Previously on Heroes: HRG was terrified of an Isaac Mendez painting showing him dead and Claire’s boyfriend West fled when he discovered her dad is his abductor. Niki was infected with a mutated strain of the Shanti Virus, and the only cure is Claire’s blood, so Bob sent Mohinder after her, with a gun. Parkman trapped his dad in his own nightmare, Hiro finally returned to the present (only to discover his father is dead), Peter teamed up with Adam “Kensei” Monroe to change history, and the Wonder Twins have spent nine episodes trying to get to New York, most of that time with Sylar, all of that time annoying viewers.
On tonight’s Heroes, we discover who killed Kaito. We also discover who kills another character. It’s as bad as you think, then it becomes less bad, until you think about it and you realize it’s a total cop-out.
HRG (Jack Coleman) and the Bennets are packing up their things, getting ready to move. Claire (Hayden Panettiere) isn’t going anywhere, harping about how HRG abducts and tests heroes. She calls him a bad guy, and…SHUT UP, CLAIRE! HRG is the Jack Bauer of this show, always doing terrible things for the greater good, and Claire is the head of CTU who doesn’t understand. Claire runs off to apologize to West, and it’s all so One Tree Hill. HRG confesses to his wife that he did abduct West, then he shows her the painting. HRG calls Mohinder to get Molly to track West Rosen. HRG leaves to go to the school, but is quickly interrupted when a flying West swoops in and grabs him. They fly up, and all West cares about is whether she’s working with him. When they get back to ground, HRG holds him down and says he’s leaving with Claire.
Also in California are Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky), discussing the plan of attack against HRG. They come across Elle (Kristen Bell), in a bikini, and Bob introduces her as his daughter. She snarks on Mohinder’s broken nose, then demonstrates her impressive aiming ability. Mohinder just wants to separate HRG from Claire, but Elle is eager not to change the plan. She also flirts with Mohinder the same way she did with Peter, and Sendhil is one lucky man to have those hands rubbing up against him.
Mohinder calls HRG to give him West’s location, but sadly for him, HRG is busy with West at the time. The two form an uneasy alliance because Claire is in danger. Indeed she is, because Bob is at cheerleading practice interrogating Claire. He calls her Miss Bennet by accident, and she flees. HRG meets up with Mohinder, and is asked for Claire. HRG knows Mohinder has been indoctrinated, but Mohinder is steadfast, and pulls a gun. Claire rushes home and sees the painting of her dad. Bob shows up, and Mrs. Bennet recognizes him as the regional sales manager of Pimatech Paper. He’s the Michael Scott of Odessa, Texas!
HRG and Mohinder meet up with Elle, and HRG is all too familiar with her work. She approaches, but West swoops in for the save. Mohinder and HRG get into a powerless fight, and after Mohinder points the gun at him (as the painting suggested) HRG gets the upper hand, but West stops him from putting a bullet in Mohinder’s head. Together, HRG and West return to the Bennet house, where Claire is gone. But they have collateral, namely Elle. HRG sticks her feet in Mr. Muggles’ doggy bath, ensuring that if she gets electric, she’ll fry herself. Man, HRG is a genius, and finally, Mr. Muggles pulls his weight.
HRG makes a convincing argument that the Company essentially messed up Elle’s brain and then wiped it clean. HRG calls up Bob, and sets up a meet to swap super powered daughters. Before they do, Bob takes a bunch of Claire’s blood. West wants to tag along for the swap. At the meet, HRG and West bond over cars, as men and their daughters’ boyfriends do (see: Richard Gilmore and Dean in the second season of Gilmore Girls). The daughters are swapped, and West flies Claire away, Elle struggles free and shoots them down. HRG shoots Elle, then decides that it’s time to put an end to Bob and the Company. Before he can fire, Mohinder goes and shoots HRG! The man is looking quite dead, and West flies away with Claire. If this upsets you and you didn’t watch the whole episode yet, keep reading. Claire is all weepy about the fact that the last thing she said to her dad was “I hate you.”
In Tokyo, Kaito is finally getting buried, Hiro (Masi Oka) is sad, and even though he just got back, he decides to time warp to one week ago to find out who killed his father. Sometimes it’s hard to remember time compression on this show, because this means the entire action of these first nine episodes has taken place in just seven days. Once Angela Petrelli leaves the Deveaux roof, Hiro steps forward to save his father. But Kaito does not think that’s the best idea, because death is his fate. Hiro refuses and time warps him away. He takes him 17 years into the past, to Hiro’s mother’s funeral. Hiro meets up with adorable little Hiro and learns a valuable lesson about how he can’t play God, so he takes his father back to die.
On the Deveaux roof, Kaito says he’s proud of his son, then Hiro goes away and the one Kaito least suspected takes him down. But Hiro returns to stop time, and though he can’t prevent the death, he can get a look at the killer. Unlike the rest of us, he’s surprised that it’s Kensei (David Anders). I still say Peter would’ve been more dramatically interesting, though fellow credit watchers realized it wouldn’t happen when Anders’ name appeared in the opening credits, but Milo Ventimiglia’s did not..
Parkman (Greg Grunberg) is having a nice breakfast with Molly as he studies the photograph of the Group of 12. Molly offers to help find them, but Parkman won’t let her do that for him again after last time He wants her to be a normal girl. Parkman is experimenting with his powers, and suddenly he finds he can force Molly to finish her cereal by thinking it. At his police station, Parkman is trying to o more investigating into the Katio murder by digging into the Group of 12. His boss tells him not to, so Parkman uses his new power to force his boss into letting him talk to Angela Petrelli.
Parkman meets up with Angela, who is unimpressed with his mind reading. He threatens her with his new power, and forces her to tell him the truth. She tells him that Adam Monroe killed Kaito. He’s not just able to regenerate, but he’s 400 years old. Parkman says everyone in the photo is dead except Angela, his dad and the woman between them who looks exactly like Joanna Cassidy. Angela doesn’t want to say, and warns that if he takes this secret from her, he’ll turn into his evil father.
The episode ends as Hiro gives a eulogy for his father that works for Claire as well. We see Parkman looking at a photo with “Victoria Pratt” listed as the final Group of 12 member’s name. Finally, we get around to blood dripping into a body. It’s…HRG! Looks like someone is using some regenerative blood to bring him back to life. Shortest death ever, and it’s definitely a cheat, but I don’t care. Because now we get…ZOMBIE HRG!
-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.
