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As has been the case all season, we don't wrap up last week's cliffhanger at all, and instead move on to other stuff: Namely, Hiro and Ando work to rescue Mohinder from the institution, by checking Hiro into it. Once they're all free, Ando uses his red lightning power to give Hiro immediate electroshock therapy and he teleports them the heck out of the swamps of Florida. He says they have to go stop Samuel Sullivan. I say it's about damn time.
Peter's getting called to the Carnival by Lydia (she put the compass tattoo on his arm), but he ignores it and goes to visit Emma (who calls him with her siren song). When he introduces her to his mom, she tells him she had a dream in which Emma plays a part in killing thousands and Peter can't save her. The implication is that someone else can, though, so Peter takes his mom's power and dreams a future in which Emma's playing her cello in horror (in the funhouse) as cries and screams are heard. Then Sylar shows up to "save her." Or so he says. So Peter goes to Emma's and breaks her cello. She's not buying the whole dream thing, even though Peter's been nothing but good to her and she met Samuel seven seconds ago, and she kicks Peter out and cries about her cello. (Oh, and we don't find out where Peter was flying with West's power. Shocking, I know.)
Bennet's also trying to take down Samuel, and he enlists Parkman's (whose?!) help after he tracks Vanessa (Kate Vernon, by the way) down and heads to California to see what she knows. Parkman gets her to talk, of course, and she calls Samuel for them. But Samuel brings Eli along with him and breaks up the ground and escapes with Vanessa, whom he takes back to the Carnival against her will. When Parkman and Bennet can't find her, they give up. Parkman goes home to make ratatouille for his family and Bennet calls him a coward. Parkman tells Bennet sometimes you can't save the world and should focus on home. He tells Bennet to go find Claire. So he does. And somehow Sylar's not still there, or something, and she's late for something. He gives her a heartfelt speech, but she asks to talk about it later. Then goes back into her dorm room and shuts the door, which is what people always do when late to get somewhere. Bennet gets home and Lauren shows up. He apologizes and they make up, then start to make out. Just then, Hiro, Ando and Mohinder show up in the apartment, apologizing for popping in when he has company. But Bennet's happy to see people who actually want to help. And I'm happy our heroes are finally coming together to start putting an end to this season.
A special message from Jack "HRG" Coleman from Heroes: If you'd like to contribute to relief efforts in Haiti following the devestating earthquake, please consider Hollywood Unites for Haiti, a foundation started by Jimmy Jean-Louis, who plays "The Haitian" on the show. Donate here.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Before I get started, a serious note: Jimmy Jean-Louis, who plays the Haitian on this show (and is actually Haitian), has organized an immediate-assistance relief effort through his charity, Hollywood Unites for Haiti. (And an update beyond that video on his charity's home page: He has heard from his family.) It's obviously an important cause and a crucial time, so give if you can.
Previously: Samuel visited Emma and told her he gave her the cello and that she's a siren. Bennet tried to work with Edgar to find the carnival. Hiro asked Mohinder to disappear for eight weeks, and when Mohinder said no, Hiro put him in a straitjacket in a mental hospital. Damien scattered Hiro's brain, so Hiro had a hard time telling Ando his plan, but Ando figured it out. Parkman got rid of his Sylon. Sylar came back to the carnival and Samuel told him he's in love with Vanessa. Lauren told Bennet he could make up with Claire, because burnt bridges can be rebuilt.
Now: HRG narrates as we see Claire in that shot of her first arriving at college. He talks about how everything isn't hopeful, as Claire sees it. Evil does exist (flashbacks of various nefarious deeds by Sylar, Danko, Samuel's crew, including Noah sliced up by Edgar and Samuel killing his brother, Joseph). HRG wonders how to protect her without losing her, and Samuel again asks Claire if her father hasn't lied and killed to protect her. HRG wonders how to rebuild the bridge, and we watch Claire once again tell him to give her time to grieve Nathan's death. The narration ends and Lauren and HRG are trying to figure out their plan. It's getting a little testy, because Lauren's sick of shooting in the dark with nothing to go on and would like Bennet to ask Claire for her compass. He doesn't want to do that, since Claire's mad at him with every right to be. He ends by yelling at Lauren that if she doesn't want to help, she doesn't have to. She's pissed, and he tries to apologize, but she just sits back down. Camera pans out to the full room as the "Chapter Fourteen: Close to You" chyron scrolls down the bottom of the screen. They've gotten much less clever than they were in the early seasons, haven't they?
Whatever database Lauren's using hits on Vanessa Wheeler, who Lauren reminds Noah is the girl who grew up on the estate where Samuel's family lived and worked. She pulls up a photo of her, and it is, in fact, Kate Vernon (nice job, drawing people). Lauren also pulls up an image of adult Vanessa and Samuel sitting on a park bench. HRG confirms to Lauren that that's Samuel. They dial Vanessa's California phone number, and Samuel identifies himself by first and last name. When he asks about Samuel, she claims not to know anyone by that name. HRG says he grew up on the estate her family owned, and Vanessa hangs up. HRG tells Lauren it looks like he's going to California and she just says, "Yeah, good luck with that." He tries to stop her, but she leaves.
Carnival. Lydia the Tattooed Lady enters Samuel's trailer, where he's drawing another Vanessa picture. He tells her he's writing a letter, but won't give any further details. He asks her to pick up some ink supplies in town tomorrow. (But, wait, can't he just make ink out of broken clay pots and dirt?) Samuel can tell Lydia's suspicious by the way she's looking at the "letter" that looks more like a drawing, so he tells her he knows a lot of bad things have happened lately, but he needs her to be patient and stay on his side. He says they're so close to realizing their dream. She asks if it's really their dream, or just his. He smiles and changes the subject to his list, which says, "indigo, umber, linseed oil," and, he doesn't say it, but it looks like "honey." Which seems a weird supply for ink-making. Lydia tells Samuel that Vanessa's beautiful and he says not to worry, she'll meet her soon enough. He's waited a long, long time to bring her and the day has finally come.
Outside Samuel's trailer, Lydia finds her daughter lighting fires in a circus tent. She asks her mom why she'd want to cause trouble, since Samuel's always been good to her (that's a teenager for you -- only thinking about herself). Lydia thinks he's planning something. Do I need to tell all of the characters on this show that, yes, Samuel is planning something. He has been saying that to you all along. What you mean is that you think he's planning something different than what he's telling you. I didn't think Lydia was as stupid as Claire but I guess I was wrong. Lydia says that for this family to survive, they'll need a new leader. Amanda asks who, and Lydia says there's someone, a man of compassion, who Samuel himself said might be the Joseph. But he's so far away. Amanda suggests Lydia call him, and instead of making a Sprint ad out of it, we zoom in on Lydia's eyes and then cut to a sleeping Peter. After the camera zooms in on his eye, it pops open in shock. He jumps up and sees the compass tattoo is back on his arm. Title card.
Parkman home. Matt's making toast and coffee and groaning about it as if it's the most difficult thing he's ever done. Janice comes in -- with a new short haircut that I haven't decided if I like -- and they talk about how Matty's still asleep because Matt kept him up watching Ratatouille last night. Oh, and tonight? Matt's making ratatouille. She says her brother's still looking to hire someone, and hints that he should think about it for himself, which he takes as an insult to his cooking. He says he's a stay-at-home dad, but she wants to make sure he's staying home because he wants to, not because he's scared to leave the house. He swears he wants to be at home making ratatouille, and sends her off to work. When he turns around, HRG's there, inside the house. He says he decided to check Matt's security system and it turns out it's not so great. Also, he needs Matt's help. Matt hasn't heard of Samuel, but he doesn't care because last time he helped HRG, he got Sylar stuck in his head. HRG agrees things are ugly, but shoving your head in the sand doesn't make it go away. He's sorry about the Sylar thing, which they all know was a bad idea. Matt says he likes to stay home with the doors locked, and that's not going to change. HRG says Samuel's a bad man, but Matt says bin Laden is, too, so HRG's going to have to do better than that. (Speaking of, why don't they go after bin Laden if they're such heroes?) HRG says Samuel's trying to recruit Claire, and Matt asks what his plan is: to kick the guy in the teeth? HRG says it's Claire today and could be Matty .
Somewhere in Florida, apparently, Ando's having Hiro committed, although he's unsure about it. He speaks in Japanese about how hard it's going to be to get Hiro out, and how he can't teleport because of his scrambled brain. The orderly tells Ando he can't see Hiro's room, scoffs at the word "comfortable," then says it's time to get Hiro "strapped in" (when Ando questions that, he says it's just an expression). In other words: evil mental hospital! In case you didn't pick up on all that subtlety. They guy leads Hiro down a hall and Ando watches. When Hiro sees a door that says "Ahmadi," he looks back and tells Ando it's Watson. Ando uses his red lightning power to send some shocks into the door lock, which knocks them open. He heads down to the "Ahmadi" door and sees Dr. Suresh inside, realizing finally that's who Watson is.
Matt and HRG are waiting outside of L.A. Chamber Orchestra rehearsals for Vanessa, who they exposit plays first chair cello. Matt wonders if she's Samuel's girlfriend, and HRG says that what Matt's here for. She comes out, and HRG runs over, telling Matt to jump in anytime. HRG introduces himself and says he's the one who called, and that he knows she knows Samuel since there are pictures of the two of them. She asks if he's with the police, but HRG says it's more complicated than that. She has no interest in talking to him, and asks to be left alone. She doesn't want to meet his friend Matt Parkman. She walks away, and Matt brings her back with his brain by convincing her she wants to talk to them. She returns and says "Come to think of it, I'm glad you called. I need to talk to someone. I'm worried about him." HRG grins.
Peter walks the streets of New York, leaving Noah a message that the tattoo on his arm is back. Wow. If only he could check his voicemail, Peter's tattoo would lead them to the carnival. But then the show wouldn't be able to waste so much time leading up to the inevitable. When Peter hangs up his phone, he hears cello music, and looks around. He winds up at Emma's where she's used her newly harnessed siren power to lure him in. She explains that she brought him here with music by thinking of him while she was playing. Then she explains that she met Samuel, who showed her a new side to her ability using the cello. He sees the compass image on the back of the cello. He asks who sent it, and she says, "Samuel. Why?" He shows her the tattoo on his arm, and says he woke up with it this morning. Emma manages to be shocked instead of responding, "You're not the first person in the world to wake up with a tattoo and a hangover, dude."
Vanessa, HRG, and Matt walk through some pretty architectural structures that may or may not be where the L.A. Chamber Orchestra actually plays. She says she and Samuel were close growing up, that he used to write her love poems, that they didn't care that his family worked for hers. She says one day they were gone, and she moved on, assuming he'd done the same until he showed up in her room one night, all swagger and rock 'n' roll. She says she was in the right place for a bad boyfriend, and they had a fun couple weeks until he proposed, asking her to run off to his carnival. "I mean, a carnival? I was getting a music degree at Yale." HRG says he's not the same 20-year-old kid, and is a very dangerous man. She says he's been showing up more and more often since Joseph died, spouting crazy stuff. She wouldn't call it stalking, but she says he does seem obsessed, and last time she saw him, he was going on and on about how she'd want to be with him as soon as she sees how powerful he is. HRG has an epiphany that they've been trying to find the carnival, but maybe they should bring the carnival to them. Matt wonders how you move a carnival, apparently forgetting that he and many others have powers. HRG asks Vanessa to call Samuel.
Peter's apartment. He shows Emma the news clipping Samuel put himself in, and she confirms that's her cello-giving Samuel. Peter says he told him his name was William Hooper, and asks Emma what he wanted from her. She says he only wanted to find a homeless man, and he gave her something. She pulls out a compass, and it starts to spin in Peter's hand. Samuel says that last time he saw a compass like that, his friend got stabbed, so to keep her distance. Emma says he's a good man, but Peter says his friend almost died because of a compass just like that one and he wasn't the first person who got attacked. Mama Petrelli knocks and lets herself in, and Peter introduces them. Or tries to, because Mama Petrelli's response is a stiff, "Peter, how do you know this woman?" Emma takes the hint and leaves, and Peter asks his mom what the hell that was.
Mental hospital. Ando's sitting with Hiro in some sort of lunch room, saying he's relieved Hiro's not really crazy. He wonders why Suresh hasn't used his super strength to break out, and Hiro says that the storm troopers have dulled his senses with Jawa Juice. Ando figures out that means the orderlies have been giving him meds. Hiro wants to turn Bruce Banner back into the Hulk. Ando takes over, and swaps out the "Ahmadi" pills with aspirin. But to hide them from the orderly, he pops them in his own mouth and ends up swallowing them. Hiro: "Nap time for Sancho."
Lobby of Vanessa' building. Matt's outside watching for Samuel and HRG's inside. But then Samuel's inside, and Matt doesn't know how he got in. One of the Replicating Elis tries to stop Bennet, and then another tries to stop Parkman, but HRG has his stun gun at the ready, and they take off. Matt goes to get the car, and HRG finds Samuel, who tells HRG to stay away from Vanessa, who's already gone. Then Samuel cracks open the ground and sends up a dust storm. When HRG looks up, Samuel's gone, too. Commercials, including a really bad one for Parenthood, a show I actually wanted to see until I saw that. After commercials, Matt picks up HRG and asks what the hell happened to him. HRG doesn't answer, but pulls up a computer to try to find Vanessa, since they've put some sort of GPS chip in her pocket. They take off after the chip.
Peter's. Mama Petrelli tells Peter she had a dream, and there's nothing he can do to save Emma, but he must save himself. She's sorry. She gets up to leave, and Peter tells her half the family's dead, and their bodies are surrounded by lies. He wonders if they'll ever get it right, and asks her to please just tell him the truth for once in her life. She says the dream was foggy, but the message was clear: She's going to help kill thousands of people. Peter tries to protest, but Mama Petrelli says it will be a bloodbath, something to do with a cello. He asks what it means, and she says the important thing is that he cannot save her. Peter asks if someone else can, and she doesn't answer, so he grabs her and takes her power. He apologizes, but he needs to know. She says people think dreaming the future is a gift, but they're wrong. Then she leaves.
Mental hospital. Hiro's banging on Suresh's door, saying, "Dr. Watson," and eventually wakes him up. He says, "Hiro?" Then Hiro makes Hulk gestures at him, and Suresh gets the hint. He frees himself from his straitjacket and then from his cell. He asks where he is, and then, "You put me here." Hiro says, "To be continued." Then he says something about storm troopers, and Suresh is all, "What are you talking about, Hiro?" Hiro says they must rescue Sancho and escape. He grabs Suresh and pulls him away as he wonders, "Sancho?" Hiro explains he's hidden Sancho and they find Ando in a closet with his red lightning sparking out of his fingertips. Hiro explains to Dr. Watson that Sancho drank the absinthe intended for him. Suresh: "Perfect. One who can't walk, one who can't talk." He picks up Ando, and Hiro says they shall ride to freedom. He puts Ando in a wheelchair and they run with him through the halls, where Ando yells stuff about how it's like swimming but he's inside out. Eventually the orderlies hear the screaming and find them. Then Ando red lightnings the door and marvels at himself. Suresh knocks the orderlies out with super strength, and they escape.
Matt and HRG are driving through the desert. They arrive right where Vanessa's chip has led them, but there's nothing there but some old carnival fliers. HRG says the carnival was here. Matt doesn't think an entire carnival just disappears, but HRG says this one does, and you have to have a compass to find it. He says that's how Claire found it, with the compass she got from him. Matt thinks that's great; they can just go talk to her, then, but HRG's still having none of that. Matt tells him he's burning bridges if he can't talk to Claire anymore. He asks how it will work then, and HRG says he doesn't know, but they have to find it somehow. It really is stupid that he won't talk to Claire in order to save her and everyone.
Back at Matt's house, he's chopping vegetables as HRG leaves a message for Lauren, then wonders why making ratatouille is so important. They argue, because HRG thinks this is more important than making dinner for your family, but Matt doesn't. HRG says Matt's one of the good guys, he has a responsibility, and he's not a coward. Matt says that some days you can't save the world, and should try to get your own house in order. "Go home. Hug your little girl." HRG looks like he's thinking about it, as Matt continues chopping. HRG looks back once as he leaves.
Peter's asleep, dreaming. In the dream, Emma looks distraught, but she's playing at the carnival, as people scream. She's crying, but can't stop playing. Then Sylar shows up and tells her not to worry; he's come to save her. Peter wakes up and covers his eyes with his hands. At Emma's, she's staring at her cello when Peter buzzes (or blinks, I guess). He says hi, then bashes her cello to bits. She asks what's wrong, and he explains he had a dream that comes true that a lot of people will die because of the cello. She can't believe he'd do that because of a dream, so he explains further that he had to do it to stop something bad from happening. She kicks him out, and he starts to leave but turns to say he's sorry. He says it BEHIND HER, and she responds, "Goodbye, Peter." Wait, did I miss something? Isn't she deaf?
In the Florida swamps, Hiro speaks nonsense, and Suresh says he's had enough of it, and has half a mind to leave Hiro here after what he did to him. Ando tells him not to talk to Hiro like that, because he has very little time left and chose to spend it rescuing Mohinder. He asks what "very little time" means, and Ando explains the brain tumor. Dogs a
nd orderlies approach, and Hiro says, "The storm troopers and the Ewoks! Hurry!" They run off as the orderlies and dogs chase them. We get the scene of them running through a jungle from the montage before hiatus. As they run, they talk about how someone might unscramble Hiro's brain at the mental hospital. Suresh stops and tells Ando to use his red lightning power on Hiro like electroshock therapy. Ando's worried, since Hiro saw Ando kill him with red lightning in the future. Suresh logically asks, "Was it in Florida?" And since it wasn't, Ando zaps Hiro back into teleporting shape and he says they must stop Samuel Sullivan, then gets them the hell out of there right as the dogs arrive where they've stopped. Commercials, including Masi Oka encouraging us to get regular health screenings.
Dorms. HRG walks up to Claire's door, where her white board says, "Math study group." It was apparently an attempt to make us feel like she's an actual student, but it's a failure because we all know those boards are for notes about parties, not study groups. Anyway, he knocks and she answers, with a pretty cute and surprised, "Dad?" He says he was just in the neighborhood, but then admits that he actually just got back from California. He says he knows she's mad, and he's okay with that. He doesn't want to try to talk her out of it or convince her of anything. She interrupts and asks what he's doing here; if he's all right. He says he's great actually (really?!), but he's just thinking about bridges that connect us to the people and things we love and need in our lives. He says they're built on trust, and he's torched most of them. "I'm just hoping that the one that connects me to you can still be repaired." Claire looks mildly touched, but says she's sorry, but she does have something she's late for. He says that's fine, and asks if she needs a lift to this thing she's late for. She doesn't. They say goodbye, and he leaves, but she goes back into her dorm room and shuts the door. Not exactly what one does when they're late for something, is it?
At dinner at the Parkman home, Janice is going on and on about her law firm, and how some guy is totally gay, totally in denial, and totally married. Matt's not listening, because she's totally boring. She tells him his ratatouille is delicious, and then finally notices his silence. She asks if he left the house at all today. Oh, Janice, if you only knew. He asks if she thinks he's a coward, because he thinks he is. She wonders why, and he says he had the worst guy in the world living inside his head and didn't do a thing to go after him when he got rid of him. She says that's because he came home to her and Matty, where he belongs. Matt says he's let so many people down and gets up from the table. She wonders who, and Matt says, "Friends, people that I care about. I mean, I'm sitting here eating ratatouille instead of facing the world, doing something about the problems that I've caused." She says that's because he cares about his family, and calls him a "simple guy" (people love it when you call them that), that his family's his world and he should let the rest of it be. Elizabeth Lackey really lets her Australian accent seep through in this scene, which is completely distracting. She gets up and tells him there's nothing "cowahdly" about looking out for your family. She says he belongs home with them, okay? And he says, "Yeah." She thinks he's not full of shit and hugs him happily, but we all know he's about to join the good fight.
Carnival. Eli's guarding Vanessa, who looks pretty freaked out. Samuel comes out with tea, and apologizes that it's not five-star accommodations but to let him know if there's anything she needs. She says what she needs is to go home and that he can't just take her. He says he thought about the day she'd arrive for so long, but it wasn't supposed to be like this; it was supposed to be perfect. She asks what he's talking about, and he says Noah Bennet did a real number on her, got in her head, so he had to act. Vanessa: "By kidnapping me?!" Samuel says he'd hardly say that, so she points out he took her here against her will and won't let her lave; what would he call it? She gets up to leave, but he grabs her and pulls her close. She freezes as he kisses her neck then touches her face. He does some weird thing where he licks his finger and traces it along her face. He says he understand she's upset, and he gets why, but she'll understand soon, because there's something he wants her to see that is so magical, so beautiful. He says if she's still unhappy after he shows her, he'll take her right back to California. She wonders what he means by back to California and asks where they are. He just says it's so beautiful, Vanessa, wait 'til you see it. "It's perfect." She looks creeped out.
HRG's apartment. He tacks a picture of Vanessa to his bulletin board and then hears a knock at the door. It's Lauren, who says she was driving by and saw the light on. He invites her in, and she asks how California was. He says it wasn't as fruitful as he would have liked. He asks if she got his messages, and she did. He apologizes for being such a jerk. She knows he's sorry. He tells her that he thinks he cares for her more than he'd like to admit because it's complicated. He touches her face, and she sighs, then says she knows, but "just don't do it again." They kiss, and it's pretty awesome. But even more awesome? Hiro, Ando, and Suresh arrive in his apartment just then. Hiro: "Oh. You have company? Sorry to pop in like this." HRG looks at them, then smiles, "Hello, boys." They all three wave in response. "To be continued..."
week: Sylar shows Claire his tattoo of her and says she's supposed to help him. She wonders if he's going to slice her head open again, but instead he throws her on a chair and kisses her. Ew. I hope this isn't him trying to prove he's not impotent, because ... it could get very ugly. Hiro passes out and wakes up in a trial, where his dad's the judge and Adam's the prosecutor. It seems they're accusing Hiro of abusing his power or something. His dad sentences him to death, but I'm fairly certain this is a dream. Not that it means Hiro won't die, because ... brain tumor.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, has never had ratatouille and, thanks to this episode, never wants to. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.