POWERLESS
Even though last week’s episode had one of those “To Be Continued” teasers at the end, this week’s ep starts with Mo returning to Brooklyn. Yeah, that’s fair. Mo takes out the case with the cure in it and prepares to use it on Fievel Face- maybe she’ll look like another animal once the cure sets in? I personally think meerkats are awesome. That show on Animal Planet is totally addictive.

Anyway, Mo comes home, and Sylar is sitting at his desk. He asks Mo what happed to his nose, but Mo isn’t interested in small talk; he just wants to know where Fievel Face is. Maybe she’s left the country, because there are no cats in America.

Sylar stands up as he tells Mo that Fievel Face is asleep, and Mo, unaware of Sylar’s lack of evil powers, backs off. He hilariously offers Mo breakfast, and Calisto appears with food that she’s made, all the while gushing about how great Mo is and how she’s read his book and couldn’t wait to meet him…blah blah blah. Shut the fuck up, you idiot. Mo tells Calisto that Sylar is a killer, but she says that she is, too, and needs his help.

Sylar tells Mo that he knows about the Shanti virus; that it takes away people’s abilities. Mo says that it does, but it also kills people. Calisto asks Sylar if that’s why his powers are gone, which elicits a death look from Sylar. God, she’s stupid. That’s when Mo takes out a knife, which prompts Sylar to draw a gun. Damn, this is hot. Calisto starts annoyingly babbling and Sylar tells her to calm down; then informs Mo that his blood cures everything. Mo protests, but Sylar tells him that he’s already discovered Claire, and that when their blood is mixed together, it can heal anything. Calisto finally realizes that Sylar is kind of a bad dude, and all of a sudden, it’s the return of the Obnoxious Black Shit. Mo falls to the floor, Sylar’s eyes go black, and Fievel Face comes out of her room with black eyes, and damn if she doesn’t look totally creepy. Calisto’s shaken by the appearance of Fievel Face, so she reins in the Black Shit and Mo says he’ll take them all to his lab.

Tonight’s episode title appears on a mirror in Peter’s apartment. Unfortunately, Peter’s not there. Nathan and Parkman are, though, and Nathan is staring wistfully at a picture of him and his brother, probably thinking, “Yeah, I could hit that.” The two of them are REALLY touchy-feely, has anyone else noticed that? Mother Creepy comes in and says kind of snottily, “I suppose I have you to thank for my early release from jail.” Wow. You’re welcome, bitch. Matt tells Mother Creepy that he knows that while she didn’t kill anyone, Adam Monroe did. He lets her know about Victoria Pratt’s death and shows her the picture with the Heroes “S.” Nathan asks his mother how long they’re going to suffer for her generation’s sins. Why do all these people have keys to Peter’s apartment?

Mother Creepy tells Parkman and her son that Adam wanted revenge on those who betrayed him, and that it’s done and Nathan should let it go. I hate when people tell me that. It’s right up there with “Relax,” and “Calm Down.” Nathan tells her that Peter’s alive, and Mother Creepy seems slightly thrown. Haha! Burn! Parkman tells her that Adam’s alive as well, and that he and Peter are working together to become the hottest supervillian of all time. Mother Creepy gives the ElderHeroes speech about how they were all trying to save the world, but it didn’t work, blah blah blah we’ve heard this shit before. She then goes on to inform them, and the viewers, that Adam had a different perspective on history and they all believed in him. She said that in the beginning, Adam wasn’t just locked away. “In the beginning, I helped him,” she claims. Hell, yeah! I’ll bet she “helped” him, if you get what I’m saying.

She then goes on to explain that Adam eventually decided the world “wasn’t worth fixing” and chose to release the virus instead. She claims that she realized how wrong it was, but Nathan asks if this is actually true. She says that only someone with Peter’s abilities can get to where the virus is held and this is why Adam chose him. I’d like to get to Peter’s abilities, and I’m not talking about the stuff he can do with his clothes on.

Mother Creepy says the virus is in Odessa, Texas, and Matt and Nathan look at each other like, “Let’s do this shit.” Mother Creepy tells them that the only way to stop Adam is a bullet through the head, which we all kind of knew anyway, and then thinks at Matt that they may have to do the same to Peter. Matt looks totally freaked out.

In, Odessa, Texas, we get a repeat of last week’s closer between Hiro and Peter, finally. Here’s what goes down:

Hiro freezes everything except Peter and they have their little verbal slapfight where they argue about whether Adam is evil or not. Hiro charges at Peter, who tries to electrify him, but Hiro dodges him by teleporting to the other side of the room. This is so X-Men. He tells Peter that Adam was his friend for a while, but then he betrayed him. Actually, Hiro, you stole his girl, so I can kind of see why he’s all pissed off. Boner-destroying can cause a hell of grudge. Anyway, Hiro goes after Adam, but Peter protects his new boyfriend by freezing Hiro with some TK.

Peter tells Hiro that Adam saved Nathan’s life, but Hiro informs Peter that Adam also murdered his father. Well, I say that’s a pretty impressive tit-for-tat there. You make the call. Peter tells Hiro that Nakamura locked Adam away for thirty years, and Hiro blinks and vanishes. Peter wanders around like a doofus to look for him, and Hiro appears, pressing his sword against Peter’s neck. Why am I getting so turned on by this? (“Because you’re a freak.” –Liana)
Peter is still pretty calm, to his credit, and tells Hiro about his excursion into the future, and about the virus. He says that it kills almost everyone and that he and Adam are going to stop it. That’s what you think, Peter. Peter grabs the sword and runs electricity through it and through Hiro.

Take me.

Anyway, um, yeah. Hiro and the sword fall to the floor. Everyone unfreezes and Adam walks towards Hiro and addresses him by name. Peter tells Adam that Hiro says he knew him and Adam confirms that they were friends a long time ago. Peter says that Hiro said that Adam shouldn’t be trusted, and Adam asks if Peter believed it. Peter just tells Adam, “Let’s go destroy the virus,” and walks off. Adam bends down and picks up Hiro’s sword.

The Bennet house. Princess Claire is going through her dad’s papers and comments that he left everything behind. Her mother can’t believe that she’s actually going to “tell the world,” but I believe it, because she’s a retard. Princess Claire thinks that if they killed HRG, they’ll never leave the family alone, which is actually a pretty good point. Her mother is worried that if her father couldn’t take down the Company, what makes Claire think she can, but Mrs. Bennet doesn’t realize that not only is Claire stupid, she’s also self-centered. Princess Claire tells her mom that she doesn’t get it- the Company only targets people with freak powers. Her mom tells Princess Claire that she’s still her daughter and she wants her to go to college and get married one day- but that won’t happen anyway, because Princess Claire is a skank. “What if they take you from me- use you in some lab experiment?” She asks. Princess Claire tells her mom she loves her, but can’t live in fear anymore. She continues to rifle through boxes.

We cut to the Company, where Blow is chastising his daughter for not performing the one task he asked her to do for him. Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t he asked her to do at least a few things over the course of the season? He tells her that Claire is nowhere near her league. Way to make your kid feel like shit. Veronica Mars reminds him that she’s been shot and therefore is underperforming, but this just leads to Blow telling her that she won’t be getting anymore field assignments. He tells her that he’s put work into raising her, and Veronica Mars protests, but Blow ignores her, so she pouts and leaves.

She enters HRG’s cell, where he’s bouncing a ball back and forth between him and the wall. Veronica Mars demands that he tell her exactly what her father did to her as a little girl, and my mind immediately goes to a very dirty place. I watch too much SVU. HRG just says that because of what they did to him, there’s not a lot of motive to share. Veronica Mars gets her electric blue crap ready and threatens to make him talk. HRG just looks at her as he bounces his ball and says, “You could try.” The way Jack Coleman delivered that line was so awesome. Tears appear as she begs him to tell her. “Please,” she says, “I don’t have anyone else I can talk to.” For the second time this season, I like where the writers are taking her character.

HRG explains: “They wanted to see how much wattage you could discharge.” He goes on to describe all the tests that were done to her and tells her that she would often pass out. He says that everyone wanted to stop, but her father wouldn’t let them. “You were seven.” Veronica Mars starts to cry. Blow enters the cell and asks what Veronica Mars is doing there, and she leaves. Blow tells HRG that Claire is becoming difficult, and HRG smiles. I don’t understand why Blow didn’t assume that HRG wouldn’t be happy about that, but whatever. Blow asks if Claire has access to any information that could expose the Company, and HRG doesn’t say anything. Blow says they’ll have to “take measures” to keep Claire quiet. Does that mean she’ll be written off? Please?

In New Orleans, Niki is pacing around the kitchen, clearly frantic about Micah. He runs in and tells her about the whole Monica-kidnapping story. Niki runs to call the cops, but Micah wants to save her themselves. He says Niki can use her superstrength, but she tells him she doesn’t have her powers anymore. She tells him about the virus, and says that Mo is on his way with a cure. Um, nope. Micah says they can still rescue Monica, so he tells Niki to drive.

We cut to a basement where a guard just randomly smacks into a wall. (“Excellent.” –Liana) Another guard does the same, and this sequence promises to be fairly awesome. Adam and Peter come around the corner, fending off another guard with Peter’s TK, as Adam takes on another guard with his sword. Green-screen rules. They continue to go through guards like I go through the sales rack at Nine West.

Peter and Adam continue to walk down the hall towards the virus as the alarm goes off. Adam tells Peter to take care of it and he shoots some electricity at it to blow it up. Sweet. This is by far the best scene of the season. Maybe the whole series, I don’t know. They come to a big safe at the end of the hallway and Adam tells Peter to use his brain to open it. Peter says he doesn’t have that kind of power. Peter finally asks Adam point-blank if he killed Nakamura, and Adam admits that he did, which, BTW, Duh, Peter! “He saw to it the virus be safely kept here,” explains Adam. “If he didn’t plan to use it, why not destroy it?” Hmm…I see your point. You’re still kind of mean, though. Hot, but mean. Peter says that Hiro told him not to trust Adam, who points out that the woman Peter loves is trapped in the future where almost everyone is dead. What? No, I’m not- I’m right here, watching him on TV! See, Adam’s a liar!

Adam leaves, having totally played the “trapped girlfriend” card, and Peter puts his hand on the door, which starts moving around and burning as Peter makes weird faces. I hope that’s not his “O face,” or I’m going to be really disappointed.

We return to Mo, who arrives at his lab with Sylar, Calisto and Fievel Face. Calisto is mad at Sylar because he’s not what she thought what he was. He never claimed to be nice, only naked. So he is what you thought he was, only not right now because he’s wearing pants. Sylar reminds her that he wants to get rid of her powers and he wants to get his back, and once he’s cured, he’ll be happy to take hers, too. Yes, please kill her. They all enter the lab and there’s a red light on the keypad that looks suspiciously like a camera. Whoops. Hope I didn’t give anything away.

Sylar gives Fievel Face to Calisto, who couldn’t take care of a plant, and grabs Mo, leading him downstairs. He realizes that he’s in Isaac’s lab and informs Mo, and viewers who don’t remember or who weren’t watching the show then, that he killed Isaac in this very spot. Mo says that he needs a sample of Sylar’s blood.

As Mo preps Sylar’s arm, Sylar taunts him about his father, saying that it’s “poetic” that Pop Suresh helped him find his gift and Mo is helping him restore it. Mo reminds Sylar that he actually murdered his father, but Sylar says that it was necessary, because Pop betrayed him. I don’t see how, but if you say so, Sylar. He warns Mo not to make the same mistake, and Mo roughly jams the needle into Sylar’s arm. I didn’t get enough warning to turn away, and my stomach does flip-flops. I seriously, seriously HATE needles. Sylar looks at his blood in the vial, and Mo looks up to see what is most definitely a camera in a smoke detector on the wall.

The Company. Veronica Mars is in her father’s office, rifling through files, and when she finds her own, it’s empty. Sucks to be you, Veronica Mars. You were a much better detective on your old show. Which I never bothered to watch. Anyway, she decides to check the video surveillances on the computer. She logs in and goes through several different locations until she gets to Mo’s lab. “Oh, daddy,” she says to Blow’s picture on the desk,” “You’re going to be so proud of me!” She logs out and leaves.

BTW, who keeps their own picture on their desk? Blow is a flaming narcissist.

In New Orleans, Monica is tied to a pole, watching as the Head Thief carries cans of gas over to where she sits. She begs the guy to let her go, but he ignores her. This seems like a pretty harsh penalty for just trying to steal a backpack which he probably assumes was hers to begin with. This dude is clearly nuts. He starts splashing the gas around and I’m thinking, “Oh, shit.” Monica takes her phone out of her back pocket and the camera cuts to Micah, who’s in the passenger seat of Niki’s car. It turns out he’s able to track Monica by using the GPS signal from her cell phone. Niki asks about this, and Micah tells her that he told Niki’s phone to find Monica’s phone. Then he tells the lights to turn green as they drive. Niki’s stunned at her son’s genius. Join the club, Niki.

Back at Primatech, we hear Matt’s voice telling someone to slow down, and Nathan and Matt fall down from the sky, Matt rolling off Nathan’s back. Matt turns to Nathan as they brush themselves off and says, “OK…we don’t talk about that EVER AGAIN!” “Agreed,” says Nathan. Those two have great dialogue together, although they’re not as gay as Nathan and Peter. I don’t care if they’re supposed to be related- my brothers don’t touch each other and get so close they look like they’re about to kiss. It’s just not natural.

Matt asks Nathan if he really thinks Peter is as dangerous as he was in Kirby Plaza. Nathan says that even though he hasn’t seen Peter since then, he’d trust him with his life. And also he’d bang him. Matt says that Mother Creepy told him to kill Peter if he had to. “Listening to my mother has never led to anything good,” Nathan tells him. “If Peter becomes a problem, I’ll handle him.” I bet. With one hand or two?

Matt and Nathan are interrupted by the arrival of Hiro- “Flying Man!” He calls out as soon as he sees Nathan.

Back at the Bennet house, Princess Claire is taping up boxes when her creepy boyfriend appears to stop her from telling everyone about the Company. Princess Claire’s not having it, because she’s only concerned with how this plan will affect her, and doesn’t give a shit about anyone else. Princess Claire thinks this is the only way to beat the Company, but Teeth tells her that this is not going to bring her father back. That was a low blow. Princess Claire takes out Teeth’s file and “hands” it to him- and by “hands” I mean practically smacks him with it- and tells him there’s no longer an “us” to be concerned about. He goes outside and flies away, and the effect is so hilarious that Liana and I actually burst out laughing at how sad he looks, just floating in mid-air. I am so glad his character is off the show. I hope it’s forever.

Mr. Muggles comes in and starts barking, and Princess Claire just kind of looks at him. “You’ll never leave me, will you, Mr. Muggles?” She asks him. Mr. Muggles kind of runs off, and Princess Claire rolls her eyes and turns back to the boxes. Haha! Not even the dog can stand her, and dogs aren’t even picky!

The front door opens and Princess Claire turns around to see HRG standing there. “Hello, Claire Bear,” he says, all serious. To her credit, she doesn’t faint, but it could also be because Hayden Panettiere can’t act.

At Mo’s lab, Calisto and Fievel Face are huddled in the corner. Calisto says that she wishes her brother were here, and Fievel Face says that she can find him. Calisto pulls out a picture that she just happens to have on her, of course, because she was in love with him or something, and Fievel Face tries to work her magic. She tells Calisto that her brother isn’t anywhere, so Calisto gets up and walks over to Sylar.

Over at the microscope, Mo finds out that Sylar and Niki have the same strain of the virus, which means that the Company injected both of them. Before Sylar can make any threats, Calisto comes over and accuses Sylar of killing her brother. Sylar gets this great look on his face, like, “You again?” He turns and shoots her in the chest, and I actually yelled out, “Yes!” in a room by myself. Sylar asks Mo where the cure-all blood is, and Mo pulls it out of his bag. Sylar realizes he had it all along and they never had to go to the lab. He tells Mo to give it to Calisto first, and if it heals her, he’ll take it, too.

The Bennet house. Everyone is pissed at HRG for lying and saying he was dead. He says it wasn’t his choice, and that it wasn’t a lie. Princess Claire says she saw him get shot, and HRG says that her blood saved him. Everyone starts talking at once until finally HRG tells Princess Claire that she has to cut it out with the whole “exposing the Company” thing. Princess Claire says that if they destroy the Company, the family will get their lives back. Um, Claire, I think he would know a little better than you. HRG says that the Company will take “preventative measures,” whatever the fuck that means, and that in order to keep them safe, he’s agreed to go back to the Company.

Princess Claire begs him not to, but he says she was right when she said this was all his fault. He says that he never meant to hurt her, then touches his wife’s hand and leaves. How come he ignored his son throughout all this? He was probably really sad, too. Blow is waiting outside, and HRG tells him that it’s done.

Back at Primatech, Peter is still working on the safe. As Peter’s nose starts bleeding, the door finally comes off. He instructs Adam to get the virus, but Hiro shows up, ruining the party again. He’s like the cop that shows up just after the j’s get broken out. Adam pulls out his sword, and sadly, it’s his actual sword and not a metaphor. Hiro launches himself at him, but Peter throws him against a wall and knocks him out. Adam tells Peter that unless he does something about it, Hiro will keep trying to kill him. Adam enters the safe as Peter TK’s Hiro up a wall.

Matt appears and thinks that Peter should let Hiro go and go after Adam instead, because Adam is using him. For sex. No, sorry, that’s me. For a second, this seems to work, but Peter quickly regains control and starts fighting back against Matt. They start thinking at each other over whether Adam is good or evil until Peter finally just TK’s Matt against a wall. This semi-evil Peter is even hotter than good, slightly stupid Peter. He could like, rip my clothes off without even busting the zipper!

OK, focus. Peter throws Matt down the hallway and tells him verbally that he’s fighting for the wrong side. Nathan appears and asks Peter if he’s also on the wrong side. Peter’s like, “Der?”

Outside the safe, Hiro comes to and teleports back inside.

Inside the safe, Adam opens a case. Hiro appears and tells Adam that he was his friend. Yeah, but now you’re not. So leave and let him go about his business. Adam tells him that he taught him how to become a hero. As they argue, the camera reveals that Adam is already holding the virus.

Outside the safe, Nathan tries to convince Peter that Adam is evil. Yeah, but have you seen him in tight seventies clothing? That trumps everything, my friend. He tells Peter that Adam tried to release the virus. Peter tells Nathan that Adam healed him, and he should be grateful. “He used me,” Nathan replies. That sounded hot.

Back inside the safe, Adam is spewing some bullshit about famine and wars and nothing has changed in 400 years. He says that when the virus is released, “those of us who are left will be granted a second chance, and I’ll be their hero.”

Outside the safe, Nathan tells Peter that Adam only healed him to get to Peter, and that he tried to manipulate him. Nathan tells him that that night in Kirby Plaza, he saved Peter because he believes in him. He tells Peter that he’s his brother and he loves him. I keep waiting for some homo porn.

Inside the safe, Hiro tells Adam that he’s not a god. That’s a pretty good costume, then. Adam says he should kill Hiro; Hiro says he should kill Adam, for his father. Adam holds the sword to Hiro’s throat. Outside, Nathan asks Peter if he can really trust Adam. I think we’ve already established that the answer is NO.

Drums start to play as Peter suddenly comes to his senses and runs toward the safe, followed by Nathan and Matt. Hiro puts his hand on Adam’s shoulder to teleport the two of them as Adam lets go of the virus and it begins to fall. We cut to Peter, Nathan and Matt, running toward the safe as the Chariots of Fire theme plays in my head. The virus continues to fall. Peter enters the safe just as the virus is about to hit the floor and Peter freezes it in mid-air. He grabs it. Nathan and Matt enter and ask where Hiro and Adam went. How the hell would he know? What a stupid question. Nathan tells Peter that he can’t be responsible for something that might happen and says that he has to destroy the virus.

Peter turns around, closing his hands around the vial, and light seeps through his fingers. When he opens his hands, dust forms the Heroes “S” and then disappears. Matt gets angry that they have to clean up their parents’ mess.

Nathan says that he’s right- that everything stops here and there are going to be no more secrets. He says they’ll take everything public and expose the Company for what they are. He suggests a press conference and tells Matt he needs his help to get people to listen. Peter makes a face, like, “But I thought I was your one and only! What the hell is this?”

First of all, dudes, a little advice. Considering you’re in a Company facility, you might not want to discuss your plan until after you’ve left the building. Also, you may want to check for, I don’t know, surveillance cameras.

Speaking of well-hidden (and by “well-hidden,” I really mean “in plain view,”) spy devices, we’re in Mo’s lab, where he’s attending to Calisto. Why? He administers the cure, and the bullet flies out of her chest. Sylar grabs what remains of the injection and gets up to leave, but Veronica Mars shows up. Of course, she yells out “Sylar!” first, so he has time to turn around and try to escape as she shoots her blue crap at him. He shoots at her, but he just breaks glass. He runs, but one of her bolts knocks him down. It doesn’t do much, though, and he runs off.

We’ve gone to New Orleans, which is what Mo should have done in the first place, and Niki and Micah are still trying to find Monica. Inside the building, the Head Thief sees Monica with a cell phone. He grabs it, ignoring her when she insists she didn’t call anyone, and he decides it’s time for the light show. He sets one of the comic books on fire and uses it to ignite the room as Monica starts crying. Outside, Micah sees the van and the guy that took Monica. Niki gets out of the parking spot and crosses paths with the van. She gets out, even though her superstrength is supposedly gone, and I’m thinking maybe some of it is still there. The Thief gets out and calls her a bitch, but she kicks him in the nuts. He drops his gun, and she picks it up and points it at him as she asks where Monica is. He tells her to go to hell, which, under the circumstances, is probably not the best answer he could have given. Niki uses the butt of the gun to hit him. It’s awesome. Micah yells to her that Monica’s trapped in the burning building and Niki tells him to call 911. She knocks the Thief out cold. Maybe she doesn’t need her powers.

She runs into the building and unties Monica’s hands. Monica asks how she found her, and Niki tells her, “Micah.” “Oh, I love that kid!” Monica says. Everybody does. Pieces of the building are falling everywhere, and one falls against the door, blocking the exit. Niki tells Monica that she’ll lift the beam as Monica pulls the door open. The plan works, and Niki tells Monica to go and that she’ll be right behind her. However, as soon as Monica gets out, Niki has to drop the beam and she’s trapped again. She looks for another exit, but she can't get out. Monica comes out of the building and Micah runs to her, and she pulls him away from the building as it explodes. Micah screams for his mom as Monica hugs him.

Holy shit! I hope they bring Niki back. They have to kill off her and not fucking Claire?

In Tokyo, Ando reads a magazine while walking through the office. I love the fact that he has a job while always appearing to do no work at all. Suddenly, he comes to Hiro’s cubicle, where Hiro sits with Kensei’s sword beside him. Hiro tells him he faced his father’s killer, and he can never hurt anyone again. We cut to Adam, who’s screaming from inside a coffin in the same cemetery where Hiro’s parents are buried. That is just genius. Dude’s been buried alive, and he can’t fucking die! That totally rules.

Back at Mo’s lab, Calisto awakens and tells everyone she thought she was dead. Yeah, so did I, dammit. Mo says that she was almost was. Thanks a lot, Mo. Veronica Mars comes back in and tells them all that Sylar is gone. No shit. Mo tells her that if she hadn’t arrived, Sylar would have killed them all, and she saved their lives. “Really?” Veronica Mars says. “Cool.” Heh. That was pretty funny.

At the Odessa police station, cameras are being set up for Nathan’s press conference. Nathan, Peter and Matt walk toward the podium and Peter tells Nathan that if he hadn’t listened to Adam…blah blah blah. Nathan grabs Peter’s shoulder and tells him that, hey, he listened to Linderman. How come that hadn’t been brought up before? He touches both of Peter’s shoulders and tells Peter that he was just trying to do the right thing and the guilt will eat him up if he lets it. Peter just smiles at him. “What” Nathan asks. “I just really missed you,” Peter tells him. “I missed you too,” says Nathan. Just make out already, GOD!

Matt puts the kibosh on any chance for brother-on-brother action when he comes over and announces that the press is ready for Nathan. We cut to Nathan, standing at the podium with cameras flashing as he introduces himself. He tells everyone that he was elected to Congress, but he’s since lost his position, his brother and his family. We see flashbacks of the scene in Kirby Plaza and Nathan arguing with Mother Creepy. He goes on to say that he lost his way as we see a rain-soaked Nathan arriving in Ireland. “But while I was gone, I had the chance to see the world through newly-humbled eyes.” We see Fievel Face and Mo hugging as Matt just stands there. “I witnessed amazing things.” We see D.L. rescuing the child from the burning house. “Seen ordinary people among us trying their best each day to be heroes.” We see a bunch of scenes from the past season.

Nathan goes on to mention “ordinary people” who can do “extraordinary things.” “But there are other people, organizations, who don’t want you to know the truth.” We see Blow and The Haitian. Nathan tells us that he kept secrets, and we see footage of him punching his Phantom of the Opera face in the mirror and then soaring into the sky.

“But then, last year, something incredible happened to me.” We see Nathan falling from the sky after Peter lets go, but then Peter comes back for him. “And it changed my life. At first, I was afraid.” Tell me you were not thinking, “I was petrified! Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side!” No one will ever be able to use that phrase again. It’s like the “Who you gonna call?” of the seventies.

Ahem. Sorry. Anyway, Nathan continues, telling Odessa, and the world, that he’s not afraid anymore. “I’m here to tell you the truth.” He looks over at Peter. “I have the ability…”

Suddenly two shots sound and Nathan falls. There’s total chaos as Peter and Matt tend to Nathan. I see a naughty nurse costume in someone’s future! Peter calls Nathan’s name, but he doesn’t answer. Matt looks around for the shooter, but we can only see someone in a black coat, walking away.

There have been a lot of theories on this. A lot of people seem to think it’s HRG, and others seem to think it’s a character that we haven’t seen yet, to be introduced next season. A couple of people I’ve talked to even think it’s Mother Creepy, which is stupid because she wasn’t even there. I have no idea, personally. The figure looks too small to be HRG, so I don’t think it’s him. It could even be Veronica Mars. That could be interesting.

In New York City, Mother Creepy is watching her son’s assassination on the news. She’s on the phone as she turns off the TV and says, “I know. It was unavoidable. You do know that now you’ve opened Pandora’s box?” She doesn’t even look sad as she hangs up the phone. What a class act, that one.

End of Volume Two.

The title Volume Three: Villains appears on screen. We see Sylar in an alley somewhere, and I’m guessing it’s New Jersey- that whole place is a disgusting cesspool. He injects himself with the cure and his wounds begin to heal.

He decides to test out his powers, and he reaches out towards an empty can of spinach near a dumpster. Insert “Popeye” joke here. The can jerks and spasms until it finally shoots across the alley into Sylar’s hand. He smiles. “I’m back…”

Thanks to the writer’s strike, no more Heroes until September. How will we live???