Heroes: One of Us, One of Them (Episode 303)

Ice, Ice, Baby.

Greeting, Heroes.  This week's episode picks right up where the last one left off, with Mama Petrelli continuing to extend her dysfunctional family tree.  Some big character revelations, a few mixed-motives, and one heck of a cool effects sequence stand out this week.  Let's dive right in.  

Springtime for Hiro (and Germany):  Hiro and Ando teleport to a movie theater in Berlin moments before Speedster Daphne shows up.  Hiro demands the formula, but she no longer has it - she's handed it off to her "boss" and has been paid.  She's on her way to collect the second half.  There's more playful banter (including Daphne calling Hiro Pikachu!) that further leads me to believe a hook up is in their future.  I don't need to squint real hard and concentrate to see what's going to happen.  Daphne tries to speed away, but her power is gone!  Hiro's don't work either, so something is affecting them.  Cue the Haitian, entering the movie theater with a metal briefcase!  Hiro remembers him from his season 1 trip to the future, and concludes that he must be the one with the other half of the formula.   

Hiro and Ando follow him into the theater, trying to come up with a plan.  Daphne plops down behind them and tells them she's going to get the formula first.  Nuh-uh, Hiro calls dibs!  Daphne tries to psycho-analyze Ando, again referring to him as "Robin."  Ando isn't pleased, but Hiro manages to save him from her silver tongue.  That's what she gets for using "Villainy 101" against a comic book fan.  It's nice to see that this story arc gets to have a bit of fun.  

The Haitian exits the theater and meets up with a mysterious woman backstage.  She wants to know why Angela Petrelli would move her half of the formula after so many years, and the Haitian says she wants to keep it closer to home.  Hiro and Ando overhear them, and begin to come up with a plan which involves the rack of usher uniforms they are hiding behind.  Hiro poses as a theater patron who has lost his briefcase and believes that the one the Haitian is holding is in fact his.  The Haitian assures him that is not the case.  Hiro calls for the "usher", but instead of donning the costume, Ando just whacks the Haitian on the back of the head!  Hiro asks what he's doing, and Ando utters the best line of the entire series - "I'm being awesome!"  Now that the Haitian is out, powers return so Daphne super-snags the briefcase.  This is only a temporary reprieve because the Haitian is now conscious again, and grabs Hiro and Ando.  Later, we see that he has captured them and the boys are now being held captive in Level 5!

Hot Mom:  This week, on "My Two Moms"...The Bennet household is not a happy place.  Claire doesn't feel she that needs to go to school because there's no hope of her ever having a "normal" life.  Meredith, Claire's birth mom, has to reassure Sandra that she's there just to protect them.  Sandra asserts her authority over Claire and tells her that she has to go to school.  On her way out the door, Meredith wants to make sure Claire is alright after her attack.  Claire says she's tired of being the victim and wants to learn how to fight.  Other than that, she doesn't want to talk about Sylar's assault.  Perhaps Meredith can teach her how to fight.  Meredith says they're playing hooky today.  

The women go to an empty loading dock and enter a container similar to the one that Peter was found in during the season 2 premiere.  They lock themselves inside and Meredith turns on her fire power.  She tells Claire that lesson number one is about survival.  Claire's not worried about that - being invincible/immortal is all of the survival-skill she needs.  Meredith places her hands on the walls and starts to heat the container itself.  After some time, Meredith begins to psyche-out her daughter.  She says that the fire will soon burn out all of the oxygen in the container and even Claire's powers won't save her from suffocation.  Claire panics a little and her mom continues to torment her about why would she ever want to be a hero.  After breaking her daughter down, Claire finally admits she wants to learn how to fight not to defend herself, but to hurt Sylar.  The girl is out for revenge, she just hadn't admitted it to anyone.  Meredith cools off and apologizes to Claire.  She spits out a "you have to save yourself before you can save the world", and they enjoy a hug.  Ah, mother/daughter bonding.   Claire spots a PrimaTech paper box ominously.  

A bit later, Meredith and Sandra have a small scuffle over who is the better mother to Claire.  Meredith thinks that Sandra is smothering her, and all that will do is cause her to turn against her.  Claire enters wearing her cheerleading gear and the doorbell rings.  She's attending a sleepover retreat (that she forgot to tell the moms about), and Sandra says its OK for her to go.  What're the odds that not really where Claire is headed? 

Ice Girls:  Tracy/Niki sits at home in front of a rose and turns it into ice.  Not really a productive use of her power.  Later, Nathan goes to see her - she didn't show up for work.  Tracy says that when they met, he called her Niki, and there was a reporter who called her by the same name.  She shows Nathan the video of the two of them being intimate.  She is certain that she isn't Niki, and that in doing her research, she's found an address in New Orleans for Niki Sanders.  Tracy makes it to the Big Easy and enters a funeral home.  Next to the casket are pictures of Niki, D.L., and Micah.  Tracy opens the coffin and Niki lays inside!  Just then, Micah enters, with a horrified "Mom?!"  She explains who she is, and Micah understands just a little too well.  He asks her if she's "special" too - his mom was strong, like The Incredible Hulk.  She says yes, and Micah assures her that it gets easier to deal with these abilities.  He shows her that he can talk to machines, and a quick trip onto the internet brings up a pair of birth certificates - one of her, and one for Niki.  The two of them were not only born on the same day, but in the same hospital and to the same doctor.  

Tracy travels to Reseda, CA, and rings the doorbell of Dr. Zimmerman, the doctor who delivered her.  She introduces herself as Tracy, and Dr. Zimmerman knows that she is originally from Beverly Hills.  How does he know this - "I created you!"  WHAT?!

Analysis:  Looks like we're going down the old clone path.  Please, makers of "Heroes", tread this path lightly.  Clones + comics don't always work well together.  The 90's show "Lois and Clark" was such a fun show, but when it turned out Lois was a frog-eating clone (you read that right), the show took a nosedive.  Additionally, Spider-man was on the brink of extinction after the horribly received "Clone Saga" of the late 90's.  And don't get me started on "Judge Dredd."   

Bad ass.

Cops and Robbers:  Angela Petrelli loves her boys...all three of them.  That's why she frees Sylar and offers up "red-shirt" Bridget, a woman who can touch any object and learn its entire history (what a stupid power).  Growing boys need to be fed.  At a bank in Poughkeepsie, NY, the team of escaped villains stage a robbery.  Nothing like attracting attention while on the run.  Back at Lv. 5 (which is in Hartsdale, NY, not Odessa, TX like I originally thought) HRG is brought back in by Angela - he assures he's no longer a "Company" man, but he wants to re-capture the bad guys.  He wants to know if his former partner (the Haitian) will be joining him, but he's unavailable.  Keeping to the Company's policy of "One of Us, One of Them" - a sort of affirmative action policy between those with powers and those without - he'll be getting a new superpowered partner.  His new partner, Sylar!

The situation at the bank is getting tense.  A woman goes for the silent alarm but Flint stops her.  At Lv. 5, HRG doesn't want to work with Sylar, especially after what he did to Claire.  Angela assures him that he's just misunderstood and needs structure, something HRG can give him.  He doesn't like the idea of using a psychopath to hunt psychopaths, but Angela says that they're all murderers, what's the big deal?  Back at the bank, the regular cops show up.  Knox actually called them to the scene.  The German isn't happy with this and attempts to attack Knox.  Knox punches a hole completely through the German, killing him instantly!  Calling the cops was part of his revenge plan.  His power is to turn people's fear into strength, and with all of the hostages and police around, there's a lot of fear to be had.  He's supercharging himself so that when the Company sends HRG to deal with them, he can finally exact his revenge.  Not a terrible plan.  

Sylar is now decked out in a brand new suit (very "Men in Black").  He asks Angela if she really is his mother - she is.  His ability makes him a killer, and he must feed his "hunger" for more power.  The villains have been located thanks to a news broadcast.  Angela tells them that Peter is trapped in Jesse's body, but they don't know if Peter knows what Jesse's power even is.  HRG and Sylar move out.  Inside the bank, Knox can't wait to kill HRG.  It was the idea of revenge that saved him from going crazy in his cell.  Knox sees some inconsistencies in Jesse's behavior, and asks him if he's anxious to get back to Detroit to see his friends and family.  "Jesse" says yes - too bad Jesse is really from Vegas.  Knox attacks Peter!  HRG and Sylar get to the scene and HRG takes command, telling Sylar to hang back.  Sylar doesn't listen and puts on some strange cliche-cop voice, bossing around the police (Agent Henson, FBI!).  Clearly he's having fun.   

Inside, Peter confesses that he isn't Jesse, and that he's trapped in his body.  They want to know why he didn't just ditch them, and he says that he wanted to stop them because he knew they'd hurt people.  He wanted to be heroic.  At the police barricade, HRG is strapping on a bulletproof vest (it's just for show).  He tells Sylar to stay outside, even though Sylar wants to help.  HRG wants to keep him away from the "buffet" inside, and he should just debrief the hostages (they've been freed in exchange for HRG going in).  The villains don't like this - they have no desire to go back to "Super-Guantanamo", but they do want to kill HRG.  Peter shouts out to stop them and he discovers Jesse's power, a Black Canary-like sonic scream.  A fast study, Peter turns his voice towards Knox and Flint, sending everything flying.  Just then, time stops!  Future Peter shows up and literally PUSHES present-day Peter out of Jesse's body, unfreezing current Peter in the process.  Future Peter tells him that he put him in that body to keep him safe, but now the world is in trouble.  Future Peter decides to take Present Peter forward in time!  Time resumes, Jesse is back to his old self, and HRG is in trouble. Just when it seems all hope is lost, HRG points out that his partner is standing behind them - Sylar to the rescue!  Sylar telekinetically stops Knox with one hand, and Darth Vader force-chokes Jesse with the other.  Flint goes to attack him when HRG shoots him (not killing him, just wounding).  They are to transport the bad guys out of there under the guise of escorting federal prisoners.  Sylar releases the two he was holding, but his killer instincts kick in.  HRG tells him he's more than just a killer, but it's too late - Jesse is thrown up against the window and Sylar proceeds to de-brain him.  

Analysis:  Sylar is Venom.  Each has a proclivity to giving in to their "hunger", each has been accused of (and in some cases, actually resorted to) eating brains, and most importantly, they each toe the line of good and bad.  Sylar seems to be on the path to reform, but he's not fooling anyone.  Sylar is bad through and through.  Venom has been "less" of a bad guy in the past, even doing some good, but you can't deny the urges that just come naturally.  

The Painted Desert:  Matt Parkman is in for some weird times.  Still walking through the African desert with a mysterious man, Parkman wants to know how long this "spirit walk" will take.  He also wants to know how the man knew his name - turns out he saw his name on Matt's badge.  It turns out that this man has been painting the future ever since he was a boy, and all of this pictures are painted on the rocks, the ground, etc.  On top of that, all of the pictures are of Matt!  There's a picture of him rescuing Molly, there's him getting thrown out of a window by Niki, and then there is a picture of him with a woman, holding a baby.  This picture was to be the future, but now things have changed.  He always paints the future, but now some of that future has come and gone (the events Matt recognized).  The man, who is now wearing headphones,  begins to paint over the picture that was to be the future with white paint, then black.   Parkman tries to get his attention, but we see that his eyes are completely white, just like what would happen when Isaac Mendez would paint as well.  

The man finishes painting and this is to be Matt's new future.  In the picture, he's holding a dead woman, but he doesn't know who she is.  He wants to know if there is any way to stop it.  Parkman is now in a hut with paint on his face and he eats some strange food.  He says he's ready to know whatever it is he needs to know.  The man puts his headphones on Parkman and Matt's eyes turn white, putting him into a trance.   

Wrapping Up:  Nathan is (for some reason) reading the first book of the Bible by himself.  Micah is still at the funeral home, mourning his mother.  Claire is driving with the PrimaTech box on the passenger seat.  Hiro and Ando are still locked up in Lv. 5, as is Flint.  Angela is proud of Sylar, and thinks maybe she was wrong about him.  She hands him clothes (pajamas, I think).  The Haitian and HRG speak briefly, mostly about working with Sylar.  HRG admits that he'll continue to work with Sylar, only to discover his weakness, so that he can finally kill him!

Next week - a trip to the future!  The return of Mohinder!  Flying people!  Dark-haired Claire.  And...Sylar, the happy homemaker?!   

**One quick note - the hyperlinks are experiencing a little trouble, so I highly recommend popping in any of the orange words into Wikipedia for further explaination.  Sorry about that.**