Tonight was a transition episode; it existed solely to get everyone where the writers wanted them to be. HRG hunted and on the run just like the people that he's been chasing all these years. Danko even more angry at the heroes and determined to get them all. Sylar seemingly even more secure in his new power. Hiro, Ando, and the two Matt's together and probably on their way to Coyote Sands, where the Petrelli clan already has converged and Suresh is also most likely headed. Not that it was a bad episode, just not much actually happened.
Suresh has booked himself on a flight back to India and wants Matt to come along, but Matt is determined to seek retribution on Danko for Daphne's death. Before heading to India, Suresh makes a pit stop at his apartment into New York. I pause here to concede that a trip from Washington DC to New York City is not exactly a pit stop, but these are his words, not mine. Also, if your next stop is India, DC to NY may actually qualify as a pit stop.
Anyway, when Suresh breaks into his apartment, he discovers that Homeland Security has already confiscated all of his belongings and notes. The landlord tells him that they also wanted to know if Suresh showed up, but Suresh convinces him that it would just cause more trouble for him, since Suresh is leaving in a few hours anyway. The landlord agrees and tells him to take the things that Suresh's father left in storage. Among those things, Suresh finds a file on a place called Coyote Sands (the same place Angela told Peter that they needed to visit last week) and evidence that his father worked there. He spends the rest of the episode charting connections to Coyote Sands on a map with string.
In his quest for vengeance, Matt parks outside of Building 26 and, when Danko comes out, uses his power to plant a compulsion to check on the most important person in the world to him. That person turns out to be a Eastern European woman who was brought to the US by the Russian Mafia to be an escort. My impression was that Danko helped her escape and hide, but he also gave her a fake cover story and name, so she doesn't actually know who she is. The second part of that Matt discovers when he goes into the woman's brownstone to kill her, but is unable to. He begins to leave, but she sees him first and he feeds her a story about being Danko's (whom she knows as "Jakob") coworker. She believes Danko is a textbook salesman who lives in Chicago with a wife and children.
Hiro and Ando have bought a brand new car in whatever this year's Nissan product placement model happens to be - I didn't recognize the model or the decals - so that they can drive to the East Coast to "save Matt Parkman". They make good time until Baby Matt starts screaming and the car shuts down. They don't grasp the connection until they hitch a ride with a trucker and the same thing happens to his truck when Baby Matt starts crying again. Finally Hero gets that Baby Matt can make things go when he's happy, but he makes things stop when he's upset. The only solution they have is for Ando to make a funny face for the baby while Hiro drives. On the way, Hiro gets ahold of Suresh, who tells them about Matt's plan for revenge and, though I have no idea how he or Matt got it, Danko's address.
After he gets sick of hearing how much Danko has lied to her, he decides to take her to Danko's apartment to confront him. At gunpoint and with powers, Matt forces Danko to tell her who he really is and what he really does. She is horrified, and Danko is visibly wounded, which makes Matt realizes how much he cares for her. He starts to kill her, thinking that it's the only thing that will make Danko feel what Matt feels, but he still can't do it. Danko gets to his gun and is about to shoot Matt when Hiro shows up, stops time, and gets Matt out of there.
When time picks back up, Matt is gone. Danko is upset that he missed his chance at killing Matt, but also happy that the woman is okay. She, however, wants nothing to do with him. She leaves the apartment and, when Danko tries to call and beg for another chance later, leaves in a taxi, presumably to never return.
Matt doesn't appreciate being rescued and denied his vengeance, but Hiro tries to tell him that he has something to live for and introduces him to the son he never had. Part of me feels like it's really corny the way Matt instantly lights up and has a will to live when he meets his son, but another part of me knows that kids kinda do that to you.
HRG remains unconvinced by the fake Sylar body. While he's examining it, Sandra Bennett shows up to demand answers. HRG tries to tell her that this isn't the place and he'll tell her everything as soon as he can, but she's not hearing it. Just then, Danko walks up and introduces himself. Sandra gives him the cold shoulder and he wanders off while she tells HRG that she'll be in a nearby hotel and isn't leaving until she gets answers.
In the restroom, Danko walks up to Danko and we find out that it was actually Sylar who introduced himself to Sandra. He hints at a plan to not kill HRG, but to destroy him.
Meanwhile, back at the body, HRG has a group of agents train their guns on the back of its head while he removes the metal spike. When the body doesn't move, HRG orders a DNA test be run to find out what's going on.
Somewhere in the midst of this, HRG gets a call on his cell phone from Angela. She tells him that all of the Petrellis are going to Coyote Sands and she wants him to join them. He tells her about the Sylar thing and says that he'll get back to her when he can.
Ok, I just need to point something out here. We have a man who knows he's under surveilance by his employer (even though they seem to have dropped that whole thing) talking to a woman that his employer is hunting about not only where she's going but who else is going to be there on a cell phone. Not very smart there, kids. Okay, back to the recap.
At HRG's apartment, Sandra shows up and says that she just heard from Claire and she's fine, but wants HRG to sign divorce papers. Noah begs her for another chance and says that he'll quit his work, if that's what it takes. She tells him that it's too late, that she neither loves, trusts, likes, or respects him and walks out. As she hits the street, she morphs into Sylar.
Back at work, HRG is staring at the divorce papers when he gets the call that the DNA matches the shapeshifter that Sylar killed. HRG starts to put it all together when he realizes that Sylar is now a shapeshifter and then notices that "Sandra's" signature doesn't match her real one.
Unfortunately, he takes his conclusions a little too far. He shows up at Sandra's hotel room and holds her at gunpoint, thinking that she is Sylar and the real Sandra never even left California. He only realizes his mistake when Lyle calls her phone to ask where that damn dog's pills are. HRG tries to explain what happened, and she believes him, but it doesn't really matter. She tells HRG just to get the hell out.
Back at Building 26, Bennett, pretending to be Sylar pretending to be Bennett, (I know, the mind reels) tosses a bunch of files that he "stole" from Bennett's apartment onto Danko's desk. When Danko begins talking to Bennett as if he's Sylar and thus confirms Bennett's suspicions, Bennett pulls a gun and makes Danko tell him that Sylar has been going out on missions as a team leader.
When the team returns, Bennett pulls a gun on the man Sylar is supposedly impersonating and insists he's Sylar. Danko, of course, double-crosses him and insists that he has no idea what Bennett is talking about and that he must be cracking under the stress. Bennett finally shoots the leader to prove he's Sylar, but the man just lays there bleeding and seemingly dead. Danko orders the other's to arrest Bennett but he escapes. After everyone is gone, we find out that the shot man really was Sylar. Nicely played, Gentlemen.
Later, HRG leaves Sandra a voicemail saying that all of his numbers are burned and he can't give her the one he's calling from. He's going on the run and will call her when he can.
All of the Petrellis arrive at Coyote Sands at roughly the same time. When Nathan, Peter, and Claire ask Angela what's going on, she pulls out a bunch of shovels and tells them if they want answers, they'll have to dig for them. A bit overly dramatic there, but whatever.
Nathan is the first to find something, a human skull. Angela tells them to keep digging, that there are more bodies and that she knew them all when they were alive.
Which is right about when HRG shows up. and the episode ends.
