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We pick up right after the funeral this episode, with the wake. Claire uninvites Bennet for lying to her and then hangs out with Peter the whole time. They're both mad at everyone, but Claire really wants to move past it and Peter wants revenge. He decides to try to get it by finding someone in trouble and going to help. Claire follows him, which is convenient when he ends up getting shot, since she can just give him her power and he's right as rain. After that they hang out on a rooftop, and then he asks if she can put him in touch with her old boyfriend, West (now her Facebook friend). She agrees, and in the end, Peter flies away. Not sure where he's going. Claire heads back to school, trusting that he's not going on a revenge mission, but I'm not so sure.
Sylar shows back up at the carnival now that he knows who he is, and he wants revenge on Samuel, too. He can't bring himself to kill him, so Lydia sleeps with him (Samuel thinks she's working for him, but she's really trying to get him to kill Samuel). He steals her power without killing her (he only did that for fun anyway), and uses it to mess with her mind. Then he and Samuel reconnect and bond over their mutual interest in themselves. Samuel says they're the same: not good, but not all bad, either. In the end, Sylar asks for some ink, and Samuel says he likes a risk, so he lets him have it. It shows him something and he takes off. Samuel's pining for the love of his life, Vanessa, and it seems like all of this is going to be about her somehow, even though this is the first mention of her. Anyway, in the end, Sylar shows up outside Claire's dorm room, staring intently at her through the window. The tattoo on his arm is of her. Why do I think this isn't what Sylar had in him to show, but what Samuel wanted to put there? Also, if it's Sylar's power now, isn't he the one who's supposed to show Samuel what he needs to know using Samuel's ink, and not the other way around? Oh, wait, does a power on this show not make sense? That's shocking.
After Claire uninvites Noah from the wake, he goes home and stun-guns Edgar, who's followed him. Then he chains Edgar up in a freezer and uses some chemical that Lauren brings over (their dates are such fun!) to help. They end up deciding to all work together to bring down Samuel, which is awesome. Until Edgar changes his mind when he realizes there might be carnie casualties, and that Lauren and HRG want to split up the carnies and send them all into the real world so they're not such a target. Edgar splits, and takes the paper he wrote the map of the carnival with him. This leads HRG to the realization that Samuel has his hooks in these people deep, just like the cult leader Lauren says he is. This applies to Claire, too, sadly. Which likely means she's going to run from her stalker, Sylar, into Samuel's arms instead of HRG's. Which is further proof of how truly stupid Claire is.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open on a comic bookish shot of the back of Peter's head with his collar pulled up, then car lights come from in front of him. It's Noah, and the chyrons say, "Outside of New York City: 86 Hours Ago." Peter tells Noah he wants to see him, and they look at the real Nathan's dead body in the trunk. Noah says the plane's ready, but he can handle this, and Peter doesn't have to have any part in it. Peter: "Yeah I do." Then he slams the trunk shut and we get our "Chapter Thirteen: Let It Bleed" chyron on the black inside of it as it closes.
Present Day. Peter's standing alone at Nathan's wake when someone comes up and tells him how awful it is. She wonders if the police said what caused it, and Peter just says, "Accident. Tragic accident." She apologizes for his loss and leaves him, still standing alone.
Carnival. Samuel's caressing some paper with his black-painted nails. He pulls out ink and touches it to the paper. It flicks around and then becomes a woman's face. I don't know if they've cast this role, but the drawing looks just like Kate Vernon. That would be pretty cool. As he's drawing, Doyle is thrown onto Samuel's table. He says he tried to stop him, and Samuel stupidly wonders who he tried to stop. Sylar walks up then, and Samuel says, "Sylar." Sylar: "Oh good, you remembered." Samuel tells Doyle to get everyone to safety, but Sylar says he's just delaying the inevitable, but right now he's much more interested in Samuel. Sylar says his memories were pretty fuzzy, but he still found his way back. He tosses his compass to Samuel and thanks him. Sylar says it's been awhile since his body and mind were together. He says it would be a crisis for a lesser man to have his soul ripped out of him, but not for Sylar. He says he returned with one simple, singular thought. Samuel tries hard to amuse me (and sort of does) by interrupting, "No, wait, don't tell me: Fun?" But Sylar's having none of that. "Feast." He tosses Samuel up against the trailer and compliments him on bringing a lot more people in to make him more powerful, but Samuel says no, it makes him more powerful. Samuel tells Sylar that if he kills him now he'll never know the big plans Samuel has for him. Sylar says everyone has big plans for him, and he thinks it's all people have. As Sylar holds up his forehead-cutting finger, the dirt starts to spin up around him, at Samuel's bidding. It spins a whirlwind around him, totally messing up his pretty face. He falls over and Samuel smiles. Title card.
Claire's dorm room. She's being totally normal and applying mascara when there's a knock at her door. It's her dad, who hugs her and asks if she's all right. She just says she wasn't expecting to see him and walks off. He thought he'd give her a lift to the wake, but she tells him she would prefer if he didn't come, since he lied to her, once again, this time about Nathan's death. She asks if he forgot that it was Sylar, and what Sylar did to her, since he dressed him up in Nathan's face and she hugged him and felt love for him. Noah says they made a bad decision, but they thought it was a good way to contain Sylar and keep Nathan alive. He says they shouldn't have done it, but she says they did and she needs time to grieve without being reminded why. So, apparently Mama Petrelli won't be at the wake either.
Speaking of both: Wake. Mama Petrelli walks up on Peter looking out a window, and tells him she keeps looking out for Nathan too. She tells him this can't have been easy on Peter, covering everything up with Noah. She asks how he is, and he turns and snarkily tells her he's okay. She says Nathan was a better liar, and Peter says he must have gotten it from her. Then, because he's Peter, he quickly apologizes and says she doesn't deserve that but he wants to put his fist through a wall right now. She corrects him that he wants to put a fist through Sylar. She tells him not to do it, though, that Nathan was right: He needs to fight the good fight, and revenge will only get him killed. She can't bear to lose him too. He sees Claire come in, and heads over to hug her. He invites Claire to help him with something in the kitchen, and she asks if he's trying to escape. Uh, duh.
In the kitchen, they dismiss the actual caterers and start chopping vegetables as they talk. She says she told her dad not to come, because she's pissed; isn't he? Peter says he is, and she's glad since he's the only person who's on the same page as her. Actually, Claire, we're all pissed about this storyline. I promise. She says it's a hell of a lie, and Peter says they were trying to protect them. She gets that but doesn't know how they thought they'd get away with it. She cuts herself and screams "Ow!" as she starts to bleed. She wonders why it's not healing, and Peter says he has the Haitian's power and will turn it off (there is a switch inside his brain, I guess). She asks him not to, and we get the episode's title. He bandages her up, and she says it's nice to feel pain, and feel normal. Peter says they're anything but normal. She says that mourning Nathan couldn't be more ordinary. She can't believe he's gone, but she hopes he can find heaven since he was a terrible navigator for a guy who could fly. She laughs, and Peter wonders why. She says he gave her endless grief for dating a guy who could fly, saying she has daddy issues (she admits she does). Peter asks whatever happened to West anyway, and Claire says he goes to NYU and is her Facebook friend. She says it's nice telling stories; it makes it easier. She asks what about him, since he must have a million of them. He says he better take the lemons or whatever he's cut up out there.
Bennet's apartment. He arrives home in the dark and opens a window. Edgar's hovering outside and sneaks in at super speed. Luckily, HRG knew what was up and turns around and zaps him with a stun gun. He looks down at Edgar and says, "Won't get fooled again." After commercial, Bennet's paying off the Japanese guy at the restaurant in his building, thanking him for letting him use his freezer for his "needs." He tells him he'll need the restaurant to himself tonight. He gives him money, and the restaurateur agrees. When Lauren comes in and greets him, he calls her the "Iron Maiden," and realizes this is serious. HRG thanks him as he leaves, telling everyone to leave on his way out. Lauren's like, "Iron Maiden, seriously?" He says she earned that nickname back in the day. She wonders why he's not at the wake, and he brusquely says Claire didn't want him to come, and asks if she brought the sodium thiopental. She wonders if he wants to talk about this, but he says there's nothing to talk about: He lied to Claire, she didn't want him to come, he should have followed his gut and this might not have happened. She asks if the truth serum's for him so he can confess everything to Claire. He says "Not exactly," but of course means, "Not even a little bit." He asks if she remembers the speedster in Miami. She does, and she calls him "Carlos, the Cuban missile crisis." HRG says it turns out speedsters don't like cold, or Quaaludes. But mostly cold. She realizes it would tighten their muscles and level the playing field. He opens the freezer and tells her to meet Edgar. We zoom in on a tied-up Edgar and then HRG gets a syringe of truth serum as he tells Lauren Edgar's going to tell him all about the carnival.
Carnival. Lydia the Tattooed Lady asks Samuel why he put Sylar in her trailer, and he says she's going to help him. He explains Sylar's not dead, as he's amazingly resilient. (Does Samuel not watch this show or something?) Samuel say
s there's something wrong with him even though all the parts are back in place. Lydia starts to say something, but Samuel says it's not that (whatever "that" was going to be). He says Sylar had the chance to end him, but he's not the cold-blooded killer he once was, but he's also not the blank slate. He wants Lydia to find out who Sylar is now. She asks how, and he says with her charming personality. She says she's not a piece of flesh for him to toss around, but he says she didn't mind last time. And he goes on that everyone has to do their part and if she were strong she'd do construction; if she were smart, she'd teach the kids. But she has her hands, meant for a softer trade: plying out the demons that haunt men's souls. He kisses her hands and tells her not to disappoint him. She watches him walk off then actually looks delighted as she heads back in to see Sylar.
Sylar's asleep in her bed, so she runs her hand up his chest. He wakes and she tells him his skin's so soft, like a baby. He asks what she's doing, and she says she's going to help figure out what's wrong with him. He sits up and says there's nothing wrong with him, but she says she heard differently, that he couldn't kill Samuel. She says she knows why and starts to kiss him. He turns away and she asks what he's afraid of. So he kisses her back and they start to undress him. She climbs on top, and as they make out and rub against each other he flashes on Parkman, Peter, Nathan, Claire. He pulls away, and she says he's lonely and afraid he's going to die alone. But he wants love; he just doesn't think he deserves it. He asks if she knows what he does to people like her. She says he cuts open their heads and steals their powers. He says she sees what people want: their desires, their hopes. He likes it. He starts kissing her again and then stops to ask what the tattoos are for. She says they're a map to find what you need. He grabs her roughly and tells her she doesn't want to help him; she wants to manipulate him to her agenda to kill Samuel. He says he can see what she wants since he got her powers. He doesn't need to kill, it's just something he likes to do. She says, "Not anymore. You're impotent." He throws her aside and seems a little sheepish as he picks up his shirt and leaves. Okay, did she mean actually impotent, or impotent of the brain?
Claire's looking at photos at the wake when Mama Petrelli walks up and says she tried to find photos of Claire but there weren't any. Claire says, "Not of the illegitimate daughter." Mama Petrelli tells her Nathan wanted to acknowledge her, but she told him not to, that it would tarnish his reputation and career. Claire's heard the story. Mama Petrelli asks if she's angry, and she says she's disappointed in her and her dad. Weird. She said pissed not twenty minutes ago. She says she's supposed to look up to her elders, but she can't believe a word either of them says. Angela can't blame her, but she says Claire has a good head on her shoulders and it's Peter she's worried about. Claire actually does believe that. Angela says he's empathetic beyond his years (what with being an empath, and all), but now it's his turn to grieve and he has no idea how. She tells Claire he needs a shoulder to lean on, and Claire's would be nice. She says she's his mother, but he will never trust her again. She sends Claire to him on the roof (where he's listening to a police scanner) and asks her to please help him. I don't think anyone can say no to helping Peter Petrelli, can they? When Claire gets there, though, Peter's gone. Luckily she hears a scanner call about a shooting suspect, so she knows where to find him. Peter arrives somewhere behind a cop (or security guard), whom he touches on the head and knocks out. I really have no clue what the Haitian's power does, apparently, because ... what was that?
Peter's helping a woman who's been shot in the leg, applying pressure to the wound, when Claire arrives. He wonders what she's doing there, and she says she followed him. He doesn't really care, though. He just needs her help to put pressure on the wound. He introduces Claire to the shooting victim, Wendy, who tells Peter the shooter is Adam Malamut, who got fired and then went crazy. Hey, an economy story on Heroes! Claire tells Peter not to do this, and asks him why he's doing it anyway. He says he needs to be more than a Band-Aid and walks off. She tells him to wait, since she's the one who can't get hurt by bullets. But he ignores her and takes off. Wendy doesn't seem to notice that weird reveal, as Claire just talks to her about how to breathe. She's not having a baby, though, is she? Because that would really be inconvenient.
In the freezer, Edgar's bleeding but still hasn't told Bennet anything about what Samuel's planning or where he is, judging from the torture that's still going on. Bennet grabs one of Edgar's knives and talks about the weight feeling familiar, so it must be the one that cut him. He threatens Edgar with it, but Lauren busts in and asks Noah if she can talk to him. They whisper in a different part of the freezer, I guess. She gets that he's angry about being sliced up by Edgar, but she thinks he's going too far. He says this isn't about revenge; he just wants some answers. Lauren knows he does, but she can tell him that torture doesn't work. She says she may have been the "Iron Maiden" back in the day, but she's changed and she might be shoving her liberal agenda down his throat, but he's emotional and losing his target. He says he's not, but she says he's worried about Claire and what Samuel's done and said to her. She says these medieval tactics are getting him nowhere. He thanks her for the truth serum (that's his "Don't let the door hit ya," which is awesome), but she stops him and says to stop using Edgar as a punching bag and start talking to him. She tells him to be objective and look at the facts of the situation. HRG says Edgar doesn't have a compass, and Lauren asks why he doesn't have one. She promises him that honey tastes sweeter than vinegar.
Claire's still with Wendy when the shooter comes back and asks who she is. Peter comes back and tells him not to worry about her, but to point the gun at him. Claire tries to tell him not to do that, but Peter has a death wish. The guy asks if Peter works here, but Peter says he doesn't, that he's just like the shooter: having a bad day. He says he just buried his brother, who was murdered, and then he had to stage his death as if he's a mobster or a spy. And now everyone wants him to be normal, but it's far from that. Why would he reveal the death staging to the shooter and the victim? Is everyone on this show missing a part of their brain? The shooter asks the same question: Why is Peter telling him this. Peter says it's because he understands where the guy's at right now, wanting to punish the people who have hurt him. Peter gets it. He wants to torture the guy who murdered his brother, to make him scream (dirty!); it's all he can think about. But he's trying to be hopeful and strong even though he feels himself slipping. He says he promised his brother he'd be a hero and asks him not to make him a liar today. The guy shoots Peter, apparently to shut him up. Thanks for that, shooter.
Peter's on a stretcher, telling Claire it hurts every time. He says he thought he'd get there first, but he did take him down. Claire says, yep, he saved the day. Peter says it's her turn and holds out his hand to borrow her power. She doesn't do it, and says it won't solve anything. He tells her to stop messing around, but she says he's the one running off after danger, trying to get himself killed. She says he has to stop, but he says he can't. She touches him, but says she won't always be here to be his personal safety net. He gets up in full view of everyone milling around the crime scene, because no one would notice if the guy who got shot did that, right? He says this is a good ability to hang onto. She asks what's so great about being a human pincushion, and he says that keeping on moving and acting on instinct means he doesn't have to think... She finishes: "About Nathan." He just sighs through his teary eyes. She tells him Nathan would be pissed at him for lying to himself and to everyone. She says he's not honoring Nathan's memory, but avoiding it. He cries that if he thinks about it, then it's real. If he mourns, it's real. You can tell Claire's sympathetic even while she's annoyed that he won't just listen to her. He says he misses him, and she knows. She misses him too. Commercials.
Back in the restaurant freezer, HRG brings a cup in and asks Edgar if he likes tea, then: "Of course you do, you're British." Edgar says he thought the skirt was the good cop, and HRG tells him to trust him; she is. This "talking" thing was her idea. If it were up to him, he'd be down to six fingers by now. He tells Edgar he saw him when he left Claire's dorm, and he could have taken him down at any time, with his super speed and all (more than 700 mph, by the way). So Edgar must want Bennet alive, and he asks what he needs him for. He asks what Edgar's doing out here with no compass, and no way to get home. Edgar admits he's been exiled for finding out that Samuel killed his brother, Joseph. He says Samuel convinced everyone it was Edgar's fault. Noah asks if they just believed him on his say-so, and Edgar just looks at him. He asks if Samuel's recruiting more and what he's going to do with them. Edgar doesn't know. He says "Sammy" is all about saber rattling. He ordered Edgar to kill Danko, and slice up Noah. "Sorry 'bout that." Noah says Edgar doesn't seem like a hit man to him. Edgar says he's a juggler, which Joseph told him, and he said it's the most useful skill a man can have because if he can keep a torch, chainsaw, and knife in the air, what can't he do? HRG asks why he's here, and he admits that he thought if he brought him back, Samuel would take him back. HRG asks if he'd go back after Samuel killed his brother and blamed it on him. Edgar says he's afraid of what Samuel's going to do to his friends and where he'll lead his family. HRG says that makes two of them, and they could help each other: "Enemy of my enemy makes us ... less antagonistic." Man, this episode is better than that first half, isn't it? And you know why? Not Sylar. Not even Peter. Bennet. This show is barely surviving now, but it would die a sudden and ugly death without him. Edgar smiles as HRG says they could stop Samuel together before he has a chance to hurt the people they love the most. Edgar asks if the tea's gone cold and then he drinks it.
Carnival. Sylar's digging through Samuel's stuff looking for ink, but Samuel says he destroyed the last batch by throwing Doyle at him. Sylar tells him to make more. Samuel asks if Sylar wants a tattoo to tell him where to go , but he says Sylar's already here. Samuel says he knows why Sylar can't kill, since Lydia told him everything. Sylar breathe-talks, "I doubt she told you everything." Oh, about the impotence? I think she told him that, Sylar. They probably had a good laugh. Oh, wait, he means the Lydia wanting to kill Samuel bit. Yeah, she probably didn't share that. They both look at Lydia, and Samuel says Sylar thinks people are lying, manipulative bastards so he thinks Samuel wants to con him. But he says Sylar's alone and needs a friend. Sylar cheesily asks, "Even though I tried to kill you?" Samuel, even more cheesily: "Especially because you tried to kill me." He goes on that we all need people to care for us, blah, blah, blah, platitudes. When did this show become Smallville and Samuel become Bo? (At this point, that might actually be an increase in quality.) Sylar finds the folded-up picture of Ellen Tigh and asks who she is. Samuel says it's Vanessa, the love of his life. He would move mountains for her (literally) if she'd ask him. Sylar says he hasn't seen her around, and Samuel says she's not. She's out there because he's afraid she'll reject him for who he is, for what he's done. He says that's how Sylar feels too, like no one could love him. Sylar tells him to stop pretending he knows who he is. Samuel says he knows Hiro told him he's going to die alone, and it's haunting him (so, just like them going back and changing things so that Sylar's never had to cut open a head, we also are supposed to believe that this Sylar who did everything over the course of this series was told that by Hiro before that and it's haunted him. But he's only now, in this moment, impotent (of the brain).) He says he knows him, because he is him: Not a good guy, but not all bad either. And he has found love and forgiveness and acceptance here, and Sylar can too. Sylar says that's fine, if that's what the tattoo shows him. He asks Samuel if he's afraid he'll see something else, but Samuel says he's a carnie, and lives for games of chance. Samuel takes some dirt and a clay pot and apparently is going to make ink out of it.
Bennet's apartment. Edgar's sitting there drinking from a bowl as HRG asks Lauren if she's sure they should have him up here. She says trust begets trust. Edgar says he's never had miso soup before, and it's good. He thanks them. Noah says no, thank you, to Edgar, because he gave him a bunch of information that's on whatever piece of paper Noah's holding. He says the problem is, of course, finding it. Lauren points out Claire has a compass, but HRG's not putting her in the middle of this. He asks if Edgar has a way back in, and Edgar says Lydia, who has no great love for Samuel. He says good, and gets up and starts planning things out on their map of the carnival. He says they'll isolate Samuel in the backstage area. Edgar says nobody else gets hurt, right? Bennet says ideally, and Lauren says they'll do everything they can, but this is a raid. They tell Edgar they'll do everything they can to help everyone, and will find them all homes. Edgar protests here, though, saying they have a home: the carnival. He says the only problem is Samuel. Lauren and HRG protest that Samuel's brainwashed everyone and, well, it is sort of a cult, so I guess busting it up is the best way. Edgar says they're all lambs, and know no better. Edgar's using a chopstick to undo his handcuff behind his back as Lauren points out this is like a cult and his friends need help. Edgar says the friends need to be left alone. HRG says that left alone out in the open makes them targets and that never ends well. He says reintegrating them into the real world will help them. Edgar jumps up, and tells HRG it was a mistake coming here, thinking he could trust him. He says he won't let them hurt his family. HRG tells him to slow down (nice pun, HRG), since he's not a violent person. Edgar agrees, but says HRG is. He speedsters out, taking the map of the Carnival Compound with him.
Carnival. Sylar's shirtless because that never gets old. I mean, it sort of does, but if we have to tolerate his annoying mannerisms, we might as well get to see some flesh. Samuel puts some ink in Sylar right above his nipple and they both watch it move up to his shoulder, then it goes across his back. Sylar asks what it's doing, and Samuel tells him to stop trying to force it and just let it happen. The ink stops on his forearm, and Samuel looks at it and says, "Well, isn't that interesting." Whatever they see makes Sylar tell Samuel he guesses he was wrong, and he doesn't belong there. He puts on his shirt (boo!) and leaves.
On a rooftop, Claire and Peter are sitting side by side. She likes it better up here. Peter says he has a love-hate relationship with rooftops. Dude, seriously. The learning to fly. The dropping your brother. Peter asks if Claire's going back tonight, and she says she is going back for school tomorrow. (This cannot be the Monday after Thanksgiving. I think I have to let go of the timeline, don't I?) She adds that she'll stay if he wants her to, but he says he's fine. She looks worried and says she has to trust him. She can't have him lying to her, not him. He says he'll always be honest with her. He says he has a strange request, and asks if she could call her old boyfriend, West, for him. She says yeah, and asks why, but the scene ends before he answers.
At his apartment, HRG says he blew it. Lauren says he's being hard on himself. When he says he thought the expression was "too hard on yourself," she's like, "No, I got it right." I actually love their chemistry and rapport. Forgive me for hating that flashback where they added her to the backstory because now I'm happy she's here. He asks her if she still thinks honey tastes sweet. She does think it was the right move. She says she's seen this before with other cult leaders: Samuel's done a number on all of them. He agrees Samuel's hooks are in all of them, and Lauren asks if he means Claire. He says he does, but Lauren says he's still her father, and the only one she has left. She says the thing about burnt bridges is they can be rebuilt. They smile cutely at each other. But then he turns away and calls Claire on his Sprint phone. No answer.
Theme music starts up as Peter stands alone on a rooftop, looking at a picture of Nathan. He folds it up and puts it away, then slowly hovers up and flies quickly away. Samuel says, "Vanessa," as he tapes up a hole in a Vanessa drawing. He opens a drawer and puts it inside, where we see numerous other Vanessa drawings. Just so we don't think this storyline was added one episode ago or anything. Claire arrives home to her dorm room to find a note from Gretchen, who's studying late in the library. She checks her phone, and ignores her dad's call. She lies down on her bed, then the camera pans out of the room, where Sylar's sitting in a tree with a Claire tattoo on his arm. Which is gross and weird enough, but then he says, "Helloooo, cheerleader." Really, he said that. First of all, hasn't Claire not been a cheerleader for, like, three seasons? So, here's what I think: Sylar's whole impotence storyline has something to do with this. He thinks that Claire can heal him or whatever, and it's probably leading nowhere pretty. Which is obvious, because when Sylar's sitting in a tree staring at someone through a window as ominous music plays, it can't end well. Unfortunately, my TiVo cut off right after "To Be Continued..." so I can't tell you anything about the episode.
DeAnn, a write
r and editor in Portland, Oregon, does think honey's sweet, but she prefers vinegar. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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