Monday, October 15, 2007

Heroes recap: “Kindness of Strangers” - airdate 10/15/07 (S2E4)

The dropping: There's no Niki, there's no Hiro, there's minimal Mohinder, there are no terrible Irish accents and Nathan finally realizes that the homeless look is really not that flattering. Yatta - a good episode!

Mr. Bennet, obsessing over the Isaac-jpeg of his own death, consults with Mrs. Bennet about whether Claire is – horror of horrors! – dating or not. Poor Claire comes downstairs and walks right into the inquisition; she insists (with an eye roll) that she is not dating. In NYC, Molly’s nightmares are not getting any better and her two daddies whisper-argue about what to do. A still-bearded Nathan is having his own parental issues: he stops by his boys’ school and a snotty teacher reminds him that he’s not allowed to be at the school. I bet she’s let him stay if he’d just shave that woolly mammoth off his chin. Bring back pretty Nathan! Maya, Alejandro and Plot-Device Derek are cruising down the road towards the Mexican/U.S. border when they have to stop because there’s a body in the road. They flip the guy over and … it’s Sylar! He’s in rough shape and gasps for help.

After the commercial break, we get introduced to the family Micah is staying with: his cousins, little wise-ass Damon and pretty Monica, and Lt. Uhura, their grandmother. Monica is bright and driven, working double shifts at a burger place to bring money into the house. On the other hand, Damon wants $65 for some pay-per-view wrestling thing. Gramuhura tells him to try “good television,” like the cooking show she has on currently; Monica sees the tomato rose and rolls her eyes a little, but sweetly. Micah perks up, realizing how he can get his pain in the ass cousin to like him. In a NYC hospital, Parkman and partner are interviewing Mrs. Petrelli about Hiro’s dad’s death; she speaks to Parkman in her mind, saying that she’s confessing to the murder in order to protect the other Heroes from discovery. Unsurprisingly, Parkman is no match for her. In California, a cheerleader asks Claire to try out for the squad and then West asks her out on just one date before she kicks him to the curb. She agrees reluctantly, but is worried about her disapproving dad: cheering is forbidden and so too, I would guess, is her dating another Hero. Regular boys would be bad enough. Back to NYC: a gloriously clean-shaven Nathan (with wavy hair –yum!) comes by the hospital and Parkman corners him, telling him that he’s part of the Superpower Club too and enlisting Petrelli to help in his investigation. After Nathan speaks with his stubborn mother, she is led off in handcuffs. Adrian Pasdar is so pretty.

Now the Black Eye Goo Twins (I need a better name for them), Plot Device Derek and Sylar are all heading for the border together in what can only be the worst road trip ever. Maya shows Sylar her Dr. Suresh book and that coy fellow says he actually knows Suresh and can bring the twins to him. Maya is overjoyed but Alejandro is suspicious. Back in New Orleans, Monica and her BFF talk for a really long time about how Monica lost it all in Katrina – blah blah backstory blah – and while she’s yammering on, Monica unwittingly carves a perfect tomato rose. Now that’s the best power of all: produce transformation! Claire sneaks out of the house after dinner to meet West for their date; Mr. Bennet tries to follow her but she gets away before he can see anything. Nathan and Parkman go to some Petrelli penthouse and start searching through photographs, looking for the group photo that includes Hiro’s dad, Nathan’s mom, etc. They bond a little (we learn that Parkman’s wife was pregnant with the affair baby, not Parkman’s, which explains why they’re not around this season) and Nathan finds the picture. Also in it: Linderman, Nathan’s dad, Simone’s dad, Ned Ryerson … and Parkman’s dad. Ooh – twisty!

Claire has West take her to the top of the Hollywood sign for their date; when he notes that she seems to like heights, she tells him about how she used to jump off the tower in Texas. She’s pretty guarded, saying she wants to trust him but … and he tells her to go ahead and jump, trust begins with a leap. So, even though I think he’s talking about a METAPHORICAL leap, Claire stands up and throws herself off the “O.” Of course he catches her. It’s cheesy but still kind of cute. Micah sneakily rigs the TV set so that Damon can watch his wrestling match. Monica is disapproving but gentle; Micah, who is a sensitive kid, gives her a hug. A wrestling move on the television catches Monica’s eye and there’s a little fluttering noise, maybe coming from inside her head. Parkman goes back to Mohinder’s apartment to ask Molly to find his dad. Molly WIGS out, shouting that Parkman’s dad is the bad guy, the Nightmare Man who’s been haunting her dreams. Ooh – twisty!

Nathan, while putting away some photos of Peter, sees his reflection in the mirror but he’s all grotesque and swollen and scarred. I vote for not putting him in that makeup. During a rest stop, Plot Device Derek finds a newspaper naming the twins as murderers. When he tells Sylar about it, Sylar has the best delivery: “Oh golly, they seem so …” Hee: “golly.” Derek wanders off to find a phone; Sylar grabs a brick and follows him. Shortly thereafter, Sylar comes back to the car alone and confronts the twins about their fugitiveness. Maya starts to freak and her eyes start to fill, Sylar choking in the seat next to her. Alejandro calms his sister down and once Sylar recovers, he is all, that is so cool! He fervently promises to help them find Suresh and they take off. The camera pans down to Derek, dead on the ground. A cockroach crawls around the bloody brick which I thought was a lovely touch.

Claire tries to sneak inside but Mr. Bennet busts her. She lies to him that she made the cheering squad and he buys it, apparently considering cheering a lesser evil than dating. Now Claire has a decent lie to purport – good job. When she goes upstairs to bed, Mr. B heads to the back patio where the Haitian shows up to say they have to go to Odessa (the Ukraine, not Texas) to follow up on a lead on those Isaac paintings. Monica falls victim to an armed robbery as she tries to lock up the burger joint. Suddenly, she jumps up, grabs a pole and performs that wrestling move, kicking the robber through a plate glass window. “Where’d you learn that?” marvels her boss. “On TV?” she replies, bemused. In NYC, Parkman and Mohinder argue again, this time about Molly looking for Parkman’s dad. Mohinder is dead set against it but Molly comes into the room, reluctantly agreeing to find Parkman Sr. She does her pushpin and map thing, landing on an apartment building in Philadelphia. But when Parkman urges her to check for the apartment number, she starts to panic, screaming that “he sees me, leave me alone!” She falls inert, in shock and/or comatose, but inside his head Parkman can hear her shrieking, “Matt! Help me!”

Next time on Heroes: it’s Veronica Mars. And I think she’s evil – yay!

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