Heroes recap: “Out of Time” - airdate 11/05/07 (S2E7)

The dropping: Peter takes a shower. We get to see several instances of life imitating Isaac’s art. Claire’s dad and Claire’s boyfriend are so very much not going to get along. Niki doses herself after ruining Mohinder’s pretty face. Parkman grows a pair. Kensei’s rejuvenating power appears to have a most excellent Fountain of Youth quality to it as well. And did I mention that we get to see Peter taking a shower?

Kensei is keeping Hiro stoned on opium and thus unable to freeze time and/or teleport himself, Yaeko and Yaeko’s father to safety. David Anders expositions that he’s thrown in with White Beard and will be given half of Japan to rule in exchange for his help. Cut to the Ukraine, where Mr. Bennett is photographing the series of Isaac paintings: Hiro vs. Kensei; the vial; Niki (I’m sure it’s Niki) pounding on the door; bandaged Mohinder with a gun; dead Bennett; and the one we weren’t shown before - a shocked Peter staring through a window that has a quarantine sticker on it. Bennett phones Mohinder and asks if he’s been given the gun yet. Nope, not yet. Mohinder is nervous and fluttery and says he doesn’t know whom to trust anymore. Bennett has no time for his wishywashiness - he hangs up and sets the paintings on fire. A siren is going off in the corridors of the Company: Bob is evacuating the building because Parkman and Nathan have arrived to tell Bob that Maury Parkman (good – a name) is coming to kill him. Cut to NYC, June 2008 where Caitlin is still annoying. Luckily, HASMAT-suited men soon arrive and jam gas masks over Peter’s and her faces, muffling her voice.

The Heroes eclipse is green. Ah, yes - NBC is green this week. Ooh, there’s also a trailer for The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont and adapted from the Stephen King short story. The guys at AICN are all excited about this one.

Claire wakes up to a text from West. He’s downstairs and has made waffles for breakfast. Claire is not all that psyched that he’s in her house and quickly hides a photo of her father before West can see it. Mrs. Bennett, however, seems thrilled to meet Claire’s new boyfriend. There’s a brain trust meeting in Bob’s office: Bob, Nathan, Parkman, Mohinder and Niki are all there. Nathan is skeptical about Bob’s motivations and is not really being all that helpful. Bob wants the Heroes to inject Maury with the Shanti virus (thus striping him of his ability). Then they’ll cure him with Mohinder’s miracle blood, allowing him to live but removing the dangerous bits. Also, Bob wants Parkman to cowboy up and learn more about his own brain abilities. Back to 1671 Japan: Yaeko picks the lock on her chains with a pointy stick (clever girl) and snaps Hiro out of his stupor. He teleports the three of them to safety.

SHOWER SCENE!! Peter – who is in good shape – and Caitlin are being hosed down in a decontamination shower. Caitlin is really skinny and really terrified. Peter rants and roars but for some reason does not get telekinetic or sparky. Eventually, some guy in charge explains to Peter (who is now unfortunately dressed) that the Shanti virus has wiped out 93% of the world’s population. The few survivors live in isolation, trying to find a cure. We get our first real life version of an Isaac painting as Peter looks through a be-stickered window into a warehouse full of plastic wrapped bodies. “It’s been a tough week,” says the guy in charge. Milo Ventimiglia does his best to look shocked and sad.

Parkman sits with Molly, who is still in her fugue state/coma, and practices telling her he loves her with his mind. In doing so, he gets a few jumps in her EKG (or whatever) machine and realizes that he may, in fact, have more tricks in his brain than just mind reading. He concentrates and transports himself to an ugly-ass apartment. Molly is there, awake and cogent: this is the prison where Maury has been psychically holding her. Mohinder and Niki stride purposefully down the hall to get a syringeful of virus with which to inject Maury. Just then, DL appears – to Niki only – and tells her she’s still a killer. It’s Maury, of course, giving her a taste of nightmare. Back in Bob’s office, Nathan peruses the wall of files, grilling Bob about "Adam Monroe" – the only name of the older generation of Heroes he doesn’t recognize. Bob says that Adam is the one pulling the strings to get Maury to kill the others. Adam is a visionary but has a bit of a god complex, apparently. Until recently, the Company had him imprisoned; since he broke out and is now looking for payback, they need to worry about him – a lot. Nathan wants to know why he should care. Bob says, “because of Peter,” and tells Nathan that his brother is actually alive. In 2008 NYC, the guy in charge brings Peter to see Angela Petrelli. Peter doesn’t know her, of course. Talk talk talk, she eventually somehow nudges him into remembering her at least, if not more of his memories. It’s not clear how much he gets back.

Claire and West mack on the couch, each teenagerishly listening to one earphone connected to her product-placement cellphone. She tries to work up the courage to tell him about who her father is, but waits too long: Mr. Bennett comes home. West FREAKS out, at first thinking that Bennett has tracked him down. When Claire says, no that’s my dad, West becomes furious (rightfully so, may I add) and accuses her of trying to entrap him. He flies up, up and away just as Bennett comes outside. Back at the Company, Maury plays with Niki’s brain some more, again showing her DL and then making her think that Bob shoots him. She punches Mohinder in the nose, tossing him across the room – it’s awesome – grabs a syringe, and heads out to murder Bob.

Hiro decides that he must try to destroy White Beard’s guns and teleports into the storage tent. As he is pouring gunpowder over the crates, Kensei surprises him. They fight (we get live action painting shot #2), knocking over a lantern, and Hiro manages to disarm the Englishman. The fire quickly spreads and Hiro asks Kensei to take his hand so they can teleport to safety. Kensei refuses, citing betrayal, and Hiro finally gets out of there, alone, just as the tent explodes.

Bob is filling Nathan in on Peter’s current lost status but they are interrupted when Niki busts down the door. This would be the third live action painting. Nathan gets in between Niki and Bob and tries to talk her down; she ends up slamming the syringe into her own arm to break free of Maury’s hold. She collapses, tears running down her face. Trapped in the ugly apartment with Molly, Parkman works his new brain mojo and manages to suck his dad in there with them. Molly is not happy about this. Parkman and Maury shout and brain-bludgeon each other for a while until Parkman realizes he is no longer afraid of his father. He manages to get the locked door open and he and Molly scoot out of her prison. Maury lunges for the door, screaming “No! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone!” but Parkman locks him in. Matt wakes up in Molly’s Company hospital room: his father is on the floor, locked deep in his own nightmare. Molly wakes up too, free from her Nightmare Man at last.

As future Peter and Angela Petrelli leave whatever warehouse it is they’re in, he spies Caitlin on the other side of a chain link fence, in line to be deported back to future Ireland. She grabs at his hands through the fence, begging him to save her, to get her out of this horrific future he’s dragged her into. As guards pull them apart, Peter starts screaming and manages to teleport himself back to now in that strange room in Montreal. He’s alone. He hasn’t brought Caitlin back with him – she’s lost in that bleak future. Oops.

Hiro wanders through the ruins of White Beard’s camp. There are charred corpses everywhere. He finds Kensei’s masked helmet and then teleports to the cherry orchard where Yaeko is waiting for him. He is sad for killing Kensei, but she says that she thinks it is he who really is the hero Kensei, David Anders having only accomplished what he did because of Hiro’s help and influence. She asks him to stay with her but he knows he’ll only mess up more of history/the future/whatever if he stays. He kisses her and then is gone.

Mohinder is giving Niki a transfusion of his own blood to wipe out the Shanti virus, but uh-oh! it’s a new strain of the virus and he is back to being useless. “I’m going to die?” asks Niki. (You know, I’d be okay with that. It’s not like she’s had a storyline (thank you!) this season or anything.) Hiro brings himself back to the present to visit Ando in his cubicle. Ando has to break the news that Hiro’s dad is dead. Mohinder tells Bob that Niki is infected with an incurable strain of the virus. An imperturbable Bob hands him a new file on Claire Bennett. Since Claire can regenerate, maybe some of her cells can help save Niki. Bob gives Mohinder his new gun and pretty much tells Suresh to do whatever it takes to get Claire into the Company. Mohinder, because he’s such a dumbass, tells Bob that he’s been allied with Bennett until now to take down the Company. Even Bob wonders why Mohinder thought now was the right time to confess this. But Mohinder is scared and his nose hurts, and he doesn’t think he can trust Bennett, isn’t sure who can he can trust at all. Bob plays him like a violin and Mohinder takes the gun.

In California, Mrs. Bennett spills the beans to her husband about Claire’s new boyfriend. He’s very unhappy about this as he downloads the digital pictures of Isaac’s paintings, including the one where he’s shot through the eye while Claire kisses a boy. Bennett confronts Claire about West and the drunken cheerleader’s story about flying boys. They have a huge fight and Bennett announces that California is no longer safe for them, they’re moving again. Claire snits that they’ll be moving without her then.

In Montreal, Peter tries to teleport/time travel back to save Caitlin. No luck. Upon hearing a noise, he fires off a bolt of electricity. A hand catches it, burns to a crisp, and then heals. David Anders pops around the corner: “Peter, what the hell was that?” Peter wants to know how this British guy knows who he is. David Anders replies, “I’m Adam. We’re going to change history.” Yay! We have our Big Bad and he’s so pretty! And, Hiro – because he mucked with history in 1671 – is the one who created this villain who now wants to destroy the world; if it hadn't been for Hiro's meddling, Kensei probably would have drunk himself to oblivion. You know, you really should never mess with the space-time continuum.