CHAPTER TWELVE - “OUR FATHER”

Air Date
Monday, December 8th, 2008 7/8c

Synopsis:

16 Years ago – Manhattan, New York
Hiro and Claire watch as the scene where she his handed over to Noah Bennett plays out once again atop the Nakamura Building. Claire recognizes Hiro but because Hiro didn’t learn English until after he turned ten there is a communication gap. When Hiro hears that his mother is near he goes in search of her and Claire follows.

Kaito, Hiro’s dad and our favorite Star Trek character still on TV, discusses the catalyst with his wife, Ichi, and how he wants the baby (Claire) to have it. They both are aware that she is dying. She wants Hiro to have the catalyst but Kaito thinks Hiro useless because he is always playing games and reading comic books. When a dove dies in its birdcage Ichi blows a breath on it and it lives again. Hiro now knows that his mother is/was someone with ability too.

Kaito finds Hiro roaming the house but does not recognize his son (16 years into the future). He sends him to the kitchen thinking him the new chef and orders him to start cooking.

Present Day
Sylar, covered in blood, gets a call from Arthur. Arthur wants him to come back but Sylar tells him that he will no longer help him. Then Sylar covers the buzz-cut body of Elle in lighter fluid, says goodbye and lights her corpse on fire using his new ability of electricity.

Angela tells Peter that he must work with the Haitian to nullify Arthur’s powers and kill him. She also explains to Peter that Arthur intended to kill Nathan which is why she poisoned him. Peter takes the gun and tells his mother that he will kill Arthur.

At Pinehurst, Nathan is ready to take over the project and become the “face” of the Corporation. Arthur is reluctant to let go but sees the value of Nathan as the public figure of the Company. Tracy reminds Arthur that they’ve already agreed to this.

Later, Tracy tells Nathan that leading the Corporation and his efforts in the Senate can propel them into the Presidency. (Note: In the future, we have seen Nathan Petrelli as President of the U.S. and who we thought was Niki, as the First Lady. They were given a press conference in front of Pinehurst in an earlier episode.)

Tracy begins to outline what Pinehurst intends to do with the formula and shows Nathan to an open area filled with soldiers. This is the Genesis of the new “Army.” Evidently, they intend to inject an elite unit of soldiers and turn them into super-warriors!

16 Years Ago
And in one of the creepier scenes Claire inserts herself into the lives of the Bennett’s before she’s even born. Sandra believes Claire to be a neighbor’s niece and invites her into the Bennett apartment. Claire ingratiates herself to Sandra and offers her help as a babysitter. She then proceeds to change her own diapers! (Uh, blink, blink, yuck!)

Present Day
Sue Landers walks through her office to fellow workers who wish her a happy birthday. She smiles and enters her office to find a delivery man already present. But, this is no ordinary delivery-man! It’s Sylar and what he’s delivering is a massive headache to one Sue Landers. Because she has the power to identify when someone is lying to her she realizes that Sylar is not in her office to make a delivery. As we’ve seen time and time again Sylar cannot control his impulses and buzz-saws Sue’s cranium to get at her power. When Sue’s fellow workers enter the room to congratulate her, Sylar, with hands bloody from the ‘operation,’ stands up and says, “Cake!” Using one of his other abilities he flings the door shut behind them. (I imagine the party to follow was a wild one! – The Alternative One)

In the meantime, Nathan talks with a sergeant and wonders why he wants to become enhanced. The soldier explains that he felt helpless during two tours in Iraq and he wants to become a better soldier. Nathan tells him their intention to administer the drug.

Daphne, who is apparently dragging Matt and Ando with her at super-speed, appears at the bike delivery station in New York in the hopes of finding Isaac Mendez’s sketchbook.
They talk to the dispatcher who tells them it would be impossible to locate something that old. Matt “reads” him and finds out that he is both till-tapping and in possession of the sketchbook. When Matt threatens to turn him in for the $5K theft he tells them he has the sketchbook in a safe and will retrieve if for them. After he’s gone for a few moments Daphne sees him trying to escape by bike. She gives chase, cuts him off and the man relinquishes the sketchbook to her.

16 Years Ago
Hiro is in the Nakamura kitchen “cooking” (actually making a huge mess) when he overhears his parents discussing the catalyst and Hiro’s irresponsibility. Hiro’s ten year old ego is deflated and what’s worse is, he’s made a huge mess in the kitchen!

Noah Bennett comes home to find Claire, who calls herself Bonnie, in the apartment caring for Past baby Claire. When he tells her that he knows the neighbors don’t have a niece Claire starts thinking fast. When Claire calls her Past baby self (still gotta get a handle on the future/past/present terminology) “Claire-Bear” Noah Bennett realizes that she means the baby no harm. But he’s still suspicious.

Hiro, who was having trouble in the kitchen, presents perfect waffles to his mother. (I’m guessing they were frozen!) They begin a conversation about Hiro and he confesses that he can manipulate the space/time continuum and that he is there from the future. In what is probably the tenderest scene of the entire show Hiro is reunited with his long-dead mother who is overjoyed to see him. Using her ability as a healer she kisses Hiro on the forehead and he regains his memory and his power. Then tells her that he has saved the world, twice!, and that he and his dad had form a wonderful, respectful relationship. ( I wonder why he lied?) Hiro’s mom defends her choice to keep the catalyst in the family and decides to give it to Hiro. When the catalyst is given to Hiro, in a swirling glow of light, she dies.

Present Day
The Haitian and Peter are on their way to kill Arthur Petrelli. In the car, the Haitian asks Peter for the gun and tells him that he is no killer and that he won’t be able to pull the trigger. Peter takes his stand and retains the weapon. He must be the one to pull the trigger!

Sylar, covered in the blood of his last buzz-saw-kill-orgy-fest, enters the elevator in Sue Landers’ building. A business man, frightened by Sylar’s presence and in great stress, lies to Sylar about being afraid. Sylar responds, “It does tingle!”

Ando, Daphne and Matt are perusing Isaac’s sketchbook and find that Hiro has lost his ability to travel through time.

16 Years Ago
On top of the Nakamura building, Claire and Hiro decide it is time to return from the past but before he can teleport them away Arthur Petrelli shows up (how in the hell did he know they’d be there?) steals the catalyst and, using his power of telekinesis, pushes Hiro off the roof. But, Hiro does not die. He is however, precariously hanging onto a flagpole a few stories from the roof crying for help. True to Isaac’s last comic Hiro and Claire are now stuck in the past and Hiro has lost his ability!

Present Day
Daphne, Ando and Matt are still pondering over the implications of the last comic when they conclude that someone needs to become a time traveler. Ando immediately responds by thinking he can be the next Hero and decides to find Arthur Petrelli and the formula.

Back at Pinehurst, Arthur brushes the catalyst into the formula (which looks suspiciously like blood) which causes the special batch to glow.

*** We now take a break for all the evil henchmen in the audience! Please laugh manically and rub your hands together as we contemplate… do-do-do… THE SECRET FORMULA! We now return you to your normally scheduled program.

Peter and the Haitian arrive at Pinehurst and taking out a guard make their way, once again, to Arthur’s office. But Arthur, Mohinder, Tracy and Nathan are busy with the formula. Arthur’s “spidey sense” tingles and he realizes that someone has entered the building. Peter confronts him with gun drawn and Arthur tries to flick the weapon away but his power has been diffused by the presence of the Haitian. Arthur reminds Peter that he is no killer and won’t be able to pull the trigger.

Meanwhile, in another part of the building, Nathan is overseeing the injection of the first volunteer serviceman, the army sergeant. Mohinder injects him with the catalyzed formula and the soldier immediately goes into massive convulsions.

For some unexplained reason, the Haitian is having trouble controlling Arthur and he begins to lose his power over him. He struggles and tells Peter that he needs to kill Arthur now. Then, almost simultaneously Peter fires the gun, the Haitian loses power over Arthur and Arthur lashes out at Peter cutting his face. (And we see how Future Peter got his facial scar!) In a fraction of a second Sylar appears, holds Arthur at bay and slows the bullet in mid-air. The Haitian’s powers at this point are ineffectual. The bullet turns slowly inches from Arthur’s head! With his new-found enhanced ability to detect lies Sylar asks Arthur if he is really his father. Arthur lies and tells him yes and Sylar, knowing the truth, releases the stopped bullet which hits Arthur dead-center in the forehead (pardon the pun!) Peter regards his dead father as Sylar leaves with the Haitian hot on his heels.

Down in the laboratory the soldier has stopped convulsing and Nathan, Mohinder and Tracy look on. Looking at their faces you can see that they (and we) are all asking the same question. What is your power? Then, the soldier releases himself from the chair straps by snapping the bonds, pulls the bolted chair from the floor and throws it through the glass of his cell embedding it in the concrete wall.

The formula evidently works! But, we have to ask for how long? And what are the side effects? (There are always side-effects! Just ask Mohinder!)

The Alternative Takes Note:

New Abilities:

1. Sue Landers – Able to detect when someone is lying (This ability was stolen by Sylar)
2. Army Sergeant – Super-strength – First human to be given an ability via injection of the catalyzed formula.
3. Ichi Nakamura - Hiro’s Mother – The Healer and receptacle of the Catalyst. (This ability was lost when Ichi died.)

Elle’s Phone Contact List:

Here are the names listed on Elle’s cell phone.
Byron Bevington
Curtis Hovespian
Daniel Buzzetti
Elizabeth Axelson
Gordon Hovey
Melvin Crum
Penkala Burton
Sparrow Redhouse
Sue Landers

Note: Where have we seen the names before?
1. Byron Bevington – Found on Chandra Suresh’s list from his laptop. From episode Homecoming. Byron also appears on NBC's interactive map, which notes his power as "precognition" and gives the following genetic markers: "UAY + GCA = ?"
2. Curtis Hovsepian - Found on Chandra Suresh’s list from his laptop. From episode Homecoming. On Elle's cell phone, Curtis' last name is misspelled as Hovespian
3. Daniel Buzzetti - Found on Chandra Suresh’s list from his laptop. From episode Homecoming.
4. Elizabeth Axelson – Not found.
5. Gordon Hovey – Not found.
6. Melvin Crum – Not found. 617-555-0145 is the phone number listed for Melvin Crum.
7. Penkala Burton - Found on Chandra Suresh’s list from his laptop. From episode Homecoming. Penkala also appears on NBC's interactive map, which notes Penkala's location as "12 Marshy Lane". According to Elle's phone, Penkala's phone number is 507-555-0164. (Godsend)
8. Sparrow Redhouse has been spotted before. Sparrow's name is the fifth of five names on Gabriel's list. Also, Gabriel's list gives New Mexico as her location. 505-555-0125 is the phone number listed for Sparrow Redhouse.
9. Sue Landers was also listed on Chandra Suresh’s laptop computer. 714-555-0149 is the phone number listed for Sue Landers.

Questions

Question # 1
If Hiro’s mother was a healer (and a powerful one, at that) then why couldn’t she heal herself? She healed the dove with a breath and brought back Hiro’s damaged memory with a kiss. But she cannot heal herself? There’s something someone’s not telling us?

Question # 2
Why did Hiro lie to his mother? Near the end he tells her that Kaito becomes proud of him and that they respect each other. Unless this is from a timeline downstream that we’ve yet to see this is a blatant lie. Why?

Question # 3
Why do Arthur and Tracy need an army of super-soldiers? What are they up to?

Question # 4
When Arthur died he glowed. This was after putting the catalyst into the formula. So the question then is this… Did he have some residual catalyst still inside? And where did it go to after he died? Lost forever? Or bestowed to the closest person with an ability? And why didn’t Sylar suck it up before he left? Yes, I realize that this is actually four questions but they inter-relate.

Tamagoyaki:

Hiro is ordered into the kitchen by his father who mistakes him for the new chef and tells him to make Tamagoyaki. Just what is Tamagoyaki? Wikipedia says:

A Tamagoyaki or dashimaki is a type of a Japanese omelet. It is often served as a Japanese breakfast dish. Some are sweet or salty, but there are many different types. They are usually cooked in a rectangular omelet pan.