It would appear “Heroes” greatest enemy is its own PR. This week we get a glimpse of another character who might possess super-powers, a character that was featured in this week’s “Entertainment Weekly” lineup of super-heroes, without a caption. Were we supposed to think he was just window dressing for the promotional image or should we start suspecting everyone will be developing powers?
Meanwhile, the recap of last week’s episode features Matt telling someone that he’s hearing voices, although I don’t remember that ephiphany being made on the screen. Why are we seeing discarded footage used as a summary?
Regardless, the show is gaining steam and building to something and thanks to this week’s news it’ll get its chance to show more of what it’s building toward. If you hadn’t already heard, “Heroes” was the first new show to be picked up for an entire season by NBC. Congrats “Heroes,” you’ve won our attention and a chance to tell your story. Now don’t blow it!
Warning: This is an episode recap. Spoilers for episodes up to and including “One Giant Leap” follow.
Claire gives a comedic cliffhanger this week, but her story is probably one of the least important as far as the overall arch. While Peter and Nathan’s story appears to be the central tale here, theirs is probably the least interesting to me, but I’m not the show writer…
Claire: Mysterious Agent/Daddy helps Claire get a paper mache mascot out of the car. It’s intended for a celebratory bonfire that night if her school’s football team wins. As he escorts her to school he inquires about the football player Claire likes. "If you really wanted to make me happy you’d only date nerds. It worked out for your mother, you know?"
The conversation between father and daughter is interrupted as Jackie comes up and compliments Claire’s father’s glasses. In return he congratulates Jackie on her good deed (taking credit for Claire’s firey rescue from episode one). Daddy acts surprisingly normal as he kisses Claire goodbye and tells her to be careful. What happened to the Mysterious Agent side of this character?
During the school day we find out that Claire isn’t worried about the missing video anymore. If it’s found she’s convinced they can just say her friend is a special effects guru who created the tape. In other words, she wants to go back to being a normal cheerleader teenage girl. She sees her power as limiting her career choices to freak or guinea pig and walks off.
Obviously the football game goes well because when we next see Claire they are that that celebratory bonfire. Jackie tells the story about saving the man from the burning building, frustrating Claire. That frustration changes, however, when her favorite football player strikes up a conversation with her. He’s aware of Claire’s desire to meet her real parents, another secret ruined by Jackie. He seems more interested in hearing her laugh and making her happy though. After he surprises her by placing fireworks in her effigy’s head, making her smile, the two go off while another girl from their school watches them walk off together a bit wistfully.
Claire and her favorite football player begin making out. With all that’s going on, she’s not sure she wants to do more than fool around, though. He has other plans however, and suddenly begins to become the guy who won’t take no for an answer. Claire pushes him away but he forces himself on top of her and starts to rape her. She manages to get up but he pushes her back to the ground and onto some scrap wood and metal, impaling her head, and seemingly killing her. The would-be rapist abandons her body, fleeing in terror.
Hours later Claire is still dead, but when the piece of scrap stuck in her head is removed her eyes glow with life. Her healing factor is really going to be put to the test this time. She’s in the morgue where an autopsy is underway, and her chest sits wide open revealing her ribs and organs below…
Isaac: Isaac has a painting of Claire walking off from her friend during the school day, which Simone is moving as we first see his scene. She tells Isaac he’s running late on his comic (presumably the comic Hiro will find in a couple of weeks). Simone has taken away his drugs and wants him to go to rehab.
Isaac is convinced his painting of New York suffering a nuclear blast is going to come true, but Simone doesn’t buy it. He is more focused on trying to stop the painting from becoming reality. Simone chooses to leave him instead of watch him continue down what she sees as a path of destruction. As Simone leaves the phone rings, with a fast talking Japanese voice on the other end. Isaac doesn’t understand a word Hiro is saying and hangs up.
Later we see Isaac digging through his sketchbook looking for clues to the future he must try and stop, and contemplating shooting up again if that’s what it’ll take to get those clues.
Hiro: Ando is watching Niki (or someone) on the computer screen. The scene mimics the first episode, only it’s two days later. Hiro still has the comic book from the future depicting his appearance in New York. He urges Ando to read it. His friend thinks he’s been drinking. Hiro tells his friend about what he saw in the future. Ando thinks that’s more proof that he’s been drinking.
Hiro turns to the page in the comic that shows the exact conversation they’ve been having. His friend still doesn’t believe. He tells Ando he’ll prove he’s telling the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt, but his friend has to come with him that second. Suddenly Hiro’s watch starts beeping and Hiro gets frantic, stating a girl’s life depends on them going immediately.
Hiro follows an image in the comic book to a location where the comic shows a girl stepping in front of a truck and needing to be saved. Unfortunately the comic doesn’t show the platoon of Japanese schoolgirls who come around the corner. Which is the right girl? Hiro and Ando split up to try and determine which one is right. As he figures it out he realizes he and Ando are too far to stop the truck. Instead, Hiro stops time. He moves through items frozen in time to move the girl from the truck’s path. When time starts again the girl is safe and Ando now believes.
Hiro and Ando board a plane, obviously heading for America. Ando asks how he can be on a plane when Hiro called him in the future and he was in Japan. Hiro states they are changing the future. Ando worries perhaps they are making matters worse but Hiro knows a hero cannot run from his destiny. The idea of being a hero makes the Japanese worker a bit nervous though, as he begins to ponder whether he should have a costume to hide his true identity.
Ando threatens to go home if Hiro mentions a cape and tights.
The two land in Los Angeles, but Hiro doesn’t want a connecting flight to New York. Instead the two of them are supposed to drive cross-country in a mini-van. It says so in the comic. Ando protests, but there is one mini-van left; an obvious sign of providence. As they get in the car Ando pulls out his video-iPod, revealing more footage of Niki on it. Ando asks Hiro where to go. The comic says Los Vegas… and then ends with a “to be continued.” Ando recognizes destiny now that it’s taking him to sin city.
Niki: Speaking of the desert paradise, we now see something we missed last episode: While Niki digs a hole to drop the bodies of the goons her mirror image dispatched, Micah is in her car sleeping (that kid sleeps more than any other character I’ve seen). As she digs the hole she uncovers a skull ring from the finger of a skeleton, which she takes. She then unloads the corpses from her care and starts to bury them.
Burying the bodies takes longer than I would have expected. Daylight comes and the hot sun beats down on her. It’s kind of hard to believe her son, baking in the back seat, hasn’t woken up yet. She finishes and moves back to the car, taking a minute to looks at the skull ring and into the car mirror before Micah wakes up. The mother and son head to grandma’s house.
Grandma doesn’t take long to lay into Niki for not being able to provide a stable environment for Micah – an environment he could have with her. Niki points out that Micah’s father, DL, didn’t exactly turn out so good. When Grandma protests Niki reveals the ring, stating it belongs to a man that DL murdered – and that all of DL’s crew wore those rings. Grandma argues that DL was framed and would be rotting in prison if he hadn’t escaped.
Grandma also points out that if DL had the two-million dollars he allegedly stole and then killed his own crew over, he would be on an island somewhere with Micah, not hiding with Micah living with Niki. Niki demands Grandma get out of Micah’s life. When Gramdma refuses, Niki threatens her, stating Grandma has no idea what Niki is capable of. Funny, right now neither does Niki.
As Niki drives away she tries to make Micah feel better, but he’s not buying her diversion. The smart lad asks his mom why she doesn’t believe Dad is innocent. Niki announces she knows what’s best and that the police will catch DL and he’ll go away for a long time.
“They’ll never find him,” Micah says with a giggle.
Niki asks if Micah knows where his father is but before her son can answer a police siren sounds. Niki pulls over, pulling the innocent “Is there a problem officer?” as the police officer approaches her car.
“Mr. Linderman would like to see you,” the officer states firmly.
Niki protests that she’s with her son, but the officer doesn’t accept that and escorts Niki away.
Mohinder Suresh: Mohinder is working on his computer when he hears someone messing with the door. He grabs a gun (apparently he’s finally gotten smart enough to arm himself). It’s Eden with a Macaroni & Cheese dish. It turns out she still has keys to his apartment she was given by Papa Suresh. I still say she’s not on the up and up, although I really like Nora Zehetner so I’m not going to complain too much, especially with the Mysterious Agent acting so paternal this episode.
Mohinder is still working on the disc he found last episode, but hasn’t been able to decode it. It’s just gibberish. This sends Mohinder off on a rant about how this was the way with his father: every question answered with another question. Until the disc information is decoded, the map is useless. If he could just find one person like his father wrote about his hope would be rekindled, but he’s starting to question whether his father was actually onto anything. Eden reminds Mohinder his father had lots of faith in him, but Mohinder isn’t buying it. He throws the computer in frustration.
The cracked laptop case of the thrown computer reveals a small diary of Papa Suresh’s, including an address for Sylar and a key. What does it belong to? That’s another question.
Mohinder and Eden pay a visit to the Sylar address. Mohinder knocks but nobody answers. Despite Eden’s protests, Mohinder breaks in. The apartment he finds looks rather normal: teacup on the table, a copy of Papa Suresh’s book by the telephone. None of the furniture has been used in a while. One book shows a man’s head opened up with the brains exposed, which seems to fit Sylar’s M.O.
As they snoop around Mohinder finds a barely-hidden hidden passage leading to a back room with a map similar to Papa Suresh’s, only with more pushpins and pictures. Among the pictures is a newspaper article about Nathan, which Eden recognizes. Mohinder digs further and finds yet another back room with the words “Forgive me” and “I have sinned” repeated over and over on the walls. Whatever Sylar is, he’s creepy.
Mohinder gets the authorities and brings them to Sylar’s place. They ask what he was doing there but he refuses to say, figuring the truth will speak for itself. When they get there the apartment has been cleared out completely. Even the writing on the wall is gone.
Matt: After his stunt from last episode, Matt is in custody trying to explain how he found the little girl and knew the name Sylar. Telling his superior officer he’s hearing voices isn’t going over well and she seems convinced that he’s delusional. His supervisor demands he read her mind to prove he has this ability. At first he’s unable to control his power but he manages to put enough effort into it to grasp her thought: “nobody believes in me.”
“I know what that’s like,” he responds.
He asks how much longer he’ll have to be in custody. His supervisor tells him that depends, and then asks if he’d like to work with the FBI.
Matt is asked to read the mind of Molly Walker, the little girl he found in the house. She hasn’t said a word since the police found her and his supervisor is hoping to find out more about Sylar by having Matt read her mind.
Matt obviously wants to know more about this Sylar figure, so his supervisor gives him a little bit of information. He’s left a trail over a dozen states, all people impaled by household objects with bones broken without any traceable sign of physical contact. Only a few have signs of mutilation though, so they don’t necessarily look like a trend.
Matt and his supervisor get to the holding area for Molly, a lovely safe location with flickering lights. No, something isn’t right, and that something is that Sylar is there. They draw weapons on Sylar, who creeps off leaving Molly behind. True to form, the security guard is impaled, stuck up on the wall with a chair going through him. The two run after Sylar but Matt stops to check on the little girl.
Sylar flees from the supervisor, who corners the killer. He turns and telekinetically forces her against a wall, with her gun aimed at her head. Matt empties his gun, taking Sylar down, but when he turns to check on his fellow officer we see Sylar get back up again. Matt senses something is wrong, but when he turns to face Sylar the killer is gone. Obviously telekinesis isn’t his only power…
When Matt gets home his wife is up waiting for him. Apparently his therapy excuse wasn’t just made up. She’s not thrilled that he missed their session and doesn’t seem very interested in hearing about his strange day. She yells at him, accusing him of being jealous that she got her promotion while he hasn’t gotten his. He’s trying, but her thoughts betray her, telling Matt what she really thinks: she wishes he would just leave. So he does.
Matt goes to a bar to drink away a few concerns. The bartender asks how he’s doing and he’s about to answer when he reads the bartender’s thoughts. It was just a rhetorical question. Matt starts encountering other thoughts from the bar’s patrons which entertain him until he realizes there’s one man there whose thoughts he can’t read. It’s a man from Nathan’s campaign. Matt gets up to find out more but suddenly feels faint and passes out. Did the strain get him?
Peter & Nathan: Peter starts the episode… where else: back on the rooftop trying to fly. Will he make it this time? Doubtful. He falls flat on his face and it turns out he’s not on a rooftop; just a set of monkey bars. He climbs up while a kid in a red cape watches, barely entertained while drinking his slurpee.
Peter visits Nathan, who is more focused on his election event that night. Peter tells him he’s been trying to fly again, which Nathan tells him to hush about. Not being able to fly, Peter started doing research about flight and found a book by Chadra Suresh. Nathan is still unimpressed. He wants answers, but is busy trying to put a spin on things with the press because some female reporter is beginning to ask why the brothers were jumping off a roof.
Peter runs into Simone as he is leaving her father’s apartment… for good. He has passed the duties on to someone else, knowing he has a destiny elsewhere he is now a changed man. This is the second person to talk crazy like this to Simone in the last couple of days, but she takes it well. “I’ll miss you,” she tells him. He says with a city the size of New York they are bound to run into each other sooner or later.
That night, at Nathan’s fundraiser, Peter runs into Simone again. It appears they will meet sooner than later. She agrees that Peter has changed; there’s just something different about him. His newfound confidence allows him to tell Simone that he’s been in love with her for a while. Any response, however, is stopped by Nathan’s speech.
Nathan addresses his father’s depression in his speech, and announces the reason he and Peter were falling off the building was because Peter was attempting to commit suicide. Apparently Peter is the spin Nathan was trying to put on the story. For obvious reasons, Peter is not happy with this public announcement, and a bit embarrassed in front of the woman he just professed his love to, and leaves hastily.
Later, Nathan is being escorted to his car when he’s attacked… by Peter. It turns out there was no reporter. “There would have been eventually,” Nathan says. “I had to take control of the situation.” Peter clocks him again and walks away. Simone finds him walking through the rain. She knows he didn’t try to kill himself. The two kiss under a red umbrella, an image straight out of Isaac’s sketchbook.
As I said, Peter and Nathan’s storyline isn't really interesting me right now and almost seems transplanted from a soap opera. It’s good to see them moving forward full-steam with the Sylar storyline, however. Previews for next week seem to hint that we’ll start seeing the Heroes uniting soon which definitely will help things move forward. I’m wondering about that map of Sylar’s though, which didn’t show many pictures we recognize just yet. Will we start seeing more super-villains appear too, or was that just a map of Sylar’s potential victims? And just how does Mohinder’s Papa fit into the Sylar story anway?
