Monday, November 23, 2009

Heroes episode recap – “Thanksgiving” S4E10 (airdate 11/23/09)

You know what I'm thankful for?  Mohinder being trapped in a lunatic asylum and nowhere to be found in this episode!


A fascinated Samuel watches the 1950s film, narrated by Mohinder’s father, and breaks into a maniacal grin when it gets to the earthquake that heralded his birth. His screening is interrupted by an irate Hiro pounding on his trailer door, however, demanding to know where he put Charlie. Samuel’s like, yeah, yeah, I got more important stuff to do – destiny stuff. Hiro tries to get rough but Samuel reminds him that if he is killed, Charlie will never be found. “Smile,” sneers Samuel, “it’s Thanksgiving.”

Washington, D.C. Benet, in process of picking out a turkey at the grocery store, is on the phone with Claire, asking when she’s coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. She’s kind of sad about Gretchen and not sure if she wants to come, so Benet begs her to not leave him alone with her mother and the new boyfriend (weird, but good that they’re getting along, I guess). Claire says okay and when Benet hangs up, he turns around and sees his old partner, Kate from Angel. (Yes, her name is “Lauren” here but I’m sticking with “Kate.”) They flirt. I’m less uncomfortable with it now that he’s no longer married to Sandra but still: ick.

Peter’s apartment, NYC. Nathan flails in his sleep, clutching a bottle of booze, as Peter watches him. There’s a knock on the door: it’s Angela, coming in with about ten waiters and a full Thanksgiving dinner. Peter is Royally Pissed Off with his mom and brings up the whole finding Nathan’s dead body in a storage unit thing. She lies without missing a beat, saying that it wasn’t Nathan at all but a shapeshifter who stole Nathan’s form – a new twist on identity theft - and had to be stopped. Peter cuts through her bullshit, demanding, “What did you do, Ma?” Nathan comes up behind Angela and grabs her wrist as he’d like to know the answer to Peter’s question too. She completely refuses to give her sons any answers, however. As she walks away towards the kitchen, Nathan’s face ripples and a flicker of Sylar comes through.

Washington, D.C. Claire arrives a little early for dinner, hoping to talk to her dad about something important, but Kate interrupts, charging right into the kitchen to help out. Then Sandra, Doug and Mr. Muggles show up, along with Doug’s Pomeranian Miss Lovejoy, because that’s how Sandra and Doug met – through the dogs. Things get awkward right away, of course. I would be drinking heavily right about then but Jack Coleman plays it totally cute.

At the Carnival, Hiro is crankily slamming down plates as he and Lydia help set the table for Thanksgiving. She wants to know what’s wrong and he snaps that Samuel lied to him even after he fixed the past for him. Hiro storms off and Edgar sidles up to Lydia, wondering what in the past was possibly broken that Hiro had to fix. So Lydia uses all her wiles to find out what secret Hiro is keeping, convincing him to take her back eight weeks ago to see what happened to Joseph. They teleport back just in time to see Samuel and his older brother arguing, with Samuel insisting that Joseph speak to him NOW. The two brothers go off and Lydia follows them, ignoring Hiro’s protests that they mustn’t change anything here in the past.

The Petrellis are seated and the boys are sullen. Despite Angela’s request, Nathan doesn’t want to say grace: “I’m dead, he knows it, you know it!” Finally, she acquiesces, telling her sons what happened to Nathan at the end of last season. She even admits that she forced Parkman do the switch, and asks for their forgiveness. “We are still a family,” she pleads. But Nathan can’t even look at his mother.

Benet proposes a toast. But it gets awkward again quickly, Sandra and Kate sniping at each other (I’ve missed Sandra, by the way), Claire sneering at poor dorky Doug. Frustrated and out of sorts, Claire finally announces that she’s thinking about dropping out of school.

Carnival. Everyone is gathering for Thanksgiving dinner and Samuel notices that Lydia and Hiro are missing. Hmmmm.

Carnival, eight weeks ago. Samuel and Joseph walk out into a field, Samuel shouting and complaining that his older brother has been controlling him all his life. Joseph finally tells Samuel that he can move not just earth, but cities and mountains, and has the potential power to kill millions of people. Samuel wants to know how he could possibly be that powerful but Joseph replies he’s already said too much. Samuel gets angry, and angrier still when Joseph says he’s called “the government” and a man is coming to take Samuel away – he’s even sent that man a compass (so that’s where Benet got it) to help him find the Carnival. So Samuel kills him, TKing a rock right down his brother’s throat. Meanwhile, Hiro and Lydia see it all, hidden in the tall grass, terrified. Samuel hears something and starts walking towards them and Hiro just barely gets his power together in time, teleporting them out of there a split second before Samuel would have found them.

Claire tries to explain that she just doesn’t think she belongs in college right now, but Benet immediately picks up that it’s about what Samuel said to her, about being with other Heroes like her. When an uncomprehending Doug tries to help, saying that everyone goes through these phases, Claire’s all, “Look, dumbass, I’m a freak!” and slashes her wrist at the table. She heals, of course, and Doug faints. Later, Sandra and Kate bond over the still-unconscious Doug when Kate says that Benet brought them all together like this today to show Claire that she’s got family who love her. Benet takes her recalcitrant daughter into his office, showing her the compass and his investigation into Samuel. He insists that Samuel is dangerous and not to be trusted; she whines that she’s not a child any longer. They continue to argue until there’s a knock on the door … it’s Gretchen. Oh, fantastic.

Carnival, now. Hiro and Lydia teleport back, Lydia shaken and angry, saying that they have to tell the others what Samuel did to Joseph. He begs her not to, saying he’ll lose Charlie but she says it’s too important and rushes over to bring Edgar up to speed. Hi, Edgar, I’ve missed you! However, a suspicious Samuel collects her and Hiro, bringing them to the table.

At Peter’s apartment, Angela tries to carry on like this is a normal dinner but Nathan has had enough, especially since Sylar has decided to re-emerge right now. “We never should have gone to Texas, Pete,” Nathan grunts before twitching spasmodically and coming all over with blue electricity. He falls to the floor and when he gets back up, he’s transformed back into Sylar. As Angela and Peter cower in a corner, he tucks a napkin into his shirt and sits at the table: “I’m starved.”

Carnival. Samuel pontificates as he serves out pie to his family of Carnies. He says that something big and wonderful is coming for them all, but he can’t talk about it now what with a traitor in their midst: Joseph’s killer is sitting at this very table! Unable to restrain himself, Edgar speaks up, announcing that it was Samuel who killed Joseph, and Hiro saw it! But Hiro won’t back him up since he’s afraid for Charlie. So Samuel accuses Edgar of killing Joseph and sends a murderously-intended rock towards him. Hiro grabs Edgar’s hand and freezes the rest of time, thereby saving Edgar’s life. He asks the Carnie to wait a while for his revenge until the time is right. “I’ll hold you to that,” spits Edgar, and superspeeds out of there. ‘Bye, Edgar! When time unfreezes, Samuel takes Edgar’s disappearance in stride, saying good riddance. Hiro just looks sick to his stomach.

NYC. Sylar has TK’d the remaining Petrellis into their chairs as he wolfs down pie. “Let me out of this chair,” grunts Peter, all tough-like. Sylar leans over and skeezily kisses Angela on the lips – eew – and then says it’s time to carve the turkey, pointing a finger at Angela’s forehead. She screams horribly, blood pouring from the slice he’s inflicting, but then it stops: Sylar can’t finish the hob because Nathan, still rattling around inside there somewhere, is fighting to regain control of Sylar’s body. Sylar howls, his face morphing back and forth until Nathan finally wins out. Angela and Peter slump forward, released from Sylar’s hold, and Nathan leans heavily on the table, unhappy and exhausted. He looks at his mother, a desperate, bereft look: “What have you done to me?” before fleeing the apartment.

At Benet’s apartment, Claire and Gretchen catch up with each other while Benet and Kate flirt some more. Sandra helps Doug stagger out to the car and everyone is friends again as they take their leave. Benet catches his daughter on her way out, saying that he just wants Claire to take her time and think about things before making any big changes in her life. She promises that she will, and thanks him for inviting Gretchen. Claire joins Gretchen in her car and says that she’s not quite ready to go back to school, bringing out the compass that she swiped from her dad. Ready for an adventure?

Carnival. Samuel tells Hiro that he knows he saved Edgar and points out that could prove dangerous for Charlie. Hiro stands up to him, saying that Samuel needs him. Suddenly, on Samuel’s instructions, another Carnie (the dreadlocked older man) grabs Hiro’s head, sending all sorts of memories flashing through. When the Carnie lets go, Hiro mumbles some science fiction nonsense in Japanese (something like, “I’ve got to save Watson! Full speed ahead, Scotty!”) and teleports away. “What did you do?” cries Samuel. Apparently that didn’t work quite as he had hoped.

The last scene is back in NYC, as Peter staunches his mother’s head wound. He grimly promises to bring his brother back. And, in the scenes from next week, it looks like there will be Peter, a nail gun and a screaming Sylar. Fun!

Previously on Heroes / next time on Heroes

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