Heroes: Exposed

Yes! Game on! Heroes has tossed itself back into the ring. The Bennet family has finally stepped their sneak game up to the next level. Peter and Matt walk straight into Building 26 headquarters like they own the place, and Sylar is barreling down the road to his father, putting the pieces together as he rides along. But what’s so great about tonight’s episode are the subtle ways in which our heroes are exposed.

Mama Bear Runs This House

Mama Bennet isn’t as clueless as she appears to be nor is she as submissive. We’ve all known that Claire has been hiding Alex in her closet since last week, but damn, Sandra sees through Claire’s “he’s my boyfriend that I’m having sex with” lie in .10 seconds. She makes it clear that Noah might have wanted to keep her in the dark, but she can take care of  herself and her own. When SWAT Ninjas, staking out the Bennet house, storm in believing without a doubt that Aquaman is somewhere inside, Sandra is not only prepared with a super, sneaky hiding place, but she also has a revolver taped under the kitchen counter. She lets Claire know that she can either keep her out of the game or trust her new teammate. Sandra distracts the agents while Claire and Alex escape out the back. (There’s a lot of sexual tension between the two kids even as they’re tumbling down a hill. Haven’t seen superpower humans getting super freaky in a while!) Alex gets away, and Claire and Sandra prepare to bond some more over movies and popcorn. But it looks like the chick fest may have to wait when the Puppetmaster appears with a text message from Rebel telling him that Claire is supposed to help him. Wonder how that dynamic is going to play out?

Out on the Open Road

Sylar’s about one annoying comment away from slicing Luke’s head off. Fortunately, he doesn’t get the chance to say much more when Sylar stumbles across a dilapidated and deserted, off-the-road restaurant. Jim’s Frank and Fries turns out to be the place where Sylar’s dad sold him off. (The look on his face as he begins to complete the puzzle that is his life is sheer excitement!) Daftly, that excitement is swept to anger as he remembers following his father outside, calling for him to no avail and then witnessing his mother’s death by skull split. (These writers are filling in the gaps that were created when Sylar flip flopped from good to evil. It’s actually almost like they’re smartly trying to make us understand why it’s okay for us to feel for Sylar and accept him as a villain at the same time. We’ve heard about enough serial killers to know that such a traumatizing repressed memory can really screw up a person for life.) It’s at this point that Sylar realizes that he can’t allow Luke to follow him around, especially when he’s got bigger problems to deal with, like offing his dad. For once, Sylar is truly exposed.

You Can’t Change Destiny

Matt’s trying so hard to paint something other than him strapped to a lot of dynamite and blowing up D.C. I bet he’d really like to see a picture of him rescuing Daphne right about now. He convinces Peter that they have to save the heroes, one person at a time. A computer flips on, and it’s Rebel. (Whoever Rebel is, we know he or she has to have crazy control over technology.) Rebel warns them they have only seconds to escape capture and get to a D.C. address where Daphne is being held and that we know to be Building 26. Once there, Peter (doing something intelligent for once) swaps his current power of flight for Matt’s power of persuasion. (Two minds are better than one!) It’s a piece of cake getting to the building and retrieving an incriminating file off a computer, especially with Rebel pointing them to the right one. We get a glimpse of Matt’s weakness: the more people he tries to control at one time, the harder it is for him to focus and weed out other stimuli. Noah points this out, inching closer to being Danko’s right-hand man, and triggers an alarm. This makes it hard for the two to keep their hold up, so Matt gets captured in an effort to help Peter escape.

Things Could Blow at Any Minute

Danko makes it clear to Nathan that he’s taking control of the operation, which means shoot to kill no matter who the target. Nathan realizes things are spinning out of control since his brother is the primo wanted man, and he doesn’t want him dead. He goes to his mother for some more advice, and things only get more confusing. (We know she’s helping Noah work undercover, but what’s her agenda, and what side is she really on? Nathan’s, Peter’s, her own?) Like Noah, you never know what’s going on in the mischievous brain of hers. After Peter’s infiltration of Building 26, Nathan can’t really help him, particularly when Peter’s blackmailing the government into releasing Daphne and Matt, and Danko’s taking orders straight from the President. He organizes the drop, and when Danko’s got Peter cornered, he does the last thing he can think of and asks Noah for help. Noah doesn’t blow his cover, but knowing that Peter can now read minds, he warns him that it’s a setup. Without a useful escape power, Peter’s shot, and he falls off the top of the building. They think they’ve got him, but when they look over the ledge, he zips up, up and away. (Awwww. Nathan to the rescue!)

It seemed like the episode would end on a happy note for once, maybe a reunion, but we know Heroes better than that. Nathan tries to convince Peter to stop his rogue ways, but instead Peter steals back the power to fly with a hug and is off to hold up his end of the bargain. (Hey! The government didn’t hold up theirs so it’s off to deliver the file to the nighttime news.) Nathan probably could have prevented this if he had been able to go after Peter, but Angela convinces him to let him go, saying that the game has changed. She then creepily whispers something in his ear. (Wonder what that’s about. No, really. Tell me now, Fuller!) Danko, realizing the jig’s up, decides to capitalize on his position. And here we’ve come full circle. He straps Matt up to some dynamite and tells him he will be the “terrorist” face of these humans they’re detaining. And by the look of all those people running away from Parkman, this could pave the way for Guantanamo II for Danko. (This guy must have huge cojones, turning their exposure into his crazy benefit.)

So what’d you think? Who’s this elusive Rebel? What are Angela and Noah up to? Noah even said that Claire would have to face her own consequences, relinquishing his family altogether for once. What’s the goal? How will Peter rescue our Heroes on his own? And is Matt going to explode into lots of little Matt pieces? I hope not.

Season 3, Episode 18: Exposed (originally aired March 2, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Lovin’ on the Run by Paul Secrest.

For more on Heroes, click here.

Mondays at 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Trae Patton