Tonight's episode of Heroes, titled "Four Months Ago" reminded me of why I fell in love with the series in the first place. While I've felt that the beginning of this season has been pretty ho-hum, tonight's episode was like a breath of much needed fresh air. Finally, many of our questions as to what happened to some of the characters just after the whole "Kirby Plaza" incident took place in last season's finale have been answered.
The episode opens with Adam walking up to Peter and showing him a picture of him and Nathan. For whatever reason, the photo sparks Peter's memory of the months prior to being found handcuffed in a loading dock in Ireland.
Four months ago, when Nathan flew Peter off into the sky, Peter urged him to let go and let him explode. Nathan, already severely burned from his brother's pre-explosion hotness, lets go and falls to the earth. Peter apparently recovered from his own explosion instantly because he manages to fly down and catch his brother. He takes him to the hospital and leaves. He is captured almost immediately by Elle and Bob, who take him to their facility where they offer him a "cure" so he wouldn't hurt people anymore.
Let's take a minute to talk about Elle for a second. First of all, who knew that Kristen Bell had so much cleavage? She spent almost the entire episode crawling all over Peter (literally) and giving him little flirty zaps. She tells Peter that she's had her electric powers since she was six when she burned down her grandmother's house. She also caused a huge blackout and spent some time at a mental facility before being employed by the Company.
Peter consents to being locked up and takes the "Haitian cocktail" which suppresses his powers. He seems a bit mopey but continues on "the program" without much complaint. Then Adam, who is in an adjacent cell, points out that while Peter thinks he has a choice in whether or not he stays there, he really doesn't. Peter soon learns this to be true when he tries to get Bob to let him visit his brother.
Adam, whom I'm assuming based on what he said to Peter through the wall of his cell, has been around pretty much since his days in ancient Japan. I guess his healing powers have prevented him from aging and he did mention that he can’t die. (Does this mean Claire's always going to be stuck in a 16 year old's body?) He tells Peter that his blood can heal others as well as himself. Three decades ago he tried to go public with his abilities and ended up being taken in by the Company. He's been there ever since.
Adam offers Peter the chance to heal Nathan (who's burnt to a crisp and lying in a hospital bed with Mama Petrelli doting on him) and afterwards, they'll save the world. Peter agrees and stops taking the pills long enough to get his powers back. He phases himself and Adam out of the facility and they head off to the hospital. Adam injects some of his blood into Nathan’s I.V. and the healing power works almost instantly. Peter spots the picture of himself and Nathan on a table nearby and grabs it. The two try to leave the hospital but Elle and the Haitian catch up with them. The Haitian traps Peter in the cargo thing and tells him that his mother once helped him when he was in need so he’s going to help him. He gives Peter his necklace and then wipes his memory. We know what happens after that.
Now onto D.L. and Niki:
After Kirby Plaza, D.L. is rushed to the hospital for his gunshot wound. The surgery to remove the bullet goes well and D.L. is fine. Bob approaches Niki and tells her that she needs treatment for her power. Niki says she’s taken care of the whole “Jessica” thing but Bob points out that another personality could emerge. He tries to get her to come to the facility for “the program” but she doesn’t want to leave her family so she accepts some pills for her ailment and the Sanders’ head off to start over.
D.L. gets a job as a firefighter. His phasing powers come in handy as he rushes into burning buildings to rescue kids and receive applause. Niki isn’t doing as well. The pills make her even moodier than she normally is so she decides to stop taking them. It’s not long before a new split personality emerges. It was a little unclear but it seems the new Evil Niki might just be past version of herself who goes by the name Gina. Gina/Evil-Niki leaves good-Niki trapped in the mirror and heads off to L.A. to hit the clubs, do some coke and party with some scangy guy.
D.L. catches up with her and, after punching the guy in the face, shows evil-Niki, who doesn’t have a clue who D.L. is, a Sanders family photo. This serves to bring good-Niki out and the two head out of the club. The guy D.L. punched runs after them and promptly shoots D.L. in the chest. Not since Tara took a bullet in Buffy have I been so irritated and at the same time, devastated by a TV death involving a gun. We all knew D.L. died somehow but getting shot by some common thug just seemed like a lame way to go. R.I.P. D.L. After this, Niki realizes she needs help and, after dropping Micah off with D.L.’s family, heads to Bob for treatment. At the end of the episode, we see her in the present leaving the facility and thanking Bob for helping her.
Finally – Maya and Alejandro:
I completely almost forgot to mention these two. Their story begins at Alejandro’s wedding. After her brother marries a woman Maya doesn’t like or trust, the whole town celebrates the union with a big party. Maya tries to tell her brother that his new bride will break his heart. Sure enough, after shedding a black tear in private, she spots Alejandro’s wife making out with her ex-boyfriend. This is while the wedding reception is still going on. How tacky! She confronts the two of them and they both threaten her and demand that she keeps her mouth shut. Her mouth is shut but her eyes are wide open and quickly turning black. Bride and ex-boyfriend are affected by her black-eye power and collapse to the floor, dead. When Maya runs out into the street she sees that everyone out there is dead too. Her runny-mascara death-power has killed everyone in the vicinity with the exception of her brother. She tearfully tells him that she killed them all but fails to explain how or why.
Later, we see Maya in a church, wearing a nun habit. Alejandro comes into the church and, still under the impression that his sister somehow poisoned all of the guests at his wedding, begs her to explain. He’s followed by the police. The cop tries to handcuff her and this sets off Maya’s lethally inky waterworks. When her brother sees what’s happening, he grabs her hands and tries to calm her. This does the trick. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, he is not only immune to her power, but he can also help drain it from her when she gets going. The two leave the cop lying on the floor of the church, not-dead and they head off to America.
The episode served to explain how Nathan got un-burned, what happened to Peter during the months just after he exploded and how D.L. died. All in all, I was pretty satisfied with the answers. So here are some new questions I have. Does the Company really want to heal the heroes or is Bob and the rest of the Company people just manipulating them? Also, is Adam really all that he claims to be? It seems kind of strange to me that he’s got this great mission to save the world. He didn’t exactly seem like Mr. Hero back when he was taking credit for Hiro’s work. With all these screwed up timelines and mysterious old-people, I’m having a hard time figuring out which end is up. The second I come up with a theory that seems solid, I remember some vague detail from a previous episode that contradicts it. What do you think? Are you feeling as in-the-dark as I am sometimes?
