Heroes Recap: “Six Months Ago”

“Six Months Ago”
Original Air Date: 11/27/2006

Hiro’s right where we left him, in the diner in Midland Texas, six months ago. Charlie comes by with the coffee, and he jumps on the opportunity to tell her “My name is Hiro Nakamura. I’m here to save your life.” Unfortunately, his message from the future is interrupted by birthday song for Charlie. He follows her, still trying to talk to her and is captured with uncomfortable smile in the birthday picture we saw last week.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a Clark Kent-looking fellow in complicated spectacles carefully assembles a watch, putting its intricate gears together. He’s interrupted as well, when Chandra Suresh arrives hoping “Mr. Gray” can help him. Gabriel tells him his watch is broken; he can hear it running 2 seconds slow, and fixes it in a jiffy. Suresh tells the watchman who he is and that he thinks he, Gabriel, might be special. He hands Gabriel a copy of “Activating Evolution” and leaves.

Matt pulls over a woman in sports car. It’s Eden, with long brown hair. Girlfriend was speeding, and she’s got a bottle of booze on the seat. Matt wants her to get out, but she’s got another idea: “I think you really want to eat some doughnuts.” She gives him a focused stare and her voice goes a bit wiggy. He walks back to his car gets in and drives away. In front of her car is the Haitian.

In Odessa, Jackie’s gossiping with Claire. Jackie brought over a uniform, seeing how Claire made the squad. Jackie wants Claire to show some SPIRIT and put on the uniform, but Claire objects and an argument ensues. As they yank the uniform between them, Claire falls into glass cabinet, getting a big gash on her hand. Notably, it doesn’t heal immediately. Her mom takes her to the hospital as her dad gets a call from Suresh, who says he needs to speak with him about Claire.

Back at the diner, Hiro notices with surprise that it’s raining. Charlie isn’t surprised; April showers, right? Hiro is horrified to learn he’s jumped six months into the past. He has to figure out how to get back. But if he teleports, he could end up anywhere. Lunch for a T-rex, even. “I’m stuck!” he laments as he stares out the window, a pained expression on his face.

Niki’s at an AA meeting, one year sober that day. As she starts giving the group her “sometimes it’s hard to be sober” speech, she spots a man in back that she appears to recognize. Outside he tells her he doesn’t want to be out of her life anymore. He wants to get to know his grandson, son-in-law, and daughter. “I don’t know if I’m ready to get to know you,” she tells him and walks off.

Nathan and his wife Heidi (who’s not yet in a wheelchair), arrive for a shindig at Peter’s. To celebrate his success as a nurse, Peter brings him a gift: white women’s tennis shoes. When they have a moment alone, Nathan confides to Peter that the DA wants him to prosecute Linderman, his dad’s biggest client, but also a mobster. Oddly, Peter counsels Nathan not to go after Linderman.

Chandra pins Nathan’s photo on his map of doom. He tells Gabriel he wants to run some tests, EKG and MRI, that sort of thing, to check out his brain activity. “If the soul exists, scientifically speaking, it exists in the brain.” Gabriel seems energized by the possibility of having a power. He talks passionately about how as a child he wanted to be different, special, but ended up being a watchmaker just like his father. “What do you think my abilities might be?”

Bennett and the Haitian have Eden in custody, and Bennett reads Eden her rap sheet. When pulls off the tape from her mouth, she spits at him. “Let me go now,” she says. Too bad for her, with the Haitian silencer nearby, her power’s futile. Sucka!

Matt’s partner looks over at him as he sits in his car eating a doughnut. His pal reminds him about the detective test in an hour and encourages him to do well. My guess is he’s not sleeping with Matt’s wife yet. Maybe if Matt had given him a doughnut he never would have.

At the diner, Hiro’s fitting right in, clearing dishes and greeting customers. “You have such an amazing attitude,” Charlie tells him. He gives her a Japanese phrasebook for her birthday, and we see her memory powers are already developing. Still, she doesn’t believe Hiro can bend time and space, even when he brings her instant flowers and delivers her food in the blink of an eye, literally.

Niki’s at a graveyard, looking at a tombstone for Jessica Sanders (1976-1987). DL comes up behind her, asking if she’s having a drink with her sister. She’s thinking about it. It’s important not to forget. “Hal is back,” she tells him, saying maybe he can help with money to get Micah into private school. DL is supportive.

Nathan and Heidi are driving home on the freeway when suddenly an SUV rushes their convertible from behind. The SUV keeps smashing into them, and in an instant Nathan disappears from his seat. He flew, instinctively. As he looks down at the scene from above, the convertible gets hit once more and crashes into a group of water-filled cans. Nathan plummets to ground, and Peter gets a call to come to the hospital. When he gets there, he asks Nathan about what happened with the other car, explaining he saw it in a dream. Nathan says it was Linderman’s guys, doing it for him getting involved. “If I agree to take the DA’s case, will you give a deposition…against your father?” Peter agrees. Nathan gets called away by the doctor, and we see he’s not taking the news of his wife’s injury very well.

The next day, Hiro brings in a Japanese paper for Charlie. She’s unimpressed that he predicted a sports team would win, so he tries another tactic. Has she heard of origami? She has: it’s this ancient Chinese tradition with paper cranes. “If a person can fold a thousand paper cranes you’ll be granted one wish.” Hiro squinches his eyes shut, and a moment later paper cranes are everywhere, hanging from the ceiling. His wish? That she use the ticket to Japan he’s offering. “Only one ticket?” He’s got one too. Just in case. Please say yes? “Hai!” And he gives her a hug.

Chandra monitors Gabriel’s brain activity, but he’s not getting a reading. “I think we should prepare for the possibility that I may have been wrong. You may not have a special ability.” Gabriel does not take the news well. He gets angry, throwing files of other supposed heroes on the floor. Among them, picks up a post-it with the name and address of one Brian Davis.

Hal gives his grandson Micah a laptop for his birthday. Niki and DL tiptoe around the money issue, but Hal clears it up: “If you’re trying to ask me for something, it’s already yours.” When he sees Micah breaking out the computer into its components, he gets upset and decides to leave. Before he goes, Niki wants to know what he did that was so bad. “You really don’t remember, do you?” As he leaves, giving her a blank check, we see Niki’s reflection get mean.

Chandra meets with Mr. Bennett, who asks how the genetic abnormality will affect his daughter. What’s the point of finding all these gifted individuals? “We can change the world. Give people hope for the future. That is your daughter’s destiny.”

Hal reads Vonnegut in his hotel room – “The Sirens of Titan” – when Niki arrives, and she ain’t happy. Hal realizes Niki does remember what he did. She says she isn’t Niki. She’s “the daughter that you choked. The daughter that you killed.” She holds her father up by his neck. “Niki doesn’t remember. But I do. Someone had to be there to protect her.” Tossing him on the bed, she tells him never to come back. Jessica shoves the check in his mouth and walks out. So Niki has dissociative identity disorder? She’s textbook! Except for the whole super strength thing.

Claire practices cheers in her room when her father walks in. He brought her back a teddy bear from his travels. She does want to be a cheerleader, it’s just that sometimes Jackie can just be a… “Bitch?” her father supplies. Hee! HRG, you are so not the face of evil. They inspect Claire’s hand to find it has healed already.

Matt arrives at home, upset because he studied so hard, but still didn’t pass the detective exam. It’s not that he doesn’t know the answers; it’s that his dyslexia makes him barely able to read. His wife tries to comfort him with some smooches and breakfast, but he rebuffs her. “How can you even want to kiss me?” She tells him he’s everything she wants, but he wants to throw a pity party.

Peter, looking sharp in a suit, opens the door for Nathan. Ready for his deposition! But not ready to hear his dad died of a heart attack. Well, at least we know he has a suit for the occasion.

Hiro tries to get Charlie to go with him to a film festival, but Charlie hesitates. “I don’t let people get very close.” How come? “There’s a blood clot in my brain. Inches away from an aneurysm. I’m dying.” Before Hiro got there, she decided to give up. He made her feel more alive and full of joy than she could’ve imagined. “I love you,” she tells him in Japanese. She kisses him and suddenly he’s back in Japan, amidst the daily exercises of his colleagues. A coworker asks him “Aren’t you and Ando supposed to be on vacation in America?” SHIT. Hiro tries to concentrate and get back, but it’s not working.

At Gabriel’s watch shop, he puts the finishes touches on his seventeen-year watch masterpiece. The brand name? Sylar. A man walks in, saying his name is Brian Davis. Gabriel introduces himself as Sylar, and watches Brian move a cup with his mind. Brian asks if Gabriel can make it go away. “You’re broken,” Gabriel realizes, as a horrific epiphany seems to overtake him. “Don’t worry, Brian. I can fix it. It’s an evolutionary imperative.” He clobbers Brian in the head with a nearby crystal paperweight.

Mr. Bennett tells Eden she has a rare opportunity to rewrite her past and do better. He needs her help though, to get Chandra’s list of names and remove Claire’s name.

Gabriel meets with Chandra, showing how he can move a glass across a table. He feels a renewed purpose, like a different person, excited to begin finding all the heroes. “These people are all out there waiting to be told that they’re important, waiting to unlock their true potential.” He and Chandra will find them together.

Present day, back in Midland, Ando waits for Hiro and is thrilled when he arrives at the diner. Hiro’s spirits aren’t so high as he explains he teleported forward and backward, but he couldn’t save Charlie. “This power…it’s bigger than me. I can’t change the past, no matter how hard I wish. I failed.”

“I loved her,” Hiro says, setting a paper crane at Charlie’s memorial, and the line to give Hiro a hug starts behind me.

Julie is a firm believer in “all things in moderation” — except when it comes to TV, writing, Logan Echolls, and carbonated beverages. When she’s not debating TV Boyfriends with GMMR, she’s writing for her site, TV & Sympathy, or kicking ass and taking names.