Heroes: Dying of the Light (Episode 306)

Touched by a DevilThanks for answering the call, Heroes!  This latest episodes feels like a stop on the side of the road for the on-going story, with a quick detour towards a new foe.  That being said, there was quite a bit of good to take away from this mostly setup episode, including the addition of a now credible threat other than the world coming to an end.  Finally, some of the bad guys are acting like bad guys.  Enough with these shades of gray already!

I Got No Strings To Hold Me Down:  Claire and Sandra are worried about Meredith, so they pack up and go looking for her.  No need to call HRG, the ladies have got it covered.  That's right, Sandra's tagging along.  "One of us, one of them".  I like this motto, but it does come across as a little bit offensive/racist, don't you think?  Aren't they all people?  Anyway, enough with the social commentary.   Eric Doyle, the Puppet Master, is hiding in the worst place imaginable - Doyle's Marionette Theater.  Bit conspicuous, no?  He's still holding Meredith prisoner, hoping that she'll one day love him again.  $5 says she never really loved him before, and even money she'll never love him again.  To illustrate just how crazy he is, he makes Meredith pick up a wine glad, break it on the table, hold it up to her own neck, and cut her ever so slightly.  Heebies, please meet your new friend Jeebies.  

Claire and Sandra hunt down Doyle (his name is on the building!) and Sandra's none too pleased Claire's sporting one of Daddy's stun guns.  Sandra things HRG should handle this but Claire believes in Girl Power.  Inside, Doyle and Meredith are dancing (Doyle clearly leading, naturally), when there's a noise at the front.  Doyle sees Sandra who claims to be interested in booking the puppet theater for her 6 year old son's birthday.  Doyle isn't interested - maybe he should have put up a "Closed" sign or something.  When Sandra offers to pay cash and produces a wad, suddenly his mind is changed.  He gives her an application and sends her off on her merry way, but she thinks it would be best to fill it out then and there.  A noise in the back startles Doyle and he takes control of Sandra, wanting to know who she really is.  

Claire enters through the back and sees Meredith frozen still.  Using her eyes only, Meredith tries to point Claire in the right direction, however Doyle approaches with Sandra in tow.  Claire aims her stun gun at Doyle and he seizes control of her as well.  Knowing those guns have only one shot, he redirects her arm and makes her fire at a puppet.  It is later, and Doyle has seated the three women at a table with a gun in the middle.  He's put one bullet in the gun and they are to play a cross between spin-the-bottle and Russian Roulette.  He makes Claire spin first and the barrel lands perfectly between Meredith and Sandra.  Doyle makes Claire decide who to fire at, but she can't.  He raises her arm and goes back and forth between the two women.  Sandra tells him not to hurt her, so he concludes that she must be her mother.  If she's Mom, then Meredith (who is too old to be her other daughter) must be the "fun aunt".  Meredith tries to distract Doyle by saying that she could in fact love him, but he's too smart to fall for that.  He makes Claire point the gun at Meredith and fires.  Click - empty chamber.  Now it's Sandra's spin.  He makes her spin and it points to Claire.  Noting it's like a "Greek tragedy", Doyle raises Sandra's arm and tells her to fire.  She won't, but Claire insists that she does so.  Obviously, we know she can take it.  Sandra fires the gun three times - the first 2 times, the chamber is empty, but the last one fires into Claire.  Doyle is impresses, and as he taunts the women, Claire heals, gets up (Doyle has no reason to keep control over her, he doesn't know she's alive), and knocks him out on the back of the head.  

The ladies have called HRG to the scene to recover Doyle.  HRG gives him an injection to keep him out and will be taking him back to Level 5.  There's a nice moment when they say that she may have gotten her genes from Meredith, but she got her heart from Sandra.  Claire's still too pissed at her dad to stick around (she still thinks he's a killer).  Meredith tells him that she's just a young woman looking for independence, and that she probably doesn't need them to protect her anymore.  HRG agrees, but thinks that Meredith could still be of good use.  Looks like he's recruiting her for the Company.  

Quick question - if Meredith is able to produce fire, shouldn't she have been able to do so without moving?  All she had to do was "flame on!" and she probably could have escaped.  Even if the fire is limited to her hands, there's still plenty she could have done.  The powers are chemically controlled, and I don't think Doyle would have taken over her adrenaline glands too.  Just a thought.  

Weird Science:  Nathan and Tracy have gone to New York in search of Mohinder.  He is surprised when the show up at his door, and he immediately mistakes Tracy for Niki.  She explains that she's Niki's sister, and tells him that they were given powers by Dr. Zimmerman as a baby.  She shows him her ice power to prove she's the real deal.  Mohinder, the fly-man obsessed, wants to know how Dr. Zimmerman did it, but she doesn't know.  Mohinder asks about how her powers manifested, and it was through an emotional response.  A bit later, Mohinder is giving the pair an injection, something that will help map and trace their unique DNA.  Nathan says he always thought that God gave him his powers, but it was just his parents.  Mohinder can understand - he says that it was only by breaking away from his father's research was he finally able to break new ground.  Just then, Tracy doesn't feel right.  She passes out from the injection, and Nathan follows suit.  Nathan falls through the curtain, and just before he blacks out, he sees the cocoons on the wall, with Mohinder standing over him menacingly.  

Daphne makes a quick stop off at Mohinder's place as part of her recruiting drive (more on that to follow).  The people at Pinehearst are very interested in his work, and would like access to his research, his databases, and so forth.  She knows that they can give people abilities, and they need his help to save the world.  Just then, there's a noise from the back.  Daphne zips back there and finds Tracy and Nathan tied up, as well as the cocoons on the wall.  Tracy manages a "Help me", and Daphne is quick enough to escape immediately.  Looks like the jig is up.   Later, Tracy is regaining consciousness and tries to explain that they all make mistakes.  Mohinder thinks he's a monster, but she says they all are.  She puts out her hand, looking for some comfort, and Mohinder takes it.  Tracy turns on the ice and freezes his arm.  She then freezes her shackles and breaks them.  She finishes untying herself then helps Nathan out.  They ready their escape, but a desk comes flying over their heads.  Mohinder's pretty mad.  

The Writing on the Wall:  Hiro as a bad guy?  Come on, who really thought that was how it was going to go down?  When Knox hands Hiro the sword to kill Ando, he freezes time, teleports to a magic shop in Japan (one he frequents, perhaps?), grabs a sword with a retractable blade and a bag of fake blood, travels to 2 hours previous when Adam is busy provoking the bartender and the current Hiro is getting punched, quickly stuffs the blood in Ando's jacket and tells him he'll need to pretend to be dead, teleports back to his time, stabs Ando in the blood pack, and therefore declares himself a badass.  Whew, I'm exhausted.  That's proof enough for Knox - Hiro's in.  Now they have to take Adam to see "the boss".  In private, Daphne is utterly shocked that he killed Ando.  Hiro says he's a villain like her.  She's pretty defensive, saying that he's supposed to be one of the good guys and stabbing (or not stabbing) Ando was the test.  But now, he's in, and therefore must earn his keep.  She hands him a dossier with the Mystical Man from Africa in it.  He's a precog, so he'll know Hiro's coming for him.  He is to bring him to the Pinehearst facility.  Daphne bolts and Ando gets up.  Now he knows that it's like to be killed by his best friend, and therefore they're even.  Dysfunctional friendships are the best!

Hiro and Ando teleport to Africa in the middle of many future paintings.  Hiro says the man in the picture looks familiar.  Ando's having a bit of a moral dilemma - he thinks they're going to kidnap the Precog, but Hiro insists it's just "borrowing".  Hiro enters the man's hut, calling out "Mr. African Isaac!" when he sees more pictures.  One is the disturbing image of Costa Verde exploding.  Another picture looks like Hiro being whacked on the head with a shovel.  The paint is still wet on this one, and when Hiro turns around, Mysterious Man whacks him on the head!  Who would have seen that one coming?

Ando finds Hiro waking up.  Ando suggests that Hiro go back in time to 1 minute before he gets hit to surprise the Mysterious Man.  Hiro still refuses to go back in time.  But Ando points out that he went back to stage Ando's death and everything was just fine.  That's true!  So Hiro accepts and goes back to a minute before his attack.  While hiding behind a rock outside of the hut, he sees a different picture of himself getting whacked on the head.  He turns about and bam!

Hiro wakes up in time to see his other self get attacked.  He lets Ando know that time travel won't work against this guy.  Instead, they'll just have to catch him the old fashioned way.  Night falls and the boys make their move.  The man is sitting in front of the fire with his back turned to them.  Hiro spots the shovel and takes it.  They approach the man and Hiro goes to whack him in the head when the man congratulates Hiro.  To catch him, he used his head and didn't rely on his powers.  Hiro asks if this was all just a test, and the man tell him that it was.  He's now "ready."  He shows them a painting - 4 portraits surrounding the double helix logo - the four look to be Maury Parkman, Arthur Petrelli, Knox, and Flint (even with DVR it was hard to tell).  The man says that Hiro must take him to them.  Hiro also sees one more picture - a picture of a man hugging another, but the 2nd person's face is hidden. 

Family TiesAround the World in 80 Seconds:  At the Pinehearst Facility (which is in Fort Lee, NJ, right across NYC at the George Washington Bridge), Knox and Adam arrive and Adam is curious as to what it is that Knox can do.  He tells him that he's gets strong on fear, but of course Adam is too cocky to be afraid.  That is, until he sees Arthur Petrelli lying in bed.  He thought Mr. Petrelli was dead.  Now he's afraid.  It appears that they have a quick psychic conversation, and Knox gets stronger and stronger.  Adam tries to bolt but the newly powered up Knox grabs him and drags him to Arthur.  He puts his hand on Adam's hand and Adam starts to age increasingly fast.  Quickly, his body begins to decay and he disintegrates into a pile of dust - exactly what someone 500 years old should look like.  Mr. Petrelli sits up, removes the tubes in his nose and his neck (the neck hole closes itself up), and he proclaims it's good to breath again.  Fare-thee-well Adam, you will be missed.  

Daphne arrives at an airport with a picture of Matt Parkman, her next recruit.  She goes to toss it out but Linderman appears, advising her not to.  If she's having some sort of moral dilemma (caused by Hiro stabbing Ando), she needs to get over it.  Otherwise, the Pinehearst people will "cut her off".  She sees Matt coming down an escalator (carrying his turtle in a cage!) and Linderman is gone.  Off to the side, Maury Parkman is there, feeding her the necessary images.  Matt is having a heart-to-heart with the turtle, wondering how he'll be able to find Daphne, when she appears right in front of him.  He accidentally refers to her by name, and she gets a little freaked out - how could he know?

It turns out that Pinehearst knows as much about Matt as he knows about Daphne.  He wants to know if it is about the two of them - huh?  He tells her about his vision of the future and how they were married.  He thinks they're soul mates and this is enough to fully creep Daphne out.  He tells her they have a baby named Daniella but Daphne zooms away...only to come immediately back.  Matt knows the baby is named after her grandmother.  Things seem strange, but she tells Matt to wait right there for her.  

Daphne's got a schedule to keep, so she bolts to Level 5.  She finds Sylar and says she's there to spring him.  But Sylar doesn't want to leave.  She says that the people she works for want him because he's a killer.  He gets mad and tells her he isn't a killer anymore, all while telekinetically choking her.  She says they're changing him, but her teams wants him as is.  He lets go and Daphne zooms into Flint's cell, but not before dropping a Pinehearst business card into Sylar's hand.  She lets Flint go as well. 

Sylar enters Peter's cell and removes the tubes pumping him full of the medicine keeping him comatose.  He needs Peter's help, but Peter is too angry - Sylar's gift has made him a monster.  Sylar insists that he's no longer a monster.  Peter tells him that in the future, Sylar was able to keep the hunger under control (we know that this was for his son's sake), but Peter needs to know how he did it.  They speculate that it has to be belief or hope.  Very New Age-y.  All Sylar knows is that Mama Petrelli's in trouble, and they have to help.  

Daphne continues to globe trot, making a quick stop to check up on Matt - he's still waiting for her.  Quickly she's off to see Mohinder.  Peter and Sylar find Angela in a coma (the result of her psychic attack last week).  Sylar feels that he should have protected her.  He asks Peter to use his psychic power to see into her mind to find out who did this.  All Peter is able to see is one horrible image - the double helix.  Sylar's seen this before, and produces the Pinehearst business card.  The boys are off to help, but Peter freaks out when Sylar refers to Angela as "Mom."  Peter flies into Sylar's chest, crashing them into a wall.  Sylar uses the Force to push Peter away, but Peter electrically zaps Sylar.  He proceeds to beat the hell out of Sylar, declaring that he's the one with the power, and he's the one who is most special.  He knocks Sylar out and puts him back in Level 5, replacing the tube in his nose to keep him in a coma.  Lots of comas this week.  

Matt has spent far too long at the airport and thinks it might be time to give up on waiting for Daphne.   Naturally, Daphne shows up at that moment.  Daphne clearly sees that Matt's a good guy, so she tells him that he's no longer being recruited - he doesn't "fit in".  The people she works with/for are bad people.  Matt says that she should stay away from them too - he tells her about his vision of her getting killed.  He believes he's there to save her.  She's not willing to listen to her heart, and she has to do what she's always done - run so fast that no one can catch her.  Matt wants to know what it is that these people have on her, but she's not talking.  He's willing to protect her, but again, not happening.  She takes off.  

Peter appears outside of the Pinehearst building, turns invisible (Claude's power!), and sneaks into the building.  Inside, Knox, Flint, Daphne, and Maury are brought before the sharply-dressed Arthur Petrelli.  The bad guys are here.  Peter bursts in, hands electrically charged and looking for a fight, when he sees his dad!  He's supposed to be dead - what's going on?  Peter can't believe that he's the one who would hurt Angela, and that he's behind all of this.  Arthur tries to reason with his son, and tries to mend the gap between them with a hug.  Peter obliges and Arthur sucks the powers out of his son.  ALL OF THEM!  Now, Arthur has them all.  

Does this mean that Peter is now 100% powerless, including his original "power memory" ability?  Now that he's lost Claire's power, will his facial scar come soon?  And Future Peter did still retain most of his powers - will our Peter have to travel the world once more, restocking his arsenal of abilities to take out his father?  So many questions, you'd think this is "Lost"!