Save the Cheerleader – Save the Future.

C’mon, say it with me!

This show is getting better with each episode, I hope that NBC’s showing the first three post-pilot episodes back-to-back on Sunday night, brings more audience to this awesome show. The standard cliff-hanger re-applies without the gore, infact this was the least gory Heroes I’ve seen. The powers are coming out, as the cast starts migrating in the right directions. Click to read the spoilerish? spoilery? recap.

Other links:

• Michael has his recap up, and thinks this is a treadwater episode.  He’s right of course, but there are some good reveals.  Peter’s power takes shape, as does Nathan’s and Matt’s.  Hiro does no time stopping, and Claire finds a new wardrobe.  Ya gotta look for the bright spots!

Peter

We pick up where we left off last time, with futureHiro time freezing with current Peter. Peter isn’t effected by the time-freeze, because Hiro is close enough to leech his time-stopping pow3r. So Hiro, in perfectly fluent and husky English, can deliver a message to Peter. He must go see Issac, and he must tell Hiro when he calls where to meet, and then Hiro turns heel, jiggles his samurai sword and leaves before a rift occurs, or some such.

Mohinder that got frozen in time, doesn’t understand Peter yelling out for Hiro, and only makes him more suspicious of Peter’s motives. Mohinder lacks passion, he only flew half a world a way, took a job as a taxi driver to investigate this, and one look at a funeral urn and he’s ready to pack it in, head back to India and forget all this next step in evolution. Bah, good riddance, he didn’t have any powers anyhoo, just was a whiney preachy boy. ‘There are no answers”, says Mo’ leaves Peter to go back to Issac’s place alone.
This time Issac is not flying high (in a metophorical sense, Nathan is the flyer) and hears Peter knock. They have a chat about help, leaving Simone, and seeing the future in comic-book styled art. Peter browses through the Issac-heroin induced comic book art, and finds the picture of the cheerleader Issac painted last week, and recognizes it as ‘the cheerleader’.

Peter show’s competence as a comic book editor and hangs Issac art on the handy art hooks, arranged just so to put the pictures in comic book order. Issac says, “I was high dog, I did all of this for nothing…” Peter gets all passionate (see this Mo!?) and tells Issac we need to finish it, but Issac doesn’t want to paint, he just wants to get high, then Peter thinks real hard and sees the future in an unfished painting, grabs some paint, and his eyes glaze over.

Peter finshes the painting and reveals that the cheerleader gets offed with a big round hole in her abdomen (I guess they don’t know the cheerleader is a healing MACHINE) and decide they have to save her, or at least get her another outfit. Ring Ring, Hiro Nakamura calling. This is Peter, I have a message for you… *cue cliffhanger music* (Ah.. Peter gets ALL the GOOD cliffhangers!)

Claire (the cheerleader)

Arrives at the hospital all bloodied by her end of the episode car crash (oh, and btw, NBC has a neat weekly comic books *ahem* graphic novels that are ‘outside of the show’, somewhat spoilerish, but feeds the addiction a bit… Last weeks novel teased that Quarterback Rapist didn’t expire in the crash) but really none the worse for wear (after wearing a windshield actually). She looks over and our favorite QB, Brody is alive and calling Claire all kinds of choice names. Mom’s gonna call her Daddy Horned-Rims, and have him come. Dad is actually in Las Vegas apprehending Superman, so he’ll be home in a while.

When Daddy finally makes it home from the desert, Claire is nicely cleaned up and confesses to father dear that she crashed the car into the building on purpose. She confesses that she lied to him, Daddy H-R asks about what (because he knows she is a teenager and has several lies in the queue), and Claire says that the QB had raped her, and that she isn’t the only rape victim. Daddy calms her and says that no-ones gonna know, because I have this friend, that wipes memories. (okay, so he didn’t say that part, but that was what he was thinking…)

Daddy visits the troglodyte QB and after talking calmly with the rapist, gets all physical and up in his face, then says, “Claire is a very special girl, its confusing whats happening to her, and she doesn’t need some punk making her life more difficult. blah blah… I’m gonna give you a new life, and maybe you’ll make something decent of it.” Draws back the curtain to reveal silent dark man with the funky necklace. Daddy commands, ‘Hollow him out, take everything.’ The Sith Lord must do his master’s bidding, so the curtain gets closed and Brody is alone with blackhole-guy!

Claire heals so qucikly that she decides to visit Brody, and talks to him and says that what he tried to do to her was wrong, and so was what she did to him. Bordy has know idea what she is talking about, and why does she call him “Brody”?

Nathan

A shirtless Nathan is in the clutches of Daddy Horned-Rims and the Dark Sith, they are walking him through the ubiquitous Las Vegas parking structure. Nathan tries to intimidate and bribe the twin, then when that doesn’t work, he takes advantage of Claire’s mom’s call to break free and run. Course he can’t get past the tall chainlink fence outside of the parking garage, so he’s quickly recaptured, but then… Swoosh!!! he flies up into the bright blue sky, then like a UFO out of Roswell, breaks right in a air-popping 90 degree turn and flies away, leaving Daddy HR with nothing to do but empty the brains of high school quarterbacks.

Nathan flies to a diner, where he meets up with Hiro who saw him fly. Hiro’s engrish is getting better, but is totally freaking out Nathan, talking about special powers and big bombs, but Hiro is a hero, so he’ll stop it. Nathan is only concerned about one thing, though… does he win the election in this bombastic future of Hiro’s. Hiro recalls him winning, so Nathan is all cheery and gives Hiro a ride back to Las Vegas.

Back in Las Vegas, Nathan bumps into Niki, and he didn’t expect to see her. He suspects her of getting him captured, and she suspects him of slipping her a mickey. A match made in heavan, Clark Kent and Wonder Woman… well except Nathan is married and running on a family values platform. Niki explains that she was used to blackmail Nathan, and all she wants to be is someone ‘good’, and not the person she ‘sees is the mirror’. Nathan puts on the politician shades and walks away.

Nathan confronts the hotel manager with the whole blackmail thing, and asks for a copy of the tape, because he and his wife get off on those things. (okay… maybe not the later part) Lindeman wants to keep it for a future promise. Nathan wants to ensure that Lindeman has a real live congressman in his pocket, so ups the ante for Lindeman’s contribution to 4 million. He is a creepy Clark Kent, that’s for sure.

Niki

Wakes up to the tapping of Nathan’s cheif of staff/henchman and wonders why she is in Nathan’s bed. The hotel manager comes in and chases off the political advisor guy, and then compliments Niki on her blackmailing skillz. Niki goes, huh? I left? The manager show her the tape (which looks amazinginly like a disk) of her and Nathan doing the humpty-hump and says job-well-done, you are cleared of your debt to Mr. MobsterLinderman!

After talking with Nathan in the hotel, Niki makes it home to a house full of cops, and they are looking for her prison escaped husband. D. L. Hawkins (see the graphic novel for backstory) She’s all worried, someone is coming. Headed for the back door… freaky music… the attacker is … ANDO! Waves at Niki.. so cute!

Niki remembers HuggerZ from her web-site and tells the cops that Ando is cool, just a little horny and smitten. Ando found her address from the whois database (nerdz rulez) Niki lets Ando down gently, and reminds him that she is a nice and wholesome mother, when she isn’t stripping for chatrooms on the internet… Two different people really. Ando leaves, and so do the cops, with a squad car outside, just in-case DL shows up. Which he does! He’s in the HOUSE! Get Out Niki! Run!!! (course if you read the graphic novel, you may have a different opinion of D.L. Plus he’s on the cast, so he’ll be around a while.
Matt

Wakes up on his couch (we last saw him at the beginning of last episode, getting treated by the Sith Lord… he was supposed to ‘go deep and clean him out’ iirc.) with his wife freaking out because he’s been gone for a whole day. Matt searches his memory and comes up blank, though he does remember that he is working with the FBI, but forgot to tell his wife that, but really she basically told him to ‘get out’… Matt can still grab the thoughts of untalkitive people, so he plays the ‘get into your wife’s head’ card, and makes nice.

Matt orders a steak dinner in secret, and really, orders too much. Time to make things right with the wife, and get totally inside her head. A one sided conversation with Matt talking is exactly what Matt and his wife need. Course telling the wife to wear something nicer, well, just isn’t done.

Middle of the day wine drinking and porterhouse steak’s from Mickey’s and the wife’s favorite song, and she is totally swooning. This mind-reading thing, it is good for the wooing. She of course smells the stink of sex on Matt, and accuses him of an affair. Matt gets frustrated and defends himself by saying he’d thought he was just trying to anticipates his wants. Wooo.. Matt gets the woo on, go mind reading power husband!

Matt has gotten the whole love making thing down, what with his ability to pull all the wonton thoughts from his wife’s head. She’s amazed and wants nothing, well except coffee icecream. Dude! Cuddle! no… Matt runs out for the instant gratification of coffee ice-cream. *sigh* Wife is totally smitten with Mr read-my-mind. The convience store doesn’t help Matt, too many open minds yelling at him, including one creppy guy that is going to rob the store. Matt confronts the guy, creeping him out with the mad mind-reading p0w3rZ! and the guy drops the gun and flees. Matt picks up the gun and then succumbs to the overwhelming thoughts the rest of the convience store crowd is tossing his way. Black out. Okay, Matt needs to work on the focus part, because Magneto would get all up in his stuff with this weak-mindedness.

Hiro and Ando

In their Raymond and Charlie outfits get dumped on the sandy outskirts of town, but the nice tough-guys drop them outside of a coach-car restaurant. Hiro is starving and can only speak Japanese unlike his futuristic doppleganger. Ando is all mad because Hiro can’t fight, and gets knocked out with one punch. Hiro is all mad at Ando for using Hiro’s power for personal gain… Waffles! Hoo! Hoo! (pre-future Hiro has a focus problem) Ando gets mad and storms out, off to find his love Niki of the intertubes. Hiro watches Nathan fly into the gravel field outside the diner. Shirtless Nathan comes in the diner, and Hiro takes the opportunity to make good conversation with the congressman wannabe. Japanese speaking Hiro is so cute, and begs a ride from Nathan back to town.

Hiro is converted to a Peronelli suporter, and after sayin ‘Up up and Away’ heads off to his and Ando’s abandoned car (A Nissan Versa) and shows his aptitude for engaging the windshielf wiper, however the actually driving part, no-can-hiro-do… cuz the instructions are all in engrish.
(current day.. not future 🙂 )

Ando returns to the Versa after from being rejected by Niki, and makes up with Hiro, partners again. They decide to call the artist again… Flash up to Peter’s story, and the cliffhanger, and future Hiro’s instructions.
Questions, Theories

D. L. apparently has the ability to move through physical objects, and wants to clear his name. Is he good or bad?

Daddy Horned-Rims and the Sith Lord apparently didn’t wipe Matt’s ability, just the memories he had of being in captivity. Didn’t Daddy HR want his memories wiped, or only the QBs?

Claire doesn’t know that Daddy knows about her ability, but Daddy seems very protective of his little girl, and he’s following the trail left by Mohinder’s dad, which was looking for Sylar. Is Daddy working for the side of good? Did Daddy just wipe the memory of Matt’s confrontation of Sylar? To protect Sylar?

There was the thing last week, where the picture of Mohinder’s dad, Chandra, was different than the one that was shown the previous week. Some people think that Chandra and Sylar are the same, like Niki/ikiN. Agree? disagree?

Who is after the cheerleader? Sylar? Daddy? someone new?

Does Nathan win the election, or if the future changes, and NYC doesn’t explode, does Nathan lose the election, and embrace his inner superhiro?

Good show, and only getting better.