Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

(Episode: Pass/Fail. Spoilers ahead.)

Dr. Suresh builds Bennett a mutant locator, with the same technology behind the compasses that he discovered independently. Shortly after he leaves the apartment, Hiro passes out.

While he's being rushed to the hospital and into the operating room, Hiro experiences a vision of some sort. He's in the Burnt Toast diner, on trial for disrupting the time-space continuum for selfish purposes. His father presides, Ando as counsel, Adam Monroe as prosecutor. Hiro pleads not guilty. Witnesses include child versions of Keiko and Ando (recalling the slushy incident), Sylar's cheerleader victim, and Sylar himself.

In the operating room Hiro flatlines, and sees himself entering a hallway where the people in the diner/courtroom vision await. Hiro changes his plea to guilty, but upholds that he has never violated his hero code. He finds a katana in his hand, the crowd backs away, and Adam faces him, also wielding a sword. The two fight, and Hiro wins.

All are gone, but a new person enters the hallway: his mother. At first he thinks she's there to receive him into death. In truth, she's there to heal him. On the operating table his pulse returns; presumably the tumor is fully healed.

Claire encounters Sylar in an empty lecture hall. He shows her the tattoo, says it's an omen that she's supposed to somehow help him find his way. His hunch is that he and Claire essentially have the same problem - they build walls to keep others out -and confirms his hypothesis with Lydia's power.

Sylar hints that Gretchen has been kidnapped. Claire gets away by stabbing him in the eye with a pencil, and from certain remarks guesses where Gretchen is. She's in a room tied to a chair. The electricity flickers, and a strange explosion blows out the windows in the room.

They hide in a janitorial closet, where Claire confides that she and Sylar really are alike in some ways, including a deep desire to rid themselves of their powers so they can be normal. Gretchen turns out to be Sylar in shapeshifting disguise. He leaves. Claire finds the real Gretchen, who she's been holding at emotional arm's length; Claire wants to change that. Meanwhile, Sylar shows up on Matt Parkman's doorstep and finds his unsuspecting wife.

Samuel tries to woo Vanessa. The carnival is currently in the once-desolate valley. They talk over a milkshake at a diner in a nearby town. They talk about an old dream of living in a cabin in the countryside. Vanessa had even made a drawing of the cabin - which Samuel had kept (or recreated). In the valley he's built the cabin for real. Vanessa appreciates the gesture but feels that she really belongs in the city, that the cabin is just a romantic fantasy.

Samuel goes back to the diner and broods over his milkshake. The waitress asks if he's okay. He loses his temper, exclaims that the world will now play by his rules, and while in the diner he uses his power to engulf the entire town - as the carnival family watches the holocaust from several miles away.

Where will Samuel take his vengeance? What does Sylar want with Parkman? What kind of relationship with Claire seek with Gretchen? What will Hiro do after he's recovered? What will Suresh find waiting for him at home in India? Stay tuned.

Labels: Heroes, Television