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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