Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Feels Like The First Time
By DeAnn Welker | Season 4 | Episode 10 | Aired on 11.16.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Is it just nostalgia for the past, or was it actually wonderful to have Mohinder back? And, is it just me, or did he actually get hotter? Not to mention we get Nathan and Peter together again, with the full on in-love, wishing-they-could-make-out lingering gazes. Oh, and there's very little Parkman, which is always nice. And Hiro kicks ass. Tracy's the only weak link, really. And the fact that HRG's only in the episode for about ten seconds. Anyway, here goes:
So, it turns out Samuel went to Mohinder because Mohinder had uncovered some of his father's research from Coyote Sands that suggested Samuel could increase his powers by a factor of 1,000 if he surrounds himself with other people with abilities. When Mohinder went to find him nine weeks ago, though, Joseph intercepted his visit and told him he knew about Samuel, but has made it his life's work to keep Samuel from knowing what kind of power he could have. But Hiro goes back to get the film that will reveal all to Samuel (and saves Mohinder in the process, without letting Samuel know that). When Hiro delivers the film, Samuel won't give him Charlie yet, because he's the most evil man ever. That doesn't stop Tracy from thinking she's going to live with him, and Claire even encourages it (after Tracy's powers malfunction and she freezes Claire, then accidentally breaks her foot off -- oops!). In the end, Tracy meets with Samuel and is well on her way to joining the carnival. I haven't decided if I think it's more of a cult or a concentration camp, but Samuel's definitely an evil leader or dictator.
The Haitian comes to Peter and leads him to Nathan's body, sending Nathan and Peter in search of Parkman for answers. He fills them in, and tells them not to get too close, but Nathan does. Then he flies away with Peter (I'm not sure how he can fly, since he's actually Sylar and not Nathan, and Nathan's head didn't appear to be cut open; can anyone explain that to me?). Peter sticks by him and won't believe it, but when they both end up believing it, Nathan says that everyone in the world might think he's Nathan, but Peter will always look at him and see Sylar. It's so sad, especially knowing Nathan's already dead and no one -- not us, not Peter -- got a chance to mourn him. I'm guessing that must be coming soon enough.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Heroes (which is said by Mohinder!): Sylar woke up at the carnival as Nathan and then flew back into Peter's embrace. Tracy met Samuel, who gave her a compass. Matt-Sylon told Sylon-in-Matt that he put Nathan in his body, then Matt-Sylon committed suicide by police firing squad. Samuel took Charlie from Hiro to force him to help him go back eight weeks, where he'd killed Mohinder.
Now: Carnival. Hiro, still in his Knight Rider T-shirt, is staring at Charlie's nametag when Samuel spouts platitudes about giving back to the earth. Hiro wonders why he won't give back Charlie, and tells Samuel he's an evil man. But he throws in "butterfly man," making it much less effective. Samuel tells Hiro he can free her if he goes back eight weeks to find Mohinder and get a film that he has. Hiro says he knows Mohinder and doesn't need to time travel to find him, but Samuel says he's dead. Hiro, "You killed Dr. Suresh?" Samuel wants Hiro to go back not to save Mohinder, but to save the film. Once he delivers it, Samuel promises he'll set Charlie free. When Hiro says he doesn't even know if he can time travel anymore, Samuel tells him he'll have to try since Charlie's life depends on it.
Chennai, India. Nine weeks ago. Mohinder's teaching someone about Pangaea when Mira comes out smiling. Mohinder keeps talking about plate tectonics and tells the girls to remember to read a certain chapter. She leaves and Mira tells Mohinder his students love him and he was born to be a teacher. You know, in case we weren't bright enough to realize he's a teacher from that scene of him teaching. He starts to talk about dinner when she finds a box with a giant sign on the side that says "Property of Chandra Suresh." Mira gets annoyed at him for not throwing it away already, but he tells her it's hard to let go. Mira tells him they have a good, simple life here and when he digs into his father's research, he disappears into a rabbit hole. He throws the box in a trash can with a somber look on his face, which seems to satisfy Mira.
Tracy's in a diner in present-day Washington, D.C., staring at a sign that says the Sullivan Bros. Carnival is coming soon. She's also holding the compass. The waitress asks her if she's okay, and Tracy asks if she's ever wondered what it would be like to run off with a carnival (does anyone actually do that? I think they meant to say "circus" when this show started but now they're stuck with the corner they've written themselves into), and the waitress says she wouldn't want to spend her life in a trailer moving from town to town. Tracy bitches, "And you spend your life where? In some crappy diner?" She apologizes and the waitress asks if she's sure she's okay. Tracy says she is, but she picks up a cup and it turns to ice. She apologizes and leaves.
Peter and Nathan are in his office, discussing how he can't remember where he's been. Nathan wants to, but Peter says, "You woke up in a carnival? Are you sure you want to remember that?" What does that mean? What is carnival a euphemism for on this show anyway? Nathan's secretary welcomes him back, and Peter thinks her greeting was awfully casual. Nathan says it doesn't make sense: Even if his lost weekend was just some "crazy bender under the big top" (now that's a euphemism, right?), he wonders why no one seems to question a senator going off the grid. He asks if Mama Petrelli said anything (she wants to meet them here, according to Peter). Nathan says he doesn't know who he is anymore, and Peter says he's the last guy he'd figure for an identity crisis. The secretary comes back in and tells Nathan his day's wide open since they cleared his calendar when his mom told them he was on vacation and didn't know when he'd be back. Still, though, if a senator's mom said that, I don't think people would be this casual. First: He's a senator. Second: He's a GROWN-UP. Third: No one reports undisclosed-length vacations through their mother. Peter and Nathan give each other knowing looks and then the Haitian comes in and startles the secretary. Peter greets Rene and tells her it's okay. The Haitian won't let Nathan come near him, and says he's here to speak with Peter. The biggest question is how Sylar can still be shapeshifted into Nathan with Rene standing right there, but whatever. I guess that's what the "Don't come any closer" thing is about. But he was already much closer than other characters have been in the past when Rene's blocked their powers. When they're alone, the Haitian tells Peter he came to warn him, he needs to know the truth. Title card.
Claire shows up at her dad's apartment in D.C., where the doorknob appears to have been frozen off. And the ice is still there, because it doesn't melt or anything. Mysterious music plays as Claire goes inside and grabs a knife. But it's not suspenseful for us because we know it's Tracy. This show really doesn't seem to understand that for suspense to work, the viewers have to be in suspense, not the characters. Tracy comes out, startling Claire. She says she's sorry, but needs HRG's help. Claire says that's why God invented doorbells. Really? God did that? Tracy explains she tried, but she can't control her power and didn't know where else to go. Tracy's hand starts icing up, and they both look shocked.
Peter and the Haitian are still talking. The Haitian's told him that Mama Petrelli sent him to wipe out Peter and Nathan's memories. But the Haitian can't do it, he says, because Mama Petrelli's blinded by her emotions and has crossed some lines that should never be crossed. He is staring at Nathan in the next room. Peter asks why he's doing that, and the Haitian says it's not up to him to reveal this. He gives Peter a key to a storage unit, and says the answer he seeks is there, and to go alone. Old-school show music, as the Haitian says that what Peter discovers might be more terrible than he can bear. Because a show without Adrian Pasdar's pretty is bad enough for us, but can you imagine how difficult it's going to be for Peter to lose his brother/lover?
Back in the past, in Chennai, Mohinder can't sleep. So he sneaks out of bed and gets his father's box out of the trash. When he opens it, you can clearly see a CD in the box. Then he pulls out some books and finally an old film reel. Which he sets up and watches right away, because everyone has a reel-to-reel projector at the ready in 2009. The video is Chandra Suresh at Coyote Sands, talking to the camera about his concerns that having so many of these heroes together could amplify their powers. Then it jumps ahead to him talking about a pregnant woman who seems to be causing a lot of seismic activity. Then he documents the birth. As a nurse tells him the child's crowning, Chandra says it's his fear that this child... but the earthquake is in full force by this point so he doesn't finish. Baby crying.
Back in D.C. in the present, Claire's in short shorts and a tight white T-shirt helping Tracy, in underwear and a tank top, into the bathtub. It's obviously just an excuse to have two hot blondes in almost no clothes, but at least they (hopefully) won't make out. A teapot whistles and Claire makes sure Tracy's okay alone before she goes to make tea. Tracy lays her head back and the water in the bathtub starts to freeze, all the way up to the faucet. She jumps out of the water and runs into the kitchen in a bathrobe. She tells Claire this is happening over and over again and she can't stop it. Claire tells Tracy to calm down and grabs her shoulders. Her hands start to freeze, and Claire says, "Uh-oh." The f