Heroes Volume Five, Episode Nine: Brother’s Keeper

At the Sullivan Brothers Carnival, Hiro stares at Charlie’s waitress nametag while Samuel tells him he needs to go back in time eight weeks to a motel room in Texas to prevent Mohinder from destroying a film from 1961. If he can deliver the film to Samuel, he’ll save Charlie.

Nine weeks ago in Chennai, Mohinder lectures a girl on plate tectonics while his Volume One fiancée, Mira, beams at him. He tells Mira he’s thinking of making lamb biriyani for dinner. It’s worth pointing out that he’s clean-shaven and looking especially pretty. Mira, who is familiar with the way Mohinder’s side projects tend to get him into trouble, urges him to throw out a box he had delivered filled with his father’s Coyote Sands research. Mohinder agrees and throws the box away.

In a diner in Washington DC, Tracy looks at the spinning compass Samuel gave her and gets into a debate with the waitress about carnival freaks. When she picks up her coffee mug, her power malfunctions, and the mug freezes and shatters. Tracy hurries out.

Peter and Nathan go to Nathan’s office, where his staff seems only mildly surprised to see their errant Senator back after his prolonged absence. His helpful assistant tells him that Angela let her know he was on indefinite vacation. The Haitian -- Rene -- arrives. Obviously suspecting the truth about Nathan, Rene orders him to stand back while he speaks to Peter. Why the Haitian, of all people, would have any reason to fear Nathan/Sylar, I can’t even begin to guess.

Claire lugs her laundry over to Noah’s apartment and finds the doorknob has been smashed. She sneaks inside and stalks the intruder around with a butcher knife for a while, then discovers it’s just… Tracy, whose freezing power is malfunctioning again. Claire fixes her a hot bath, and Tracy strips down to her underwear and soaks in it. The water starts to freeze over. When Claire grabs Tracy, Claire freezes solid. Horrified, Tracy tries to move Claire into the bathtub to thaw her, but Claire’s foot breaks off. Tracy starts sobbing at this, which seems like a perfectly reasonable reaction. Claire regenerates, foot and all.

Later, Tracy, powers firmly back under control, drinks tea with Claire and compares notes with her about Samuel. Noah comes home and sees Claire’s spare broken-off foot resting on the coffee table.

The Haitian -- Rene -- tells Peter Angela sent him to wipe Nathan’s and Peter’s memories. He implies, strongly, that he knows what’s going on, but he refuses to give Peter a straight answer, because where’s the fun in that? Instead, he gives him a card with the number for a storage locker scribbled on it and tells him the answers can be found there.

In India, Mohinder lies in bed with Mira, wide awake. He sneaks out of bed and rummages through his box o’ crap, which he’s salvaged from the trash, and extracts the film reel about Chandra’s experiments at Coyote Sands. You know, the film reel that Mohinder lost in the desert after getting nabbed by Danko’s goons? I guess it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Mohinder could have sent someone into the desert to look for it and mail it to him in India, right? He watches black-and-white footage from 1961, in which Chandra speaks of wanting to alert the authorities to the dangers of having so many people with abilities in one location. A small force emanates from individuals with powers -- get a bunch of them together, and the force increases exponentially, like magnetism. One of the residents of Coyote Sands, a pregnant woman, is about to give birth to someone possessing a great deal of magnetic energy. Off screen, the woman gives birth, and chaos erupts. Chandra ducks for cover as the walls rattle.

Peter visits the storage locker with Nathan, who is disgruntled that Rene didn’t want him in the loop. There’s a coffin in the storage locker; Nathan peeks inside and sees his own corpse. This begs the question: Angela, why on earth are you keeping your son’s body in a storage locker? I mean, really. Nathan touches his corpse and gets an impression of the events of his death: He sees Sylar and a hotel room, and hears Matt’s angry voice. Peter and Nathan decide to find Matt to search for answers. Nathan’s extremely useful assistant locates Matt at a hospital in Texas, where he’s in critical condition after getting riddled by bullets by cops last episode.

Nine weeks ago: While the film still runs, Mohinder launches into some incredibly intricate project, scattering bits and pieces of debris all around. Mira finds him asleep on his desk, the filmstrip flapping, crud all around him. He wakes and tells Mira enthusiastically that he’s made a remarkable discovery. He’s built a compass, which will help him locate the super-magnetic baby who was born on Chandra’s film. Mira is not amused. She tells him to think carefully about what he has to lose -- if he disappears again, she won’t wait. I’m flabbergasted that she waited this long for him in the first place. Mohinder’s a catch, granted, but around the time he moved to a different country, and started raising a small child, and found himself another girlfriend, maybe it was time to stop holding a torch for him.

Peter and Nathan break into Matt’s hospital room, and Peter uses his healing power to restore Matt’s health. Matt, aware that Sylar is still in his head, yells at Peter and Nathan to get away. Sylar takes over Matt’s consciousness again. Sylar-as-Matt tells Nathan that Nathan is really Sylar. He urges him to take his hand. Peter tries to stop this nonsense, but Nathan uses telekinesis to shove Peter aside. A guard bursts into the room to see what all the ruckus is about. In the chaos, Nathan and Matt touch hands, and there’s a transfer of energy. Nathan picks up unconscious Peter and flies with him out of the hospital as Matt, handcuffed to the bed, yells after him.

Matt uses Jedi Mind-Tricks™ to persuade the guard to wheel him into the morgue on a gurney. He manipulates the guard into thinking Matt died.

Eight weeks ago: Mohinder’s compass leads him to the carnival, where he runs into Samuel’s brother Joseph. He informs Joseph that Samuel can dangerously magnify his ability. Joseph claims he has no idea what Mohinder is talking about. When Samuel joins their conversation, Joseph tells him that Mohinder is researching a book on carnival folks.

Safely away from the hospital, Peter and Nathan (or, rather, “Nathan”) discuss their next move. When it seems like Nathan is planning on leaving him behind, Peter steals his flight power so he can stick with him. Hang on -- if Sylar passed into Nathan’s body which is really Sylar’s body, is he going to be able to fly? Can Sylar fly? Did Nathan retain his flying power even when he was in Sylar’s body? This is confusing. They fly off together. So I guess that answers that.

Joseph tells Mohinder that Samuel has no idea of the true nature of his ability. Joseph has been trying to keep him in the dark, because Samuel has great ambition that can be dangerous. He’s kept the carnival deliberately small to keep Samuel’s powers under control. Joseph advises Mohinder to burn Chandra’s film, then kicks Mohinder out of the carnival. Unseen by Mohinder and Joseph, Samuel lurks outside the trailer, listening.

Mohinder calls Mira from a motel room to tell her uncovering his father’s research again was a mistake. He places the film in the trash can, douses it with lighter fluid, and strikes a match (psst, Mohinder: Film is highly flammable. No lighter fluid needed!), but before he can ignite it, Hiro freezes time and saves the film. He warns the still-frozen Mohinder to be careful: the “Evil Butterfly Man” will be coming for him.

Before vanishing again, Hiro unfreezes Mohinder, who drops the match and starts the fire in the now-empty trash can. Samuel bursts in, demanding to know what’s on the film. Samuel crushes a rock into pebbles and, when Mohinder refuses to give him any information, hurls the pebbles at him. They embed themselves in his chest. Mohinder collapses. After Samuel leaves, Mohinder wakes up, coughing and gasping, and notices he’s wearing a bulletproof vest. Hiro pops up out of nowhere and says, “Hello, old friend.”

Hiro explains that he’s come from eight weeks in the future to save the film -- he saved Mohinder via bulletproof vest kind of as an afterthought. Mohinder wants to stop Samuel before his power can grow stronger, but Hiro needs Mohinder to disappear for eight weeks in order for Samuel to release Charlie when Hiro delivers the film. Mohinder and Hiro squabble about it, and Hiro freezes time again. He teleports away with Mohinder.

Present day: Hiro delivers the film to Samuel and asks for Charlie back.

Mohinder wakes up wearing a straightjacket in a padded cell in an asylum in Florida. An attendant calls him “Ahmadi” and tells him it’s time for his medication. Above Mohinder’s protests, the attendants drug him.

Matt calls Janice to tell her Sylar is back in his own body and, hence, out of his own.

Samuel joins Tracy at the diner and tells her she can accomplish great things with him.

Peter and Nathan discuss how Nathan is actually Sylar. Peter tries to argue that it doesn’t really matter, but Nathan points out that Peter is always going to see Sylar whenever he looks at him.

Comments

Dan said…
Any episode in which Ali Larter takes a bath is fine by me. Sounds like this episode has something for everyone. Looking forward to watching it.
Morgan Richter said…
Fans of Larter bathing scenes will not be disappointed. It's an entertaining episode. Made up for the drudgery of last week.
Morgan Richter said…
Oh, FYI, folks -- no more anonymous comments. Sorry if that inconveniences anyone. You can sign in with another account: Blogger, LiveJournal, WordPress, etcetera. If anyone has any problems logging in, shoot me an email and we'll get it sorted out.
Anonymous said…
Why didn't Hiro teleport Mohinder eight weeks ito the future and be done with it...?
Anonymous said…
So, Samuel wanted the film back, not Mohinder. Samuel, I officially label you "an evil bastard".

Why the Haitian, of all people, would have any reason to fear Nathan/Sylar, I can’t even begin to guess.

My impression is that the Haitian was afraid to make Nathan/Sylar revert to Sylar look (maybe the Haitian has difficulty with controlling his ability when agitated). Besides, his power can be overrided, he was barely holding Arthur back in "Our Father".

Noah comes home and sees Claire’s spare broken-off foot resting on the coffee table.

If I were Claire, I'd never leave my broken-off foot on the coffee table. It's just unhygienic. Drink tea while staring at the broken-off foot? Urgh. Clearly, Sylar had a major bad influence on Claire-Bear.

Hang on -- if Sylar passed into Nathan’s body which is really Sylar’s body, is he going to be able to fly? Can Sylar fly? Did Nathan retain his flying power even when he was in Sylar’s body?

Sylar surely can fly, he empathically took this ability in "Invisible Thread" shortly before killing Nathan.

Overall, I liked the episode. But Peter's "Oh, you're Sylar. It doesn't really matter." reaction seems far too calm. It's almost like he's on meds or something. I suppose we should attribute the lack of emotions to exhaustion from using the healing power too much.
Anonymous said…
This was one of the stronger episodes this season and I’m not just saying that because Mohinder was in it and actually had an interesting storyline. Although watching him be all the professor meets MacGyver and building a compass was amusing. I’m pleasantly surprised that the way Mohinder was written in this episode actually felt like a proper extension of the Mohinder we knew in Seasons 1 and 2. He’s smart and impulsive, driven by a natural curiosity to know which can also put him in harmful situations.

I don’t know why Hiro didn’t just teleport him to the present instead of putting him in a psych ward but I was happy to see Hiro at least try to save him. I also liked the argument between them. Mohinder could appreciate Hiro wanting to save Charlie but for him the bigger picture was stopping Samuel.

It’s nice to see Mohinder with a goal since the show forgot about his history with Sylar. I’m glad his storyline is tied in a significant way to Samuel’s and that, in a way, we’ve been given this confrontational set up between them. Although I do have to wonder, given the vague similarities to the Mohinder/Sylar season 1 plot, if the writers do actually realize (after the fiasco of season 3) what a great storyline that was and are now trying to recreate it with Mohinder/Samuel (to an extent)?

Along those lines, however, I’m curious what his reaction will be when he finds out Sylar is alive. I’d like to think he’d be seriously pissed off but given Peter’s reaction to the news, that’s apparently asking too much.

Nice tension in the scenes between Mohinder and Joseph…and I’d like to think Samuel was struck by Mohinder’s beauty when he first set eyes on him. He was looking at him all, “how you doing?”

In no way do I believe Peter would be so ho-hum about the “Nathan is really Sylar” revelation. It doesn’t matter? It surely does. This is not your brother at all, save for memories pushed from a dead body into a killer’s. Peter should be furious and shocked.

He implies, strongly, that he knows what’s going on, but he refuses to give Peter a straight answer, because where’s the fun in that?

This is one of my big issues with tv shows/films in general – the withholding of information for reasons that make no sense.

I liked the way the hospital scene played out with Matt/Sylar/Peter/Nathan. Then again I think Peter’s story this episode finally benefited from being connected back to Matt/Sylar. No more rainbow piano playing!

The one story that dragged things down for me tonight was Tracy/Claire, but that’s mostly because I can’t figure out why Claire is being shoe-horned into every episode. Tracy losing control of her powers and eventually meeting with Samuel worked for me but I think I’m at my over saturation point with Claire. Her storyline is still going nowhere.

Just a question – are casting announcements spoilers to you? Because watching the Tracy/Claire scenes and hearing this week about a new casting addition I can’t help but seriously wonder what this show’s obsession is with white, blonde females. I feel like we’re getting to the point where it’s getting weird. Or maybe I’m just being overly sensitive? Given the link I read yesterday to Foz McDermott, a coordinating producer and writer of the show, responding to criticisms of “Heroes”, however, I don’t think my reaction is all that farfetched.
Morgan Richter said…
Why didn't Hiro teleport Mohinder eight weeks ito the future and be done with it...?

No clue. I can't fathom why he didn't do that.

So, Samuel wanted the film back, not Mohinder. Samuel, I officially label you "an evil bastard".

Total dick move. Samuel is a bit more of a loose cannon than we'd seen earlier.

This is one of my big issues with tv shows/films in general – the withholding of information for reasons that make no sense.

Yup. On the one hand, I suppose it was somewhat in character for the Haitian -- he pulled sort of the same trick in Volume One when he first confronted Claire: "You father wants me to wipe your memory, but for my own enigmatic reasons, I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm just going to let you stumble around for a few episodes wondering why your dad is a bad guy."

Peter's plotline improved a thousandfold this week, just by getting him back together with Nathan and linking him with Matt-Sylar.

Good to see Mo back in fine form. Loved him building his own compass and rushing headlong into danger (and when Joseph originally rebuffed him, it seemed very classic Mohinder when he called Mira from his motel room to tell her grumpily that he made a mistake and he's catching the next flight to India. If there's a Heroes drinking game, surely "Mohinder threatens to go back to India" is worth a drink).

Casting announcements aren't spoilers here. Is this the Kate Vernon casting, or another blonde woman? It's getting a little farcical.
Ingrid Richter said…
Fine episode, fine review!

I suspect Hiro dumped Mohinder in a psych ward because he was slightly annoyed at him for not seeing the importance of saving Charlie. Heh. Hiro has a dark side!

Also, I wonder if Mohinder was rifling through Chandra's Big-Box-O-Plot that was stored in the basement of his apartment instead of the Coyote Sands files.

How is HRG going to dispose of a severed human foot? That's not really the kind of thing you can throw in the trash without attracting unwanted attention.
Morgan Richter said…
I suppose it's possible the Big Box O' Plot contained an entirely different film reel than the one Mohinder left at Coyote Sands when he got captured last volume?

Yeah, I thought Hiro was a little vicious with trapping Mo in the mental hospital. There's a valuable lesson here: Don't argue with the dude who can stop time. Losing battle.

The human foot on the coffee table was a nice touch. Pleasantly grotesque.
Anonymous said…
Casting announcements aren't spoilers here. Is this the Kate Vernon casting, or another blonde woman? It's getting a little farcical.

This is the one I was referring to. On the one hand I liked Kate Vernon on "Battlestar Galactica", on the other hand...c'mon! I don't know if it's bordering on strange or outright weird that this show seems to be intent on casting mostly white, blond women.

I like the idea of Samuel as a loose cannon because even though this filled in some parts of his history, I still don't have him totally figured out. I'm enjoy the fact that am both curious about him and think he's a dick.
Morgan Richter said…
I've liked Kate Vernon since "Pretty in Pink", so I'm happy with her casting, but yes -- enough with the blondes. Variety is the spice of life.

Samuel doesn't quite have the art of effective interrogation down, does he?

SAMUEL: Tell me what was on that film!
MOHINDER: (looking all sexy and defiant) Nuh-uh!
SAMUEL: You must tell me! It's terribly important and you're the only one in the world who can give me this incredibly crucial key piece of information, now that the film is destroyed forever!
MOHINDER: Never!
SAMUEL: Okay, then. (Kills Mohinder.)

Dude, Samuel
Anonymous said…
Although I do have to wonder, given the vague similarities to the Mohinder/Sylar season 1 plot, if the writers do actually realize (after the fiasco of season 3) what a great storyline that was and are now trying to recreate it with Mohinder/Samuel (to an extent)?

I think they are indeed trying to recreate it. There are too many simularities for it to be coincidental:
- Both Samuel and Sylar wanted information;
- Both used telekinesis;
- Now Mohinder's primary task is to stop Samuel. I wonder if this will change when he finds out Sylar's alive.

Plus, there was a clear shoutout to Sylar/Chandra through Mohinder/Samuel. Samuel overheard what Mohinder was saying about his potential to Joseph. Mohinder unknowingly continues to follow in his father's steps.

Blond women invasion is getting ridiculous. Unless there's some special Blond!Superpower when they all come together.
Morgan Richter said…
The Samuel/Mo and Sylar/Mo connections hadn't really occurred to me while watching, but now that you folks point them out, I can see the ties. Well, good. It'll be interesting to see how Mo goes about trying to stop Samuel. With his track record, it could either be the awesomeness of "drugs him with poisoned chai and gives him an unanesthetized spinal tap" or the head-banging incompetence of "somehow ends up shooting HRG in the eyeball."

Unless there's some special Blond!Superpower when they all come together.

This is the only scenario I will accept at this point. All the blondes band together and form their own super-magnetic field to counteract Samuel. The world is saved!
Anonymous said…
I think they are indeed trying to recreate it. There are too many simularities for it to be coincidental:
- Both Samuel and Sylar wanted information;
- Both used telekinesis;
- Now Mohinder's primary task is to stop Samuel. I wonder if this will change when he finds out Sylar's alive.


Good to know I'm not the only one who noticed this. And it actually raises my interest even more in what happens between them. Although as Morgan noted it has the potential to be either brilliant or terrible.

Blond!Superpower -- that's what this feels like. But "Heroes" is diverse, don't you know?
Morgan Richter said…
Blond!Superpower -- that's what this feels like. But "Heroes" is diverse, don't you know?

Sure. I mean, Angela Petrelli is clearly brunette (and hasn't been seen for the past five or six episodes, but that's neither here nor there).

Loved Joseph trying to pass Mohinder off as the author of a book on carnies. Whew -- good save, Joseph! That didn't make Samuel suspicious at all! (For the record? I'd buy that book, or at least stand in the aisles of Barnes & Noble and read it.)
Anonymous said…
But "Heroes" is diverse, don't you know?

We'll have a chance to see it in "Let It Bleed", an episode written by the infamous "Anyone who thinks Heroes is not diverse is stupid!" Jim Martin.
Morgan Richter said…
Averys, I'll mark my calendar for that episode.

Can we discuss why on earth Angela would be keeping Nathan's body in a storage locker? The hell? Wouldn't a nice unmarked drawer in a morgue somewhere be slightly more appropriate? The Petrelli money could grease the necessary palms to arrange this.
Anonymous said…
Sure. I mean, Angela Petrelli is clearly brunette (and hasn't been seen for the past five or six episodes, but that's neither here nor there).

I bet we find out (in yet another retconning flashback episode) that Angela was born blond but her hair turned brown when she started to manifest her power.

I would also read a book by Mohinder on Carnies :-)

When does "Let It Bleed" air? I need to mentally prepare for that. At this point my anger is growing.

Can we discuss why on earth Angela would be keeping Nathan's body in a storage locker? The hell? Wouldn't a nice unmarked drawer in a morgue somewhere be slightly more appropriate?

I couldn't figure out why she was keeping Nathan's body around, in general. I don't know what her logic would be for that one (maybe that one day she'd find someone who could raise the dead? Hasn't she seen "Pet Semetary"?).
Anonymous said…
Can we discuss why on earth Angela would be keeping Nathan's body in a storage locker?

Um... Maybe she thinks the more secrecy, the better? Although her money would allow for better secret arrangements. Or she may be refusing to accept the fact that real Nathan is dead by not dwelling on how to store the body (out of sight, out of mind).

When does "Let It Bleed" air?

No air date so far on IMDB, but this is Chapter Thirteen, so it should be in December.
Morgan Richter said…
I think a Resurrected Zombie Nathan plotline would be the most awesome thing imaginable (it turns out Angela is a voodoo priestess -- who knew?).

(maybe that one day she'd find someone who could raise the dead? Hasn't she seen "Pet Semetary"?)

Y'know, come to think of it, Claire's blood can raise the dead. HRG was shot through the eye, Maya was shot in the chest... Maybe there's an expiration date? Once decomp sets in, Magic Blood no longer works?
Dan said…
How is HRG going to dispose of a severed human foot? That's not really the kind of thing you can throw in the trash without attracting unwanted attention.

Surely, this is why God invented blenders. Still haven't seen it yet, but this episode sounds like a doozy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have my wife thrown out of a plane... (and if that doesn't work, it's memory-wipin' time!)
Morgan Richter said…
Blenders, or garbage disposals. We know from the pilot episode that garbage disposals do a number on Claire-flesh.

Have fun sky-diving, Dan (er, I hope the tossing-Bron-from-planes comment is in reference to sky-diving, at least).
Ingrid Richter said…
And who could forget the song (Let's Put) Sylar's Brain in a Blender?

What? You mean this song doesn't exist yet?!?
Morgan Richter said…
I've been humming that song all morning, Ingrid. Catchy! The disco remix will stick in your head for days. It's certainly one way of destroying that microscopic part of his brain that controls his immortality...
Dan said…
Have fun sky-diving, Dan

Sky-diving is what she did, all right. Landed safely and everything, so we came home and watched this episode.

Not too bad. I did like that they finally clarified what the menace of Samuel was. (Thanks, Mohinder!)

I loved Polar Claire-Bear. If Claire-Bear must be in every episode, then I really think that she should be frozen solid and lugged around from scene to scene as background. They did this with Lana in Smallville just before she went away forever (the Lana Mannequin) and it worked really well.

Mohinder’s a catch, granted, but around the time he moved to a different country, and started raising a small child, and found himself another girlfriend, maybe it was time to stop holding a torch for him.

How do you solve a problem like Mohinder? If you're Mira, you just keep hanging in there. Alas, he knows it, so she'll still be there when he gets out of the funny farm.

Why didn't Hiro teleport Mohinder eight weeks ito the future and be done with it...?

I was going to say maybe Hiro can't travel through time with people any more. But then I couldn't remember whether or not he went through time with Charlie. I can't remember two weeks ago.
Morgan Richter said…
How do you solve a problem like Mohinder? If you're Mira, you just keep hanging in there. Alas, he knows it, so she'll still be there when he gets out of the funny farm.

Yep. I'm betting Mohinder will kick around the US for another couple years, maybe raise another small child for a while, maybe find another girlfriend, and then eventually flounce back to India for some reason and pick things back up with Mira. Repeat ad nauseum.

I'm starting to think Mo should just never leave India, though. People seem to like him there, whereas in the US they keep bonking him over the head or throwing rocks at him or stuffing tubes up his nose or locking him up in asylums.

But then I couldn't remember whether or not he went through time with Charlie. I can't remember two weeks ago.

God, neither can I. I'm inclined to think he didn't, but I can't be sure.

If Mo doesn't emerge from the asylum after eight weeks with the fabled Monstrous Beard, I will be very (slightly) disappointed.