We open in Cairo with Mohinder giving one of his standard-issue nonsensical lectures while a few bored attendees stare at the beautiful nutjob yammering on about levitation and teleportation. Post-lecture, Mohinder is wined and dined by a representative of the evil Company (Stephen Tobolowsky), who can turn objects into gold with his touch.
Hiro teleports to seventeenth-century Japan, where he finds himself in the middle of: a) an eclipse, and b) a frenzy of flying arrows. He stops time and rescues his samurai hero, Takezo Kensai, who turns out to be a drunken, ignoble English fraud (David Anders). By muddling in affairs, Hiro wreaks havoc with the timeline and alters history.
We’re introduced to two new Heroes, Honduran Wondertwins Maya and Alejandro, who are on the run. Their special abilities aren’t yet revealed, but Maya uses hers to somehow (and possibly accidentally) slaughter a truckload of fellow refugees.
Back in New York, Kaito Nakamura (George Takei) and Ando wait at Kirby Plaza for the return of Hiro. Kaito finds a photo of himself with his face obscured by the omnipresent half-helix symbol. He predicts he’ll be dead within twenty-four hours.
Nathan, bearded and drunk, argues with Angela Petrelli in Peter’s apartment. Peter has not been seen since he exploded over New York; it’s not yet explained how Nathan survived the blast. Angela blames Nathan for Peter’s death; Nathan calls Angela evil. This can’t possibly be the first time he’s figured that out. Angela finds her photo on the door of Peter’s apartment, the helix sign over her face.
Angela and Kaito Nakamura meet and argue on the roof of the Deveaux building. After Angela storms off, a hooded figure lunges at Kaito and knocks him over the side. They plummet to the ground together, but there’s only one corpse at the bottom: Kaito’s.
Matt, fully recovered from getting riddled with bullets by Sylar, has joined the NYPD. Now divorced, he’s living in Mohinder’s apartment, where they’re both raising and protecting creepy little Molly Walker. Some thoughts on this:
1. The rampant online speculation about this cozy domestic situation is wishful thinking: Matt’s very cute, but he’s just not in Mohinder’s league. You know how last season Eden kept batting her eyes at Mohinder, and then he went back to India where his smoking-hot ex-girlfriend kept fruitlessly aiming for a reconciliation? If neither of those beauties could melt Mohinder’s glacial heart, Matt doesn’t stand a chance.
2. Setting aside that Mohinder couldn’t successfully care for a lizard last season, is Mohinder’s apartment really the best place to raise a child, especially one in active need of protection? The place has been well established as a death trap: it’s been ransacked and bugged, and people have been attacked, threatened, poisoned, tortured, beaten, and killed in it. And there’s every chance Mohinder stores curare in the pantry right next to the tea bags.
3. Nothing screams "potential for sexy and dangerous plot developments" more than looking after a small child!
In California, the Bennet family has relocated under a new name to hide from the Company. Claire, trying to keep a low profile in her new school, nonetheless attracts the attention of creepy, condescending, bullying schoolmate West. (Digression: You remember the introduction to Hayden Christensen as Anakin in Attack of the Clones, where he’s stalking Padme and making inappropriate comments about watching her sleep, and it’s okay in that context because we know he’s going to turn out to be Darth Vader and thus should not be viewed as a traditional romantic leading man? If West doesn’t turn out to be evil, I’m going to have words with the writing staff about this character introduction, because this kid comes across as several miles of bad road.) Oh, yeah – West can fly, an ability he demonstrates by hovering outside Claire’s bedroom window and spying on her. It’s fair to say I loathe this kid. Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet, now working a low-level job at a copy shop, fails to fly under the radar himself when he attacks and intimidates his wretch of a supervisor.
The collective Bennets gather for a fabulously odd and strained family dinner. Now that they’re in hiding, they’ve become all Gothic and bizarre and about eight million times more interesting than they were during last season’s suburban tedium. Bennet gets a phone call from his new conspirator Mohinder – Mohinder, it turns out, has offered himself up as very fetching bait to the Company as part of a grand scheme to destroy it from within. This is a pretty awesome development, although:
1. It’s not clear why Mohinder had to go to Cairo to set his plan in motion, considering how last season someone from the Company would drop by his apartment every other episode to try to recruit and/or threaten him. Perhaps he just needed a vacation from the cop and the small child who have invaded his personal space.
2. I give it two episodes before Mohinder screws this up somehow.
Cork, Ireland: Peter Petrelli, minus his shirt, his bangs, and his memory, turns up chained inside a shipping crate, where he’s discovered by a band of Irish iPod thieves.
Aaaaand we’re off to a good start.
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