Come with me if you want to live.Flame on, Heroes! Now, in your best dramatic voice, let's talk about the episode that will change things forever! Or at least until February when the show comes back from hiatus. We got a (weak) conclusion to Volume 3 and the painfully obvious set up for next year's Volume 4, "Fugitives", but not everything was a complete bust. Grab a hold of Ando, because it's time to supercharge our brains.
Do You Like Scary Movies?: Sylar has the priviledge of giving us this week's pointless opening voice over, talking about the choices we all have to make. Very original. Inside of Primatech, HRG and the ladies (Claire, Meredith, and Angela) are packing munitions for their raid of Pinehearst when they see a bevy of dead guards. The lights go out and the windows are closed off with metal bars. Over the PA system, Sylar announces to the quartet that there's no need to storm the gates of Pinehearst - he's already killed Arthur Petrelli, but now he wants to show them all just what sort of monster they turned him into. When this volume comes out on DVD, please don't play a drinking game where you take a drink every time someone says "monster" or "different" - you'll die of alcohol poisoning before the 2nd commercial break.
HRG hands Claire a shotgun and they're off to find Sylar. Sylar, by the way, is needlessly taunting them over the PA system. He says that they're all villains. Claire reminds everyone (including the audience) that even though Sylar has got her healing power, there's still a weakness to it - stab him in the base of the brain and keep whatever you've got in there, and he'll stay dead. Sounds like a plan. Sylar isn't afraid - he can heal from anything except a broken heart. Ugh. HRG and Meredith bust into the control room, only to find that Sylar isn't there. Seems as if he's hunting them.
Claire and Angela are taking refuge in the office. Claire attempts to use the phone but the line is out because the building is in lockdown. Angela says that all Sylar is doing is throwing a temper tantrum and playing into it will only work him up even more. Then, the phone rings - it's Sylar, calling from his cell phone as he walks the halls. A quick note - the dead guard who Sylar steps around happens to be played by the owner of the comic shop I frequent, so that was pretty cool. Anyway, Sylar eggs Claire on by saying that she can get what she wants and become a Company agent just like her dear old dad, and all she has to do is kill Angela and everyone can go free. He reminds her that Angela is a horrible woman, one who was willing to destroy New York City and even attempted to kill her own husband in the name of "the greater good" - is she really worth protecting? When she asks why he's doing this, Sylar reminds them that he was made into a monster (drink) by her dad and Elle, and now he wants to get his revenge. Claire cocks the shotgun and blows the phone away. Take that!
Meredith and HRG enter Level 5, and Meredith isn't so sure that this is a good plan. HRG says that they need help, so he unleashes the inmates, including our old friend Eric Doyle, puppeteer extraordinaire! The inmates are given an offer - whoever brings HRG the head of Sylar wins their freedom. Meredith isn't happy about this, but HRG assures her that the best way to catch a shark is with bait. Later, Meredith is wandering around on her own (always a good move) when she sees an arm on the floor. Yeah, just an arm. With metal fingers. The arm belonged to Danny Pine, the homeless veteran Meredith captured on her first Company mission. A glass bottle rolls on the floor toward Meredith, and she reads that it contained adrenaline. Suddenly, Sylar strikes! He knocks her gun away and he's about to deliver the kill strike when he's stopped in his tracks - he's now under the control of Doyle! Doyle is mad - Meredith is his! His to love, and his to kill. Creepy. Sylar can't move, but his powers are just too strong. He does something to Doyle's mind, making his nose bleed and ultimately pass out/drop dead. Meredith goes for her gun, but Sylar stabs her in the chest with a syringe full of adrenaline! Now Sylar's got just one more thing to do.
HRG goes back down to Level 5, still on the hunt when he sees a flash of fire coming from in a cell. Meredith is cowering in the corner, her powers completely out of control. We learned at the start of Season 3 from Mohinder that the adrenal gland controls everyone's powers, so naturally an injection of adrenaline would cause an overload. Sylar appears behind the glass and slams the door, locking HRG and Meredith in the cell together. Somehow, he's removed all but one bullet from HRG's gun, and tells him that he's going to need it - in order to save his own life, he'll have to kill his adopted daughter's birth mother. It's a sick choice, but after all, he deserves it for turning Sylar into a...well, you know...
Meredith's fire is getting harder and harder to contain. Claire can see the cell on a monitor and freaks out. Naturally, Angela says something bitchy, but Claire's had enough. She makes her way through the halls to get to Level 5 when Sylar shows up. He grabs her and tells her she has the choice to save daddy or save granny. He knows, of course, she'll save her dad, but it is useless. He lets her go and Claire runs to Level 5. Outside of the cell, HRG gives her the keycode to unlock the door, but the console has been ripped out. Good thing dad has another plan - he has Meredith unleash as much heat onto the bulletproof glass. After a bit, it starts to give. HRG takes a shot at the glass, but it is no use. Seeing that there's no more time, Claire tells them to stand back, and she dives through the glass (the heat has weakened it enough). HRG climbs out, and Meredith says she has to stay behind. Claire promises to come back to get her, but first they have to go stop Sylar.
We could use some therapy.Sylar is still looking for answers. He's cornered Angel, but rather than fight him, Angela compliments him. He's killed Arthur, and that makes him a hero. She's been right about him from the start. Sylar isn't buying this - he demands to know if she is in fact his mother, and he'll know if she's lying. Nope, she's not his mother, but she wishes he was - her sons have been nothing but a disappointment to her. Uh oh - she's lying! Sylar punishes her lie with a small cut to the head. Ouch. Ok, the truth is that she just wanted him for the Company. He's a killer with a troubled past, making him easy to manipulate. She's a monster too. Sylar is going to finish her off when she claims to know his real parents...and she's not lying. He's not the son of a watchmaker and a woman who collects snowglobes, but if he kills her, he'll never know who they are. That's not good enough for him, so Sylar begins to choke her. Just then, Angela is free - Claire has stabbed Sylar in the weak spot. Dead. For now. The lights come back on, and HRG gets Angela out of the building. Claire runs to Meredith who is still out of control. Meredith says there's no saving her and she has to run. Meredith goes supernova and Claire and HRG escape by the skin of their nose. Primatech is no more. HRG, Claire, and Angela watch the building burn to the ground.
Electric Sliders: Hiro is trapped in the past, clinging to dear life on the flagpole. He's also lost his mind and confides in a pigeon that he's failed his father and lost his destiny. In the present, Ando, Daphne, and Matt need to rescue Hiro right away, because he might accidentally change history. They've gone to Mohinder's lab in hopes of finding the good doctor, because Ando is convinced he needs time travel powers to save his best friend. Unfortunately, Mo's not there, he's at Pinehearst. Daphne knows where he is because of her ties to them. As Matt voices his protest, Daphne speeds away and steals a vial of formula from Mo's hands (more on this to come). Daphne reappears with the vial in hand, and there's enough for one dosing. Matt isn't so sure that Ando will get the power he wants, but he does point out that he and Daphne each got what (Matt wanted to be a better cop, Daphne wanted to be able to walk), so maybe he'll get what he wants. Faulty logic but he does have a point. Ando injects himself and passes out.
Back to Hiro, he's successfully made his way across the flagpole and manages to pull himself up to the Deveaux Building rooftop. Inside, he sees Little Hiro holding the healed dove. He misses his mother, and Big Hiro knows how he feels - he's failed his father. However, all is not lost, and he needs Little Hiro's help. Together, they can save tomorrow!
Ando wakes up and attempts to use his new power. Nothing happens. Matt and Daphne coach him to do like Hiro does by squinting and concentrating, just don't try too hard or he might end up in the Dark Ages. Still nothing. Ando's mad and punches a table. When he does so, his arm lights up red with electricity. Yes, it's true, Ando has gained the power that Hiro saw in his quick visit to the future.
It burns!Ando is having trouble keeping his new power in check. Innocently, Matt touches Ando's arm, when Matt's powers freak out on him! When he comes to, he says that he could hear the thoughts of everyone in New York City. Daphne is concerned, and in anger pushes Ando. In doing so, she disappears! She reappears in the doorway, but she sees the scene we have just witnessed. Matt freaks out, Daphne gets mad, hits Ando, and is gone. Time catches up with itself and they want to know where she went. Daphne moved so fast that she actually went back through time!
It appears that Ando's ability can supercharge others' powers too. Daphne is freaked out, but Matt explains that Einstein's theory of relativity states that if an object is capable of moving faster than the speed of light, traveling through time is theoretically possible. They now have the means to rescue Hiro, but Matt is ever the worrywart. Before he can finish, Ando and Daphne are gone.
Hiro, I am your father.The two Hiros have opened the safe containing the formula. Kaito enters and wants an explanation. Hiro claims to have been playing around with the boy, but Kaito isn't fooled - he sees the open safe and dismisses the boy. He then grabs Kensei's sword and attacks Hiro! He tries to defend himself with a loaf of bread, but sword beats bread. Kaito has a kill strike in his sights and offers Hiro one last chance to explain himself. Hiro uses this opportunity to tell him that the formula must be destroyed in order to prevent future destruction. Hiro rips the formula in two and Kaito strikes. Just then there is a red flash and Hiro is gone. Kaito picks up the formula and sees that perhaps having it split up is the best way to protect it. We're back in the present, and so are Hiro, Ando, and Daphne. Hiro is stunned to see that Ando has powers, but he's also upset that he was unable to destroy the formula. Good thing Daphne knows where it is in the present - she stole it for Pinehearst, so that's where it is. She takes hold of Hiro and the two zip away. More on them to come!
Welcome to the War: Arthur Petrelli lies dead on the floor (for now) when Nathan enters. He sees his brother standing over their father, and thinks that he was the one who killed him. Peter assures him that he wanted to, but it was Sylar who was responsible for the kill (Not really - after all, he did pull the trigger. Sylar just stopped and restarted the bullet). Peter says that the formula must be destroyed, but he's too late - Nathan already has a dozen marines lined up to be given powers. Peter accuses Nathan of just continuing their father's plan, but Nathan promises him that it isn't, it's their own plan. They both want to make the world a better place, and this is how he's going to do that. Peter says that he's sounding an awful lot like their father. Nathan expresses his concern that Peter will try to kill him too (not counting Future Peter shooting him, of course), and Peter goes pull the gun on him. It's time to choose a side. Peter lowers his gun and hands it to Nathan, but then Peter punches Nathan in the face, knocking him out. He takes back the gun.
Mohinder is still toiling away in his lab - he tells his trusty tape recorder that the infection has spread to his lungs and he'll be dead soon. He believes that the formula can act as a cure to his "disease". Peter storms in and says that the formula isn't a cure, it's a weapon, and needs to be destroyed. Mohinder recalls the first time that they met, and Peter tried to convince him that people with powers do exist. He admits that once he learned the truth, he coveted the power for himself, and now he has the chance to help others. Just then, Daphne snatches the vial of formula right from Mohinder's hands (see above). Mo thinks that Peter just did something to him, so he attacks! Unfortunately for Mo, Flint and Knox show up and stop him. They're siding with Peter, because if anyone can gain powers, it makes them less special. Peter and Flint proceed to trash the lab so that no one can ever use the formula again. Outside of the lab, the Super Soldier Marine finds Nathan on the floor - as of right now, none of the other marines have been injected, so he'll have to defend Nathan on his own. Knox emerges from the lab and instantly snaps the marine's neck. Knox is now working for the good guys.
Peter and Flint continue to ransack the lab, but Mohinder warns them to be careful - the formula is highly combustible, which doesn't bother Flint because he can't be burned. Mohinder warns Peter that Flint doesn't care about his safety, and that this is the kind of person they want to stop by giving powers to the right people. Flint picks up Mohinder and throws him against the wall, knocking him out.
In the other room, Nathan sits in his father's chair, playing with a solid glass globe as Knox watches over him. Nathan says that Peter is a loser, and that by siding with him, he's "backed the wrong horse". He's disappointed in his brother, yet feels sorry for him - every time he tries to save the world, he fails. Knox thinks that Nathan is afraid of Peter. "I'm not afraid of anyone" - Nathan smashes Knox in the face with the glass globe. Knox returns the favor and bashes Nathan. He goes to hit him again when Knox turns to ice! Tracy arrives to save the day. Knox shatters apart as he hits the ground.
Nathan says that he has to stop Peter, but Tracy is more worried in protecting her boss. If Nathan were to leave right now, there's no way to connect him to what is going on. She doesn't want him involved in this mess. He knows that he can't run away from this, but Tracy is persistent, saying that she's a realist, and this is what he hired her to do. The answer is simple - Nathan fires Tracy.
Tracy takes the formula from Arthur's safe when suddenly Daphne and Hiro appear! Hiro tells her that it is his sacred duty to watch over the formula. Tracy will have none of this and insults him by calling him "Pikachu". Hiro doesn't like this - he apologizes and then punches Tracy in the face. They grab the formula and speed away. Inside the lab, Peter and Flint lift a giant vat and dump it onto the floor - it's the vat with the completed formula. It spills out onto the floor and rushes over Mohinder's body. It looks like Mo was right - the lesions on his face instantaneously heal - the formula has cured him. Despite the fact that he has a head full of rocks, Flint recalls Mo telling them that the formula is combustible, so he feels it is time to start a little fire. Peter tells him to wait to at least evacuate the innocent people in the building, but Flint is all bad guy. Their argument is interrupted when Nathan hits Flint with a metal pipe. Nathan then goes to Peter and punches him in the stomach. Then without showing any mercy, he hits Peter in the legs, sending him to the floor. Flint recovers and while on the ground ignites the formula. The entire place goes up almost immediately. Nathan is surrounded by flames and Flint is pissed off, and only Peter can save him now. He spots a vial on the floor and injects himself with the formula! Flint rushes to attack Nathan, but Peter flies in (literally!), picks his brother up, and they fly out the window.
The brothers Petrelli land in a field, and Nathan is mad as hell. He knows that he wasn't the one flying, and he cannot believe that after everything his brother talked about, he would inject himself with the formula. Peter claims that he had no choice, and that he saved him because he is still his brother. Nathan says that if the situation had been reversed, he wouldn't have done the same. Nathan flies off into the night sky. Elsewhere, Mohinder has escaped the inferno of the lab and is walking on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. A car pulls up, and he sees his reflection in the window - his face is healed. The window rolls down and it's Tracy - or is it? Thoughts on this below. Daphne and Hiro return to the loft and destroy the formula. Ando and Hiro celebrate, and Daphne hugs Matt. Looking over her shoulder, Matt sees Usutu standing in the doorway in front of him! And thus concludes Volume Three.
Fugitives: Washington, D.C., three weeks later. A limo is parked and we hear Nathan talking to someone. That someone has a glass bearing the seal of someone very important (which takes away from the big reveal at the end, of course). The person has a dossier filled with pictures and information of many different people - Tracy, Micah, Mohinder, Matt, etc. Nathan says that the government has to get involved, and that these people are dangerous. He had tried something previous that proved to be unsuccessful. What is he asking? Nathan wants to round these people up. The man agrees. "Thank you, Mr. President."
And there we have it. Nathan Petrelli will secretly be hunting his own kind. Although the preview for the next volume didn't show much, I must say the shot of the two people touching hands while confined and wrapped in hazmat suits was really damn cool. A few things before we wrap up. First of all, was it Tracy who picked up Mohinder, or could it be that a good samaritan was stopping to help a man, and that person just happens to be Niki and Tracy's other sister? And what about Hiro's trip to the future at the start of the season? Clearly Ando had these powers, but they believed that the destruction of Tokyo (and perhaps the broken Earth) was because people were given powers. Is that still the case, or was the future in peril because of some other threat? I'm thinking there is still the danger ahead of us. Also, is Hiro de-powered for good now? And last but not least, has Peter regained all of his powers (or at least his base power of copying abilities) or is he just a flyer now? I'm thinking (due to laziness), he's got his original power back.
Now I will leave you with a list of some helpful reading during the hiatus. Be sure to get your hands on all of the classic X-Men you can because "Heroes" is definitely taking many plays from their book - Senator Nathan Petrelli, I'd like to introduce you to Senator Kelly. You two would hit it off quite well. What are the odds of us seeing Sentinels next year?
Y: The Last Man - may not tie into next year, but a damn good read. The whole series was only 60 issues - piece of cake.
Batman: The Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb may have been fired from the show, but this is a fantastic read regardless. Especially if you liked "The Dark Knight."
The Flash Archives: - Daphne isn't the only speedster who can time travel. But The Flash uses a supersonic treadmill. Seriously.
Crisis on Infinite Earths - world in danger, lots of heroes, death, and more!
See you in February!
delicious
digg
yahoo
Stumble this
Technorati Tags:
