Tonight’s episode of ‘Heroes’, titled “Fallout” picks up where we left off two episodes ago. H.R.G., Claire and Peter deal with the aftermath of Sylar’s attack. Eden decides to deal with Sylar her own way, though her plan backfires. World’s continue to collide as Hiro meets Isaac (aka “Mister E-zoc!”) and Matt and Audrey meet Peter. And finally, Peter has a vision that brings us much closer to the big-boom that will engulf New York City sometime in the semi-near future.
The episode opens with Claire, still bloodied from Homecoming (high school is a rough place) talking to her dad about what happened. He tells her that Sylar is being taken care of and that he’s known about her power for a long time. She’s upset by this and tells him how lonely she’s been and wishes he would’ve talked to her about it sooner. She admits to him that her brother Lyle found out about it and that her friend Zach knows. She also explains about the videotape, to which he responds that she has to destroy them.
Matt and Audrey are at the wooded area near the high school where Sylar stumbled across Eden and the Haitian. They find some of Sylar’s blood and footprints which indicate that someone must’ve taken him from the area. They decide to go to the police department to interrogate Peter to see if he knows anything.
Waiting in a cell looking bloody and exhausted, Peter sees Nathan come through the door. Nathan tells him that he shouldn’t try saving the world anymore and basically that its ok to just be a nurse. Peter tells him that he can do what Isaac, Hiro and Claire can do but that he’s afraid he can’t save the world. He turns away and Nathan’s voice changes. When Peter turns back to him, its Sylar. Sylar says “How can you stop what’s coming when you don’t know anything about power.” Peter wakes up abruptly, alone in his cell. It was all a dream.
D.L. is outside the diner with Micah still in the car. Jessica has him in her sights and she pulls the trigger. She shoots him in the shoulder and tries to shoot him again but misses. She aims the last shot at his head but D.L. phases himself and the bullet passes right through him. Jessica runs over to the car but by the time she gets to it, D.L. and Micah are gone.
H.R.G. visits Sylar in his cell. He insists on calling him by his given name, Gabriel. This infuriates Sylar. Sylar talks about his original power of being able to see into people and see what makes them tick. H.R.G. tells him that he’s insane and that he thinks the infusion of all of these people’s DNA has messed him up. Sylar tries to get to H.R.G. by talking about how he is going to kill Claire. H.R.G. keeps his cool with a simple “That’s enough, Gabriel” and leaves.
He then takes a call from whoever it is he answers to. Based on his side of the conversation, it appears they want to keep Sylar alive. Eden tells him that she could make him commit suicide. Despite his concern for his daughter, Mr. Bennet appears intent on obeying orders for the time being. Eden calls after him, saying “You know I’m right… if that Haitian could speak, he’d tell you I’m right”. The Haitian is waiting at the end of the corridor but says nothing (as usual).
D.L. and Micah escape into the woods but the gunshot wound on D.L.’s shoulder is slowing them down. Micah says he knows that wasn’t the police who shot him. They find a house and D.L. breaks in to get some cloth to cover his wound. An interesting point here: though D.L. seems to be done with Niki, he still wears his wedding band.
As he dresses his wound, Micah said he knows it was Jessica who shot at him. He tells him Niki would never hurt him, implying that he understands that Niki and Jessica are essentially two separate people sharing the same body.
Audrey and Matt interrogate Peter, who has a splitting headache. Matt offers him some pills that he’s been taking for his own headache. Audrey tries to question Peter about what he was doing at the high school. Matt tries to read his mind and something freaky happens. For a second, his and Peter’s mind seem to connect as Peter adopts Matt’s abilities. Peter is able to read Audrey’s mind. He tells her that they need to find and protect the cheerleader. From what they know though, the cheerleader is dead. Matt and Audrey aren’t aware that Peter is talking about Claire, not Jackie. They leave.
Mohinder returns to New York and there’s a note from Eden saying welcome back. Eden is still in Texas with Isaac. Isaac is sketching though he doesn’t think what he’s drawing is related to his power. Eden tells him that Claire got saved and that it was his help that made it possible. She wishes him well and tells him she’s leaving the Reservation. She gives him a cell phone and what looked like a calling card, as well as a kiss goodbye and leaves.
Hiro and Ando are outside Claire’s high school. They’ve obviously just learned about the death of a cheerleader and Hiro thinks the mission failed. They are becoming more discouraged about the whole “destiny” thing when Hiro’s phone rings. It’s Isaac, whose name Hiro adorably pronounces with glee, “Mr. E-Zoc.” They agree to meet.
Audrey questions Claire with her father. Claire tells the story of Sylar killing Jackie but leaves out the part about Peter healing himself or how she managed to walk away without a scratch. Matt stands on the other side of the glass trying to read her mind but there’s some kind of interference. After the questioning is over, he tells Audrey about it and says it reminds him of the time he was in the bar. As they walk away, we see the Haitian standing nearby.
Jessica runs through the woods looking for D.L. and Micah. Her tattoo is visible, indicating that its Jessica we’re dealing with. She finds D.L.’s bloody jacket and becomes upset. Niki takes over and runs, stumbling and falling (the tattoo on her shoulder is gone). She sees her reflection in a puddle and in a moment reminiscent of Smeagol’s conversations with his alter ego, Gollum, Niki and Jessica argue over whether or not to hurt D.L. Obviously Niki’s against it but Jessica is dead set on killing him to protect Micah.
Claire goes to visit Peter in his cell. Peter is looking even more sweaty and feverish than before. Mr. Bennet thanks Peter for saving Claire. Peter modestly says he was just in the right place at the right time. Claire asks for a few minutes alone with Peter. When H.R.G. leaves, she asks him how long he knew he was like her. Peter asks her about her healing powers. Claire seems genuinely happy to learn there is someone else out there that is like her. She asks him why he came to her and he tells her he had to save her to save the world. He says the healing thing is kind of new to him. She seems surprised that he didn’t know he would be able to heal himself when he dove off the railing with Sylar. As she leaves, she tells him he’s her hero.
In the woods, Jessica comes across the cabin that Micah and D.L. are in. D.L. attacks her and knocks the gun out of her hand but she fights back. Micah tries to stop her and she throws him aside. D.L. runs to help Micah and Niki takes over, apologizing to him for what’s happened. She apologizes to D.L. as well and he hugs her, obviously aware that there really are two people in there.
Claire meets Zach to get the tapes of her doing all of the stunts. She crushes them and then they chat about their newfound friendship, which is only about two weeks old. He apologizes for breaking her out of her house to go to Homecoming but she tells him he’s her best friend.
Hiro and Ando meet Isaac at the bus stop. Hiro greets him with another enthusiastic “Mister E-zoc!” and a “Live Long and Prosper” Star Trek hand signal. They sit in the Burnt Toast Diner and Hiro shows Isaac the comic book, which Isaac notes, hasn’t been printed yet. Hiro tells him about the city blowing up and how he saw Isaac dead with his head cut off. Ando mentions something about Charlie dying and points to her picture. Isaac pulls out his sketchbook and shows them the sketches he recently did which show Hiro and Charlie talking at the diner. It is then that he realizes he can use his power even when he’s not “chasing.” He tells them about the apocalyptic paintings he’s done and the most recent one that showed the exploding man. Hiro asks the question on all of our minds, “How do you stop an exploding man?”
Claire comes home and talks to Lyle. She tries to bring up the subject of her power but he seems completely clueless to what she’s talking about. He then goes on to say that he can’t even remember how he got home.
Niki, D.L. and Micah are leaving the woods together. She talks about how out of control she is when Jessica is in charge and how she could’ve hurt Micah. She realizes she can’t be trusted and turns herself into the police for murder.
Audrey and Matt stake out H.R.G.’s office. Matt accidentally hears Audrey thinking that he’s cute. She tells him he shouldn’t be peeping into her mind. She also tells him he should grow up and fix things with his wife if that’s what he wants to do. Just then, they see H.R.G. come out of the building with the Haitian. Matt tries to read their minds but again, it’s blocked. He concentrates hard and his nose starts to bleed. He’s able to get one word: Sylar.
Claire meets up with Zach at the football field. She tells him Lyle can’t remember anything and it’s freaking her out. Zach asks her what she’s talking about and why she’s even talking to him. It becomes evident that he’s lost all memory of her powers and their friendship. She runs back home.
H.R.G. visits Sylar. Sylar tells him they’re quite alike in that they both collect “special people.” H.R.G. responds by telling him they’re going to take him apart like one of his little watches to see what makes him tick.
Isaac, Hiro and Ando are in a motel room and Isaac is trying to paint but he doesn’t think he can do it. Hiro tells him he can and to do this: he makes his space/time-traveling face which looks like he’s eaten too much cheese. Isaac closes his eyes and when he opens them, they’re glazed over and he begins to paint.
Claire calls her dad and tells him that she thinks someone did something to Zach and Lyle to make them forget. It’s obvious to us, but not to her that H.R.G. got the Haitian to wipe their memories. Claire hangs up with him and just then, the Haitian comes into her room. He grabs her and… he speaks! In a slight accent, he tells her that he works for her father and that he wiped her brother and friend’s memories and that he’s wiped her mother’s mind many times. He says her father expects to find her with her memory wiped but he’s not going to do it. He asks her if she can keep a secret. That’s the last we see of them in the episode.
Back in the motel, Isaac has painted a vivid image of Hiro facing a dinosaur and holding a sword. Hiro says he needs to find that sword.
Eden calls Mohinder to apologize for not being upfront about who she was to him, admitting that she lied. She tells him she’s going to kill the man who killed his father. She hangs up and we see her standing behind the glass of Sylar’s cell. Sylar sees her and recognizes her but cant place it. She tells him she lived next door to Suresh. He breaks the glass (with his telekinetic abilities) and grabs her, saying, “You knew what I was and you let it continue. In a way you helped me and after I’ve consumed your power you’ll help me even more.” She points the gun at him and he tells her she knows that wont hurt him (hmmmm.). Realizing that he’s about to kill her, Eden turns the gun towards herself. There is a brief look of panic on Sylar’s face as she pulls the trigger. Blood spatters everywhere. Its likely that Eden knew the only way to keep Sylar from taking her power is to blow her own brains out. An admirable thing to do though its too bad she had to die; I was really starting to like her.
Nathan shows up in Texas to get Peter. As the two are leaving the police department, Peter can barely walk straight. He collapses on the ground and has a vision. He’s in an abandoned New York City. The place is like a ghost town with cars, cabs and buses still in the street, doors open as though people all decided to abandon their cars and run on foot. At first glance, there is no one around but Peter.
Peter walks through the street and comes across Mohinder getting out of a cab. Mohinder starts to smile but then looks scared and runs. He then sees Matt in his police outfit motioning for D.L., Niki and Micah to get away from Peter. He sees Claire running towards him and then Simone but Isaac pulls Simone away. Claire makes an apologetic face and runs away as well. The only person who doesn’t run is Nathan, who comes out of a building and walks towards Peter looking kind of angry or maybe just resigned. Peter looks at his hands and feels himself beginning to explode.
Peter wakes on the steps outside of the police department and Nathan tries to revive him. Peter tells him that it’s all his fault. He says the explosion is him. He then drifts away, though his eyes don’t shut. The episode ends with Nathen trying to get Peter to breath.
That concludes the first half of the first season of ‘Heroes.’ We still don’t know who H.R.G. is working for. Another new question is why the Haitian decided to betray his boss’s orders and tell Claire what was going on.
Matt and Audrey finally connected with some of the other characters. They were the last two to make any real connection with the rest of the main characters.
I get that H.R.G. is trying to protect Claire but it’s also clear that he puts his job (whatever organization he’s working for, be it a good one or an evil one) before her. If he had any understanding of his daughter, he would’ve allowed her at least one friend to confide in. Ordering the Haitian to wipe Zach’s memory might have been a smart move in keeping Claire’s power a secret but in doing so, he took away the one person she’s been able to talk to about all of this.
My husband has an interesting theory about Niki and Jessica. He’s a huge fan of Stephen King’s dark tower series and believes the writers of ‘Heroes’ might go the same route that King did with Odetta Holmes and Detta Walker. Odetta/Detta are two people residing in the same body whose personalities are like night and day. At some point, the two personalities merge into one, becoming a third identity: Susannah Dean. Susannah’s personality is sort of a blend of Odetta and Detta though she’s a whole new woman. She occasionally taps into one of the two original personalities when she needs to but for the most part, she is the combination of the two original personalities.
If the above is the case with Niki and Jessica, there could be a point at which the two personalities merge into a good but physically and emotionally intense person.
What did you think of the episode? Any new theories you want to share?
‘Heroes’ will return with all new episodes on Monday, January 22, 2007 on NBC.
