Previously on Heroes: Peter and Hiro were still far away from the real action, the Honduran Wonder Twins got a third wheel, Claire made out with her flying stalker, Sylar killed Candice, Mohinder moved into Isaac’s old loft and found a painting that showed HRG getting his face smashed in by his daughter, and Niki dropped Micah off with Uhura before making a deal with the Company.
Tonight’s Heroes begins with HRG (Jack Coleman) is still fixated on the painting, and he also suspects Claire (Hayden Panettiere) of dating some boy. She denies it. Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and Parkamn (Greg Grunberg) continue trying to parent Molly, who is still having nightmares of the Boogeyman. Bearded Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) promises his kids he’s coming home.
Maya (Dania Ramirez) and Alejandro are driving with their new friend, Derek, who says he’s from New Jersey, which instantly makes me root for him. They see a body in the street, stop to get out, and discover that it’s a barely living…Sylar (Zachary Quinto)! Damn it, show, it’s as if you knew in advance that the Hondurans would suck, so you paired them with the awesomest character on the show. And seeing as how Dania Ramirez is in the opening credits as a series regular, it would be hoping too much that Sylar would just kill them right away.
Maya is chatting up Sylar in the car, and she reveals that she’s looking for Dr. Suresh in New York. Sylar lights up like a child at Christmas. He also says his name is Gabriel Gray, so we’re going back to that, which is fine with me. His watch fixation and the fact that he has repeating initials are some of those awesome old school comic book villain traits that help make me love his character so much. They stop off at a gas station, and Derek sees a newspaper with the homicide poster of the Twins. Sylar’s response is “Golly,” which is so utterly brilliant. The clocks start ticking, and Sylar picks up a brick. Goodbye, guy from Jersey. Back in the car, he tells the Twins Derek is ratting them out, and Maya’s eyes start going bloody, which pains Sylar. Her brother stops it quickly, and Sylar is doubly delighted that they both have powers.
In New York City, Angela Petrelli is copping to the murder of Kaito, and Parkman reveals the wounds she received in the interrogation room were self-inflicted. Her lips say yes, but her mind says no, and beg Parkman to let it go. A clean-shaven Nathan shows up at the hospital to yell at Parkman, who reveals his power to the flying man. Finally, the theme of the new generation teaming up to help the older generation seems to be kicking into gear.
Nathan remembers a photo of his mom with a group of about 10 or 11 other people (Alliance of 12!), confirming our suspicions by adding that Kaito, Linderman and Charles Deveaux are also in it. Some of the interesting additional people in the photo: Nathan’s father; Bob (aka Stephen Tobolowsky’s character, the Company man working with Mohinder) and…Parkman’s father! That makes seven confirmed members, and I’ll bet all the money in my pocket Nana Dawson makes eight.
Parkman needs to find his dad, who we learn is an ex-con. He asks Molly to use the photo to find him with her power, but she freaks out. Because Parkman’s dad is….the Nightmare Man! The dude who can see her in her dreams, the Big Bad. OK, this is way too convenient and early for this reveal, so I’m calling misdirection. Nathan is vowing to make things right for his brother, and he once again sees his creepy melted face in the mirror. Some people on the forums are claiming this is somehow connected to the Niki/Jessica dichotomy, which may have some merit.
Micah (Noah-Gray Cabey) is stirred awake in New Orleans by his cousin, who pours water on his head and tells him to “Wake up, fool!” I love Mr. T, Jr. This kid wants $65 to watch pay-per-view wrestling, but his Nana Dawson (Nichelle Nichols, aka Uhura) and his older sister Monica (Dana Davis) say no. Gee, if only Little T knew someone who could interface with technology and get him the pay-per-view for free. These women are kind of awesome, and this is how you introduce new characters without making them terrible.
Monica is sassy as all get-out, singing at the Burger Bonanza, talking about how she applied to be an assistant manager. Her best friend is raining on her parade, then she sees a perfect tomato rose Monica made. The same thing Monica saw on TV earlier that day. So is her power….instant knowledge? The ability to recreate things she’s seen? Later she’s at the restaurant and when a guy tries to rob it, she busts out Rey Mysterio’s 619 (a wrestling move, for those in the dark), which she saw earlier on TV. See, TV is good for you.
Claire tries to dump West, and there’s a pretty clever moment when he asks if this is because of the guy with horn-rimmed glasses, and she says it’s her dad. Not the HRG, but the reason they can’t be together, though the distinction is a bit confusing on first viewing. Her dad is still suspicious, but that doesn’t stop her from going on a date with West, and she’s such a tourist because she has him fly her on top of the Hollywood sign. Later that night, HRG gets a visit from the Haitian, who has a lead on the paintings, in the Ukraine.
The episode ends with Molly agreeing to find Parkman’s dad. She tracks him to an apartment in Philadelphia, but then he sees her somehow and puts her into a coma with fright. However, her mind still screams for Parkman to save her, and, of course, he can hear her.
Next week on Heroes: Veronica Mars! I mean, Kristen Bell! Oh, forget that…VERONICA MARS IS ON HEROES!
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
