Heroes recap: "Lizards" - airdate 10/01/07 (S2E2)

The dropping: There's plenty of gratuitous half-nudity by Peter; Hiro dresses up like a Japanese man to save the swordsmith's daughter (not the cheerleader this time); Mr. Muggles reminisces about his glory days; and Claire goes a little overboard with the home pedicure.

We pick up right where we left off with Peter being beaten by thugs with awful Irish accents. At least they've had the decency to move him to a pub to tie him to a chair and hit him - everything's better in an Irish pub, you know. Peter is shirtless, sweaty and his bangs have not grown out yet. Thank you! Back in sunny SoCal, Peter's niece Claire is struggling with the usual teenage angst about who she is and what she can do. After she leaves for school, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett confer about Mr. Sulu's recent murder and what it could mean; Mr. Bennett is keeping his wife in the loop this season. Parkman is investigating said recent murder and speaks briefly with Ando about Hiro's whereabouts. Ando gets two non-memorable lines and then he's gone for another episode. Hiro is still in 1671 Japan and, when he cannot get "Kensei" sober enough to rescue the swordsmith's daughter (I'm going to call her "Aiko" because I don't know her name), Hiro steals Kensei's armor and decides to rescue her himself. I knew it! I totally called it that Hiro was going to be Kensei. By the way, David Anders is quite funny when he tells Hiro he looks like a great big carp when he talks. He's not wrong.

Claire expresses more interest in advanced genetics than is normal in a high school biology class - the teacher is talking about how LIZARDS can regenerate full limbs - and West stares at her all intense-like. I guess he's supposed to be mysterious but he's really only creepy. Ned Ryerson sends Mohinder to Haiti to find another sick Hero who has contracted the virus that killed Mohinder's sister and infected Molly Walker last season before a transfusion of Mohinder's blood cured her. Mohinder is very pretty but GOD he's boring. Maya and Alejandro have gotten close to the Guatemalan border and some friend is going to help them cross into Mexico. Maya is worried and whiny and this storyline is slow. Back in Ireland, the main thug (his name is Ricky) has a little sister Caitlin, also with a bad accent, who is tending to Peter's wounds. She soon notices that for all the blood she's cleaning, his cuts have already healed. They both think that's weird, and I can't believe we're watching Peter rediscover all his powers again. We did this already. It's called "last season."

Mohinder finds the sick Hero and it's the mind-wiping Haitian. Who I thought died last season. Did no one die at all? That's bullshit. And, subtle: having the Haitian in Haiti. Savvy viewers will never have figured that one out ahead of time. C'mon, Tim Kring. Mohinder offers to heal the Haitian using a serum from his magic blood. In Guatemala, a healer offers to try to heal Maya but ends up screeching that she's cursed and running away. Maya whines about this. On the not-whining end of things, Hiro-dressed-as-Kensei saves Aiko from eleven samurai, using his time-stopping trick to disarm them. He, predictably, ends up falling for her while she, also predictably, starts falling for "Kensei." Peter escapes from his bonds (DL's phasing power) and puts a shirt on (boo!) but saves Caitlin from some different thugs by zapping them (Atomic Ted) and punching them really hard (Niki/Jessica).

After school, West continues his stalkage of Claire, telling her about this amazing book by Mohinder's father that talks about super-evolving humans. She is very uncomfortable by the direction of the conversation but can't get away because her new car has been stolen. Back in Haiti, Mohinder cures the Haitian who thanks him by mind-wiping him. Ned Ryerson is very displeased by Mohinder's rookie mistake - the Company wanted the Haitian back. Maya and Alejandro (who are twins, by the way - have I forgotten to mention that?) get separated on their dash for the border and Maya wigs out, her eyes filling with black blood. The woman who was helping them escape also gets this bloody-eye thing and dies. That is a crappy-ass power to have, Maya. Luckily, Alejandro finds them and grabs his sister's hands: he kicks in his power and makes her eyes clear up; behind them, the dead woman comes back to life. Instead of being glad that she's not still dead, she screeches that they are cursed and runs away, stranding them.

Claire 'fesses up to her father about her car being stolen, then earnestly tells him that she wants to test her limits, see how much she can regenerate because maybe she could help people. Her dad insists that she lay low. During her interrogation by Parkman about her role in Mr. Sulu's death, Angela Petrelli figures out that Parkman is reading her mind; she yells at him in her head and his expression - pained and surprised and a little sheepish - is great. When a still-bearded Nathan comes to pick up his mother, he and Parkman have to rescue her from some unseen attacker who is slashing at her in the interrogation room. She's alive, but cut and shaken, and her picture with the red half-helix over her face falls from her hand.

Instead of being grateful that Peter saved Caitlin, Ricky insists that Peter help them steal enough money to make up for the iPods that were not in Peter's cargo container. Whatever. But Ricky has all of Peter's personal effects: he tells Peter what his name is, but holds the stuff ransom until Peter agrees to help. Hiro manages to convince Kensei to help rescue Aiko's father; as they go to their horses, the eleven samurai show up and shoot Kensei full of arrows. He dies and Hiro is quite upset ... until Kensei heals himself and isn't dead anymore. (For crying out loud, what's with all the doubling up of powers? Claire and Kensei can heal; Nathan and West can fly. Surely the writers can come up with more superpowers - like laser eyebeams or adamantium claws or super-fast running or the ability to balance your checkbook to the penny.)

Mohinder checks in with Mr. Bennett just as the Haitian shows up - clever Mohinder, pretending to have your mind wiped so the Haitian can get away and help you, Mr. Bennett and Parkman take down the Company! Claire, watching the Westminster Dog Show with Mr. Muggles, decides to test her limits and cuts off her pinky toe with a pair of scissors. Ick. It most excellently grows back (no toenail!) but she looks up to catch Peeping-West watching her from the window. She runs outside but he's already flown away, leaving Dr. Suresh's book behind for her.