Recap: Heroes: Get Out of My Dreams and Into My Plans to Save Humanity

Because of a few scheduling conflicts, I was unable to get my Heroes fix until today. When the clock ticked over to 9PM on Monday, I was worried that the withdrawal symptoms would be so strong, I would not be able to function. Apparently, I didn’t give myself enough credit because I didn’t go into any convulsions and the only thing scary about the ordeal was how relatively calm I was throughout the whole thing. For the first time since September, I felt like I could schedule my Monday evenings without looking to see if a new episode was on first. Then as soon as I watched the new episode I realized that I was a complete moron. Just because something doesn’t kill you right away doesn’t mean you should keep on doing it! The producers teased us by saying there would be some really crazy developments, and although we had to wait until the last five minutes for most of them to happen, everything else really got my conspiracy wheels turning. Oh happy day.First thing on the agenda. NO NARRATOR! Finally! Instead, we get one of the characters (this time it was Nathan) saying, “Previously on Heroes,” and then we cut to Mohinder’s monologue over the scenes from previous episodes. Now this is the way to do things. It was subtle change, but I have to mention it because it bugged me so much. So thank you to the producers for, you know, having COMMON SENSE.

And this is what Mohinder had to say:

When we embrace what lies within, our potential has no limit. The future is filled with promise. The present rife with expectation. But when we deny our instinct and struggle against our deepest urges, uncertainty begins. Where does this path lead? When will the changes end? Is this transformation a gift or a curse? For those who fear what lies ahead, the most important question of all, "Can we ever really change what we are?"

What does that mean? I am not really sure. I still write his entire spiel down, but I have more and more trouble understanding it every week. I am guessing that the writers have a half dozen monkeys pounding away at keyboards in a room they call “Mohinder’s Opening Monologue”. I will still write it down for all of you folks, but I don’t know if I have enough brain matter to keep on parsing these sentences every week.

Perhaps the biggest news from last week was the introduction of a new hero. We don’t know much about him other than he is British and he is invisible. In fact, other than that whole invisibility thing, he kind of looks like a bum. Then again, maybe he looks like a bum because he is invisible. If I knew that I could go without being seen the whole day, my closet would full of t-shirts and boxer shorts.

It’s soon clear that our little friend is going to be much more than a bit part. After he realizes Peter can see him, she says “Fantastic. One of THOSE.” To me, that says that he has met a lot of different heroes and has met at least one person who is like Peter. Peter realizes the same thing, and desperately wants this guy to help him, but saying that he is nobody and calling himself Claude Rains (Claude Rains played the title role in The Invisible Man in 1933), the guy tells Peter not to follow him and storms off. Within a few moments, Peter is back to normal and Claude is nowhere to be found.

In Texas, HRG is still trying to figure out what the hell he is going to do with Sylar. The doctor in charge says that Sylar is barely alive, and once again, HRG explains that if Sylar crashes, the doctors have to keep him alive, saying that, “If he dies, it will be on my terms, not on his.”

We all know that Mr. Bennet will do anything to protect his daughter, but we also know that his daughter is losing her trust in him a little more each day. While at home, she asks Zach to try and break into her father’s computer. I am not surprised when Zach comes up empty because HRG is too good at covering his tracks. The FBI just raided his office and couldn’t find the most dangerous man on the planet. How is Zach going to find anything.

Claire is desperate, because she figures that her father must have left some information about her mother somewhere. Unfortunately, the search party is interrupted by Mr. Muggles, who starts barking because Mr. Bennett is back in the house. Normally, this is no big deal, but let’s not forget that he just went to a lot of effort to make sure that Claire and Zach didn’t remember their relationship. Seeing Zach in the house is quite upsetting, but Claire plays it off like they have a biology project. After telling Zach to go upstairs to her room, Claire acts like she was forced to be lab partners with him on this project about manatees.

HRG is a smart guy and I thought for sure that he would figure out that she was lying, but instead said that the two of them used to be friends, so maybe they could get along. When Claire gets up to her rooms, she decides to that she needs to talk to the Haitian again. He said that whenever it was an emergency, she can leave a signal, and her, ahem, (Port-au) Prince would come. Thinking that a Bat Signal with the map of Haiti was perhaps a little too overt, the Haitian told her to leave some chimes in her window.

When she meets up with the Eraser, he is not too happy to see her. He knows how dangerous it is to meet up with his boss’s daughter, even if it isn’t in the back seat of a drive-in. He tells Claire that he knows nothing about her father, but that her mother died in an explosion in Texas. We all know this is a lie because we were told last week that Claire finds her mother, but the thing that is causing suspense is that I am expecting HRG to come in at any moment and break up the party, but it never happens.

Back in New York, Peter’s brother Nathan is still looking for him. Having exhausted all his other possibilities and knowing how much Peter believes that his powers are for a greater purpose, Nathan decides to go back to the source of all this trouble and visits Mohinder. And who could have imagined that Mohinder is looking for Peter as well? Gee whiz, why don’t we all get together and see if we can’t get Timmy out of that well?

Nathan and Mohinder do eventually decide to go and look for Peter, which we all could see was going to happen, but at least we got a little bit more background information on this list that is supposed to be so important. Mohinder explains that his father found a genetic marker that all people with special abilities have. The list was made up of 36 people identified to have that marker.

Peter’s DNA shows that his marker is sort of a blend, which enables him to mimic other abilities. Mohinder likens it more to a sponge than a chameleon, but the question Nathan wants to know is if Peter could hurt himself and Mohinder speculates that if he came in contact with a person with an unstable ability, it could be dangerous. At this point, Nathan is about to leave, but Mohinder says that his brother may be the most important hero because of his DNA. If they can find Peter, he might be able to help all of them.

Normally, this is a situation where Nathan would just work alone, but he has never wanted an ability. He still wants to save his brother because he cares about him, but if Mohinder were able to unlock some secrets and “cure” them of their abilities, he would be the first one to sign up.

So, where did Peter end up? Somehow, he was able to track the invisible guy back to his lair. For some reason, Claude has decided that of all the places he could hang out, he would choose and abandoned building. This just makes no sense. This guy should try sleeping somewhere else, like perhaps Brooks Brothers. That way, he could walk out with a new suit every morning! And it’s not just an abandoned building. The building just happens to be owned by the late Charles Devoe, Simone’s father, who Peter used to care for. It’s all just a little too coincidental, and Peter once again makes a please for Claude to help him control his abilities, or New York is going to regret it. Once again, Claude is uninterested and decides to leave.

Elsewhere in the city, Hiro and Ando have stumbled on to another problem. When you think about, we should really all hate this story line by now. They are so cheesy and it seems like they always go for the easy laugh with their fish-out-of-water shtick, but it always works on me. This week is no different. Hiro and Ando are picking up their Nissan Versa so they can either get to the airport so they can go to Las Vegas, or drive there themselves. I sort of laughed when they were surprised at the $50 cost for one day of parking. They work in Tokyo, so they must know how expensive things in.

This little episode highlighted the fact that Hiro can’t use his powers. If they were there a few minutes earlier, they could have saved some money, but try as he might, Hiro can’t do anything. Hiro is even more determined to get this sword that Linderman has. They just need to get back on the road, and getting back on the road would be much easier if there weren’t people chasing them.

Yes, for some creepy guy was standing by their car, and he had a gun. I thought it was one of Linderman’s people, just because his people tend to show up everywhere, but I couldn’t tell. They found some respite by literally hiding underneath a car, and while down there, they wondered if the painting they were to give Linderman was expensive and that’s why all of the people were chasing them.

They were soon going to find out who wanted them because after a few moments hidden beneath the car, it drives away. Failing to grab a hold of the axles, Cape Fear style, they were exposed and made a run for it. Hiro got away, but they captured Ando, and he just can’t see his friend taken away. If the people were after anybody it was him, so he gives himself up, saying he will go if they release his friend.

Ando is touched by the gesture, but as Hiro says “That’s how we roll!” It would have been a happy ending if they weren’t both, you know, abducted. Driving in the car, Hiro and Ando are speaking Japanese and trying to figure out how to get out of their predicament when one of the people that grabbed them begins to speak.

This guy starts saying that he knows all about Hiro’s power and this mission he is on to save the world, but that he works for a man of real power. Whoever this powerful man is wants Hiro to stop, and he has two first class tickets to take Hiro and Ando back home. At this point, I think Ando might have gone along, but he is going to stick by his friend and Hiro is staying. There is no way that he is going to be bribed out his destiny, so he tells the guy to shove it, and that he wants to meet their boss. Finally! We’ll see Linderman, right? It doesn’t really explain why their abductor was speaking Japanese, but if there is anybody who would know that much information about them, it is Linderman.

I haven’t yet talked about Niki. I know many people could do without this story line, but I still have a lot of interest. In the early part of the episode, they showed her in a straight jacket in the mental hospital. I have never been in a straight jacket, but looking at the way Jessica could break things, I don’t think this thing is going to hold her. Then again, they have her so drugged up, it might not make a difference. Life inside is horrible, but it seems like Niki has accepted that is the safest place for her to be. Niki might not be happy, but at least Jessica isn’t controlling her life.

But just like Tom Cruise has always warned us, psychology is going to start fucking things up. A woman named Dr. Witherson wants to come in and help Niki. She’s worked with multiple personalities before and sees a classic case in front of her. Dr. Witherson says that her life is not over and that she can help Niki integrate the multiple personalities.

I am sure Dr. Witherson is a nice person, and I applaud that she wants to help. I just know that I would have never stepped into the same room as her while the shackles were off. Niki would love the help, but she knows that the drugs keep Jessica away. On the other hand, there is her son to think about.

DL and Micah are doing OK on their own, but DL is not so great at this fatherhood thing. He can’t find work, and he can’t even pack his own son’s lunch. Micah is not happy and DL is frustrated, so he goes to visit Niki in the hospital (being able to walk through walls makes visits much easier). While he is there, he starts talking about how Micah needs his mother and Niki desperately wants to put the two of them out of her mind.

The whole time I am wondering why DL is being such a pussy. His kid is smart and healthy. Get a job and do whatever you have to in order to make it work. Can’t afford rent? Live with your mom. Can’t stand your mother? Get a second job. It can work, you just have to stop being such a pussy about it. Eventually, Niki tells him he has to leave, and not even a conjugal visit for his trouble. It does, however, inspire her to go back to her therapist and figure out what they can do about Jessica.

Since getting kicked out of the FBI, Matt Parkman has a lot of explaining to do. His problem is that he just wants to find out the truth and so he is going to tell the truth. Matt stats off by telling his wife what he can do, and after guessing what she is thinking of a few times, she believes him. Still, she has doubts. On the one hand, she has to be happy that her husband isn’t crazy. On the other hand, she’s probably upset that she’ll never be able throw him a surprise birthday party. But overall, it explains a lot and although she is kind of scared, she is mostly happy.

As for the rest of Matt’s life, that is a different story. He has a review hearing, and again, he wants to tell the truth. This time, the audience is not as friendly, and they begin to wonder if Matt wants to have all of this stuff about reading minds and conspiracies with paper salesmen and Haitians in his permanent record. Realizing that it’s probably not in his best interest, Matt says that he made it all up. The committee decides to suspend him for sixth months for being a liar. But really, did Matt have any choice. If he stuck with his story, they would have considered him crazy AND a liar.

So, what is Matt going to do now? The FBI won’t have him, and about the only thing left for him to do at home is fix the plumbing. When he does get back home, he talks to Janice, who is upset at what has happened, but is surprisingly calm. Matt was worried that the combination of everything that happened recently would push her away, but he had nothing to fear, at least for the moment. In fact, Janice had some good news of her own. She was pregnant! And yes, I know that a lot of people can’t stand this story line either, but this six month hiatus is very convenient should Matt suddenly feel he needs to spend lots of time say, figuring out what HRG is up to?

And speaking of HRG, he is getting more and more suspicious of Claire. He comes back home looking for her, but his wife tells him that she is still working on that school project. She also says that he should worry about their son Lyle, because he is starting to forget things. HRG knows exactly what he means, because we are sure it is a side effect of having had his mind erased. Unfortunately, HRG gets some bad news. Well, it’s actually only “sort of” bad news. The doctor in charge of Sylar says that he is dead.

Yeah right.

There has to be some twist here, right? Of course there is. As the doctor was going to put Sylar’s body away, Sylar woke up, and after all the shit that he was getting from that doctor, I think he was ready to return the favor.

Wow, that thirty seconds could fill several pages, but let’s catch up with some of the other folks. DL came home to have a talk with Micah. He knew that Niki wanted to stay in prison because it was the only place she felt like she wouldn’t hurt other people. She told him that DL needed to give Micah boundaries and to be firm, and things didn’t get off to such a hot start. DL was waiting for hours for Micah to get back, but when he did, they had their chat.

I like DL, but this scene had a little bit too much overacting. DL started saying that they need to figure this out and he was trying really hard to show a lot of emotion, but it just felt forced. That being said, they did hug and make up. DL said it was going to be hard, but they were going to make it work, and Micah said that he would try harder as well. In fact, he got off to a pretty big start.

When DL came home and was trying to explain how he escaped the cops, he said that he had a secret. Micah then told him that his mother had a secret too. Well, we all know that Micah has a secret as well. He has a way with electronics and while he always used it to fix computers and stuff like that, he decided to help his father out with the rent. He went around to a few convenience stores and his ability to clear out those little mini ATMs until he filed his backup up with $20s. It should be very interesting see what DL does with this information.

Back in New York, Peter goes home to pack. Since Claude won’t give him any help, he has decided that the only way to keep people safe is to go back to his original plan and make his way to the Nevada desert. This also happens to be the exact time that Mohinder and Nathan decided to check on Peter’s place to see if he was there. Again, I think Nathan really thinks that having Mohinder work with his younger brother is the easiest way to help him, but Peter just wants to get out of the city. He thanks his brother, and then runs out of the apartment.

When this was happening, I was thinking to myself that perhaps Peter still had some invisibility left from being with Claude recently, and used that to get away, but the more I see him use his ability, the more I think that would be too hard; he just doesn’t keep his powers for that long. Then I remembered that he made a big point of touching Nathan while he was thanking him. That means that Peter could fly right out the window if he wanted to.

Nathan and Mohinder step outside, and Peter is gone, but even more strange is that the security that Nathan had on the outside didn’t notice anything. There is an open window at the end of the hall, so did Peter leave? No, Claude came back to visit him and was holding him outside while everybody else cleared out of his apartment.

So why did Claude come back? Well, you knew the guy just knew too much to just come and go. And I imagine that as we go along, we will find some dark part about his past and he is using this as a chance to redeem himself. For now, he tells Peter he is willing to help, but that he is going to have to go through a lot.

That little episode was a nice little twist and everything, but what happened with Hiro was a real surprise. After saying that he wanted to meet the boss, Hiro and Ando were taken to some random part of New York City. They must have been driving around for hours, because it was still the middle of the day when they first picked them up, but it was dark when they got to their location. I know traffic in New York is bad, but not this bad, right? Maybe they were just trying to keep Hiro and Ando disoriented in case they tried to escape.

Even though I was pretty sure that this story line was going to have us laughing, did anybody else begin to actually feel a little scared? They wouldn’t really have anything bad happen to these two, would they? It would be a great twist. Thankfully, they chose to go with the campy twist instead, which worked perfectly. Hiro and Ando met the boss, and he was very scary indeed: George Takei! And he wasn’t only the boss, he was Hiro’s father! Now that’s the sort of surprise I was looking for.

But all of that was nothing compared to what happened in Texas. Claire had found some old newspaper clippings that had to be related to her mother’s death. The woman who died in the fire was named Meredith Gordon, so Claire decided she would call everybody in Kermit, TX with the last name Gordon to see if they were related to Meredith. She might find somebody who knew her father, and she would still be able to get some answers.

Mr. Bennet interrupts Claire in her room and says he knows a woman at work that is married to a marine biologist and he brought back a great book on manatees. He was sure he was going to catch Claire in a lie, but Claire already checked the same book out from the library. HRG is almost happy, and then he notices some chimes in Claire’s window. They shouldn’t mean anything, but they do.

Earlier, Claire said it was hard lying to her father, but the more she sees how he tried to control her life, the more she wants to break away. She says that she is going to give up her teddy bears, and it looks like she almost broke her dad’s heart. Again, I personally think that HRG only has Claire’s best interest in everything he does, but it will be interesting to see if he changes his methods now that he might be losing her.

Claire’s father leaves and she resumes the search for her mother’s relatives. Since we were promised that Claire would meet her mother and there is only a few minutes left in the episode, I will spare you the suspense. Claire talks to a woman who says that she know Meredith. Yes, that woman is Claire’s mother, and she is kind of a mess. And then we see why. Claire says that Meredith’s daughter didn’t die; that she is Meredith’s daughter. And then Meredith tells Claire that she is her mom.

Quite the way to end tan episode, right? Well, that wasn’t the end of the episode. HRG still had to transport Sylar back to wherever his bosses told them he should transport dead serial killers. Personally, I would have planted him somewhere so the FBI could find him, but after everything they did to hi, maybe they were worried they would catch on. HRG gets to the containment room, but when he looks into the body bag, the only thing he sees is the dead research scientist, which means…

Sylar is alive!

I think most people suspected he would be alive, but not Mr. Bennet. He turns around, and Sylar is there, he still has that thing stuck into his head, and he only has one thing to say, “How’s Claire?”

Now THAT is the way to end an episode. I am not going to talk about the previews, but I will say that they showed Sylar getting out. But how did he survive? The best theory I have heard so far was from Lisa at mediavillage.com who said that maybe all that time around cockroaches taught him something. It did seem like they spent just a little bit too much time showing Sylar with the cockroaches last week.

I also left out a little thing about Claire’s mom. Claire wanted to know about her birth parents to see if the had any abilities like she did. Well, her mother did have an ability; the ability to start fire, which sort of explains that explosion. They promised to introduce us to Claire’s father, and there has been a lot of speculation that it was Linderman, or perhaps Nathan Petrelli. I think that it will be neither one, only because Heroes has been great about not taking the obvious way out whenever they do anything. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see who it is.

What did you think about this episode? Who is Claire’s father? Will Sylar get to Claire? Will Hiro’s father send him back to Japan? Will Niki ever get back with her family?