Recap: Heroes: Niki Finds She is Half the Woman She Used to Be

It’s really too bad that a show like Desire can pop up five times a week, yet we must wait an entire seven days for new episodes of Heroes. I hope the NBC security is awesome because I know more people who would try and pull off an armed robbery of future Heroes episodes somewhere in the vaults of NBC-Universal than would try and steal millions of dollars from a bank. And they would be happy to go time in jail, as long as the cops haven’t caught them before they got to watch all of the episodes they took. Of course, this may say more about the kind of television geeks I hang out with than anything else, but I think you get the picture. This week was another great episode which taught us that we shouldn’t always assume that what we see is what we get.Well, I am pretty sure that NBC has thrown down the gauntlet with this narrator thing. They want to see if I will bitch and moan about the narrator every week that he opens the show. Listen, I can take a lot of punishment. Twenty-Seven and a half years of Christianity and I haven’t fallen asleep during a sermon yet. I will actually watch foreign films even when I am not trying to convince a girl that I am sensitive (poetry readings are a different story). I can read New York Times columnists even before operating heavy machinery or driving a car. This narrator stands no chance!

Speaking of sermons, the words of wisdom from Mohinder this week was about the violent nature of evolution. The battle between what exists and what is about to be born. In the midst of these birth pains, morality loses its meanings. The question of good and evil reduced to one simple choice: survive or perish.

Whoa, that’s heavy. That’s like some deep shit. I am glad that this show wasn’t around when I was in college, because I probably would have watched this while smoking, uh, herbal supplements and my mind would have been so blown by that statement, I would have missed the rest of the episode. Of course I probably would have convinced myself that I had solved how to bend space and time, which if the box if triscuits and that Easy Cheese container didn’t get in the way, I probably would have written down. Oh, the possibilities.

The show opened with a replay of Hiro’s phone call from last week. Since Peter was at Isaac’s office, he was able to give Hiro the message…Save the Cheerleader, Save up to 25% on your car insurance thanks to Geico! OK, it is, of course, “Save the cheerleader. Save the world.” The only problem with that is that these guys are supposed to meet, but Peter doesn’t know where. He only said that the future Hiro, the one with the sword, said they have to save the cheerleader. By the way, isn’t it convenient that the person they have to save is an attractive female that has a good personality? You can’t control mutations, and if Mother Nature decided to give Claire’s ability to somebody else, our slogan could be something like “Save the guy who tests cosmetics on rabbits. Save the world”. Not quite as catchy, is it?

It seems to me that they need a little help painting the future because there are still a lot of questions. I have this wild and crazy idea that might help Peter and Isaac figure out what they are supposed to do…PAINT SMALLER PICTURES. I mean, seriously, that last one where Claire’s brains have been scooped out was like eight feet high. Wouldn’t it go a lot faster if they could just use some colored pencils? Maybe Isaac started taking heroin because it made the time he spent painting go by a lot faster.

Peter figures out that the paintings are arranged like panels in a comic, but there seems to be one piece missing. This piece just happens to be with Simone, who sells some of Isaac’s art, and so they figure the next step to discovering what they should do is finding out what was in the missing panel.

I thought the most interesting part from last week was the appearance of DL. DL is Niki’s husband, and to Niki, he is a murdering, good-for-nothing that left her alone with their kid. When she wakes up in the middle of the night and confronts her, she doesn’t know what to do.

The first thing DL notices when he meets up with Niki is that she is not wearing her wedding ring. Perhaps I am just not enough of a hopeless romantic, but if you think your spouse went to prison and later discovered evidence that he killed all of his partners in the robbery he went to prison for, I think that is cause to take off your ring. DL has decided to resurface because Micah needs his father, and he needs his wife.

Outside, the cops think they hear something and knock on the door. Niki gets rid of them, saying she was just talking to herself, and then goes back to talking to DL. I think she still kind of loves him, but is really worried about that whole running from the law, murdering people thing. DL, of course, says that he was set up by somebody who knew the plan and killed his crew. He found out from another person that they think it was a woman, and immediately, I thought of Niki 2.0. She can obviously kill men without very much effort, and she did give Niki a map to a location that just happened to have somebody’s from DL’s old crew there, and she did have enough money to buy that nice car she has now. I still don’t know what the motive would be, but if this were all true, it would mean that Niki 2.0 is an even bigger, badder mamma jamma than we had ever imagined.

Last week, our creepy friend Horned Rimmed Glasses was still just as creepy, but then became a whole lot more lovable after what he did to protect his daughter. This week, HRG steps it up a notch when he tells Claire that he has found her birth parents. I said it last week, and I’ll say it again. Horned Rimmed Glasses is not as bad as we think he is. I know he has the nerves of a serial killer, but honestly, how can you not love a guy who calls his daughter “Claire Bear”? That was just too cute.

You know for someone who is trying to keep her powers a secret, she really isn’t doing a very good job. Last time we saw her in the kitchen with her mom, she mangled her hand in the garbage disposal and their dog Mr. Muggles licking up the blood from the mess. This time, while making cupcakes for a fundraiser, she simply took the cupcake tin out of the oven without any gloves on, causing her mom to think that the cupcakes were burning. Of course it was just Claire’s hands that were smoldering and they did go away, but shouldn’t she try and be more careful? Oh, and if her mom normally makes cupcakes that smell like burning human flesh, isn’t there a bigger problem in the house?

Anyway, like I said, HRG found his daughter’s birth parents. The process was so painless and easy that I thought perhaps HRG had known them all along and had only kept them hidden from Claire until the time was right. For her part, Claire was really nervous about what was happening, but was ready to move forward. She just had to know what was going on, but how do you ask your parents if they are freaks? That is just what she asks Zach as she is walking back home the day she is supposed to meet her parents.

I mean, put yourself in Claire’s position, or any of the heroes’ position for that matter. What is she going to do, say “I’m Claire, your daughter” then stab herself in the neck when she’s through? And like I said before, why is it so bad. Even Zach says that he likes that Claire’s a freak, because it makes her special. Zach is such a sidekick, and one of the most difficult things for a sidekick to do is to admit that they have a secret yearning to get into the pants of their master. It’s something all masters must be aware of, and so Claire asks if Zach is flirting with her. Zach, embarrassed says “No. Believe me, no.”, because he really doesn’t want to get into Claire’s pants. I’m not positive, but I think the only way Zach would like her in that way was if Claire was named Cliff.

Back in Vegas, Hiro and Ando are a little apprehensive about what’s coming up next. Actually, Hiro really isn’t worried. He was so excited when Peter said that his future self would have a sword, he could barely think about anything else. I know that it must be exciting, but I would have at least waited to see how big my sword was before I started peeing myself. But I guess Hiro knows that it’s not the size of your sword but how you use it. Still, doesn’t it make it easier if the sword starts out big? At least you’ll have plenty of confidence to go in for the, uh, kill, right?

If Hiro and Ando are supposed to meet Peter and Isaac in New York, but New York is going to blow up, that’s not going to be good for business. And you’re right; it’s not going to be good for anyone. Hiro assures Ando that if they go to New York, it won’t explode because it’s their heroic journey. Ando is still skeptical especially since he can’t just teleport himself away when he gets into trouble, but Hiro responds that you don’t have to have superpowers to be a hero. Ando is still skeptical and wondered if Hiro’s future self was giving people messages, why couldn’t future Hiro just tell them where this girl was? Hiro said his future self was afraid of causing a rift in space and time, which is probably true, although Ando didn’t believe it.

Now, I have an idea on how Hiro and Ando could have saved themselves a trip to New York. They simply had to tell Isaac that he would be found dead in his apartment right before nuclear bomb hits New York, which would be enough to get anybody to buy a ticket to Vegas, right? The meeting place doesn’t have to be in Vegas. It can be anywhere as long as it’s NOT THE CITY ABOUT TO BE NUKED.

Hiro and Ando’s excellent adventure soon turns into a bogus journey. As they are about to leave the casino, one of the high rollers that they cheated out of money wants to have a word with them. If they will help him win some of that money back, he will leave them alone. The High Roller wants Ando to play in a card game, and this time around, instead of simply getting all the best cards, Ando tells Hiro to keep it close. Although he keeps on telling people that Japanese people are very lucky, they guys that they are playing with don’t really look like they are in the joking mood.

That’s how we roll.

Unfortunately, Hiro either doesn’t understand poker, or doesn’t care, because after he stopped time, Ando returned to see that he had a straight flush. Unless you are playing blackjack, that’s a pretty solid hand, but it doesn’t make Ando feel any more comfortable, especially when he notices that one of the guys has a gun. Ando takes Hiro to the bathroom, and you just had to laugh when the guys asked why they were going to the bathroom together, and Ando says, “Yes, it is how we roll.” It was really funny, but I thought it would have been better if they could have worked a sushi joke in their somewhere.

Once inside the bathroom, Ando tries to explain that the people playing are going to try and kill them, and I would have agreed with them. I say “would” except the people at this secret high stakes game never get a chance to even make a threat. Hiro and Ando hear some gun shots, some bodies flying around, and although Hiro wants to save them, Ando says that they can help more people if they are alive than if they are dead and they sneak out a back window.

We have to give Ando major sidekick props for protecting his master from certain death. We should also give him props for the way he helps his master deal with defeat. The great thing about Hiro is he takes his role as hero so seriously, but at the same time manages to do it without a care in the world. Unfortunately, as he starts learning more and more about what must be done, it seems like that happy fun side of Hiro is fading a little bit. Did you see how serious future Hiro was? Future Hiro must not have Ando around to keep him loose anymore. In the present, Ando sees that Hiro is down, so he says that they need to remember that this is a journey, and they can’t start at the end. Maybe soon Hiro will be powerful enough to stop people like that, but until that Time, he has to survive.

Like I said earlier, DL has been trying to get back together with Niki, but what in the world broke them apart. Oh yes, that nasty little bit about the robbery and murders and such. To me, I don’t think DL’s life was all that bad. Sure his construction job only put $30,000 a year on the table and he had a family to support, but it’s not like he had no place to live. Maybe he wasn’t eating foie gras everyday, but he was making enough that his HOT wife didn’t think it was necessary to leave. They are building shit all over Vegas. Are you trying to tell me there was no way he was going to be able to find better work?

Niki may want to get back together with DL, but she has become a different person, which for most people involves a change of hair color, maybe a new job, or sexual reassignment. You know, the usual stuff. For Niki, that new person is her alter ego, so she tells DL that he can sleep on the couch, but he needs to leave in the morning, but it appears that all of those nights faking sex with people on the Internet has made her horny. Remember, it was Niki 2.0 that got to have sex with Nathan Petrelli, so it’s no surprise that Niki decides she wants a little company for the evening. And hey, DL might have killed some people, but while she is harboring a fugitive, why should she just let his body (quite well-defined from all of that construction work he hates to do) go to waste? With Niki 2.0 taking over more often, it might be a while before she gets another shot.

To tell you the truth, I thought that it could have been Niki 2.0 who came out to get DL, but when Niki woke up in the morning, she didn’t appear shocked that DL was in her bed. She was very surprised when DL told her that she got up last night a couple of times, because she doesn’t remember what happened, and whenever she can’t remember what happened, bad things usually happen to other people. She was just trying to figure out what she might have done the night before when Micah walks in to find her in bed with his father, which is enough to convince Niki to let DL stay at least until after breakfast.

Yeah, this kind of life sucks.

During breakfast, we learn that Micah loves comic books. One of those comic books is 9th Wonders, the comic that Isaac has drawn which has helped people predict the future. They show us a copy of the 9th Wonders that Micah was reading, but I don’t recognize the character on the front. DL said something about “Lulu the invincible” and although the person on the cover looks like a man, it does have long blonde hair. Could it be that Niki 2.0 is LuLu? Is that picture on the front Sylar? Could somebody who reads the graphic novels on NBC.com throw us a few hints? Also, another thing to think about. The issue of 9th Wonders that Micah has is 9, the issue that Hiro had on his first trip to New York is number 14. What happened between then? Is this something else I can figure out from the graphic novels if I just bothered to check?

Micah asks his father how he was able to break out of prison, and DL tells him that he has a secret, just like superman. So, what is that secret? Does he always wear blue tights under his pants or something? Before DL can explain Niki comes out and they start talking about a few things. Niki wonders what DL is going to do to prove his innocence, DL wonders if Niki will help him, and I am still wondering how bad his life could be. As Niki walks out in her pink robe and fuzzy slippers, I am reminded that she is, you know, super hot. I also notice that his house has a pool. $30,000 a year, hot wife, decent house, nice pool. Where do I sign up for this life? In Los Angeles, $30,000 is not enough to buy a worthy car to impress your trophy wife, let alone her parents. It seems like he fucked up his own life, so why should I give a shit? Go have sex with your hot wife again and shut up about your stupid money!

There have been many love connections on this show, and it looks like Mohinder and Eden are about to make another one. Eden comes to Mohinder’s apartment to see that he has been packing up. Mohinder was getting annoying, so I am not going to complain if he decides to go back to India. But really, I have no idea why his attitude has changed so dramatically. When Eden hears that he is going, she tries to convince him to stay with normal guilt trip sort of arguments like don’t let your father’s dreams be crushed, etc., etc, but Mohinder decides to take the ashes and run, so to speak. Now you know that I have believed that Eden has been assigned to keep tabs on Mohinder, so it wasn’t surprising at all to see that she decided to do whatever it takes to keep him in New York. Eden kisses Mohinder, and although he says he is going to leave, she fully expects to see him back.

After Eden seduces Mohinder, our suspicions are confirmed! Eden is working with Horned Rimmed Glasses aka HRG aka Claire’s father. When you think about it, we could see this coming. We saw the repair guy break into Mohinder’s place and like we said, the whole thing where Eden shows up unexpectedly was too convenient. Then there is the part where Eden knew his father. I am not sure if that is true or not. Perhaps Mohinder knew she was lying and didn’t say anything. HRG seems fairly uninterested with Eden’s report. Claire’s birth parents are in the next room and he is trying to eavesdrop without being too obvious, but she said something that made him take notice. “Save the cheerleader.” The look on HRG’s face tells us that he knows that something is going on, and now we *really* want to see how much he knows. He is going to get a chance to get some more information because he tells Eden that she should bring in the pre-cog, which means pre-cognition, which means Isaac is going to be kidnapped, just when he should be helping Hiro, Ando, and Peter with all of the details of this apocalypse shit that is supposed to happen.

But all of that will probably come in the next episode, for now, Claire gets to meet her parents. Claire wants to find out if her parents have any sort of abilities that would explain what she is going through. Now, if we take into account everything we know about the people with powers, Claire’s parents would be the oldest. I am not saying that it is impossible for them to have powers, but judging by current patterns, it seems unlikely. When Claire finally gets around to asking them if there is anything “medically” she should know, her mom says that she has diabetes and her father says that there is a history of heart disease. Needless to say, probably not the answer she was looking for.

It was a good meeting, but I think Claire really wanted to know more. She couldn’t tell her real parents, and she couldn’t tell her adopted parents. She actually thought that her dad was way too fragile of a guy to understand all that was going on. That may be true in some regard, but the only time he has ever showed any sensitivity is with his family, and even then, anybody who hurts his family is probably in serious trouble. HRG would go to any length to protect his family, especially Claire, who he knows is going through a lot of changes right now. How concerned is he about her well being? Remember Claire’s birth parents? Well, it seems that Claire’s dad hired a few people who sort of looked like Claire so she would stop asking questions, and it almost worked.

Claire was resigned to believing her parents just didn’t want her. Her “mom” had said that when she was pregnant, she didn’t want to keep the baby although her “father” did. By the way, why would HRG have them say Claire was unwanted? Maybe so she doesn’t go digging any farther? Like I said, it almost worked, except Claire’s mom let it spell that they tried to search for Claire’s parents when she was a baby because they were worried she had a genetic disease and wanted to do tests. Genetic disease? That would be the first indication that Claire grew up any differently than any of the rest of us. Although Claire’s mom said it was just a cold, I think Claire is going to be digging deeper. I just wonder what will happen when she and her father find out they both know more than they were letting on.

Niki thought about helping DL for a long time and decided that she should at least give him a chance to clear his name and takes him to some semi-abandoned building since the cops are searching all over the place for him. When they get inside they see a bloody scene, it looks like a poker game. The same poker game that Ando was playing in just before he escaped with Hiro. The carnage looks a lot like something that Niki 2.0 would do, and looking at the scene, Niki realizes the same thing.

Next time, don’t call her bluff.

DL did what every protective husband would do and got his wife out of there, but did anybody else get the distinct impression that he was the one that needed the body guard? Back at the house, he said he hadn’t seen anything like that before, but Niki had, and tells that to him. She told DL about killing the goons in the garage (but not about burying them and finding that ring) and that she thought it was her. Poor DL, he is so nice, but why is he being so dumb? Now he’s saying that somebody was setting up him AND Niki, but they weren’t counting on him and Niki teaming together.

The next part was supposed to be a surprise, but I think we saw it coming. Niki lost another bit of time, and went to her room to rest. She looked at the mirror, and then Niki 2.0 came out to talk. Niki told herself that it was all a bunch of hallucinations, induced by a brain tumor, but Niki 2.0 is having none of it. She tells Niki that “we” framed him (DL), “we” killed his crew, and “we” stole two million dollars, and “we” killed those people at the poker game. While she was being rescued from the two thugs, Niki was happy for her alter ego, because it is one hell of a defense mechanism, but now that she knows that her alter ego is a killer and will walk over anybody to get things done, Niki is really scared. But what can Niki do to stop Ms 2.0? Niki is scared, doesn’t fully trust DL, and now her crazy other half is telling her to get the money and run away with Micah before DL has a chance to leave.

When she thinks she has a moment, Niki climbs into the attic and finds a suitcase of money, exactly where 2.0 said it would be. During this time, DL went to talk with Micah to see if he knew where his mother was. Micah said she was lying down, and DL says that she hasn’t been feeling well, but Micah is evidently not as dumb as his father his. He tells his father “mommy has a secret too”. Cut back to the bedroom, and Niki is just dropping out of the attic when DL is there to find her.

I am finally happy that DL wised up, but I am not sure if he is going to be able to stand up to Niki, especially when 2.0 comes out to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Niki tried to explain that it really was another person that did all of those terrible things to him, but DL decides that he is going to take the money AND Micah. That’ is just enough to get Niki 2.0 out of her shell, and she knocks him across the room. Micah comes to see what the fighting is about, but Niki shuts the door and says they are rearranging furniture. Hmmm, must remember that excuse should I ever knock over some furniture when I am in the same room as a woman, at least as long as she’s not trying to drop a piano on my head.

When Niki turned around to finish off DL, he wasn’t there. And then he was there. We saw last week a preview of this scene, so it kind of sucks that it was spoiled, but DL can walk through walls. Obviously makes sense when we consider how he escaped from jail, but how is that going to help him when Niki 2.0 gets a hold of him. Well, I’ll tell you how. Niki 2.0 throws DL on the bed, but the only one that is going to be “going down” is DL, six feet under that is. Micah comes in and sees that her mom is killing her dad, which gives DL time to surprise her. He sticks his arm through her stomach and it comes out her neck, but there is no blood. It just comes out the other end and he chokes her. By the time she drops to the ground, Micah is crying, but DL grabs him and the money and leaves the house. Meanwhile, Niki 2.0 is left on the ground, gasping for air. Will this be the first of our heroes to die?

I had almost forgotten that we were still trying to figure out what the missing panel was. We aren’t quite sure, but we do go back to Isaac’s, where he is looking at a painting depicting what we just saw. It’s a painting of dead Niki, and he takes his thumb to wipe away some smudged paint to reveal that strange helix symbol we have been wondering about. We would like to know more, but Eden comes to visit, and you know what that means.

And then my Tivo recording stopped! WHAT? FUCK YOU NBC! First the narrator, now this? I know you are trying to push Friday Night Lights, and I must admit that it looked frickin’ awesome from all the commercials, but don’t cut off Heroes to do it! Luckily, I was actually watching this live, so I switched over to live television, rewound and caught the last part. After Eden talks to Isaac, Mohinder repeats himself as we see a shot of Niki. Violence. Survive of perish. What will Niki do?

This is my thought on the thing. They always take great care to show that Niki 2.0 has the symbol on her back when she is in Niki 2.0 mode. When she was fighting with DL, it was there, but did anybody notice that when Micah came in, Niki seemed to stop? What if DL actually killed the Niki that we know, the loving mother, etc.? That would still leave Niki 2.0 around. She obviously has super strength. She says she’ll do whatever it takes to get things done. Letting Niki die and taking over her body might be one of the consequences. Does that make her our first evil hero? I really can’t wait until next week to find out.

What did you think of this episode?