livecap/meta: 4:13 "Upon this Rock" and 4.14 "Let It Bleed"
Jesus. This... just wow. Just wow. That was two hours of the most difficult - but very well done and shout-outy 2 hours of television I've ever seen. If not THE most. It's not a total success, but it's got Great Performances and no one could possibly say that TPTB disrespect Nathan after this. But dammit... ow. I'm all bruised.
Why do they have so many commercials before the show? Three solid minutes. Wow. Not quite enough Inside Edition to pad out a full hour, huh? IT'S EIGHT. BRING IT ON.
Wait... the first thing they punch us in the face with is the replay of the death of Nathan. HEY THANKS. We get this instead of previouslies... (with a voiceover by... who? I was too broken up to take a note of it) Peter's got a headache, Hiro's quest, Mohinder and Samuel being sexy and that's all they need to do. And remember Emma's power? Yeah. It's totally sweet. And apparently she's got some darkness. This I know, for the editing tells me so. And Noah's life sucks. And Todd Stashwick is the man... man... man.... another man? Hey Todd, love you guy.
Claire's picking up trash. Good practice for that community service you might end up having to do someday. The Stash is watching her. Damn, he's creepysexydirty. Lydia tells Claire not to worry about it. Blueberry pancakes! Lydia sends Claire with some to Samuel, who is reading Noah's Primatech files. He obviously has a huge boner for her; when she comes in he gets really excited. Claire recognizes the box of files, and asks Sam if he knows her dad. Samuel blows it off, and gets Claire back on message. She looks gorgeous here. Nothing like her own hair and not too much mascara! They quote cutely back and forth at each other, and hmmm... Yeah, I'd slash that.
And... PLANET KRING! It's a sad, sad planet.
Immediately back to the show. And Tokyo! Hiro blips in. He runs for a noodle vendor and starts spouting allusive nonsense, Star Trek AND Don Quixote? You're too clever for this audience, or at least, NBC thinks so. A girl has an emergency with some guy trying to snatch her purse (one of those things that just doesn't happen in Japan; that kind of crime is exceedingly rare there) and Hiro rushes over, talking about his lightsaber. o_o He deals with the situation and looks adorable doing it - and thus gets arrested. "I need transport to my sidekick!" he pleads.
Out in Carnieville, Samuel has a flashback complete with classic-metal soundtrack. I bet he was really into Ziggy Stardust. Or Alice Cooper. Or both. Kid Samuel is moving the earth, and shows Joseph. They are adorable and Irish. (Esque. I doubt the show's got the budget for real Irish kids.) Samuel was already showing signs of narcissistic personality disorder even then, and Joe teases him about it. Then slaps him. Are they Petrellis?
A promising start...
Carnival. Is that The Edge? The Stash is watching Claire again. She gets nervous. Lydia schools her teenage child, and it makes Claire smile. She wonders if she got to live in a mutant wonderland, if it would have made her life easier. And asks why Samuel wanted her to come to the carnival. Lydia tells her true - that it's an obsession with him to collect Specials. Claire begins to pick up a hint of a clue. And she remains fearless. Until she runs into the Stash and Stash 2 in Samuel's trailer. He tells her to get her ass back to work.
Ando goes to bail out Hiro. The police sergeant tells Ando that Hiro's speaking nonsense. Hiro shows up then, and calls Ando Sancho. Oh dear. What he's saying makes perfect sense, but only if you know all the references he's using. Poor guy. This is totally going to happen to me when I go senile; I'll be making Babylon 5 and REPO MAN references and nobody will have a clue what I'm talking about. "John Wayne was a fag." "Lots of guys like to watch their buddies fuck! I know I do!"
Hey, it's Emma! Back in New York. Where Nathan no longer lives. BAWL!! She opens a letter, and finds out that her reapplication to med school got denied. Yeah, the economy's tough, sister. She goes home, majorly bummed out, and grabs her cello. Before she can bust some Brahms, a buzz comes at the door. It's Samuel! (I was hoping it was Peter in hysterical, horny tears.) Samuel is fluent in ASL, too, of course. Emma's like (signing) "Fuck off." Then Sam admits to being the one who sent her the cello. It's got a compass symbol on it! The plot? It thickens. Slowly. Like a gravy.
Hiro tries to explain, in Nerdglish, to Ando what needs to happen. Ando is being all square and not understanding him. Kimiko comes in, saying that she has gotten a neurosurgeon - she wants him to live! Ando slowly slowly figures it out, though. "It's like someone took a spoon and stirred up his fanboy brain" - which is exactly how I described this show when it first came out! The answer! It's in comic books! That's right! Go buy them! Please! PLEASE! They can save your life! And my professional career!
Emma's still trying to reason with Samuel. She asks him how he knows about her; Lydia sent him, apparently, through her magic tats. Emma allows Samuel into her crib. Samuel tells Emma that the cello was originally for someone special to him, but that one day he lost her... oh dear, what ugly story is behind those lovely words? He tells her to let go of her fear and embrace her ability. He asks for her help to find a dude - hey, a black dude! Doesn't bode well for his lifespan. And is homeless. Yeah, the economy's rough.
Claire is still picking up trash and carrying around boxes of prizes - and being stared at by the Stash, who is everywhere he wanna be. She takes off running, and multiple Stashes run after her, into the House of Mirrors. Oh this'll be fun. Low budget TV magic! See? Now she's everywhere. With a stool, which she cracks over his head. The multiples dissolve, and Claire beats feet into Samuel's trailer. He's got many files, and a cute pic of him and his brother from back in the day. And also David Lawrence's Doyle working for him! He yanks her around like a busty li'l marionette, and demands to know what she was doing. And SCENE!
Let me go," she pleads. Doyle accuses her of being a spy. She tells him that Samuel is collecting people. Doyle doesn't really care; he's got his own kinks. Claire tells it to him straight, but he's not really listening - he wants this life of safety more than anything. Oh, dear.
Meanwhile, in Hiro's comic-book archive (and DAMN, this guy's a professional; I wish I had a comics library like that!) and he and Ando puzzle out where Hiro put Mohinder! Yes! Good smart Ando! Aw, sidekick and hero. It's adorbs.
Samuel lays the science on Emma, telling her more about her ability. Namely that she's a good musician, and that if she plays, she can work as a location device - a beacon, of sorts - for a target of her choosing. Hmmm! That's pretty cool. Her superhero name is SIREN! And her playing in the park gets her a lot of other listeners, too. Including the homeless man in question, who approaches like a proud young black man in a bad wig. And... Emma's musical ability - can BRING THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE. or at the very least, she made a winter-brown tree's leaves green again.
I genuinely honestly don't know what to think.
Oh, Hiro. Yes. Hiro. Because Nathan's gone daddy gone. Emma can save Hiro's life. Well, that's all right then. Waving tiny flag of yay; rolling up the giant tapestry of Dreams Come True.
At the hospital, Emma has checked in the homeless dude, and Samuel thanks her. And gives her a compass to show the way to the carnival. Hey, suddenly handsome, cleaned up black dude! Where do these castin directors get these handsome young gents with light eyes? Is there like a street corner or a Starbucks that they hang out in? "She's different, like me," he says. "Not different - special, " Samuel corrects, all but purring with pleasure.
On the news, footage of Nathan's death coverup plays. YEAH WE GET IT. Plane crash. Okay. OKAY. MOVING ON. That's just mean. (Oh, I had seen nothing of the depths of angst that are to come.)
At the carnival, Doyle and Claire are still talking it out. Doyle doesn't want to believe that Samuel's bad; Joseph didn't want to take Doyle in, but Samuel told Joseph to do it. Claire tells Doyle to snap the fuck out of it; she doesn't mean him any harm. Doyle lets her go, and tells her to go find Lydia; that she knows the truth. Claire marches right over and asks. Lydia all but breaks down, recalling Joseph's death. Claire figures it out without Lydia having to tell her, but also expresses her love of the carnival - all except Samuel. Lydia begs Claire to find someone to stop Samuel, so Claire marches (no, really, she's marching a lot in this episode) right off to do it - only to run into the clutches of a very, very cranky Stash. Cat; mouse; y'all have fun, now.
Samuel storms over and yells at Stash. Stash looks slackjawed and astonished for a second - the guy's a great actor. Claire totally confronts Samuel with the truth, and Samuel butters it over with lies. Or tries to, anyway; Claire's a prickly bitch. So Samuel actually tries tears instead! Wow, this guy will try anything to get his way. And plays the father-is-a-murderer card! Claire don't play that. She wants to know what's going on ... down in the valley, the valley so low.
Down there, Ian (the formerly homeless dude) is crumbling soil in preparation for something. Samuel calls up water from a crack in the earth, Ian puts his hands down, and grass grows out from his touch. Even bitter ol' Claire is kind of moved by the sudden spectacle of life. "It's beautiful," Ian says. "It's who you are," Samuel purrs. When Claire asks where they are, Samuel answers, "Our new home." Claire turns to him and says, "I have a home. And I'd like to go back to it." Samuel smiles in a frankly terrifying way (I'm seeing a hint of televangelist in it) - and tells her she's free to go. So she walks. And gets a voicemail. From her dad! And Peter! "You need to call me," Peter says. "We have a lot to talk about."
And there's Pete himself, walking past the flag-draped coffin, joining Angela, glimpsing Noah from across the gravesite. GAWD. Claire rides up in a taxi. Angela is very still in her seat. OK WE GET IT OK GODDAMN. This is positively cruel! "I'm glad you're safe," Noah tells her. "From what?" Claire hisses. And refuses to give the compass back. And then Peter gives a eulogy. It's beautiful and I watched it closely, so no recap.
Oh, Milo.
"I'm ready, bro," he says, "for whatever comes." Kisses the coffin. Because yeah. (Thanks for that.)
And funerality happens. Full military honors. Angela gets the flag and the salute (and it starts raining) and this is about as dead as I've seen a character EVER get on TV. I don't mean to be flippant, but JESUS. A full funeral? We GET IT. He's GONE. Now, all those people complaining about how nobody ever stays dead? FUCK YOU RIGHT IN YOUR EARHOLES. Hope you're happy now.
NOW! Heroes continues now that we're all sick with grief.
4. 14: "Let it Bleed"
Peter! Alone! In the dark! Outside of New York City 86 hours ago! Noah drives up. "I want to see him," he demands. Noah opens his trunk. It's Corpse Nathan, making his hopefully final appearance. Hope Adrian Pasdar got paid his full day rate for that. "Plane's ready to go," Noah says. "You don't have to get involved in this." "I have to," Peter spits. So, uh, what? Now 'splain to me please how they did the plane crash? Nobody else was on board, so... did Peter take Nathan's ability from his COLD DEAD NAKED CORPSE and fly out of the plane while it was in the air? Or what? Plot hole, meet soul hole. Get comfy, you two.
At the wake, a hot black chick comes up to share her condolences. Peter's so stricken he doesn't even make the moves. Peter is so so so very alone. So alone, in the dark, and he's not even drinking. Poor boo.
We're given a reprieve by going to the carnival. Samuel's mixin' up the ink and making psychic drawings. The ink resolves to a woman's face... and then Doyle comes flying, crashing onto the table. Because hey, Sylar! Kill some motherfuckers for me. Doyle wisely runs away. Sylar brandishes the compass, and does his usual monologuing - and flings Samuel against the side of a trailer. Hey, it's a Special-brains buffet! Samuel tempts Sylar with the promise of big plans, but Sylar's more interested in brains! - but Samuel engulfs him in a tornado and rips off half his flesh. Sylar falls into a moist heap onto the dirt.
And PLANET KRING!
You know after that, the Chuck promos just hurt my feelings. Zachary Levi is in the new Chipmunks movie; I no longer give a shit about his career.
At Ratings-Ploy Lesbian Roommate College, Claire in indulging in heavy mascara therapy. NOOOO! Oh well, too late. Noah arrives, stopping the horrors from continuing. She tells him that she doesn't want a ride to the funeral; that she despises him for what he did re: Nathan and Sylar. THANK YOU. Noah is contrite and tries to explain; Claire doesn't buy it. She walks away.
Oh wow, a whole episode of bummer? YAY. What a wonderful treat for someone struggling with depression. Show, you shouldn't have. How did you know? It's perfect. Like a rusty hunting knife to the duodenum perfect.
Peter is so so so alone at the wake, staring out the window at the night sky. Angela comes over to him, and says, "I keep on looking up, too, trying to see him." FUCK YOU, ANGELA. Peter turns to face her with a sigh, and the anger filters through to the surface, though he tries to push it down. Angela tells Peter that revenge is not the correct path, because she can't bear to lose him, too. You selfish bitch. Make it all about you, why don't you? Better not avenge Nathan because it might inconvenience Mother! FUCK YOU. Heard from Millie recently? Bond over Cosmos and reminisce about the people you had killed.
Claire arrives and she and Pete go to the kitchen, where he tells the staff to take a hike. Pete loosens his tie and asks after Noah; she tells him what's what. They sympathize furiously. "Did they really think they'd get away with it?!" she gripes, and then cuts herself. She doesn't heal. Peter runs for a band-aid, and Claire tells the sweet truth of cutting. Yes, sometimes, it is nice to feel pain. But it's not a solution. For more than a second. She gets back to what she's doing. She's slicing lemons with a cut on her hand? OUCH. That's masochism for you. She's trying to make jokes and Peter is just not feeling it. Claire reveals that she is FB friends with West. EWWW. She asks Peter to share his stories of Nathan. Peter is REALLY not feeling it, and leaves the kitchen. That's right; protect her fragile young mind. She doesn't need to know what you two were up to in the kitchen alone. Oh God, I need to read Ritual stories tonight or I'm going to cry myself to sleep.
Noah, alone in his apartment, feels like shit. So say we all. Outside, Edgar is watching him like an adorable Scottish panther waiting to strike. Unfortunately Noah's very quick with his taser trigger finger, and drops a Caruso-worthy line: "Won't get fooled again." YEEEEEEAH!
God, kill me. I just compared Heroes to CSI: Miami. See what you've done to me? I feel dirty and violated, and not in a way that I enjoy.
Noah is at his local Japanese restaurant, begging for the place to himself, flashing Benjamins. It's so he can have a date with Lauren, who has been using her hot twisty hair rollers. Apparently she's known as the Iron Maiden; does that make him the Judas Priest? He explains what she's doing there; she's brought sodium pentothal, and Noah wants to give it to Edgar so that he'll spill all about the Carnival. Oh, this should be entertaining.
Beaded curtain wipe! Lydia is brooding gorgeously. Samuel's put Sylar in Lydia's trailer while he heals, but Samuel thinks there's something wrong with him. "He's different... not the cold blooded killer," he muses. He wants to throw Lydia at the problem. Lydia is not down with that; he tells her she liked it just fine last time. That's because it was Nathan, dickhead!
Lydia hates her life but has an ace or two up her sleeve. She goes back to her trailer, caresses Sylar's fuzzy belly (oh lawdy... yeah, that's a screengrab I'm interested in) and tells him she's going to help figure out what's wrong with him. He starts up and denies that there's anything wrong with him; he just doesn't like girls! She refuses to believe that, and has apparently made the right decision, because Sylar gets plenty warm - and gets an onslaught of his, Parkman's, and Nathan's memories. "You want love," she surmises. "Do you know what I do to people like you?" Sylar demands. Lydia knows, but she's kind of hot and bothered and breathy. And so's he. Uh, rawr...? He asks about her tattoos, and he grabs her by the hair and DEFINITELY rawr! Sylar has figured it out again. And taken her power while he was at it. But his claims of not killing anymore are bogus, Lydia says; she says he just can't. Because he's impotent. Ruh-roh! HAHAHAHAH She means powers-wise. But still. DAMN! hahahahahah... oh that's good... Not something a guy really wants to hear, ever, in any context, let alone with a hot-to-trot full-grown woman in the same bed.
Before we get too chipper about this, we go back to Petrellis' house of misery. Angela apologizes to Claire for not having any pictures of her. Claire is cold as ice. Angela compliments her on that, and then takes the opportunity to dis Peter. GODDAMMIT, ANGELA. She says that Peter has no idea how to grieve, and tells Claire that now she has to be the shoulder that Peter leans on. Oh MY. Anyway, Peter was on the roof listening to the police scanner, but now he's on his way someplace with the Haitianing ability. On the ground, he knocks out a cop who is trying to deal with the situation, and rushes in like the fool he is. Aw, that's my Pete. Go get killed; there's a good boy.
Gunshot wound; woman on the ground. Peter applies pressure and says hi to Claire when she also shows up. The shot woman, Wendy, explains what happened - workplace freakout with guns. Yeah, I know; they do happen a lot these days, don't they? Peter rushes off to do heroic stuff because... well, he's Pete.
Back with Noah and his needles, Edgar slumps all bleedy and stoned. Lauren comes back in and tells Noah to step aside for a little confab. She tells him that he's being freaky and scary, and that torture doesn't work. Noah doesn't want to listen to this dizzy left-wing dame, but Lauren tells him to chill the fuck out and use his brain instead of his testosterone-laced fists.
Back at Dunder-Mifflin-Homicide, Claire is pretty bored with applying pressure; then the gunman himself shows up, just in time for Peter to show up and start talking him down. Milo is ROCKING this. "I am right there with you. Everyone expects me to shake hands and pretend like everything is normal, but I can't," he snaps. "I want to torture the guy who murdered my brother... I want to make him scream. That's all I can think about." Yeah. It keeps me up nights, too. Scream for me, Sylar. Yeah, baby, that's right. "But I'm gonna be strong. I promised my brother that I'd be a hero. Don't make me a liar."
So the guy shoots him. Wouldn't you?
But of course Peter's still alive; asking Claire to transfer a little power to him to heal him. Claire's like, "Uh, no, you fucking idiot. I'm cutting you off." Peter groans that he can't stop, can't stop being a reckless fool trying to save the world. So Claire caves, because she's like that. Peter's all better. Yay. I like Milo's waking-up face. Claire asks him to chill the fuck out with the heroic crap, but he's not listening. "Nathan would be so pissed at you right now," she says. Peter gets that pout. You know the one! "I can't stop. If I stop, I'll think about it. If I think about it, then it's real," he begins to cry. His eyes fill with agonizing tears. "I miss him." ME TOO! ME TOO! Hugs! Hugs all round! BAWWWWWWWWWL!
Is... is it too late... for Nathan to rise as Dark Phoenix? And lay waste to this sorry planet? PLEAAAASE? And none of that shitty X3 Jean Gray, either - I want the full Chris Claremont, planet-destroying, mindless fury Dark Phoenix who kicks entire planetary systems around like so many croquet balls. I want cosmic rage. Please?
Drinking a lot of whiskey this week. It's seriously necessary.
Noah comes over to Edgar and decides to take the good cop approach. "Oh, the skirt is the good cop," Noah reassures him. But he is actually using his brain for once. Edgar doesn't have a compass. "What are you doing out here?" "Exiled," Edgar confesses, and tells Noah that Samuel killed Joseph. "What's he planning?" Noah asks, intrigued. Edgar confesses that Samuel told him to slice up both Noah and Danko. He's afraid of what Samuel's going to do. Noah decides to let Edgar go, and that they can go stop Samuel together. Yay Protagonist Edgar! He accepts the tea that Noah made for him. Awwww, bonding through tea. It's what'll do when there's no waffles.
Sylar is tossing shit around, wanting to get a magic-ink tattoo. Goddamn, he looks good this week - it's because he's super pale. I like my Quinto pale. Samuel surmises that Sylar needs a friend... aw, I'll be your friend Sylar. I may stab you in the middle of the night, but I'll be your friend.
Actually the picture is "Melissa", the love of Samuel's life. She's "out there" somewhere, and Sam's afraid that she'll reject him. Maybe she likes her guys to use soap once in a while? Samuel lays down the science that he knows about Sylar's fear of dying alone. Sylar hardballs, though; "Let the tattoo show me," he purrs. It's a purr fest!
Back with Noah and Lauren ... and Edgar, and a bowl of miso soup, which Edgar totally loves. They strategize about how to get back to the carnival and get Samuel. "This is a raid," Lauren admits. Meanwhile, Edgar picks his handcuff lock, and tries to explain to them that they mustn't hurt anyone. Edgar doesn't want anybody hurt, but they can't promise. Wrong answer. He's free! He stands up, and says that it was a mistake to come here, or to trust them. "You're not a violent person," Noah tries to soothe him. "Yeah," Edgar replies, telling truth to power, "but you are." He zips quickly out of the apartment, hopefully leaving Noah feeling like an asshole. FUCK OFF NOAH. You are rapidly becoming dead to me.
Fortunately, we're back at the carnival, and Sylar has his shirt off. Thank you; I need it. I just love his body. Can I say that? I love that man's body! I love every hair on it! Samuel dips his ink into his skin (oh MY) and something resolves on Sylar's arm, or hand, or ... whatever, because we don't get to see what happens. He pulls his shirt back on and opinnes that he made a mistake in coming here. He bolts out of there, leaving Samuel nonplussed.
"I have a love-hate relationship with rooftops," Peter says to Claire. True dat. He tells Claire to go back to school, and tells her that he's fine, he's probably not going to attempt suicide again before morning. He tells her that he'll be honest with her. They have a nice rapport, but oh, professionalism; nice, huh? Well done, Milo and Hayden, and the six feet or so of distance you keep between you. He tells her to call West for him - because you KNOW that boy's addicted to flying! And the kid's kinda hot, and Peter is so so so so alone.
Noah and Lauren are talking it through. Lauren recognizes cult-like behavior in the carnies, and Noah recognizes it in Claire. Lauren tells him not to give up hope for reconciliation. Noah sadly looks at Claire's listing on his phone, then tries to call, then decides against it. Lauren gazes at him with concern. For God's sake, you two, get to fucking. I am tired of waiting for you to get with the program. Nathan would have had her pregnant with triplets by now.
Peter, on the roof, looks at his and Nathan's wedding picture (BAWWWWWLLLL!!!!), then drifts up (very West-style) and flies off into the night sky. SOB SOB SOB SOB oh man, I can't handle it. It is TOO SAD. My poor baby. My poor, stupid baby.
Claire gets back to the dorm; note on the door from Gretchen who is in the library. Claire gets the message from her dad, sets it to ignore, and lies down in bed. She's had a really long trip! It's no hop skip and jump from NYC to DC. No wonder she isn't bothering getting undressed.
Good thing, too. Outside her window, Sylar floats and watches her. "Hello, cheerleader," he says with a genuine-seeming happiness. I hope to God he ate West.
Ate West's brain! His BRAIN!
No, who am I kidding. I hope he ate West like some kind of decadent, molten pudding made out of hot young Italian boy. Because I need SOMETHING happy to think about, y'know?
I gotta say, even with all that, I think that Peter's eulogy might have sparked a new Ritual story - because if Nathan taught Peter how to hook a marlin, that means - that's right! - they must have gone on a fishing trip together. To Florida, or somewhere similar. Mwahahaha. Stay tuned.
Kring giveth and taketh away! Mostly he taketh, and then gets offended when people mind.
Oh well, forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown.
Next week (or the next weeks?) look entertaining. Adventure, excitement, and Emma in a very bad mood.
Why do they have so many commercials before the show? Three solid minutes. Wow. Not quite enough Inside Edition to pad out a full hour, huh? IT'S EIGHT. BRING IT ON.
Wait... the first thing they punch us in the face with is the replay of the death of Nathan. HEY THANKS. We get this instead of previouslies... (with a voiceover by... who? I was too broken up to take a note of it) Peter's got a headache, Hiro's quest, Mohinder and Samuel being sexy and that's all they need to do. And remember Emma's power? Yeah. It's totally sweet. And apparently she's got some darkness. This I know, for the editing tells me so. And Noah's life sucks. And Todd Stashwick is the man... man... man.... another man? Hey Todd, love you guy.
Claire's picking up trash. Good practice for that community service you might end up having to do someday. The Stash is watching her. Damn, he's creepysexydirty. Lydia tells Claire not to worry about it. Blueberry pancakes! Lydia sends Claire with some to Samuel, who is reading Noah's Primatech files. He obviously has a huge boner for her; when she comes in he gets really excited. Claire recognizes the box of files, and asks Sam if he knows her dad. Samuel blows it off, and gets Claire back on message. She looks gorgeous here. Nothing like her own hair and not too much mascara! They quote cutely back and forth at each other, and hmmm... Yeah, I'd slash that.
And... PLANET KRING! It's a sad, sad planet.
Immediately back to the show. And Tokyo! Hiro blips in. He runs for a noodle vendor and starts spouting allusive nonsense, Star Trek AND Don Quixote? You're too clever for this audience, or at least, NBC thinks so. A girl has an emergency with some guy trying to snatch her purse (one of those things that just doesn't happen in Japan; that kind of crime is exceedingly rare there) and Hiro rushes over, talking about his lightsaber. o_o He deals with the situation and looks adorable doing it - and thus gets arrested. "I need transport to my sidekick!" he pleads.
Out in Carnieville, Samuel has a flashback complete with classic-metal soundtrack. I bet he was really into Ziggy Stardust. Or Alice Cooper. Or both. Kid Samuel is moving the earth, and shows Joseph. They are adorable and Irish. (Esque. I doubt the show's got the budget for real Irish kids.) Samuel was already showing signs of narcissistic personality disorder even then, and Joe teases him about it. Then slaps him. Are they Petrellis?
A promising start...
Carnival. Is that The Edge? The Stash is watching Claire again. She gets nervous. Lydia schools her teenage child, and it makes Claire smile. She wonders if she got to live in a mutant wonderland, if it would have made her life easier. And asks why Samuel wanted her to come to the carnival. Lydia tells her true - that it's an obsession with him to collect Specials. Claire begins to pick up a hint of a clue. And she remains fearless. Until she runs into the Stash and Stash 2 in Samuel's trailer. He tells her to get her ass back to work.
Ando goes to bail out Hiro. The police sergeant tells Ando that Hiro's speaking nonsense. Hiro shows up then, and calls Ando Sancho. Oh dear. What he's saying makes perfect sense, but only if you know all the references he's using. Poor guy. This is totally going to happen to me when I go senile; I'll be making Babylon 5 and REPO MAN references and nobody will have a clue what I'm talking about. "John Wayne was a fag." "Lots of guys like to watch their buddies fuck! I know I do!"
Hey, it's Emma! Back in New York. Where Nathan no longer lives. BAWL!! She opens a letter, and finds out that her reapplication to med school got denied. Yeah, the economy's tough, sister. She goes home, majorly bummed out, and grabs her cello. Before she can bust some Brahms, a buzz comes at the door. It's Samuel! (I was hoping it was Peter in hysterical, horny tears.) Samuel is fluent in ASL, too, of course. Emma's like (signing) "Fuck off." Then Sam admits to being the one who sent her the cello. It's got a compass symbol on it! The plot? It thickens. Slowly. Like a gravy.
Hiro tries to explain, in Nerdglish, to Ando what needs to happen. Ando is being all square and not understanding him. Kimiko comes in, saying that she has gotten a neurosurgeon - she wants him to live! Ando slowly slowly figures it out, though. "It's like someone took a spoon and stirred up his fanboy brain" - which is exactly how I described this show when it first came out! The answer! It's in comic books! That's right! Go buy them! Please! PLEASE! They can save your life! And my professional career!
Emma's still trying to reason with Samuel. She asks him how he knows about her; Lydia sent him, apparently, through her magic tats. Emma allows Samuel into her crib. Samuel tells Emma that the cello was originally for someone special to him, but that one day he lost her... oh dear, what ugly story is behind those lovely words? He tells her to let go of her fear and embrace her ability. He asks for her help to find a dude - hey, a black dude! Doesn't bode well for his lifespan. And is homeless. Yeah, the economy's rough.
Claire is still picking up trash and carrying around boxes of prizes - and being stared at by the Stash, who is everywhere he wanna be. She takes off running, and multiple Stashes run after her, into the House of Mirrors. Oh this'll be fun. Low budget TV magic! See? Now she's everywhere. With a stool, which she cracks over his head. The multiples dissolve, and Claire beats feet into Samuel's trailer. He's got many files, and a cute pic of him and his brother from back in the day. And also David Lawrence's Doyle working for him! He yanks her around like a busty li'l marionette, and demands to know what she was doing. And SCENE!
Let me go," she pleads. Doyle accuses her of being a spy. She tells him that Samuel is collecting people. Doyle doesn't really care; he's got his own kinks. Claire tells it to him straight, but he's not really listening - he wants this life of safety more than anything. Oh, dear.
Meanwhile, in Hiro's comic-book archive (and DAMN, this guy's a professional; I wish I had a comics library like that!) and he and Ando puzzle out where Hiro put Mohinder! Yes! Good smart Ando! Aw, sidekick and hero. It's adorbs.
Samuel lays the science on Emma, telling her more about her ability. Namely that she's a good musician, and that if she plays, she can work as a location device - a beacon, of sorts - for a target of her choosing. Hmmm! That's pretty cool. Her superhero name is SIREN! And her playing in the park gets her a lot of other listeners, too. Including the homeless man in question, who approaches like a proud young black man in a bad wig. And... Emma's musical ability - can BRING THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE. or at the very least, she made a winter-brown tree's leaves green again.
I genuinely honestly don't know what to think.
Oh, Hiro. Yes. Hiro. Because Nathan's gone daddy gone. Emma can save Hiro's life. Well, that's all right then. Waving tiny flag of yay; rolling up the giant tapestry of Dreams Come True.
At the hospital, Emma has checked in the homeless dude, and Samuel thanks her. And gives her a compass to show the way to the carnival. Hey, suddenly handsome, cleaned up black dude! Where do these castin directors get these handsome young gents with light eyes? Is there like a street corner or a Starbucks that they hang out in? "She's different, like me," he says. "Not different - special, " Samuel corrects, all but purring with pleasure.
On the news, footage of Nathan's death coverup plays. YEAH WE GET IT. Plane crash. Okay. OKAY. MOVING ON. That's just mean. (Oh, I had seen nothing of the depths of angst that are to come.)
At the carnival, Doyle and Claire are still talking it out. Doyle doesn't want to believe that Samuel's bad; Joseph didn't want to take Doyle in, but Samuel told Joseph to do it. Claire tells Doyle to snap the fuck out of it; she doesn't mean him any harm. Doyle lets her go, and tells her to go find Lydia; that she knows the truth. Claire marches right over and asks. Lydia all but breaks down, recalling Joseph's death. Claire figures it out without Lydia having to tell her, but also expresses her love of the carnival - all except Samuel. Lydia begs Claire to find someone to stop Samuel, so Claire marches (no, really, she's marching a lot in this episode) right off to do it - only to run into the clutches of a very, very cranky Stash. Cat; mouse; y'all have fun, now.
Samuel storms over and yells at Stash. Stash looks slackjawed and astonished for a second - the guy's a great actor. Claire totally confronts Samuel with the truth, and Samuel butters it over with lies. Or tries to, anyway; Claire's a prickly bitch. So Samuel actually tries tears instead! Wow, this guy will try anything to get his way. And plays the father-is-a-murderer card! Claire don't play that. She wants to know what's going on ... down in the valley, the valley so low.
Down there, Ian (the formerly homeless dude) is crumbling soil in preparation for something. Samuel calls up water from a crack in the earth, Ian puts his hands down, and grass grows out from his touch. Even bitter ol' Claire is kind of moved by the sudden spectacle of life. "It's beautiful," Ian says. "It's who you are," Samuel purrs. When Claire asks where they are, Samuel answers, "Our new home." Claire turns to him and says, "I have a home. And I'd like to go back to it." Samuel smiles in a frankly terrifying way (I'm seeing a hint of televangelist in it) - and tells her she's free to go. So she walks. And gets a voicemail. From her dad! And Peter! "You need to call me," Peter says. "We have a lot to talk about."
And there's Pete himself, walking past the flag-draped coffin, joining Angela, glimpsing Noah from across the gravesite. GAWD. Claire rides up in a taxi. Angela is very still in her seat. OK WE GET IT OK GODDAMN. This is positively cruel! "I'm glad you're safe," Noah tells her. "From what?" Claire hisses. And refuses to give the compass back. And then Peter gives a eulogy. It's beautiful and I watched it closely, so no recap.
Oh, Milo.
"I'm ready, bro," he says, "for whatever comes." Kisses the coffin. Because yeah. (Thanks for that.)
And funerality happens. Full military honors. Angela gets the flag and the salute (and it starts raining) and this is about as dead as I've seen a character EVER get on TV. I don't mean to be flippant, but JESUS. A full funeral? We GET IT. He's GONE. Now, all those people complaining about how nobody ever stays dead? FUCK YOU RIGHT IN YOUR EARHOLES. Hope you're happy now.
NOW! Heroes continues now that we're all sick with grief.
4. 14: "Let it Bleed"
Peter! Alone! In the dark! Outside of New York City 86 hours ago! Noah drives up. "I want to see him," he demands. Noah opens his trunk. It's Corpse Nathan, making his hopefully final appearance. Hope Adrian Pasdar got paid his full day rate for that. "Plane's ready to go," Noah says. "You don't have to get involved in this." "I have to," Peter spits. So, uh, what? Now 'splain to me please how they did the plane crash? Nobody else was on board, so... did Peter take Nathan's ability from his COLD DEAD NAKED CORPSE and fly out of the plane while it was in the air? Or what? Plot hole, meet soul hole. Get comfy, you two.
At the wake, a hot black chick comes up to share her condolences. Peter's so stricken he doesn't even make the moves. Peter is so so so very alone. So alone, in the dark, and he's not even drinking. Poor boo.
We're given a reprieve by going to the carnival. Samuel's mixin' up the ink and making psychic drawings. The ink resolves to a woman's face... and then Doyle comes flying, crashing onto the table. Because hey, Sylar! Kill some motherfuckers for me. Doyle wisely runs away. Sylar brandishes the compass, and does his usual monologuing - and flings Samuel against the side of a trailer. Hey, it's a Special-brains buffet! Samuel tempts Sylar with the promise of big plans, but Sylar's more interested in brains! - but Samuel engulfs him in a tornado and rips off half his flesh. Sylar falls into a moist heap onto the dirt.
And PLANET KRING!
You know after that, the Chuck promos just hurt my feelings. Zachary Levi is in the new Chipmunks movie; I no longer give a shit about his career.
At Ratings-Ploy Lesbian Roommate College, Claire in indulging in heavy mascara therapy. NOOOO! Oh well, too late. Noah arrives, stopping the horrors from continuing. She tells him that she doesn't want a ride to the funeral; that she despises him for what he did re: Nathan and Sylar. THANK YOU. Noah is contrite and tries to explain; Claire doesn't buy it. She walks away.
Oh wow, a whole episode of bummer? YAY. What a wonderful treat for someone struggling with depression. Show, you shouldn't have. How did you know? It's perfect. Like a rusty hunting knife to the duodenum perfect.
Peter is so so so alone at the wake, staring out the window at the night sky. Angela comes over to him, and says, "I keep on looking up, too, trying to see him." FUCK YOU, ANGELA. Peter turns to face her with a sigh, and the anger filters through to the surface, though he tries to push it down. Angela tells Peter that revenge is not the correct path, because she can't bear to lose him, too. You selfish bitch. Make it all about you, why don't you? Better not avenge Nathan because it might inconvenience Mother! FUCK YOU. Heard from Millie recently? Bond over Cosmos and reminisce about the people you had killed.
Claire arrives and she and Pete go to the kitchen, where he tells the staff to take a hike. Pete loosens his tie and asks after Noah; she tells him what's what. They sympathize furiously. "Did they really think they'd get away with it?!" she gripes, and then cuts herself. She doesn't heal. Peter runs for a band-aid, and Claire tells the sweet truth of cutting. Yes, sometimes, it is nice to feel pain. But it's not a solution. For more than a second. She gets back to what she's doing. She's slicing lemons with a cut on her hand? OUCH. That's masochism for you. She's trying to make jokes and Peter is just not feeling it. Claire reveals that she is FB friends with West. EWWW. She asks Peter to share his stories of Nathan. Peter is REALLY not feeling it, and leaves the kitchen. That's right; protect her fragile young mind. She doesn't need to know what you two were up to in the kitchen alone. Oh God, I need to read Ritual stories tonight or I'm going to cry myself to sleep.
Noah, alone in his apartment, feels like shit. So say we all. Outside, Edgar is watching him like an adorable Scottish panther waiting to strike. Unfortunately Noah's very quick with his taser trigger finger, and drops a Caruso-worthy line: "Won't get fooled again." YEEEEEEAH!
God, kill me. I just compared Heroes to CSI: Miami. See what you've done to me? I feel dirty and violated, and not in a way that I enjoy.
Noah is at his local Japanese restaurant, begging for the place to himself, flashing Benjamins. It's so he can have a date with Lauren, who has been using her hot twisty hair rollers. Apparently she's known as the Iron Maiden; does that make him the Judas Priest? He explains what she's doing there; she's brought sodium pentothal, and Noah wants to give it to Edgar so that he'll spill all about the Carnival. Oh, this should be entertaining.
Beaded curtain wipe! Lydia is brooding gorgeously. Samuel's put Sylar in Lydia's trailer while he heals, but Samuel thinks there's something wrong with him. "He's different... not the cold blooded killer," he muses. He wants to throw Lydia at the problem. Lydia is not down with that; he tells her she liked it just fine last time. That's because it was Nathan, dickhead!
Lydia hates her life but has an ace or two up her sleeve. She goes back to her trailer, caresses Sylar's fuzzy belly (oh lawdy... yeah, that's a screengrab I'm interested in) and tells him she's going to help figure out what's wrong with him. He starts up and denies that there's anything wrong with him; he just doesn't like girls! She refuses to believe that, and has apparently made the right decision, because Sylar gets plenty warm - and gets an onslaught of his, Parkman's, and Nathan's memories. "You want love," she surmises. "Do you know what I do to people like you?" Sylar demands. Lydia knows, but she's kind of hot and bothered and breathy. And so's he. Uh, rawr...? He asks about her tattoos, and he grabs her by the hair and DEFINITELY rawr! Sylar has figured it out again. And taken her power while he was at it. But his claims of not killing anymore are bogus, Lydia says; she says he just can't. Because he's impotent. Ruh-roh! HAHAHAHAH She means powers-wise. But still. DAMN! hahahahahah... oh that's good... Not something a guy really wants to hear, ever, in any context, let alone with a hot-to-trot full-grown woman in the same bed.
Before we get too chipper about this, we go back to Petrellis' house of misery. Angela apologizes to Claire for not having any pictures of her. Claire is cold as ice. Angela compliments her on that, and then takes the opportunity to dis Peter. GODDAMMIT, ANGELA. She says that Peter has no idea how to grieve, and tells Claire that now she has to be the shoulder that Peter leans on. Oh MY. Anyway, Peter was on the roof listening to the police scanner, but now he's on his way someplace with the Haitianing ability. On the ground, he knocks out a cop who is trying to deal with the situation, and rushes in like the fool he is. Aw, that's my Pete. Go get killed; there's a good boy.
Gunshot wound; woman on the ground. Peter applies pressure and says hi to Claire when she also shows up. The shot woman, Wendy, explains what happened - workplace freakout with guns. Yeah, I know; they do happen a lot these days, don't they? Peter rushes off to do heroic stuff because... well, he's Pete.
Back with Noah and his needles, Edgar slumps all bleedy and stoned. Lauren comes back in and tells Noah to step aside for a little confab. She tells him that he's being freaky and scary, and that torture doesn't work. Noah doesn't want to listen to this dizzy left-wing dame, but Lauren tells him to chill the fuck out and use his brain instead of his testosterone-laced fists.
Back at Dunder-Mifflin-Homicide, Claire is pretty bored with applying pressure; then the gunman himself shows up, just in time for Peter to show up and start talking him down. Milo is ROCKING this. "I am right there with you. Everyone expects me to shake hands and pretend like everything is normal, but I can't," he snaps. "I want to torture the guy who murdered my brother... I want to make him scream. That's all I can think about." Yeah. It keeps me up nights, too. Scream for me, Sylar. Yeah, baby, that's right. "But I'm gonna be strong. I promised my brother that I'd be a hero. Don't make me a liar."
So the guy shoots him. Wouldn't you?
But of course Peter's still alive; asking Claire to transfer a little power to him to heal him. Claire's like, "Uh, no, you fucking idiot. I'm cutting you off." Peter groans that he can't stop, can't stop being a reckless fool trying to save the world. So Claire caves, because she's like that. Peter's all better. Yay. I like Milo's waking-up face. Claire asks him to chill the fuck out with the heroic crap, but he's not listening. "Nathan would be so pissed at you right now," she says. Peter gets that pout. You know the one! "I can't stop. If I stop, I'll think about it. If I think about it, then it's real," he begins to cry. His eyes fill with agonizing tears. "I miss him." ME TOO! ME TOO! Hugs! Hugs all round! BAWWWWWWWWWL!
Is... is it too late... for Nathan to rise as Dark Phoenix? And lay waste to this sorry planet? PLEAAAASE? And none of that shitty X3 Jean Gray, either - I want the full Chris Claremont, planet-destroying, mindless fury Dark Phoenix who kicks entire planetary systems around like so many croquet balls. I want cosmic rage. Please?
Drinking a lot of whiskey this week. It's seriously necessary.
Noah comes over to Edgar and decides to take the good cop approach. "Oh, the skirt is the good cop," Noah reassures him. But he is actually using his brain for once. Edgar doesn't have a compass. "What are you doing out here?" "Exiled," Edgar confesses, and tells Noah that Samuel killed Joseph. "What's he planning?" Noah asks, intrigued. Edgar confesses that Samuel told him to slice up both Noah and Danko. He's afraid of what Samuel's going to do. Noah decides to let Edgar go, and that they can go stop Samuel together. Yay Protagonist Edgar! He accepts the tea that Noah made for him. Awwww, bonding through tea. It's what'll do when there's no waffles.
Sylar is tossing shit around, wanting to get a magic-ink tattoo. Goddamn, he looks good this week - it's because he's super pale. I like my Quinto pale. Samuel surmises that Sylar needs a friend... aw, I'll be your friend Sylar. I may stab you in the middle of the night, but I'll be your friend.
Actually the picture is "Melissa", the love of Samuel's life. She's "out there" somewhere, and Sam's afraid that she'll reject him. Maybe she likes her guys to use soap once in a while? Samuel lays down the science that he knows about Sylar's fear of dying alone. Sylar hardballs, though; "Let the tattoo show me," he purrs. It's a purr fest!
Back with Noah and Lauren ... and Edgar, and a bowl of miso soup, which Edgar totally loves. They strategize about how to get back to the carnival and get Samuel. "This is a raid," Lauren admits. Meanwhile, Edgar picks his handcuff lock, and tries to explain to them that they mustn't hurt anyone. Edgar doesn't want anybody hurt, but they can't promise. Wrong answer. He's free! He stands up, and says that it was a mistake to come here, or to trust them. "You're not a violent person," Noah tries to soothe him. "Yeah," Edgar replies, telling truth to power, "but you are." He zips quickly out of the apartment, hopefully leaving Noah feeling like an asshole. FUCK OFF NOAH. You are rapidly becoming dead to me.
Fortunately, we're back at the carnival, and Sylar has his shirt off. Thank you; I need it. I just love his body. Can I say that? I love that man's body! I love every hair on it! Samuel dips his ink into his skin (oh MY) and something resolves on Sylar's arm, or hand, or ... whatever, because we don't get to see what happens. He pulls his shirt back on and opinnes that he made a mistake in coming here. He bolts out of there, leaving Samuel nonplussed.
"I have a love-hate relationship with rooftops," Peter says to Claire. True dat. He tells Claire to go back to school, and tells her that he's fine, he's probably not going to attempt suicide again before morning. He tells her that he'll be honest with her. They have a nice rapport, but oh, professionalism; nice, huh? Well done, Milo and Hayden, and the six feet or so of distance you keep between you. He tells her to call West for him - because you KNOW that boy's addicted to flying! And the kid's kinda hot, and Peter is so so so so alone.
Noah and Lauren are talking it through. Lauren recognizes cult-like behavior in the carnies, and Noah recognizes it in Claire. Lauren tells him not to give up hope for reconciliation. Noah sadly looks at Claire's listing on his phone, then tries to call, then decides against it. Lauren gazes at him with concern. For God's sake, you two, get to fucking. I am tired of waiting for you to get with the program. Nathan would have had her pregnant with triplets by now.
Peter, on the roof, looks at his and Nathan's wedding picture (BAWWWWWLLLL!!!!), then drifts up (very West-style) and flies off into the night sky. SOB SOB SOB SOB oh man, I can't handle it. It is TOO SAD. My poor baby. My poor, stupid baby.
Claire gets back to the dorm; note on the door from Gretchen who is in the library. Claire gets the message from her dad, sets it to ignore, and lies down in bed. She's had a really long trip! It's no hop skip and jump from NYC to DC. No wonder she isn't bothering getting undressed.
Good thing, too. Outside her window, Sylar floats and watches her. "Hello, cheerleader," he says with a genuine-seeming happiness. I hope to God he ate West.
Ate West's brain! His BRAIN!
No, who am I kidding. I hope he ate West like some kind of decadent, molten pudding made out of hot young Italian boy. Because I need SOMETHING happy to think about, y'know?
I gotta say, even with all that, I think that Peter's eulogy might have sparked a new Ritual story - because if Nathan taught Peter how to hook a marlin, that means - that's right! - they must have gone on a fishing trip together. To Florida, or somewhere similar. Mwahahaha. Stay tuned.
Kring giveth and taketh away! Mostly he taketh, and then gets offended when people mind.
Oh well, forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown.
Next week (or the next weeks?) look entertaining. Adventure, excitement, and Emma in a very bad mood.