Gabriel's dead, long live Sylar! Hiro has the catalyst, or maybe not. Peter's only hardcore when he's trying to fight brown people. Nathan makes a power play and thinks he's won. One more 2008 episode before a really long hiatus - you know you'll miss me, if not Heroes!
Sylar's on the beach in Costa Verde, CA, dousing Elle's body with lighter fluid when Arthur calls him to start barking orders. Sylar shuts him up with a quickness and lets him know that he'll be dropping by after he takes care of a little business. He hangs up on Arthur and then scrolls through the phone's contact list to a woman's picture.
Sylar kisses Elle goodbye, lights her body on fire using lightning sparks, and watches her burn.
We next see Sylar in the woman's office dressed as a delivery man. He tells her that he has a package for her, but the screen goes all wobbly and she knows he's lying. There's some dialogue here establishing that her power is to be a human lie detector and Sylar wants her power. He does the whole telepathic slam against the wall thing and tells her not to worry - this won't hurt a bit. The screen goes all wobbly and he just smiles and says "Okay, that was a lie, too".
Sylar's crouching over the woman's body lamenting that he had forgotten how good it feels to kill when her coworkers barge in with birthday cake and presents. The coworkers and Sylar stare at each-other for a beat and then Sylar says "Oooh cake" and telepathically slams the door behind them.
Sorry to get all long-winded there, but I didn't realize until now how much I missed gleefully evil Sylar. (ed. note: Let it be known that's because gleefully evil Sylar is frackin' awesome. Cake indeed.
Peter apparently got the Haitian to come back with him after returning those girls to their village, because they establish a plan with Angela to have the Haitian negate Arthur's powers while Peter puts a bullet in his head. Peter seems reluctant, but his mother and the Haitian convince him that it's necessary. Peter takes the gun, but still seems skeptical.
Nathan barges into Arthur's office to find Tracy talking to Arthur about their plans. Nathan gets pissy about Tracy going behind his back for a moment, but sets that aside to tell Arthur that he's taking over Pinehearst. Arthur puts up token resistance, but lets Nathan think he's won and tells Tracy to update Nathan on what's going on.
The highlight of the tour is a regiment of Marines that Arthur has recruited to be the initial test subjects for Suresh's completed super-power formula, once the catalyst is obtained. Only one of the Marines is of any consequence at this point. In an interview with Nathan, he tells a story of his unit being attacked in Iraq and being one of only two survivors. He figures if he was something more than human, he could have saved his fellow Marines. Nathan seems impressed.
Back in the past, Claire and Hiro are still watching the handoff of baby Claire. Claire finally figures out what she's seeing and Hiro's identity. Cue standard skit of both talking and neither understanding what the other is saying. When Kaito tells young Hiro that it's time to see "Mommy", grownup Hiro follows them to see his mother again and Claire follows. Kaito and his wife begin discussing her imminent death and the need to pass on the catalyst, speak English, presumably so that young Hiro won't understand. Of course, the result is that Claire understands every word and, when Kaito pushes to have baby Claire host the catalyst, rushes off to protect...herself and prevent her becoming the catalyst.
When Hiro sees his mother heal a dove, he realizes her power and her potential to heal his memories. Before he can talk to her, though, Kaito hijacks him and, thinking that Hiro's the new cook, orders him to make his wife some weird dish that I've never heard of. (ed. note: tamagoyaki is a rolled omelet, a traditional Japanese breakfast item) Later, he overhears Kaito and his wife talking about the catalyst, this time in Japanese. As he eavesdrops, Kaito discounts Hiro as a slacker who will never amount to anything and is thus unworthy to carry the catalyst. Hiro doesn't remember the later times when he proved himself to his father, and you can tell this stings him. His younger self also overheard this and is similarly stung. There's a very cool moment here where you can see young Hiro over older Hiro's shoulder as they simultaneously push up their glasses and hang their heads in the exact same manner.
Ok, getting off track again - Hiro only knows how to cook waffles and makes these for his mother. They talk for a moment and she realizes that he is familiar. He outs himself to her and she heals his memories. He tells her about the man he becomes and asks her to give him the catalyst. She does so and he realizes that she is the one who taught him what it was to be a hero. He begins to thank her, but then sees that transferring the catalyst killed her.
In the meantime, Claire has met her mother and changed her own diaper before HRG gets home and knows she's not who she says she is. She never really tells him who she is, but gets him to trust her enough to take her advice not to answer the phone when Kaito calls to have HRG bring baby Claire back to take the catalyst. Claire also advises her parents to never stop loving the baby they've just taken in and gives herself the nickname of "Claire-Bear".
Back at Hiro's father's house, Hiro and Claire meet back on the roof. Hiro tells Claire that it's time to go and that he's taken the catalyst, thus avoiding the future crisis. Somehow, Arthur has found out what happened and shows up just as Hiro and Claire are about to return to the future. Arthur pulls Hiro close, steals his powers and the catalyst, and throws him over the side of the building. Arthur tells Claire to give her grandmother a message, that Arthur has already won and it's all over, and sends her back to the present. He then jumps back to the present. The camera pans over the edge of the building to show Hiro clinging to a flagpole.
Matt, Daphne, and Ando show up at the bike messenger company to ask the dispatcher about Isaac Mendez's sketch book. He plays dumb, but Matt and Daphne gang up on him with their powers to get the book back. This doesn't really accomplish much for them, other than to discover what's happened to Hiro. Ando realizes that if Arthur has the full formula, maybe he can get time-traveling powers and can go back to save Hiro. Of course, he has to get the formula first.
Back at Pinehearst, Arthur infuses the formula with the catalyst and he, Suresh, Tracy, and Nathan gather to see the formula tested on Nathan's Marine friend.
First, though, Arthur goes to investigate a feeling he had. Peter and the Haitian have made it in and are ready to take out Arthur. Arthur tries to swipe Nathan's gun aside, but the Haitian has negated his power. Of course, Peter can't bring himself to pull the trigger. He and Arthur argue back and forth as the Haitian slowly weakens from subduing Arthur's powers.
While what follows is pretty cool, it also seems to be a plot hole. Arthur gets his powers back in time to swipe at Peter and cut his cheek at the same time as Peter pulls the trigger. The bullet stops inches from Arthur's face and Sylar steps out of the shadows. He engages in some badass speak and asks Arthur if he's really his family Arthur says that he's really Sylar's dad, but the screen goes all wobbly, meaning Arthur's a lying bastard. Sylar realizes this and sends the bullet through Arthur's head, killing him. Peter starts to go for the gun, but Sylar says there's no need - Sylar's not killing him since Peter has nothing he needs.
Two problems here - first, how does Sylar have his powers to stop the bullet, tell if Arthur's lying, and send the bullet through Arthur's head with the Haitian there? Second, if Arthur has his powers back to slash Peter, how does he not have the power to survive the bullet? Because he definitely seems to be dead.
Anyway, back to the test run of the formula. Suresh steps into the Marine's holding cell to inject him with the serum. The Marine starts to freak out when he sees Suresh's scales and Suresh explains them as part of a failed test run of the formula, but Suresh injects him anyway. The Marine seems to be going into seizures and rips his arms free of the restraints, but eventually calms down. They ask him how he feels and he responds by throwing his chair through the (presumably bulletproof) glass walls of his cells and halfway through a wall.
Next week - the final episode of Villains and the last episode until February!
In the meantime, a question for all of you - Is Arthur really dead? Is this a good move or a bad move on the part of the writers?
And how annoying is it that just when Hiro starts to rise up again, he gets smacked right the heck back down?
