he does so. Oh, and I have no idea what he's typing or what it says, but we see this screen enough times that if I could read Japanese, I'm sure I'd have it memorized. Kimiko tells him that Hiro said yes, and then Ando lectures Hiro because he might be dead by the time of their wedding. Hiro's not ready to tell Kimiko that yet, though. Instead, he wants to keep traveling through time trying to fix things he's messed up. But then the Dial-A-Hero line rings. It's someone calling from the roof of the building Hiro's in. He heads to the roof.
On the roof he finds a guy about to jump. He loudly screams, "Don't jump!," scaring the guy almost to the point that he might fall. He didn't call Hiro for help, though; he wanted a witness to his death. Hiro recognizes the guy from accounting, but the guy says he was actually fired months ago, but he snuck back into the building. He says that he gets up every morning and pretends to go to work, because he's embarrassed. Hiro tells him it's not shameful to lose your job (especially in this economy!), but the guy says the way he lost it is shameful. He admits to Hiro that he used the copy machine to photocopy his butt. Hiro laughs, and thinks it's not that bad, but the guy says his family was so ashamed when they found out he was fired (which was apparently today, and that's why he's killing himself? I wish it didn't matter, but since it's Hiro's only storyline this episode, it sort of does), so he jumps. Hiro stops time while the guy's free-falling. Opening titles. Commercials. Am I the only one who thinks Mike Delfino and the Muppets are a weird pairing to promote... well, anything, actually?
Nathan's office in D.C. Angela shows up with a box overflowing with stuff. He asks if she's cleaning out the garage, and she says she is. Then she came all the way from New York with an open box of crap, all trophies and tennis rackets sticking out. She says that she's been thinking about how he can't remember his life, so she brought him this box of stuff. He looks at it and says he doesn't recognize it, but then she hands him a toy airplane and says it used to be his favorite toy. He picks it up and remembers where it came from, because of that power Angela so generously (and grossly) granted Sylar. Then he picks up a baseball cap and sees a girl fall into a pool, bleeding from the head. Angela asks him what's wrong, and he pretends nothing.
The governor wonders what's happened to Tracy, and she says it was complicated family stuff, but it's over and she's back, and she's looking for work. He says she's not anymore, since he can use her work back in New York. He needs someone who can charm regulators, cut corners, ease legislation through the minefields. He says it's right up her alley, and she says it's not a problem. He holds her hand and asks her to have dinner with him tonight to discuss the particulars, then tells her how happy he is to have his "tiger lady" back. He walks off and her smile turns to a furrowed brow. Uh-oh, could our dear Tracy have developed a conscience along with that water?
Peter shows up at Bennett's apartment of gloom, and asks HRG if he has a minute. Since he is unemployed and unmarried, that's a rhetorical question, but HRG snits that he thought Peter wanted nothing to do with him. Peter wants to show him his compass tattoo, but it's gone, so Noah's like, "That's a very nice arm." Peter explains it was a compass tattoo just like the compass they found. HRG asks what Peter thinks they're going to do: go on the road in search of the speedy guy with knives, and Peter asks if HRG wants to get cut up again. He doesn't, and he's really not up for hunting these guys down, so Peter starts to leave and bumps into Claire, who's just arriving. They greet warmly, and Peter says he has to be at work in ten minutes. Claire's like, "Ten minutes? You live in New York City. ...New power?" Peter tells her to ask HRG about it and then he speeds off. I thought that when Peter gets a new power, he loses the old one now, ever since he got his powers back after Papa Petrelli took them away. So, why didn't Samuel giving him the compass/tattoo/whatever power take away the knife ninja power? Or is what Samuel gave him not a power? Maybe the show will answer this question eventually, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Once Peter's gone, HRG pretends he and Peter had gone on a fishing expedition, which is probably the lamest thing he could have made up, but he doesn't let Claire ask questions, instead offering her something to eat, like "a bowl of cereal," which is obviously the only option available. Poor, lonely HRG.
Back in Tokyo, Ando's typing again when Kimiko once again tells him that Hiro said yes. Then Hiro appears (which means a different Hiro just talked to Kimiko? Or are we not supposed to notice that giant leap in continuity?) with a cord of some sort and toner on his face. Ando wants to have the same conversation about telling Kimiko he might be dying that he had before, but Hiro's not really interested, so he rushes through it and then asks about Tadashi (that's the accountant who jumped off the roof). Hiro explains that he saved Tadashi from photocopying his butt, so now he's looking for him among the staff. Ando continues to lecture about telling Kimiko the truth. Then Dial-A-Hero rings and it's Tadashi, on the roof again. Hiro heads back up and they have a similar conversation as before, except this time, Hiro says stuff like, "This can't be happening again," but apparently Tadashi made the copy of his butt at a different time this time, so Hiro going back to the day he did it before didn't help. Tadashi jumps and Hiro stops time again. And we go to commercial again, as if there's any drama in this storyline. It's not even enough of a cliffhanger to bring people back after commercials.
Mercy Heights Medical Center, New York. Peter's telling someone that a patient is diabetic, until Nathan interrupts him. Nathan's annoyed Peter hasn't returned his phone calls, but Peter just says he's been busy. It seems like the show dropped the whole "Peter's a lone reed" storyline and is now making him seem all happy with Nathan, but just busy. Okay, show. I'll follow you in this direction, because I like Peter and Nathan together, even if it really is Peter and Sylar-as-Nathan. So, Peter asks Nathan if it can wait, but Nathan needs five minutes now. Screw the diabetic patients, because Peter heads to a locker room with Nathan. They refrain from making out, and instead Nathan delights Peter by showing him how he can move objects with his mind. He picks up a sugar jar, which Peter then takes and looks at in awe, as if it was the sugar that had the power. Peter's excited about this, and Nathan says he's like a Swiss Army Knife of superpowers now, with a new power every day. Peter guesses that runs in the family. Then Nathan tells Peter that he's seeing things, memories, but they aren't his. He says he'll touch something and see its history. Peter says he's read about this; it's called psychometrics, which he says has something to do with seeing the history of an object -- where it's been, what it's experienced. Yeah, I don't think that's what psychometrics actually means. Peter asks if Nathan remembers Kelly Houston. Peter asks if Nathan means before or after she ran away and broke Nathan's heart, but Nathan says he doesn't think she ran away. He says he's seeing images of him and her in a pool, and she's dead. He thinks, if what he's seeing is real, that someone killed her. Peter tells him he has to find out the truth, which means going by her old house, where her mother, Millie, still lives. Peter offers to go with him, but Nathan says it's his mess to clean up. Wait, is that Nathan or Sylar in there? It must be Sylar, because Nathan's never been that noble.
Over cereal, HRG asks Claire why she's there. She unconvincingly wonders if a daughter can't just drop in on her father unannounced. She admits she's worried about him, since he's all alone, and is living off cereal and Japanese takeout. He concedes the point, and says he'll order Italian tonight. Heh. She wonders about a job, but he says his particular skills aren't all that marketable. She says that's not true, since he was middle management at Primatech Paper for years. He says that job consisted of lying to his family, bagging and tagging, etc. She says, "At least you're a people person." Then she finds a job for lumber salesman, which he's perfect for. He's like, "You do realize that's a cover, right?" She wants to pretend she's interviewing him for the job, and asks what his greatest strength as a salesman is. He responds seriously, "If they don't buy something, I can always just shoot them." Neither of them laugh, but I thought it was amusing.
Nathan shows up at Millie's. She's surprised, especially when he asks about Kelly, since no one ever wants to talk to her about Kelly. He says he was going through some old stuff and got to thinking about Kelly, so wondered if Millie's heard from her. She says she wishes she could say yes, that she's been living in France, is an artist, has a daughter named Francois, but she doesn't know anything. He asks if she's ever wondered if Kelly didn't really run away, and she says she actually suspected Nathan knew more than he let on and she even hired a private investigator, but Kelly used her credit card to buy a one-way ticket to London and she hasn't heard from her since. He wonders if that's not what really happened, but Millie says Kelly was always willful and when you add to it that Millie wasn't the most attentive of mothers, it all adds up. Millie tells Nathan she has a hair, nail, and body-sculpting thing she doesn't want to be late for, so he can show himself out. He touches a statue by the pool and flashes back to a younger Nathan (played by a different actor, but wearing the tell-tale plain baseball cap) with Kelly. They're having fun by the pool, and Kelly's flirty and pressuring Nathan to take full advantage of her. They're drinking. She takes his cap and backs off. Then the flashback ends, so Nathan touches the diving board and sees her back teasingly away from young Nathan until she falls and hits her head, landing in the pool and bleeding. I guess that answers that question. Not that any of us ever knew or cared about it until now, so I can't really muster up any strong reaction either way. Especially since it was an accident.
Nathan's meeting Mama Petrelli in a shady bar. He asks why she wanted to see him, and she says Millie called to tell her that he was asking questions about Kelly. She says that his trip down memory lane is hurting Millie. Nathan says Kelly didn't disappear, she died, and he was there. What he wants to know is why he can't remember it. I would settle for, "Because he's Sylar," being the explanation here, and I actually think he remembers much more about being Nathan than he logically should, even in the Heroes-verse. But after some denial, and this lovely exchange -- Nathan: Because every time there's a secret buried someplace, I find you with a shovel behind your back. Angela: You should write Mother's Day cards. -- Mama Petrelli reluctantly admits that she had the Haitian wipe his memory, she disposed of Kelly's body, and she bought the plane ticket. He says it was an accident, but she says it didn't look like one and she couldn't let that happen to him. She tells him to go ahead and vilify her for this, but not to destroy his life over it now. He wonders if she's going to let her friend go on telling herself her daughter ran away because she was a bad mother. Mama Petrelli says Millie's made her peace with it and leaves.
Nathan's in Millie's foyer, where she asks him if he forgot something. He says he didn't, and he has to tell her something. He says he can't tell her how he knows this now, but Kelly didn't run away. She died, and he was there, and it was an accident. Millie tries to protest that Kelly got on a plane, but he insists. He says it was all covered up by his... family, apparently not wanting to rat Angela out solely. She asks him what kind of twisted game he's playing, and tells him to leave. He turns and apologizes on his way out. She's visibly shaken.
Claire's still asking HRG interview questions. She asks what his greatest strength is, and he says that above all else, he's a company man; no one's more dedicated to their work than he is. She's like, "See? What lumber company wouldn't want you?" He sighs heavily and she asks him what's wrong. He basically tells her he regrets his life when he looks back on it. She says he shouldn't, since all he did was help people. He points out that shooting people and wiping their memories didn't feel like helping, and he never really helped anyone. Not this again. She says he helped her. She says he doesn't really want to sell lumber, does he, and he says, "Not at all." Well, glad it took us 37 minutes into the episode to establish something we all knew, even Claire.
Tokyo. Ando's typing again, at 11:00. Kimiko tells him Hiro said yes. Hiro comes in with more toner and more printer pieces in his hands. Ando wants to have the same boring conversation, and Hiro seems to be as sick of it as I am. Only not really as sick of it, because he's the one who keeps on freaking living it, for no reason other than to save some dolt who will apparently stop at nothing to photocopy his butt at work. Hiro explains he's been doing this over and over again, so we know we aren't seeing every time. How stupid is it that Hiro, knowing that traveling in time is killing him, is going through time over and over again to stop a guy from photocopying his butt. And why can't he just go back and tell Tadashi not to do it, that he'll get fired? Wouldn't that be easier than destroying all of the copiers, that might actually need to be used by other employees for legitimate business? Ando really wants Hiro to tell Kimiko, and Hiro hesitates and looks at her. Then heads to the roof. This time, he and Tadashi sit on the roof and Hiro tells him everything that's happened, ending in Hiro telling him they both have learned truths about themselves that they must face. Tadashi's is that he must really hate his job to find 47 (47!) ways to copy his butt. He tells Tadashi he shouldn't jump, because life is a gift. Hiro's truth is that he's dying, and he's been keeping it a secret, and what matters is family. He tells Tadashi that he'll always have a friend waiting in heaven. That's weird. And then Tadashi thanks him, and Hiro heads inside.
Inside, Ando sees Hiro, who tells him he was right; it's time to tell Kimiko the truth. He finds her, and tells her he's been on the roof having an epiphany and has something to tell her. We watch with Ando through the glass as they talk and then she cries. He hugs her and says he's sorry. Then he has a pain in his head and he freezes for a moment, then says he's fine. Ando goes to call for help and then Hiro disappears. Kimiko can't believe her eyes, but Ando's thinking, "Not this again."
Bennett's in his sushi restaurant again, when Tracy enters. He asks if he's that predictable that she knew she'd find him here, and she says, "You live upstairs." So now we know that for sure. She tells him she got her old job back with Governor Malden, so he offers to buy her a celebratory tuna roll. She's not hungry and actually doesn't know why she's here. He tells her she got her old life back, which is what she wanted, but she says working for the governor isn't about helping people. So he tells her to quit. But she can't, because so many people would kill for her position. Because, you know, she wants to help people but she wants people to be jealous of her even more. HRG tells her that life changes, and we have to change with it. He says that maybe she can't go home again. Maybe she just had to remember who she was to figure out who she wants to be. She tells him she has to go; she has a dinner with Malden and can't be late. She thanks him for the advice, though, and he tells her "Anytime." He's great at dishing it out, but he's not so great at getting his own act together.
Tracy arrives at a fancy restaurant, where the governor's so happy to see her. He tells her how great it is to have her back, and that he missed her. He says this is just like old times, but she says she'd like her job to be more this time. She wants to set agendas and help people who can't help themselves. She says she wants to make a real difference in people's lives. He tells her she doesn't have to work so hard to impress him, since he already knows how great she is. He suggests they skip dinner and go upstairs to make each other happy, just like old times. Ew. She excuses herself and goes to the bathroom, where she looks like she's about to cry, but instead her hands turn to water and start running into the sink. A woman walks in so she hides her crying arms behind her back. Then they stop and she looks at her solid hands. She heads back out to the governor, who asks her if everything's okay, "baby." She says everything's not okay, and she wouldn't expect him to understand. She walks off with a smug look on her face.
Nathan pulls into a parking garage at night and looks at his phone. He calls the homicide division, but is put on hold. Then he hangs up, and gets out of the car, when a guy jabs him in the neck with a syringe full of something that knocks him out immediately. We get this week's edition of the Heroes short stories commercial about the carnies, which consists of Samuel talking to Edgar about how he and Lydia are free to make their own mistakes, then Lydia using a cell phone to call her daughter. I think it's actually a segue into the Sprint commercial that follows, but whatever. I don't know if it's better or worse than product placement, except that I can skip it like a regular commercial, so I guess I'll vote "better."
Carnival. Lydia finds Edgar playing with his knives and asks him what's the matter. He ignores her, so she wonders if he's thinking about the new people Samuel's bringing into the family. Edgar wonders if Samuel would be bringing them in if Joseph were alive, and Lydia doesn't know, but she says Joseph was his brother and he has a right to his revenge. Edgar: "No matter what it means to the rest of us?" Samuel comes out from the rock he's been hiding behind and says he'll tell them what it means: He's the one who's left to make all the decisions for this family. He's the one who decides which direction they travel. So, apparently, it's a traveling carnival? Lydia says they were just talking, is all. Then Samuel asks her to come with him, because it's time to find another. They walk off and Edgar throws one of his knives into a sign that says "Sullivan Bros. Carnival."
Samuel's mixing up a batch of his ink for Lydia. I have to admit that the only pop-culture reference I could think of for Lydia being the tattoo lady was Lydia from the most recent season of Big Brother. And I really hoped Heroes hadn't stooped to using that show as inspiration. Then I saw someone mention "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" in the forums, and I must say that a Groucho Marx reference is slightly higher-brow than Big Brother. Apparently I'm quite dumber than this show, even. How very sad for me. Anyway, as he mixes his ink, Samuel tells Lydia that she should know she can tell him anything. She says, "Of course." He says she can tell him if anyone says they're dissatisfied with him, or if she is. She says she's not, and he says that's good. He puts his pen on her back, and a picture of HRG appears. Samuel wonders what she's doing, why she's showing him to her. She says she shows him what he needs to see, and he wonders why he'd need to see Bennett, since he retired and is no longer interested in them. Wait, how does Samuel know about Bennett, when we've never heard anything about the weird carnies before now? Lydia says Bennett may have changed his mind. Samuel looks thoughtful, and then we flash to Bennett, who's making a wall of photos and articles referencing the carnies. He looks like he's out to get someone, so the carnies had better watch out.
Mama Petrelli's at dinner with Millie, who tells her that Nathan seemed very confused and wanted to share his side of the story. Mama Petrelli says Nathan's always been overly theatrical, which is probably what drew him to politics. She wonders what exactly Nathan said, and Millie tells her she feels silly telling her this, but he said that Kelly was dead, that he was with her when he died. We hear her voice finish talking as we see a car pull up in the dark woods. She says she told Nathan no, and then we see that Nathan's knocked out in the back of said car. Angela apologizes that Nathan bothered Millie with this. Millie says she's always cared for Nathan, and the two women touch hands across the table. Mama Petrelli says he just hasn't been himself lately. She apologizes for his behavior, and says no one should go through that pain twice. Millie says, honestly, she's over it, and the kidnapper throws Nathan into a hole in the ground and shoots him. Millie's phone rings and she asks Angela to excuse her, but she has to get this. It's our shooter in the woods, telling Millie, "The package is delivered." She sweetly says that's wonderful and thanks him so much. Angela asks if it was something important, and Millie says not at all. She asks where they were, and Angela reminds her: "closure." Millie: "Of course. To closure." The car backs out of the woods, and then a hand comes up from the ground, a la Carrie. It's Sylar, but not even Sylar-as-Nathan. That's Zachary Quinto. Does this mean Adrian Pasdar is no more? But what about the pretty? Clocks tick, and "To be continued..."
week: Peter saves our deaf sound-seer from being hit by a bus. Hopefully not the same way George O'Malley saved a girl from being hit by a bus. I wouldn't want Peter's beautiful face all mangled up like that. Sylar comes out of the woods, confused, and ends up arrested. Warden Leo's interrogating Sylar about how he killed his mother. Sylar innocently says he didn't kill anybody. I think he thinks he's Nathan, maybe, but now he's Zachary Quinto? He throws Leo through a window. Some girl asks Claire if she used to be a cheerleader, and when Claire wonders how she knew, she says Gretchen told her. Gretchen waves. Then she tells Claire she's not stalking her (riiiiiiight), and then she kisses her. Ew. And Claire's wearing lots of eyeliner, so we know she's no longer our innocent little Claire anymore, but, like, a lesbian. Except for the kissing thing, that actually doesn't look half bad.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what which Heroes have the Lamest Superpowers! And check back later this week for the full recap!
DeAnn is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.