This week we start to see the cracks of having a large cast, geographically separated and lots of storylines open. Cracks start to appear, and favorite cast members get forgotten and strands of the stories get left on the editing floor.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still loving me some Heroes.

Last time we had Niki left lying on the floor while DL takes Micah on a father-son outing. Matt fainted holding a gun in a convience store, from the overbearing loudness of other peoples thoughts. Issac was met by pixie-HRGG-collaborator Eve to be ‘brought in’. Claire got to meet her ‘birth parents’ in a meeting set up by Daddy HRG. Hiro and Ando get on with their quest after getting interrupted again.

This time, well we don’t find anything out about what happened to Issac, and Matt is back home with his wife without any talk of his breaking up a store theft then passing out holding the gun. *wave hands* These are not the stories you are looking for.

Spoilers and the rest below the fold.We pick up with Peter talking with his ex-patient and almost jumping out the window without Nathan there. Okay. Peter really needs to learn that his powers aren’t ‘flying’ and ‘telling the future’, but are at least at the moment limited to ‘leeching’. Thankfully it was a dream, and some kind of weird connection with Simone’s father, that helped him in his last moments. We know this because Simone stopped by tearfully to tell Peter that he dad passed.

Claire’s geek-photographer-friend found the missing tape.

Niki wakes up and realizes she is alone without Micah, or DL, or Jessica.

Open credits –

Matt is having a great morning conversation with his wife, thankful for their new found honesty. About to spill the beans and tell her he can read her thoughts, when she thinks

[cloudy thought echoes]I though I’d been so careful, Oh God, He knows[/cloudy thought echoes]

Which totally throws off Matt’s mojo. Credit to Greg Grunberg, he plays the befuddled, what-did-I-just-hear thing really well. But he needs to get a bit more poker-faced when he starts going up against the bad guys. So because his mojo left him, he’s off to work.

Niki is searching through her apartment and her friend, Tina, knocks at the door. She tells him DL came back and took Micah.

Simone and Peter are at Issac’s place, and realize the place is cleaned out (thanks to evil Eve or whomever the dark forces). Simone is all sad, first her dad dies, then her heroin addict ex-boyfriend has left town. Waaaah… I’m all alone. She reveals her dads last moments that reflect Peter’s dream Peter had in the opening credits. They talk about the painting that Peter wanted to complete the comic book wall art, and Simone reveals that she sold the painting to Lindeman. (I’m starting to say that name in my head like ‘Newman’ from Sinefeld. ‘Lindeman’ grrrrr…)

Nathan is at his home with kids, and *gasp* wife, and his wacky mother. Who says that Lindeman *grrr* gave Nathan 4 million dollars and his spending it on post-cards. Really should spend the bucks on gay massuers and crystal meth, or forged records from his oponents stint in the Texas Air National guard, or for hacking into the Deibold servers. Okay, maybe not. Mom and wife invited the local newspaper guy over for the first daily brunch, and isn’t going to take no for an answer when Nathan in 4 points behind. Oh.. wow, Nathan’s wife is crippled. THAT is why he doesn’t like to fly, the GUILT.

Matt is in the locker room, and talking to his old friend, that can ‘read his mind’, and they decided to grab a beer later. FBI Special Agent Audrey bursts into the men’s shower room to take a look around tell Matt that Sylar has struck again, and she’ll brief Matt on the way to the morgue. You’ll brief me now, Matt thunders then subjects her to a brutal mind scan. Yeah, not really. She has special FBI powers and help Matt get dressed in big-boy clothes to go with her.

Claire’s brother has snaked the tape that was lost, and then found and then lost again. He’s watching the suicide thwarting tape, that Claire passes off as special effect. On a whim that she may be lying, he grabs the handy staple gun lying on the counter (do these people live in my house?) and staples the back of her hand. Super healing power kicks in and the brother is SHOCKED.. SHOCKED I say! She chases Lyle (her brother) out into the neighborhood, and Lyle escapes into the family truckster.

Sylar’s victim is burnt to the bone, and is highly radioactive, the only evidence is a finger print that was seared to a bone. When they find the guy attached to the fingerprint, she wants him, Matt, to get inside his head. Only Matt doesn’t want to do that, because the voices they are loud and ugly when you know what people really think. OMG and this guy wants to be a G-man, grow some balls my man! Fingerprint matches to a Theodore Sprague, that has no phone and no employer. Loser. She thinks he’s Sylar… I think, way too smiley for evil dark man.

Micah and DL are headed out towards Hoover dam for a nice father son outing. only Micah’s getting all up in DLs grill about him leaving Niki on the floor unconscious, and dude, you like choked her with her own esphogus. Heroes don’t run away dad, you ran away, ergo you are a bad guy. No I’m not.. yes you are…

Niki and Tina are having that heart to heart, and Tina is going – you’re totally nutz babe – as Niki talks about her alter ego, Jessica. Tina goes nuh uh… there is just you Niki. But Niki sees Jessica in the mirror so it MUST be true… Tina is going -cookoo cookoo.

DL tells Micah that its all complicated with his mother. Not only is she naggy and demanding, but she is like totally deranged psychologically, and is like living with two different people. I can’t subject you to that craziness, son. So I’m taking you away, because it is must easier to cope with a father that can walk through walls, than some wacked out sybil-like dame. Okay, again I digress. There is a car wreck ahead and DL jumps out, because he’s gonna show Micah that he really is a good-guy, not a bad-guy. As fate would have it, Hiro and Ando are right behind the father-son duo, and are also there for TEAM GOODGUY! Fire flames and a trapped lady, DL gets into the locked car with the old ‘put your hand through glass to open the door trick’ *yawn* and moves the lady out. The flames are sweeping to the end of the car, as Hiro watches the tank explodes. Hiro stops time struggles with the fact he’s gotta move the hulking DL and the lady out of the way of the blast. ‘Why couldn’t I have super strength too?’ in Japanese… Hee! With DL and victim safely out of the way, time restarts, and Hiro is wiped, panting at the side of the road. DL runs to Micah, both confused about what happened. (DL: Maybe I have super speed too… Micah: Great, the kids will really tease me at school now) Ando gives Hiro the thumbs up. See, Heroes work together.

Petrelli manor the guests are all sitting down to the new tradition of brunch. Political blah blah blah… Talking about Heidi Petrelli (played by Rena Sofer, who should play Wonder Woman rather than Rachel Bilson) adpating to her wheelchair and her anger at God, not Nathan that drove the car, over her handicap. Peter walks in to brunch. Uh oh. Nathan leaps up and tackles Peter, soaring into the sky and drops him off at the Statue of Liberty, then swoops around the earth a few times to make the clock move backward, and goes back to eating with the news reporter like nothing happened. Yeah, no. Nathan takes Peter aside to have a talk with him about interrupting important pressers and to put on the right mask for the public. Peter is gonna fly off the terrace on his way out. Nathan is pissed. Peter realizes that he’d hurt pretty badly flying smack into the ground, so sits down for breakfast, and makes nice with the friendly news guy.

Hiro is talking to Micah about his comic book, and Micah recognizes Ando from the late night visitation to Niki the stripper girl. DL and Micah talk about never going back to see Niki then ditch the scene before the cops get there. Hiro and Ando stick around, because they need to tell the police about what happened.

Lyle is still locked in the truckster, and is going to post Claire’s video on YouTube (this episode is brought you by Google…) and make a million dollars. Zach quips that YouTube is free (for now). Claire says oh yeah, how you gonna do that from inside a CAR!.. actually she tell Zach he’s not helping. Lyle thinks his sister is an Alien. That was a good movie. But Claire pulls the weepy cheerleader face on Lyle and Lyle caves. Rolls down the window (without keys in the car… omg, Lyle has powers too!) and gives up the evidence.

Matt and Audrey are approaching the house of the assumed to be Sylar. The guy that has levitated and stabbed victims with kitchen utensils, frozen people, cut off their heads and eaten their brains, and now apparently burned a victim with nuclear fire. Audrey’s going in without backup. Seriously, this is why the mutants are gonna win. Matt tries to reason with her, but she’ll have none of that, they go in.  The place is a mess, burn marks everywhere.  ‘Curie’ level are safe, until they get to the back bedroom which is where armegheddon has just occured, and the curie levels max out at highly dangerous levels.  Scary superpowerful villians, don’t scare our Audrey, but fancy radioactive devices are enough to have her scurry for the door.  They leave.

Nathan is all Mr. cooperative with the Mr. newspaper man, and now he grills Nathan about his association with Mr. Lindeman *grrr* and confronts Nathan with his missing person routine and the blonde that was involved.  Peter lies like a rug and covers Nathan’s ass, to make nice with the Mr. Newspaper guy.  All American family man, Nathan Petrelli.

Audrey gives Matt the magical radiation poisoning pill antidote plot device.  Nathan starts putting together actual, you know, clues instead of getting into people’s minds, and figures out that the guy their looking for 1) isn’t Sylar, and 2) is upset about his sick wife.  Freaky atomic fire guy, Ted, takes the nurse hostage, and threatens everyone.  Matt links up with the dying in a coma wife person, and starts to talk with  Ted, channeling his dying wife, who dies.  Ted goes into police custody like a little lamb.

Niki is calling Nathan asking for help with her lost son.  Which really helps advance the cheating Nathan with the paralyzed, wheelchair bound wife plotline.  Heidi and Nathan talk and make sure their marriage is all okay, and then Heidi will walk again.  She’ll don a red-white-and-blue bikini, grab a gold gilded rope and fly in her invisible plane, if only Nathan admits his love.

Niki is pissed at Nathan dissing her, and tosses the phone at the mirrow, breaking alter-ego Jessica free of the phychic bonds and giving her free reign of the body they share.  Tina comes in to talk Niki down from the cliff, but Jessy chases her off.  We know it is Jessica, because she has the tattoo mark on her shoulder again.
Audrey and Matt wrap up the Ted ‘Firestarter’ Sprague case, and Audrey tell Matt to stop ditching his wife’s call and just talk to her.  Matt realizes he’d better do just that and stops to have that intimate talk over a cell phone.  Instead of talking to her face to face.  Mrs. Matt just listens to the answering machine with the ‘oh what have I done’ look on her face.

Nathan is talking to Mr. Lindeman *grrr* on the phone about Peter’s favorite painting.  We only hear Nathan’s side of the call, but it seems that Lindeman will ship the painting ‘directly to the gallery’.  Two second later, Nathan drops by Peter’s place to tell him that Lindeman won’t comply.  What is Nathan up to?  Peter and Nathan talk about the benefits and detriments of flying and why a flyer without super strength is really a lame superhero.  Though flying is good for escaping from weird dudes with guns and horned rimmed glasses.

Shots of flashes as Ted Firestarter gets photographed jail, and we glimpse a tattoo near his neck and then cut to another shot of Matt looking at a tattoo mark on his shoulder blade from his locker mirror.  Matt’s old buddy comes by congratulating him on his bust, and FBI request to take the exam as a series of interviews.   Super good news, but the buddy’s thoughts reveal that he has been ‘nailing’ Matt’s wife.  Matt punches him in the nose.

Micah has escaped the clutches of DL long enough to head to a phone booth, as Mohinder does a voice over via a trans-oceanic flight to India to bury Papa Suresh.  The phone is ‘out-of-order’ and Micah just touches it and gets a dial tone, to call home and talk to mom.  Too bad Jessica is there insted of Niki.  Jessica interrogates her alter-ego’s son, but Micah wants her to put Niki on the phone.  Jessy is in charge, and Micha caves and tells Jessy where he is, just as DL gets to the phone booth.  DL hears nothing but static, and takes DL for more driving.  Jessy’s got a gun, and she knows how to use it.

To be continued…