Fire Fliers

So, here we are, the season finale. Twenty-two episodes all leading to this moment.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Let's get to it!

Just in case you were wondering, no, I never recapped last week's episode. My apologies. I could give you a great song and dance to explain the reasons, but really, that would just be silly, and I doubt you'd really care. So, quickly, here's what you needed to know from last week to make this week make sense.

D.L. let his fingers do the walking, right through Linderman's skull. Good.

Sylar did much the same with Ted. Not good.

Bennett and Parkman dealt with Bennett's boss and got to the "Walker system", which is little Molly Walker.

Nathan Petrelli won his election, thanks to a little computer manipulation by Micah. Linderman's parting gift of a healed spine for Petrelli's wife has yet to be revealed.

Somehow (HUGE plot hole here folks) Hiro's Dad taught him to be a master swordsman in about an hour. All they needed to do was infer that Hiro somehow took the two of them "outside" of regular time and make it seem that weeks, months, years of training could happen in the blink of an eye, but they didn't. Instead, we're supposed to buy the idea that Hiro goes from Zero to Zorro in one training session. That just pissed me off.

So that puts you pretty much up to date. Let's move on.

This week opened with a voiceover by Mohinder, very similar to that used to open the series premier, way back when. As we see various scenes from the past season, Suresh questions why mankind can't answer "even the simplest" of questions, such as why we dream and what is the soul. Perhaps, he muses, we would be better off not questioning these things at all.


The first scene of the episode takes place at "Kirby Plaza", no doubt named after Jack Kirby, the famous comic book artist who collaborated with the immortal Stan Lee on creations like "The Fantastic Four". His angular, blocky pencils are unmistakable and he really created what most folks think of as "comic book" styled action. That big red stair case we keep seeing is a very "Kirby-esque" piece of background scenery and not there by accident.

The people who make this show know their stuff, no doubt about it.

In that first scene, we are shown the death of Linderman and the phasing escape of Nikki and D.L. through the office wall. Did anyone else wonder if Mr. Linderman's healing powers might just extend to that gaping hole in his head? I wouldn't count him out completely, just yet.

We then see an abbreviated version of Bennett taking out his old boss, Thompson, and return to where we left off last week, with Mohinder holding a gun on Bennett and Bennett holding his gun on little Molly Walker. Just when I was starting to warm up to the guy, he pulls a gun on a defenseless little girl. Not cool.

It's actually defenseless little Molly who saves the day when she recognizes Parkman lying on the floor, nursing the lump on his cranium that Mohinder put there. When he sees who the "Walker System" actually is, Parkman makes it clear that he won't let Bennett or anyone else hurt her. He's so much less of an asshole in the present than he was (is? will be? will have been? might be? - God, how I hate time-travel!) in the future.

After his whirlwind training session with Mr. Sulu, er...his Father, Hiro rushes out to find that Ando is long gone. Off to kill Sylar and save the world, despite the fact that his only advantage is a tattered copy of Isaac's as yet unpublished last 9th Wonders issue. Mr. Nakamura wants his son to do his duty and go after Sylar, rather than waste time trying to save his friend. Hiro has other ideas. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Ando is already going after Sylar, I didn't see why the two goals had to be mutually exclusive. Still, Hiro's little speech to his old man was very heroic. I think even his Father was impressed.

Sylar is still in Isaac's studio, painting up a storm. This time, he forsees a confrontation in front of the big red staircase with Peter Petrelli. At last, it looks like the most powerful of the Heroes is going to meet the ultimate villain! Ok, I admit, at this point I had a serious Geek goes Giddy moment.

Cut to Nathan Petrelli in his office, fresh from his "Landslide" victory. Mamma Petrelli brings him the news of Linderman's murder and shows concern that Nathan might take it as a sign that he should back out of Linderman's master plan. Congressman Petrelli's still on board though.

"This...changes nothing."

Nikki reluctantly leaves D.L. in a hallway while she goes on alone to find Micah. D.L. would only slow her down. And bleed all over her nice white coat.

Did anyone else out there question Nikki/Jessica's choice of thigh high CFM boots with four inch spike heels as her footwear on their rescue mission? I'm not saying I wasn't happy about it...

Bennett and Suresh drag Thompson's body out of the hallway to keep Linderman's guards from finding it and coming after them. As they do this little bit of housework, Bennett explains that he no longer works for "The Company" and that Mohinder needs to start trusting his judgement.

"Because that's worked out really well for me before."

At this point (let's call it T minus One Hour, since in the previous scene we learned that Nathan's helicopter will arrive in one hour) Mohinder is PERFECTLY clean shaven.

MOHINDER 1

Bennett also tells Suresh WHY he no longer works for The Company.

"The organization I used to work for once stood for something. Now it's been corrupted." Can you say "Groundwork for Season Two"?

Mohinder warns Bennett that he won't let anyone use Molly or hurt her in any way, since he's worked so hard to save her life. Speaking of which, Parkman rushes in just then to get Suresh. Something is wrong with Molly.

At that same moment, Bennett's phone rings. It's Claire. She's with Peter and has called to let her Dad know that Ted Sprague, is dead at Sylar's hand.

Bennett gets her to pass the phone to Peter and tells the younger Petrelli that he may be the only one able to stop Sylar. He'll use the "tracking system" to find him and call Peter as soon as he knows where the villain is. He finishes the conversation with instructions to keep Claire safe at all costs.

Peter drives the two of them to meet Nathan, despite Claire's protests. It doesn't take long for his new mind reading skills to stumble across the fact that Petrelli the Older knows all about the pending explosion and doesn't plan on doing anything to stop it. Peter's blind faith in his brother is shattered and when he sees that Claire has taken off, he turns invisible and rushes off to find her. Of course, Mamma Petrelli has already found her and all Peter's troubles get him is glowing hands and unconsciousness.

Little Molly is feeling just well enough to help find Sylar. In the process, she mentions the one person that she cannot find. Someone worse than Sylar, her personal "Boogie Man".

"When I think about him...he can see me." More Season Two groundwork.

Using her power, a map book and a push-pin, she locates Sylar. In Isaac's loft.

Bennett calls Claire's phone looking for Peter, but Mamma Petrelli answers. The two seem to be old friends.

"You're the man we gave her to, to look after, to keep safe. A job you haven't done particularly well."

Bennett asks to say good-bye to her and uses the opportunity to tell her to go with Mamma and Nathan, to get out of the city before trying to escape.

"Tell me you have a plan, Dad."

"I have a plan."

I'm still convinced that Bennett has a power of his own. He's a planner. Like a Grandmaster of Chess, but more.

After he hangs up, he tells Parkman that their new priority is to find Peter Petrelli, since Peter is the only one with the power to stop Sylar. Parkman disagrees.

"I come 3000 miles, I left my pregnant wife at home. He's a bad guy, I'm a cop. I'm going after him."

"Then, he will kill you."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Peter wakes to find himself not in an alley, but on THE roof. With Charles Deveaux. His late patient.

He sees himself meet Simone and give her a speech about how death can be beautiful. He speaks of how death connects everyone. Prophetic words?

He watches a very strange scene unfold, as his Mother has coffee with his former patient. It seems that somehow, Charles knew about the impending doom that Mamma Petrelli was helping to bring about. Not terribly surprising to us, perhaps, but to Peter it is quite the revelation.

Charles feels that perhaps Peter is going to save the world before the bomb goes off, rather than Mamma's idea that Nathan would be the one to save it after.

Once Mamma Petrelli makes her exit, Charles drops one more bombshell. He knows Peter is there.

In Isaac's loft, Ando has used the copy of 9th Wonders to find Sylar. Not the best idea he ever had. Sylar gets the drop on him and telekinetically throws him against a wall, pinning him helplessly off the ground. The comic book catches Sylar's attention and he sees what Isaac saw in his future and scoffs at the possibility that Hiro or anyone else could kill him in such a simple way.

Ando tells Sylar, "You cannot take my brain." Bravado or something more?

Naturally, Hiro comes to Ando's rescue just as Sylar is about to see how many pieces he can slice him into, using his teleportation abilities to get the two of them out of Sylar's grip before Ando loses more than his sword.

Nikki searches frantically for Micah, and finds...Jessica? Naturally, the appearance of her alter-ego in anything other than the mirror confuses her, and Jessica adds to her distraction by showing her the body of her son. Then she beats the crap out of her.

Parkman shows up at Isaac's loft, but finds only paintings and Isaac's blood. One of the paintings is conveniently labelled "Kirby Plaza", which is where Parkman just came from, and where Sylar is headed.

Mohinder gathers his equipment and tells Molly that they need to leave. Sylar is on his way.

"No, he's not on his way. He's already here."

(*On a completely plot derailing sidenote, I think I've figured out Mohinder's power. He can grow facial hair faster than...well, anyone. According to the very next scene, 50 minutes have passed since he was cleanshaven!*)

MOHINDER 2

Nathan and Mamma Petrelli take Claire to Nathan's office, where Claire questions Nathan's ethics. She wonders if all of these unfolding events are as inevitable as Mamma Petrelli seems to think that they are, why would her Grandmother have worked so hard to keep Claire and Nathan apart. The implication that perhaps Claire's sense of morality might have rubbed off on her biological Father is clear. The indestructible one throws herself out the window to escape, still intent on trying to stop the bomb and save Peter.

The fight between Nikki and Jessica is still going on, until the brawl breaks a mirror that is. Jessica appears in the shattered mirror to tell Nikki that it isn't her that she's fighting. Moments later, Candice is unconscious and the illusion of Micah's body is gone. Candice's power must do more than just bend light. She kept Nikki from hearing Micah in a nearby room AND was able to pick out some pretty detailed memories of Jessica's to use against her.

Nikki finds her son behind a locked door that she rips open as if it weren't there. When he asks, she reassures him that it's "Just her".

In a hallway, Mohinder and Molly stumble across D.L. and Suresh decides to try to help him. The elevators that Molly tries to access aren't working, so they're effectively trapped where they are.

Back in their old office, Hiro and Ando appear, causing a surprising non-reaction as no one notices their arrival. Hiro tells Ando that what he has to do next, he has to do alone.

"You have shown me what bravery is."

"Your whole life you have talked about your favorite stories. Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, Kensei. All the heroes you wanted to be. One day, people will tell the story of Hiro Nakamura."

Before he teleports back to face Sylar, Ando has one more bit of encouragement for his friend.

"You look badass."

"Really?"

And then he's gone.

Back on THE roof top, Charles and Peter have a conversation. Peter can't figure out if it's a dream or time travel. He's confused that Charles knows about the bomb.

Charles tells him that he, Peter, has the ability to save the world.

"Why me?"

"Because, there has to be one that's good. There always has." I'd say that's some more Season Two set up...

When the conversation is over, Charles calls Past-Peter to roll him back inside for some rest.

Bennett finds Peter and wakes him up. This convinces me even further that Charles Deveaux had a power that had to do with prophetic dreams. He passed that power along to his nurse, Peter. That's how Peter first dreamt that he could fly, thus discovering his true ability.

Bennett promises that if Peter loses control of his power when he confronts Sylar, Noah Bennett will put him down. His name is "Noah"? Who knew?

Back in the Kirby Plaza Building, Nikki and Micah return to find Mohinder and Molly helping D.L. in the hall. Micah works a little magic and the group slips into the locked down elevator just as the guards pry open the stairwell door.

Out in front of the Plaza, Sylar and Peter square off. With Bennett effectively out of the game thanks to some of Sylar's telekinesis the two men are left to settle it.

"Didn't I kill you before?"

"Didn't take."

Yeesh. Somebody get Peter a superhero banter guidebook.

Parkman comes out of the shadows, gun blazing. Sylar stops the bullets with a move he learned last night while watching The Matrix and fires them back at him, putting him down.

With a parking meter, Sylar continues his beat down of Peter, until Nikki (COOLEST moment of the episode!!!) grabs it from him and returns the favour.

Peter recovers and takes over for her.

"Go back to your family. I got this."

Stripping off his jacket to reveal his white shirt, Peter and Sylar become the twenty-first century equivalent of the old white hat, black hat westerns.

It's old imagery, but it still works.

A few punches later, Sylar is laughing at Peter, who is rapidly losing control of his power.

"Turns out you're the villain, Peter."

Can someone PLEASE tell me why Peter doesn't just fly away right at this moment?

Anyhow, Hiro arrives and as Isaac predicted, plunges his sword into Sylar's chest. Just when it looks like Hiro might be able to stop Peter by using the sword on him, Sylar uses his telekinesis to fling him away. Hiro teleports before he can be crushed against the wall of the Plaza.

As the power grows further and further out of control, Claire comes running out of the darkness. She shares a look with her father and takes his gun.

Peter begs her to do it. She hesitates. When all that's left is the shot, out of the sky drops Nathan!

"The future isn't written in stone."

"I can't let you die."

"And I can't let everyone else. You saved the cheerleader, so we could save the world."

"I love you Nathan."

"I love you too. You ready?"

With that, the Petrelli Brothers ascend to the heavens. Moments later, night is briefly transformed into day, but New York remains.

In the aftermath, Molly begs Parkman not to die. As he's loaded into the ambulance, Mohinder's voice fills the air.

"We dream of hope. We dream of change. Of fire, of love, of death. And then it happens. The dream becomes real. And the answer to this quest, this need to answer life's mysteries finally shows itself. Like the glowing light of the new dawn."

Bennett sums it all up.

"Let's go home."

"Home where? Our house burnt down."

"Home is anywhere our family is together."

Pan to the blood stain where Sylar fell and the trail that leads to an open manhole cover.

"So much struggle for meaning, for purpose. And in the end, we find it only in each other. Our shared experience of the fantastic and the mundane. The simple human need to find a kindred, to connect, and to know in our hearts, that we are not alone."

End of Volume One.

At the last, we see Hiro fall to the ground, teleported to a tranquil field.

Only, it's not so tranquil. On one side, some feudal Japanese warriors draw their bowstrings to their cheeks. On the other, a single rider bearing the "Godsend" symbol on his standard brandishes his blade. Then, we are given the date. Hiro has managed to teleport himself outside of Kyoto, Japan, in the year 1671, just in time for an eclipse.

To quote Hiro himself, "@#$%!"