Heroes Recap: “Fallout”

I might be the only person reading this that is HAPPY, no THRILLED that Heroes is on a short hiatus until the new year. I’ve fallen completely behind in my Hiro worship, and have to work hard to remain unspoiled until I have the chance to catch up. No promos, no message boards, no awesome recaps from Julie…yeah, it’s been tough. But I promise to use the holiday break to get caught up so I can actually participate in the discussion when the show comes back.

For those of you who want your shot to figure out what everyone is talking about, Julie tells me that we can now watch all the eps for free over at NBC. Woo hoo!!
Special thanks to Julie for managing to get the Heroes recap done for all of you, despite her recent cross country travels. Thanks!!

Title: “Fallout”
Original Air Date: 12/4/2006

Blood-covered Claire and her dad arrive at home. He’s been silent since she told him what she can do (which seems to have happened off-screen), but he has something to tell her: he’s known about it. He knew before she did, before she made the tapes. He did it because he wanted to protect her, but Claire’s unhappy with it: “All this time I’ve felt so alone…”

Mr. Bennett explains that he’s done things to keep her safe because he wanted her to have a normal life. Her mother and brother don’t know. Nobody else can know. “There are others out there like [Sylar], who want what you have and will hurt you to get it.” Err, she says her bro Lyle kinda knows, and Zach too, so her dad counsels her to talk to them, explain, and get them to shut their yaps. He’ll tell Lyle, she should tell Zach.

Matt and Audrey arrive at the scene where Jackie was killed and crime scene peeps are checking out Sylar’s blood. Judging by the footprints, Matt thinks Sylar wasn’t the only one in the woods that night. They decide to check in with one Peter Petrelli, who’s in police custody, to find out what more he knows, though they don’t suspect he’s Sylar.

Peter’s in jail, and Nathan arrives to help him, all benevolence and goodness. Pete’s a bit skeptical: why’d he destroy the painting? ‘Cause it showed Peter dead, and he was worried. Despite beating death once, Peter chooses this moment to launch into self-doubt mode. He’s met a bunch of heroes and he thinks they’re all connected, but he doesn’t think he’s up to the task of saving the world. “I don’t think I can do it.” Neither does Nathan…or is he Sylar? Peter was either hallucinating or dreaming, but he’s alone in his cell.

DL gets shot once in the shoulder, but he’s prepared for the next one, and it goes right through his head with no damage. By the time Jessica reaches the car, Micah and DL have fled.

Eden waits outside a secure entrance, which Bennett heads into to see Sylar in a cell, where, according to Bennett, his abilities won’t work. Bennett wonders why everyone else he’s met has only one ability, but Sylar’s taken on several. “I think the infusion of so many alterations to your DNA has corrupted you,” Bennett claims, and it looks to be true as Sylar threatens to take another ability from his “sweet, ripe daughter”.

Once Bennett leaves the psycho be, Eden harangues him for not killing Sylar yet, knowing what he’s done and what he planned to do to Claire. Bennett tells her those are their orders. (Cue my rampant curiosity about from whom those orders originate.) Eden suggests she tell Sylar to kill himself. Nearby, the silent power-dampener looms. “If that Haitian could speak, he’d tell you I’m right.”

DL and Micah are on the run in the woods, where they find a cabin. DL extends his hand through the door and opens it to let them inside. Yeah, his power really does lend itself to larceny, doesn’t it? While father and son try to make bandages, DL passes out. Wuss. Jack Bauer would pull out the bullet with his own teeth and then spit it at someone else and kill them.

Audrey and Matt arrive to interrogate Peter. Since Peter picks up on Matt’s power as they get within close proximity, Matt and Peter start reading each other’s minds. Nifty! When Peter realizes they’re not protecting Claire, he freaks and they go look into the safety of the real cheerleader. It’s noteworthy here that Peter has a serious headache and looks like Claire’s healing powers didn’t do the job fully.

Mo returns to NYC to continue his work, finding a note from Eden saying she knew she’d be back. He tries to convince the FBI over the phone that his list has significance, but they think he’s crazy.

Eden finds Isaac drawing for kicks, not for predictions. She thanks him for helping save the cheerleader, tells him she’s going “off the reservation” and gives him a phone with Hiro’s number. Maybe it’s time for him to start doing something about all his artistic visions?

Hiro’s at the high school, lamenting to Ando that since they didn’t save the cheerleader, the world is doomed. They ponder the logic of the “save the cheerleader, save the world” statement. Is it an if-statement, or just a sequential series of actions to be completed? I’m glad I’m not the only grammar nerd out there. His spirits pick up when he gets the call from Isaac suggesting they join forces.

Claire’s giving Audrey her take on the Homecoming horror show while Matt tries to listen from the outside. Audrey could be a better interrogator: “Did he exhibit anything out of the ordinary?” “You mean, besides killing my friend?” Hee. Matt can’t hear anything, which he finds pretty darn suspicious, and we see Haitian dude lurking. Claire asks to see Peter.

Jessica, who followed her men into the woods, finds DL’s bloody jacket, and it rattles her so much she turns into Niki. She has a frustrating conversation with herself. “You’re out of control.” “What do you know about control?” Micah hears his mom talking to herself and calls out to her. It’s Jessica that goes running over.

Claire and Bennett head in to see Peter, who is looking pretty rough. Bennett thanks him for saving his daughter and makes it clear he’ll be happy to return the favor in the future. When they get a moment alone to chat, Claire and Peter really connect. She’s found a kindred soul who was willing to die to save her. Keep in mind, Peter had no idea he’d heal after dropping five stories; he just figured he’d die. Claire jokes: “I’ve died before. It’s no big deal.” Finally her dad cues her to leave. Her parting words: “You’re totally my hero.”

Jessica heads in to get DL, but he’s onto her and wallops her as she opens the door. Undeterred, she heads after him. Micah tries to stop her and she tosses him, but changes back into Niki once she realizes she’s hurt her son.

Claire meets with Zach and destroys the tapes. She tells him he’s her best friend, even though they’ve only started talking two weeks ago. That’s kinda sweet. I’m sure nothing will happen to him after that revelation. It’s like saying “I’ll be right back” in a horror flick.

Isaac gets off the bus in Midland, meeting with Hiro and Ando. He’s very interested in Hiro’s early copy of “9th Wonders” and realizes that he painted predictive art while sober. Score! They agree their destiny is to stop NY from exploding. But recently Isaac painted a picture of a man exploding. “How do you stop an exploding man?” Hiro ponders.

Claire arrives home to find Lyle, asking if Dad told him about the powers. He doesn’t remember anything, not even how he got home from school. It’s like someone made him forget. She then calls Zach, but his memory has been wiped too. When he meets with her, he doesn’t remember anything of their friendship; the last time he recalls them talking was in eighth grade. Poor Claire! Back to being a loner.

An apparent truce made, DL, Micah, and Niki walk back to the car. Niki has the epiphany that she can’t be trusted. When her men turn away, she heads to turn herself in to the police for murder.

Matt and Audrey talk marriage and fidelity and other things I don’t care about. They’re staking out Bennett in an effort to find the origin of the static that prevented Matt from hearing thoughts. Matt spots the Haitian, who he recognizes from the bar before he passed out, and he strains to hear their conversation. Despite trying so hard he gets a nosebleed (never a good sign, just ask Scully), he’s only able to get one word: Sylar.

Bennett puts some food into Sylar’s cell. Sylar taunts him, saying they’re alike, collectors of “special people”. Using Sylar’s own horological metaphors, Bennett threatens to take him apart to figure out what makes him tick.

Hiro and Ando stare expectantly at Isaac as he sits at the canvas, trying to paint. Shortly, he goes into his white-eyed trance, strips off his shirt, and gets to painting. Tell me I’m not the only one that got a distinctly homoerotic vibe from the overly enthusiastic reaction Hiro and Ando gave to that?

Claire calls her dad, panicked, asking whether he remembers what they talked about. Of course he does – why? She explains everyone is forgetting. She asks where Mom and Lyle are. Haitian dude walks in, picks her up, and clamps a hand over her mouth. He talks! “I work for your father. He sent me here to make you forget. He’ll be here soon, expecting that you won’t remember anything. But it is important that you do. Tell me Claire, can you keep a secret?” Um, sure she can. And even if she couldn’t, don’t you think she’d discover again that she’s indestructible?

Isaac painted an image showing Hiro with a sword fighting a dinosaur. SWEET.

Mo gets a call from Eden explaining she lied to him and she’s going to kill the man who murdered his father. Hanging up on Mo’s WTF face, she goes in to give Sylar the gun to kill himself. He realizes she has the power of persuasion. Apparently his powers still work in the cell, as he telekinetically pulls her through the glass and holds her by the throat, explaining he’s going to take her power for his own malicious purposes. Still holding the gun, Eden raises it to shoot him. “Even you know that won’t hurt me,” he responds cockily. Well, it will hurt her: she shoots herself, choosing to die rather than giving him her power. Self-sacrifice. Shit. It sucks, but it’s pretty badass.

Nathan arrives to bust Peter out. Even though Peter explains he saved a girl and met other people like them, Nathan’s pretty unsympathetic. To my dismay, it looks like Nathan won’t be serenading Peter with “Wind Beneath My Wings” anytime soon.

As they head out of the station, Peter coughs, then keels over. Opening his eyes, he sees that he’s in New York. It’s eerily silent. The streets are empty of people but full of parked cars with open doors. As he walks past a taxi Mo gets out. Then he sees DL, Niki, and Micah run by, with Matt motioning him to stop. Peter exits a building heading in Peter’s direction. Claire rushes towards Peter, but then says she’s sorry and backs away. Simone moves towards him, but Isaac restrains her. Hiro and Ando watch from afar. He starts bursting into flames, exploding from within, before waking up in Nathan’s arms. “It’s all my fault. The explosion…it’s me…” With that, his eyes glaze over and he’s out.

And that’s it for this year! They certainly left us on a heck of a cliffhanger, with some serious clues into the big bang, the death of a pixie, and more questions than answers about the newest hero to be reckoned with: the Haitian. Next year, answers start with a question: Are you on the list? January 22nd, we’ll find out.

Julie is a GMMR recapper extraordinaire, but she also has her own fabulous TV website. Head over to TV and Sympathy to read more from Julie.