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On his quest to figure himself out, Sylar finally gets in touch with Claire. He creeps out the whole world (or at least the few people still watching) by making out with her so he can use Lydia's powers to figure out how she connects. Turns out she doesn't know either, though, so he pep-talks her about how much she needs to connect with Gretchen. She does, and she's happy to finally hold hands and laugh. That doesn't solve Sylar's loneliness, though he does figure out his powers are the problem. Then he heads to Parkman's, where he shows up and ominously talks to Janice and Matty, which ends the episode.
Hiro drops a glass and ends up in a dream world where he's on trial for abusing his powers for personal gain. The best part is that Adam Monroe is representing the prosecution (the world), and the judge is Hiro's father, Kaito. It's nice to see them both again, and especially the beautiful David Anders. Hiro ultimately pleads guilty in his head as Ando tells him to fight in surgery to remove the tumor back in the real world. In his brain, his father gives him his sword back and he fights Adam. Still not tumor-free, though, he sees his mom and thinks she's there to take him to heaven. But she says destiny doesn't want him to die yet, so she heals him. In his dream. But let's hope there's an actual explanation, too, such as the doctors removed the tumor while he was dreaming.
In the only other storyline of the episode, Samuel tries to convince Vanessa he loves her even though he kidnapped her. He shows her the house he built for her, and she loves it and kisses him, but wants to leave. She says this fantasy is his, not hers. He lets her go, but then ends up so angry, he Sunnydales an entire town as the carnies watch from afar. So now he's evil. My problem (one of many problems, actually, but it's the biggest one) with all of this is that he seemed bad from the beginning, and now we're supposed to believe the plan he kept spouting off about was to win back Vanessa, and only her rejection will make him want to destroy the world. Whatever you need to tell yourself to make this somehow make sense, I guess, because it's definitely not going to on its own.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously (says Mohinder): Sylar made out with Lydia the Tattooed Lady and took her power. Samuel psychoanalyzed him, based on supposedly overhearing Hiro tell him he's going to die alone (but Samuel wasn't really there). Samuel hearts Vanessa, and she admitted to HRG that Samuel's a bit of a stalker. Hiro didn't want to change the past until Samuel talked him into it, and he went back to save Charlie and defeat Sylar. But now Hiro has a brain tumor. Samuel has something beautiful and magical to show Vanessa. Let's hope it's nothing sexual, because ... ew. Nathan died, and Claire was pissed that everyone lied to her about the fact that he was already dead.
College cafeteria. Claire's picking at her food, so Gretchen asks if she wants to talk about either life among the carnies or the death of her father. Claire doesn't know where she would start talking, so Gretchen tells her that's cool, but she's here if she needs anything at all. She puts her hand on Claire's, and Claire jerks away, pretending she is late for a study group clear across campus. Gretchen gloomily watches her walk away. Sylar doesn't wait before approaching Gretchen and asking if this seat is taken. Gretchen gives him a friendly smile even though a) he looks way too old to be hanging out with college freshmen and b) she doesn't like boys. Opening title card.
Bennet apartment. Hiro's drinking water, while Ando and HRG ask him if he's okay. We get an "artistic" shot of Mohinder through Hiro's water glass as HRG walks over there and asks him how it's coming. When the camera moves around the glass, we see on the table in front of Mohinder is a contraption that's supposed to be a homemade compass, and to it our chyron: "Chapter Fifteen: Pass/Fail." Mohinder reminds HRG the compass will only work in the hands of a hero, but at least HRG has Hiro and Ando, because Mohinder broke a promise to a girl and has to get back to make amends. HRG spares him the "responsibility" speeches he's given this season to Parkman and Peter and just lets him go, off to his new show or whatever. Once he's gone, Hiro drops his glass and passes out...
He wakes up right away, but he's no longer in HRG's apartment, but at the Burnt Toast Diner. He looks around and sees Adam (whose appearance raises this episode's letter grade a full letter on looks alone), who greets him casually: "Hello, carp." Hiro points out Adam's dead and then wonders if he's dead. Adam says that's for the judge to decide. And the judge? Hiro's dead father. The trial is the world vs. Hiro, who has been accused of breaking the heroes' code by willfully altering the timeline for personal gain. If convicted, the penalty is death. Commercials. I hate Bing's vampire commercial, and if it makes all the tweens in the world decide to use Bing, well ... then they deserve a search engine like Bing.
College. Claire apparently wasn't lying about her study group, because she shows up in an empty classroom and asks if it's the review session. Sylar's at the blackboard with his back to her, but he turns around and says it's a study group. He flips the blackboard over, and it's covered in "Why Claire Bennet," which is weird considering he was with Gretchen when Claire left for here. But he had time to find out where Claire would be, go there, and write all over the blackboard like an obsessive stalker (which ... well, that part is at least accurate). He asks if she's ready to brainstorm, and she asks what the hell he's doing here. He came to learn, of course. What else would one do at college?
Carnival. Samuel's shaving, which is weirdly intercut with Vanessa waking up in the trailer and seeing a flowery dress. She puts her own jacket back on and comes out to find him shaving. He tells her the dress is a gift. Vanessa: "A gift? You kidnapped me." Not to mention bringing her to this place that you won't even tell her where it is. He smiles, and says this reminds him of when they were kids and he broke her record player. She says she remembers it too, and he's glad because he still wants to show her something, but first: breakfast. She says it always starts like this, but then breakfast turns into lunch, lunch into dinner, dinner into drinks, and then... He says he fixed her record player, with tape and good intentions, so she agrees to have something to eat, but then he has to take her home. He says fine. I'm still wondering why their "dates," or whatever you call it when your stalker shows up, always start with breakfast.
Hospital. Hiro's being wheeled in on a stretcher, and Ando explains to the doctors and nurses that the doctors in Japan said the tumor is inoperable. They tell Ando to wait, and he tells them Hiro's his best friend, so to please help him. As they wheel him away, there's sort of a weird (I can't decide if it's cool or not, so it probably isn't) cut where we hear Adam start talking as Hiro seems to wake up on the stretcher and look back toward the voice. Then we're in the courtroom as Adam (the prosecutor) tells the jury it's their attempt to prove that Hiro's guilty of bending space and time for his own personal gain, with a blatant disregard for the consequences of the space-time continuum. Hiro calls his dad "father," who tells him to please address him as "your honor." Hiro says this must be a bad dream or a tumor hallucination, so Adam would like the record to show that Hiro disrespects the court. Hiro says it's not a court, it's a diner. The waitress, Lynette, who works there, looks insulted. Hiro pleads not guilty and asks if he's entitled to a lawyer. Ando appears to him, looking through files, confused, all "Punishable by death?" Monroe calls his first witnesses, who are Lil Kimiko and Lil Ando.
College. Claire and Sylar seethe at each other. She's mad he killed Nathan, but Sylar just sulks, "It seems like a lifetime ago. I'm a little off my game. You're going to help me get it back." He shows her the tattoo, and says it wasn't his choice but destiny. She can't believe he'd actually think she'd help him, and says she wouldn't even if her life depended on it, but he says it's not her life she should be concerned about. He looks over and her gaze follows his to Gretchen's messenger bag. Claire says, "Gretchen" as the clocks in Sylar's head start to tick audibly. Commercials. Flavor Flav uses Sprint; doesn't that make you want to?
Back in class, Sylar assures Claire she'll see Gretchen again as soon as she helps him. He makes a Sylar/Claire chart on the board to discuss their similarities: adopted, abandoned by parents who didn't want them and raised by parents who didn't understand them. Claire says her parents understand her just fine. He tells her to stop lying to herself, since both of their dads are cold-blooded killers while neither of them can be killed. She gets they have a few arbitrary (adopted, abandoned, and unkillable are arbitrary? I'm not sure Claire knows the meaning of that word) things in common, but what's his point? Sylar agrees with me that they're not arbitrary, but formative, building blocks, and theirs are the same, yet she's a "content college coed" and he's him. How'd they end up so different? She says the difference is he's a psychopath. She walks off with "mystery solved," but he finally uses his mind powers to pin her down. He says this isn't a joke, and she has to help him or he'll slice her roommate up (he actually asks if she cares how many filets he slices Gretchen into, which is an odd way to ask that question, but then, this is Sylar, and Heroes). He says that if she's not going to contribute, he'll take the answers from her head. She asks if he's going to slice her open again, and he says he's evolved beyond that since Lydia gave him her methods. He calls them a little "hyper-erotic," but then says, "Oh, what the hell? It is college isn't it?" He leans down and starts making out with her. I have to think that this scene made both of these actors want to kill themselves. It's the only way I can watch it without vomiting, actually.
Somewhere near the carnival, Samuel and Vanessa are at an ice cream parlor. She won't sit, but is wearing the dress he gave her. A waitress brings a strawberry milkshake over, and he says it's her favorite. She sits and says that was a long time ago. So he brings up the last time he crashed in her dorm room and they talked all night. Vanessa: "Among other things." He says she talked about her dream home: a peaceful cottage surrounded by nature and happiness. She first says that was the tequila talking, but then says he's such a romantic, something she's always admired about him. She says there comes a time when you realize you can't have that cottage. S
amuel: "Says who?" He asks if she can honestly say she doesn't look back on their time together with a hint of fondness. While the correct answer would be, "Ever since you kidnapped me? Yep, I can say that," Vanessa holds her hand up and puts her fingers an inch apart. He drinks out of one of the straws in the milkshake and pushes it to her, who drinks out of the other. Oh, gross. What is wrong with this show?
Hospital. Ando watches through a window as doctors say things like, "What's your prognosis?" Hiro wakes and we cut into court as Adam asks Ando, in Japanese, to tell him about the day at the carnival and what happened to the "slushy" in question. The kids tell Adam it slipped out of Ando's hand and hit a strange old man. They point at Hiro and say it was that strange old man. Ando objects and says that wasn't selfish, but helped two people fall in love. Hiro agrees, and says no one got hurt, so what's the crime in that? Adam, for clarity, asks if, on Hiro's scale of temporal justice, it's okay as long as no one gets hurt. Hiro says, yes, that's his definition. Adam says good, because his witness is here. Hiro looks over and sees Sylar in the window as clocks tick.
The real Sylar is back at college with Claire, who asks Sylar to just tell him where Gretchen is. Sylar says Claire's been holding out on him, and now he knows why he was supposed to find her: They're the same. She does the same thing as him. She builds walls to keep from connecting with people. Like Gretchen. Then he says that all the memory hits he got from her stuff while he was tying her up have such a different context now. That room is so full of ... pauses. She asks what he said, and he repeats "Pauses. All these moments so full of ... subtext." I think that TV shows are supposed to actually have subtext, not talk about it. Just as an FYI to the writers, if they actually know how to read, which I tend to doubt. He tells Claire that she can't say the one thing she really wants to say to Gretchen. Then: "Heck, you keep this up, you might end up alone forever, too." Then he adds that she's the indestructible girl who can't put herself out there to get hurt. He scoffs and she grabs a pencil from her pocket and sticks it in his eye. She says he is off his game, since he just told her where Gretchen is. Sylar groans (and the pencil in his eye is pretty disturbing-looking) as she leaves.
Diner Court. Sylar's apparently been asked how many people he killed. He says he supposes it's hundreds, all thanks to an agreement with Hiro, who told him he could kill whoever he wanted as long as he saved Hiro's girlfriend. Adam says it seems to him that a lot of people were hurt as a result of Hiro's time-tampering. Hiro jumps up and says he was trying to save Charlie with changing the space-time continuum. Ando says his client was trying to do what's right, and Jackie, the cheerleader Sylar mistakenly killed shows up with a sliced forehead and asks, "Really? Does this look right to you?" Ando: "Crap." Adam asks who else Sylar killed after his deal with Hiro. Sylar says there was her, and "Eden-ish" (nice that he takes at least some responsibility for that). "Two Primatech guards. The melty guy. The mechanic. Isaac. My mother. Ted something, Ted..." Okay, not even close to all of Sylar's victims (complete list here), and not even the right number of Primatech guards. But Adam interrupts to say these murders are Hiro's fault, and then Sylar snaps his fingers hilariously: "Sprague! Ted Sprague!" Adam says Hiro's actions were not for the heroic good, but for the good of Hiro. Hiro stands up and -- instead of saying that Sylar had done all of those things before Hiro went back in time, so he didn't actually manipulate time to cause those things -- says that Charlie was a good person and the world is better with her in it, so he stands by that decision. Adam calls his final witness: Charlie. Hiro looks over hopefully, but Adam says, "Oh, that's right, we can't bring Charlie here." He says she's lost in time, and asks Hiro why. Hiro says he made a deal with Samuel, who double-crossed him. Adam says the prosecution rests. But I cannot rest because ... Sylar is at college with Claire and Ando is at the hospital watching Hiro ... do whatever people do in the hospital, but they are there, too. So, this isn't real, so why no Charlie (I mean, other than the obvious: Jayma Mays is too busy winning awards and stuff for being on a show that doesn't suck)? The only explanation that can appease me somewhat is that this is in Hiro's head and he thinks Charlie can't be there so she can't be there.
Carnival. Samuel describes Vanessa's dream cottage to her in minute detail, and she wonders how he remembers it all. He says he knows all the details (because he's a stalker), and he says it was hard to forget because of the way she painted it as he held her close. He says it was so real, like it came from her soul, and was her. Vanessa says he always knows what to say; he has the perfect scrap of poetry in his pocket to ... He asks, "To what?" And she leans in and tickles him. Then they finish describing it together, and he's happy that she remembers it too. He shows her a drawing he made of it, and they keep being cheesy about the house. Vanessa asks how he does it, every single time? They lean in and kiss each other. Then they're holding hands and frolicking through the grass and flowers Ian grew for him, and she asks how he did it. He says he and his friends can do amazing things. They come up to a house, and he says this is her dream cottage, so no more traveling; they'll make a real home. He says it's for her if she'll have him. She smiles, and says, "Sam." He says she doesn't have to join the carnival this way, and this can be their life. She smiles and then says she can't live here. She knows what she said, but didn't think he'd actually do it. She says this dress, and the milkshake, and all of this is a fantasy. He says he made it come true for her. She says, no, he did it for himself. It's his fantasy. Her life isn't here. He says he changed everything for her, and she asks him to please not say this was all for her. He lies, "No, of course not." Then says he should get her back home. He thanks her for indulging him, and she tries to kiss him. He does, but then pushes her away and says it was really nice to see her again. She watches him and touches her lips, hopefully thinking, "Holy shit! I just kissed my crazy stalker."
College. Claire runs across campus and finds Gretchen tied up in their room. They hug, and Claire says it's her fault, but Gretchen's just happy it's over. The lights flicker, and Claire says Sylar's not done... and the windows both break, blowing all the glass in on them. Commercials, after which Claire and Gretchen (still in partial bondage gear with her mouth tie now around her neck) run down the hall. Claire explains how she knows what Sylar will do, because she "gets the way he thinks." They hide in a closet, and Gretchen's like, "So, Sylar, huh? The Sylar?" Claire says yes, but no, actually "kind of the emo-apologist version." Ha. So true. And if there's anything worse than evil Sylar it's emo Sylar, isn't it? Claire says Sylar found Claire to figure out his issues, and Gretchen asks how that went. Claire replies, "Pencil in the eye," then apologizes to Gretchen for sometimes keeping her at arm's length. Gretchen says it's cool if she doesn't want to, but Claire says she does want to, but she's scared so she uses her specialness to build walls instead of jumping off bridges. She (and the writers) suck at metaphors, but s
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he's trying to say she's sorry. Gretchen says it's okay, and Claire says it's not, because Sylar told her they're alike and he wasn't wrong, and she doesn't want to end up alone like him. Gretchen creepily says, "Do you want to talk about it?" Claire nods and says she likes to think of herself as just a girl who happens to have powers, that it's just one thing in a list of attributes: loyal, friendly, regenerative, good skin. Gretchen: "You do have good skin." But Claire goes on that when it gets tough, she hides behind that one label and closes herself off. She says no wonder Sylar's so messed up, because she can't imagine having all of those things to hide about instead of just one. Gretchen says that maybe that's his answer: to become human again he has to get rid of all of his powers. Claire says maybe and then Gretchen turns into Sylar and asks if that was so hard. Claire calls him a sonuvabitch and asks where she is. He says it's dinnertime, so she's probably in the cafeteria. Claire realizes he never took her, and he says it's like he said: He's been having a little trouble being himself.
Claire hurries to the cafeteria and finds Gretchen on a couch with flash cards. She hugs her and asks her if she's okay. Gretchen says some guy stole her backpack, but she's fine. She asks why Claire's acting so weird, and Claire says she's just happy Gretchen's here and she's sorry about this morning. Gretchen says it's fine: "You know me! Impulsive Gretchen wants to hold hands so she does it." Claire knows, and loves that about her and wants to be more like it instead of being "beholden" (which is a weird word that I don't think Claire would use, and Hayden Panettiere's delivery makes me think she agrees with me) to any label or definition of who she's supposed to be. She wants to hold Gretchen's hand, so she does. Gretchen says people are going to start to talk, and Claire says that's fine, and she herself could use some talking if Gretchen still has a sympathetic ear. Gretchen, in fact, has two. They walk off holding hands as Sylar watches. Poor Sylar. Always the matchmaker, never in a match. Or something.
Diner Court. Kaito asks Ando to call his first witness, and he rifles through papers until Kaito asks him again. Ando calls Hiro, who asks if he hasn't ever seen Law & Order, since that always backfires. But he calls him anyway. He asks Hiro how long he's known the defendant and Hiro replies, "Seriously?" Then, "All my life." Ando asks what the driving force of his life has been, and Hiro says only to be a noble hero, not to be a celebrity or get rich, but to use his powers for good. Ando asks how that has worked out, and Hiro says, "I saved the world. Twice." Ando asks if he's broken the code, even to save his murdered father, and Hiro says he didn't. Ando asks what changed, and Hiro says he was weak and desperate, so he found himself a victim of Samuel's con. Hiro: "And I found myself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong." Adam: "Objection, your honor. He's reciting the opening to Quantum Leap." Close enough. Kaito asks Hiro to wrap it up. Hiro says he made mistakes, but it was always to make the world a better place, for family, friendship, and love. And if that makes him guilty, then he supposes he is. Kaito says "So be it. Guilty." as we cut back to the hospital, where his heart's stopped and medical types try to revive him. Ando watches from the viewing room, and tells him to fight. Commercials, including Greg Grunberg reminding us to take our prescriptions. Seems a weird PSA, but I guess there are a lot of oldsters watching TV (although probably not this show), and maybe they'd forget? Thanks, Greg.
Back in the hospital, a constant high-pitched sound and a helpful nurse remind us Hiro has no pulse. Ando watches, distressed, as Hiro sits up. He's still in the hospital, but everyone from Diner Court is outside the doors of the operating room. He walks toward them, and bows to Ando. They separate as he walks through and down a white hall. Ando, Kaito, the jury, and finally Adam follow him as he walks toward the light. He turns back and tells his father he wants to change his plea to "guilty." If this is the end, he wants to go out with honor, doing the right thing, a hero. Kaito tells him to go, "my son," then gives him his sword and tells him to fight for his honor. They all leave except Adam, who has his own sword. They fight in the hall as doctors work on Hiro in the hospital. Ando pep-talks him, telling him to fight, that he can do whatever it takes, that he's Super-Hiro. In the hallway, Hiro and Adam fight and fight until Hiro finally stabs him right in the gut. He's satisfied with himself, then we see an image behind him. He turns and sees his mother. They have missed each other so much. She's proud of all he's learned (she must have missed his ramblings of the past few episodes). He tells her he's ready to go with her, but she says he's not going, because there are things more powerful than science, like destiny. She's here to heal him, not take him. She puts her hands on his head and apparently does so with a kiss on his forehead. Which ... whatever. She's dead. He's dreaming. But we are supposed to believe this would actually heal him? God, I hate this show sometimes. Hospital. His pulse returns, and Ando's excited about it.
Samuel's alone in the ice cream parlor as lonely, strummy music plays. The waitress asks him if something's wrong, and he growls, "Yes, something is wrong." He asks if he's scaring her, if he looks scary. She stammers she just wanted to know... and he stands up and screams that he can see how she's looking at him, like he's different, like he's not good enough. He's done trying to change himself for her (not sure if he actually means her, though, or all non-heroes; he just says "you," which could mean he's crazy-talking to her as if she were Vanessa or that he's talking to everyone; I think it's the former), trying to fit into her world, play by her rules. From now on, "you're gonna play by mine." He clenches his fists and screams and the earth shakes beneath them.
Back at the carnival, everyone feels the earthquake. Lydia the Tattooed Lady leads everyone out, where they watch the entire nearby town crumble into a sinkhole. Just like Sunnydale, except, you know, not as sad or as cool. And ... there go any profits the carnival was making in that there location, since he just killed off what must be the majority of their clientele. Samuel stalks back through the carnival angrily as Vanessa rides away in a cab still holding onto the flower Samuel gave her.
Heroes music picks up as Gretchen and Claire laugh in their dorm room. Ando and Hiro talk in Hiro's hospital room. Janice Parkman plays with Matty. Then her doorbell rings, and she answers it. It's Sylar, who introduces himself as Gabriel, a friend of Matt's from the 12th Precinct. He asks if there's any way she could tell him where Matt is since it's really important. She says sure, but then, "I'm sorry. Have we met?" Have they met or is she just remembering the Sylon sex? Also, I think the music here is ominous, but since we know he wants to have his powers removed, is it really scary that he'd go looking for Matt? I mean, who better to remove your powers than the brain-controlling guy?
week: Sylar tells Parkman to purge him of his powers, or he'll use them, use them all. Claire tells Lydia (through touch, for some reason; if it were to keep it quiet, it doesn't work since Lydia says it all out loud) that her father's coming to kill Samuel and it's not going to end well. HRG's the carnival sniper, then Replicating Eli hits HRG in the face with a shovel. It's probably naïveté, but I keep holding out hope this show will get good again. But when the previews aren't even exciting, it's a sure bet the episode won't be.
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, knows people do stupid things in college, but making out with Sylar? Really? You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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