Heroes: Angels and Monsters (305)

Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!Greetings, Heroes.  We were introduced to a small army of new characters this week, some who will be sticking around (have we met our new Big Bad?), some of whom we've seen the last of.  And I know that I'm not alone when I say I missed the Magical Turtle this week. 

Event Horizon:  Claire, fresh from telling her two moms that she was going to an overnight cheer retreat, has stolen Pop's Level 5 Naughty List and is now in possession of a stun gun.  The Moms are conversing as Sandra thumbs through the remaining Level 5 dossiers.  She's worried about some of these people, especially about Steven Canfield, who can create "vortexes".  Meredith recognizes one of the other men, Eric Doyle, and says that he's a "horrible man."  She's very concerned that Claire has gone to hunt this guy down.  She's going to pay him a visit.  Meanwhile, Claire has found Steven - a family man who just wants to get back to his wife and kids, who he hasn't seen in 2 years.  Claire zaps him with the taser.  

HRG has pulled Sylar from Level 5 (details to follow) because he needs him for the next mission.  HRG didn't want to bring him along, but Angela Petrelli has all but insisted that Sylar become a Company Man.  Sylar swears he's trying to walk the straight and narrow, but rehabilitation takes time.  HRG disagrees - he thinks killing is just in his nature.  At Steven's house, the black hole maker wakes up and Claire says she's taking him back to Level 5.  He insists that he's innocent - the Company kidnapped him and he's sure that his family thinks he just up and left.  Yes, he made one tiny mistake, but he's not a monster.  He creates a black hole and sucks up the taser.  He tells Claire the Company is wrong.  Claire's phone rings and Steven wants to know if that's her partner calling - Steven knows the Company's "one of us, one of them" policy (perhaps they wanted to train him to become an agent?).  Claire works alone, and she's not Company.  Maybe she works for another group - Steven produces a business card for "Pinehearst Industries".  She doesn't care.  She's read his file, and knows that he killed a guy.  It was by accident - there was an argument with his neighbor and he couldn't control his power, accidentally creating a black hole and killing him.  That's why the Company locked him up.  She's sympathetic, because she too didn't understand her powers at first.  Steven asks for a head start, but Claire can do him one better.  

Thanks to the Company documents,  Claire is able to give Steven a phone number where he can reach his wife.  He calls her and asks her to meet him at the Griffith Park Carousel.  She agrees, but the phone goes dead.  HRG bursts in and Steven grabs Claire.  Sylar enters and Claire is horrified - she has no idea that he's working with her dad.  Steven creates a large black hole in the middle of the floor and dashes out.  Claire, Sylar, and HRG are all being sucked in.  Claire is nearly dragged into the vortex when Sylar saves her at the last moment.  The hole closes and they are all alright.  "You OK?" asks HRG.  "Peachy."  Steven is gone, but Claire is more worried that Sylar and her dad are partners.  She also insists that Steven isn't a killer.  HRG believes her and they're off to intercept him at the carousel.  

Claire finds Steven sitting by himself.  His family didn't show up - they must truly think him a monster.  HRG appears and puts his gun to Steven's head.  Sylar is at the car, not near the scene.  HRG wants to make Steven a deal without Sylar overhearing.  He says that he'll let him go free, all he has to do is create a black hole and kill Sylar right now.  He refuses and HRG pressures him.  At his breaking point, Steven creates a black hole and sucks himself in, killing himself.  Later on, HRG drives Claire home.  She can't believe he wanted Steven to do what he asked, but HRG knows that it had to be done.  Sylar also knows what happened, presumably because he still has super hearing (stolen from the welder in Season 1).  HRG just wants to protect his family, nothing else.  Claire understands and goes in.  Inside, Sandra is glad that Meredith was able to find her.  What?  No, Dad found her, not her real mom.  So where's Meredith?  She's sitting down to a dinner table, mirroring the movements of the man sitting in front of her - Eric Doyle.  She goes to talk and he makes a closing motion with his fingers, slamming her mouth shut.  Eric wants a kiss, but Meredith doesn't want to.  Eric uses his power to make her stand and enjoys a terribly gross kiss.  She mirrors his movements perfectly, and we see that Eric has a fixation on puppets.  Cue the Fantastic Four - we've met our Puppet Master.  

Analysis:  Human Torch Meredith, invincible Claire (The Thing ), and Puppet Master Eric.  Are we getting close to meeting a super-stretchy Mr. Fantastic , and maybe, just maybe, the return of Invisible Man Claude?!

Oh Bugger: Mohinder started off the episode by stalking a man in the park.  We learn that he's a drug dealer.  The dealer thinks that Mo is looking to get high.  Instead, he abducts him.  Later on, he's dragging the body into his lab (or is it his lair now?) when Maya shows up.  She says there was a sign on his door - looks like a neighbor has gone missing (the domestic abuser last week ).  He lays on the charm, but she spots a trail of blood on the floor.  Could Mo be up to no good?  Yes, it turns out.  The man is cocooned onto the side of the wall.   

Night comes and Maya is snooping around.  I have no idea what she's looking for.  She sees the cocooned man and tries to free him, using a chair as a step ladder.   The man's eyes open!  ::gasp!::  Mohinder comes in and he knows something is up.  Maya's hiding underneath a gurney, and Mo knows.  He sees the chair and calls out for her.  Maya freaks out and her eyes go black.  Mo and the cocooned men get sick, but Mo overcomes, flipping the table.  Maya gets her powers under control and calls him a monster.  Bad move.  Maya gets cocooned.  

The Unkindest Cut:  Hiro and Ando have their hands full with Adam.  Hiro keeps teleporting Adam back into the coffin until he calms down.  Hiro needs Adam to find the missing formula.  Adam says he told the others to destroy that formula years ago.  He says he'll help out if they cut him a deal.  Hiro offers him a better "cell", one with a window!  He bites, and says that it was probably Angela Petrelli who stole the formula.  Nope, she's the one who tasked them to find it.  Well, Adam's out of ideas.  But he's working on a plan to find out.  

The guys go to a bar that's apparently a hot-spot for "specials for hire".  In fine geek fashion, Hiro compares it to the Star Wars Cantina - "I knew it existed!".  Turns out this place also makes a heck of an appletini.   Adam warns them to look tough.  Ando puffs out his chest, not fooling anyone.  Adam goes to the bar and the bartender isn't too happy to see him - something involving Adam and the guy's wife.  He takes a swing at Adam who ducks, clocking Hiro in the face.  The bartender chases Adam out the door.  I think this might have been a staged "if-I'm-ever-in-trouble" sort of ruse.  

Hiro and Ando chase Adam but he's gone.  They walk off and Adam emerges from the dumpster.  It's clear sailing for him, until he gets stiff-armed by Knox.  Knocked out cold, Knox puts Adam into a van and makes a phone call.  His next target is Hiro.  Hiro and Ando return to the bar, and Hiro's down on his luck.  Ando says they're the worst heroes ever.   They've lost everything, but Hiro reminds him they haven't lost their heart.  Suddenly, Daphne joins them at the bar, along with Knox.  Looking for an opportunity to infiltrate the "bad guys", Hiro says he's had a change of heart and wants to join them.  He and Ando are bad asses!  Knox wants proof.  Removing a sword from the wall, he hands it to Hiro and tells him to kill Ando.  "I'm sorry, my friend."  Knowing that it sometimes takes sacrifices to save the world, Hiro stabs Ando through the heart!  He falls to the ground, dead.  

Heavenly Father:   Nathan and Tracy have spent the night together.  Nathan gets up in the middle of the night to get a drink in the kitchen, when Linderman appears to him.  He wants to know how Linderman knew that Tracy was in trouble.  Linderman says he's there to give guidance.  Nathan doesn't believe that he's a messenger, but Linderman points out that God has appeared in many different forms to different prophets over time.  Tracy comes in and wants to know who Nathan is talking to.  He says he's just thinking out loud.  

Peter appears in Sylar's cell (the same as the end of last week's episode) and Sylar knows that he's now just like him.  Angela enters and Peter snaps Sylar's neck.  Peter then telekinetically grabs his mother by the throat.  Peter's gone crazy and wants to know what secrets are in his mother's head.  He starts to buzz off the top of her head!  Sylar, using Claire's healing power, gets up and reattaches his neck and stops Peter.  HRG comes in and recruits Sylar for their mission.  

At Pinehearst Industries, speedster Daphne is talking to Linderman!  He asks her to be part of recruiting people for a "new world order", where people like them are superior, not in hiding.  She's clearly talking to no one, just like Nathan.  Linderman would like to invite some others to join up, and gives her a dossier.  Included in the dossier are pictures of Knox and Mohinder.  These are some "nasty" people.  

Nathan asks Tracy what happened on the bridge, and Tracy doesn't want to talk about it.  She confesses to accidentally killing the reporter and she needs to turn herself in.  Nathan tells her that she can't tell the world about them.  He tried to do so and got shot in the process.  No, these powers are gift from God.  She disagrees, and tells him about Dr. Zimmerman, the man who injected her and her sisters with powers.  

Nathan and Tracy go to Level 5 to see Angela.  Peter is being kept in a medically-induced coma, as to not hurt anyone else.  Angela tells them about Dr. Zimmerman, and how he worked for the company years ago.  His work was classified - he had been injecting infants with a serum to give them synthetic abilities.  One of the infants was Nathan!  Angela shows them documents that prove what she's saying is true.  Nathan's father was disappointed that Nathan was born without abilities, and since he had good lineage (two powered parents), they decided to inject him.  They knew the formula was to dangerous to be kept, so they split it and hid it.  Now, she wants their help in finding it.  "Go to hell" says Nathan.  Angela tries to explain that Peter knows that it must be found, and that's why he did what he did, gaining Sylar's power, if only to prevent the world from ending.  Nathan's furious, and he tells Tracy they have to find someone who can help them, a man he can trust - Mohinder!

Alone in her office, Angela begins to doze off, but it awakened by a scream.  She runs out to see Tracy dead on the floor.  Near her is Nathan, who is also dead.  Peter is standing in the middle of the room, covered in blood.  Angela wants to know why he would do that, but Peter collapses forward, impaled by a pipe.  A figure appears behind Angela and she turns, shocked to see who it is.  A man wearing a ring tells her that her ability makes her too dangerous.  Angela wakes up, still in her office, but the man's voice lingers, saying that she "won't be able to move."  Angela is clearly shaken up.  

What is thy bidding, my master?Daphne gets back to Pinehearst to find Linderman.  By the way, Pinehearst's logo is a double helix, much like the recurring helix insignia throughout the series.  Her task is complete.   Linderman says he's got one more recruit for her - Matt Parkman!  Daphne says she's figured out what Linderman's deal is.  She's fast and can sneak up on anyone, but she can't sneak up on him.  She waves her arm and is passes through Linderman.  Since he's not really real, looks like she has no choice but to find Parkman.  She zips off and out from the shadows emerges Maury Parkman, Matt's dad!  Last we saw he was trapped in his own subconscious.  Maury hurries inside and gets to a room with an expensive looking bed and a series of life-support tubes.  There's a man in the bed, wearing the ring seen in Angela's vision.  Maury has a "conversation" with the man without the mystery man not saying a word.  Oh, and Maury's is clearly scared out of his wits by this man.  This man is building an army of people with powers.  He's anxious to know when Knox and Adam will be arriving - they'll be there tomorrow.  At last, who is this man.  Why it is none other than the thought deceased Arthur Petrelli!  

Next time, the dance of the Puppet Master!