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Better Halves
Original Airdate: October 30, 2006
Reviewed by cmdr_forst

Summary | Review | Screen Caps | Cast | Guest Cast | Creative Staff

Summary

Before the recap begins, a quick refresher on the characters:

Niki - the woman who takes off her clothes and sees herself in the mirror
Peter - the nurse who thinks he can fly, Nathan's brother
Isaac - the druggie who can paint the future
Hiro - the businessman who can stop time
Claire - the indestructible cheerleader
Simone - the dying man's daughter
Micah - Nikki's genius son
Nathan - a politician and Peter's brother
Mohinder - the professor whose father was killed for his research
Matt – the police officer who hears voices


In Isaac's studio, Peter and Isaac stand in front of the painting they just finished. Peter picks up the phone and hears Hiro introduce himself. He tells Hiro and Ando that they need to save a cheerleader. The problem is neither Isaac nor Peter knows who or where the cheerleader is. Peter tells Hiro and Ando to come to New York City and then turns to Isaac.

Peter has an idea: if they put all the paintings together, like a page from a comic book, they might find the clue they need to identify the cheerleader. But a painting is missing; the page is incomplete. Isaac realizes the missing painting -- completed weeks ago -- was included in the paintings that Simone took to sell.

They have to get it back.


Claire and her mother make cupcakes, lots of cupcakes. She pulls a fresh batch out of the oven with her bare hands, burning them badly enough for her mother to smell the toasted flesh. Mr. Bennett walks into the kitchen and tells Claire that her biological parents want to meet her the very next day. Mrs. Bennett is worried about school but Mr. Bennett places the decision squarely on Claire's shoulders.

She is ready.


In Las Vegas, Niki wakes up and, leaving Micah sleeping soundly on her bed, walks slowly through her house, spotting the squad car left behind on the street to watch over her. But D.L. managed to slip into the house undetected. He grabs Niki, who threatens to scream and alert the police officers parked on the street.

D.L. suggests she not do that. He notices that she is not wearing her wedding ring. Niki tells him to leave, that it is not a good idea for him to be here. D.L. wants to keep the family together. The officers knock on the door and D.L. slips into another room, charging Niki with getting rid of the officers. They sense something is wrong but Niki waves them off.

Niki asks D.L. what happened with his job. D.L. tells her that he did not kill his crew but a mysterious woman did.


Claire and Zack discuss what Claire should do when she meets her biological parents. Zack jokingly suggests she cuts them to see if they heal the way she does. After asking Zack if he is flirting with her, and getting a negative response, Zack asks if she is planning on telling her parents about her ability. Claire laughs off the question but tells Zack her father would freak out.


As Hiro and Ando prepare to leave for New York City, they discuss the future Hiro that Peter mentioned. Hiro explains that his future self did not come visit him because it would cause a rift in the time-space continuum. Ando is not impressed and begins to back out of their parking stall. Suddenly, a large, black SUV pulls up in back of their car.

It is the poker player with the cowboy hat that beat them up earlier. Ando quickly begins freaking out but the man insists he only wants to talk. More specifically, he wants to know how Ando was able to win so much money. Ando sheepishly insists it is just the luck of the Japanese.


Claire's adoptive parents arrive at her house and her parents go to greet them at the door. Zack takes his leave of Claire, but not before offering to knock into her adoptive folks as he leaves to see how they react.


Niki and D.L. discuss what the future holds and what happened in the past. Niki tells him he can stay the night but has to leave in the morning. He leans in to kiss her but she turns away and he walks off. As D.L. tries to get comfortable on the couch, Niki lies awake in her bed. D.L. stares at his wedding ring and Niki gets up and pulls her out. She walks into the living room and tells D.L. to come to bed.


Ando joins a poker game, still insisting that Japanese people are very lucky. His opponents are getting frustrated at his continued "good fortune" thanks to Hiro, who freezes time and picks up all the cards, giving Ando the best hands. After looking under the table and noticing a pistol, Ando believes the men are going to kill them.

As the two hide in a closet, mayhem takes place outside. The sound of death and destruction outside causes Hiro to try to stop time to save them. But he is too late. The door to the closet buckles under the impact of a body and Hiro stares sadly at the blood that drips down through a crack. Ando heads for the window.


The next morning, Niki and D.L. reminisce about their early days. D.L. tells Niki she needs to get some sleep and that he heard her the night before walking around trying to be quiet. Niki does not remember that; she looks at the mirror and sees herself and Mirror Niki. Micah opens the door and is excited to see his father in bed with his mother (what an emotionally balanced kid).


Mohinder discusses Peter with Eden as he packs. He has his doubts that Isaac exists and tells Eden he is just going to go home with his father's ashes. But Eden is sure he will be back. After Mohinder says his goodbye, the two share a passionate kiss before Mohinder walks out.


D.L. and Micah share a father-son moment at the breakfast table looking over Micah's comic books. D.L. apologizes for his absence and asks about Niki. Micah says she is fine and then wonders how his father got out of jail. D.L.'s response is simple: he walked out because he has a secret.

Niki is worried how Micah will react once D.L. leaves again. But D.L. insists things will be different once he meets with the woman who stole the money. He suggests that Niki drive him to see the woman, hiding in her backseat. Niki is not sure she wants to take that risk.


The meeting between Claire and her biological parents is awkward, with her biological mother commenting on the fact that Claire's facial features do not quite match up with her biological father's. Mrs. Bennett offers lemonade and the Bennetts leave Claire alone with her biological parents, who ask her what they can tell her about themselves.


Niki does drive D.L. to the woman, with D.L. hiding in the backseat. Although Niki is worried D.L. seems confident. They walk down a flight of stairs and come to a seemingly locked door. After Niki looks away for a moment, D.L. is able to open the door. Immediately after walking through the doorway, D.L. tells Niki to go back to the car. But she has already seen the carnage inside the room.

It is filled with mangled body parts, chunks of burnt flesh, loose limbs and plenty of blood. D.L. bodily drags a stunned Niki out the door.


Claire learns that her biological parents split up during high school after the biological mother got pregnant. The biological father wanted to keep the baby, the biological mother wanted to give her up. Claire asks about medical history and her biological mother admits she has diabetes. Her biological father has a history of cancer and heart disease.

Mr. Bennett's cell phone rings, which is somewhat embarrassing because he was eavesdropping on the conversation in the living room, along with Mrs. Bennett. After telling his wife the phone call is work, she leaves, and Mr. Bennett learns from Eden that Mohinder has left for India. Eden also tells Mr. Bennett that Peter Petrelli might be able to fly and that someone from the future gave Peter a message about saving a cheerleader.

At the mention of the cheerleader, Mr. Bennett goes silent, prompting Eden to ask if he is there. Shaking it off, Mr. Bennett tells her to bring in the pre-cog (presumably Isaac).


Back home, Niki admits she has seen that sort of carnage before, in her garage. She tells D.L. about the money she borrowed from Lindermen, about the men who showed up to collect the money, and about how she was knocked out. When she woke up, the men were dead and they looked just like the bodies in the building. She is certain she is the killer and starts getting emotional.

D.L. insists she cannot be that sort of person. Someone is setting him up and making Niki part of it. Niki wants to tell the police but D.L. is certain the only way to clear his name is to find out what happened. As she picks up Micah's backpack, she stops and glances in the mirror.

A moment later, she is seated on the couch and the backpack is nowhere to be found. She walks into Micah's room and finds him with the backpack. He tells her that not two minutes ago she brought him the backpack and told him to pack some clothes for Grandma's house.

Niki goes back to her room and slides to the floor in front of the mirror. She is so sure she is the killer. And then she starts talking to herself, literally. Mirror Niki is sitting against the mirror, talking to Niki about what happened. Mirror Niki laughs at Niki's suggestion that she is crazy or has a tumor.

D.L. walks into Micah's room, looking for Niki. He talks with Micah, explaining that relationships are hard.

Mirror Niki tells Niki that they were the ones who framed D.L., killed his crew, took the money and killed quite a few other people. Niki is distraught and refuses to believe Mirror Niki, who tells her to get the money and take Micah as far away as possible. Mirror Niki tells her that once D.L. finds out about Niki's "split personality," he will take Micah and he might very well kill her.

Micah, understandably upset, tells his father that his mother has a secret ability too. Niki turns to Mirror Niki and asks where the money is. Mirror Niki tells Niki she made a good choice.


Hiro and Ando walk through the parking garage, with Hiro still upset about what happened to the poker players. He has a gift and he failed. Perhaps he is not the hero he thoughts he was. Ando tells his friend that every hero has a path and has to find their way. And, perhaps, when Hiro has perfected his powers better, he can come back and fix things. Hiro is very happy about the idea of a do over.


Claire talks with her mother about her "bio-parents," as she has dubbed them. Mr. Bennett walks them to their car and thanks them for coming. The three agree that the visit went very well. Claire, on the other hand, was hoping for a little more. She wanted her bio-parents to tell her who she is. When her mother makes a comment about Claire having some sort of chromosomal problem as a baby,

Claire starts getting worried. But her mother insists that it was nothing and walks off, grooming her dog. Mr. Bennett walks in and asks if Claire was half as scared over the visit as she was. As she hugs her father, Claire looks off in the distance, a worried look on her face.


With a grunt, Niki pulls herself onto a dirty crawlspace. At the end of the crawlspace is a suitcase, filled with money and a revolver. Sending the suitcase out first, Niki drops to the floor in the middle of her bedroom. Unfortunately, D.L. is also in the room, and not very happy.

Niki tries to explain what happened but D.L. grabs the suitcase and tells her he is taking Micah. As D.L. attempts to walk out the door, Mirror Niki takes over. She tosses D.L. across the room with ease. He crashes into the wall. Micah peers in the doorway but Niki tells him everything is fine. When she turns around again D.L. is no longer on the floor.

She walks across the bedroom. Suddenly, D.L. walks straight out of the wall and grabs her. After realizing how D.L. was able to get out of prison, Niki pulls his hands off her and tosses him onto the bed. She begins to choke him but is interrupted by Micah at the door again. The momentary interruption is all D.L. needs.

He thrusts his hand through Niki's chest and Niki goes rigid before collapsing on the floor. Micah runs towards his mother but D.L. picks him up, leaving Niki alone.


Isaac stares at a painting of a woman who looks very much like poor Niki. He licks his thumb and smudges an unusual, half-helix shape on the woman's shoulder (it has popped up before in various episodes -- it must mean something). A sudden knock summons Isaac to the front door. Eden is standing there. She introduces herself as a big fan of his work and she comes inside.

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Review

I am getting a little annoyed with the way each episode overlaps just a tiny bit with the episode that preceded it. Not because it takes up precious seconds of new episode but because the overlap always seems to be slightly different than my recollection of the previous episode.

Early in the episode, when Niki was talking with the police officers through the screen door, the effect of the screen over the faces of Niki and the policeman was very reminiscent of the iconic drawing style of Jack Kirby (and others, but he was one of the first to use "Kirby dots" in such a brilliant fashion). Hopefully that was not just a random coincidence.

Things are starting to really pull together and it looks like Niki is a very big connection (along with Claire). She not only managed to get D.L. thrown in jail, she stole $2 million and killed quite a few people. Including, it seems, the poker players Ando and Hiro were caught up with.

Of course, the obvious question is why Niki has this split personality. All the other characters, including D.L. with his ability to walk through walls, at least have the option to use their powers for good. Niki/Mirror Niki just seems to be evil, or at least really, really mean. Hopefully that will be explained eventually.

But the real revelation this episode was Eden's true loyalties. In retrospect, she probably was always a little too good to be true, and the sudden, powerful kiss with Mohinder should have been an indication that she is working for Mr. Bennett. I wonder if she has a power, too, because it seems unlikely she could overpower Isaac and bring him in. Unless she seduces him and leaves that to Mysterious Goon.

And poor Claire. All she wants is to know what is going on with her body and her history. But it looks like her father brought in some total strangers (including Kari Turner, who spent many years on JAG) to pose as her biological parents. And her mother just happens to let slip that Claire had a mysterious disorder as a baby? Maybe if Mrs. Bennett was not so preoccupied with her dog she would notice that her daughter never, ever seems to get hurt.

As always, Hiro and Ando were fantastic, from Hiro's joy at learning his future self has a sword to Ando explaining to the poker players that going to the bathroom together is "how we roll." I am beginning to worry that Ando is going to meet an unfortunate end somewhere down the line but then I remember Hiro can just go back in time and save him. Unless, of course, Hiro quickly develops a code of ethics about when he can go back in time and when he has to live with the past as it is.

All in all, although this episode was not entirely as strong as earlier installments, we learned a surprising amount about some of the characters. Especially Niki and her dangerous mirror self. Micah is really going to need therapy later in life (if he survives that long with powerful parents who are now fighting over him). Obviously, Niki has to survive. Or maybe only Mirror Niki will. Or a combination of the two.

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Quotes:

Zack (about Claire): "You're a little bitchy sometimes, but I don't think you're all that bitter."

Mirror Niki (about Niki): "Poor little crazy girl."

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Cast:

Santiago Cabrera as Isaac Mendez
Noah Gray-Cabey as Micah Sanders
Ali Larter as Niki Sanders
Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura
Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennett
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh
Leonard Roberts
as D.L. Hawkins
Milo Ventimiglia
as Peter Petrelli

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Guest Cast:

Nora Zehetner as Eden
James Kyson Lee as Ando Masahashi
Ashley Crow
as Sandra Bennet
Thomas Dekker
as Zack
Karri Turner
as Lisa
Colby French
as Hank
Jack Coleman
as Mr. Bennet (a.k.a. Horn-rimmed Glasses)
Mark Allan Stewart
as High Roller
Dean Napolitano
as LVPD Deputy
Paul Raci
as Ernie the Weasel
Stephen Full
as Lowlife

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Creative Staff:

Written by Natalie Chaidez
Directed by Greg Beeman

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