(S02E09) "You've gone native. Are you kidding me?" Noah Bennet to Mohinder Suresh.

Just when you thought Mohinder couldn't get any stupider, he goes and shoots Noah Bennet in the eye. He is really in too deep with this company. And lately, he is making Matt Parkman look like a genius. (Wait, did Parkman just make me say that? Dumb joke, I know.) More on this after the jump because it basically took up the whole episode.

But before I go through all the storylines for this week, let me just say that I was so relieved that those ridiculous mascara-plague twins were absent from this week's Heroes. And just so I don't get too excited about it, I put a picture of them in the post to remind me that they are still on the show. (However, they are the vehicle to get the devilish Sylar back in the states so I suppose I forgive them on some level.)

Claire Bennet, Noah Bennet (H.R.G.), and West
We begin in Costa Verde, CA. We spend most of the episode there in fact. The Bennets are getting ready to skip town but as Claire told her father before, she's not going with them. Citing West as an example, she confronts her father about the bad things he did as a soldier of the company. This conversation could have benefited from a rewrite, I think. When Noah picks up the tape like he's going to tie Claire up, I thought, that's a little over the top.

Claire leaves to find West (by spelling out S-O-R-R-Y with rocks). She tells him about the fight and how she's staying in Costa Verde for him but he doesn't believe her (teen drama alert!). West leaves because he says he needs time to figure things out. He thinks Claire and her father are working together.

Meanwhile, Noah has some explaining to do to his wife who witnessed the verbal altercation (duct tape and all). He shows his wife the future paintings. She doesn't really get it--no big surprise there. Then he leaves to go find Claire and West sweeps him into the air. This air assault was a cool Heroes moment I must admit (a great shot right before a commercial).

West interrogates Noah in the air to find out about Claire's involvement with him. I liked how they ended up working together to save Claire. I like West's character. I know lots of people hate him but I don't see why. He's not that annoying (not like those twins).

Mohinder Suresh, Bob & Elle
Mohinder, Bob and Elle go to Southern California for two reasons: to get Claire's blood and to kill Noah Bennet. Bob tries to convince Mohinder that Noah is a threat and should be "taken out" but Mohinder is skeptical about killing him (always wanting to do the right thing and the least harm). He does agree that Claire's blood is needed to cure Niki though.

Elle always wants to kill Noah (two reasons again: it's the logical thing to do from her and her father's perspective and she's slightly unhinged so she takes pleasure in killing people). But Mohinder persuades them both to follow his plan. After Noah calls looking for Molly's help to find West, Mohinder calls back with a fake location. Of course, Noah is with West at the time so he's knows it's a bluff.

While Mohinder and Elle go to meet Noah (and West), Bob goes to abduct Claire. Did he really fudge her name when he spoke to her on the football field? I couldn't tell if that was an honest mistake only because Bob doesn't look like the kind of guy that makes mistakes. Either way, Bob follows Claire home and kidnaps her at gunpoint.

Mohinder thinks that he's got Noah under control (and if he doesn't Elle will zap him). But, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a flying teenager come to clothesline the electricity girl. By the way, West is getting good at swooping people off the ground.

Noah vs. Bob, The Showdown

Now Bob has Claire and Noah has Elle. Was it just me or did you kind of enjoy Elle getting a taste of the pain she so easily inflicts on everyone else? What an easy way to contain her too. Why didn't they just keep her clothes and hair wet for the exchange? A dry Elle is a super-charged, super-pissed off Elle.

The exchange is going pretty smoothly when Elle zaps West (who is holding Claire) out of the air. Noah then shoots Elle in the arm. I thought he was a better shot than that. Noah is about to shoot Bob but Mohinder shoots him in the eyeball. Right in the eyeball. And when did the genetics doctor learn how to aim a gun?

I actually thought they were going to kill someone off for real this time. But no, Noah is back by virtue of Claire's blood with a new eyeball. I wonder if he will still need glasses?

Parkman & Molly
Matt Parkman is becoming his father. I was wondering if they were going to draw out this transition for another episode but I guess not. Parkman first uses his powers to persuade Molly to be a normal girl after she offers to help him find the rest of the people in the picture. The look on his face shows that he's a little surprised with and even scared of his new, improved ability.

Then he uses his power on his boss and sees that it can be very advantageous to control other people's thoughts. What would Professor Xavier think? A little unethical if you ask me. Ethics aside, he gets more time to investigate Kaito Nakamura's death and interview Angela Petrelli.

Parkman then has a battle of the mind powers with Angela who accuses him of turning into his father and scolds him for meddling in the business of her generation. After suffering a Parkman headache and a bloody nose, she gives up the last name in the picture.

I wonder if Parkman will turn into a villain with his evolved power. I think it's cliche to have him turn into his dad. However, the "new nightmare man" could make for an interesting situation with Molly. But, from what we know of Parkman's character (meek, righteous, caring, not so sharp), I don't think it makes sense for him to exploit his power the way his father did.

Hiro
It was nice to see Hiro get some closure and a new mission this episode. We first see him at his father's funeral but he refuses to give the eulogy and tells Ando he is going back in time to save his father. However, when he gets there, Kaito Nakamura, a man who believes in fate, turns down the opportunity to save his own life.

In an effort to convince his father to live, Hiro takes him back to the funeral of his wife/Hiro's mother. I thought maybe Kaito would concede and allow his son to alter time to rescue him at this point. But, alas, no, he is really dead (maybe they will bring him back...like D.L. and then kill him again...like D.L.).

Hiro talks to his younger self and in effect teaches himself his father's lesson. Finally, his father's words make sense to Hiro: "We have the power of the gods. That doesn't mean we can play God." While Hiro doesn't "play God" and save his father, he does use his power to uncover who murdered him: Kensei. I like that Hiro's vendetta against Kensei will create trouble in his relationship with Peter Petrelli. They have worked on the same side before but how will Adam/Kensei affect things?

Final Thoughts:

* Everyone saw it coming but I like that it's confirmed that Claire's blood can heal people. I can't wait for more showdown scenes with her and Elle next week.

* I know this is completely nerdy but did anyone catch the title of the episode's reference to The Canterbury Tales? I haven't given it much thought other than that they sound awfully similar. Nothing in the episode struck me as particularly Chaucerian though.

* Where was Peter? I need a little Petrelli each episode (and Mama Petrelli just won't do). Even the elder Petrelli would have done just fine. All we got was a reference to him by Claire's mother. She said that girls always look for their father in their boyfriends. Noah alluded to the coincidence of Nathan and West both being able to fly.

* I liked Hiro's eulogy at the end and how his speech correlated to shots of different characters (i.e. Mohinder looking at the gun and probably thinking about what his father would think of what happened; Elle looking at Bob with the new information about what he did to her as a young girl).