Heroes: Father Facts & Figures

Sorry if I seem a little brief and distracted this week, it’s just that I’m still trying to process the death of Bill Buchanan over on Heroes‘ time slot rival 24. He died heroically in service to his country and he shall be missed.

But back in the Heroesverse, our fugitive friends spent the week doing a little more moping and thumb twiddling than I’m ok with, but there was still ample plot momentum, emotional heft, and wit to make the episode a more than worthy curtain raiser for next week’s grand return of legendary episode scribe Bryan Fuller.

Where we last left off, the increasingly unstable Danko had strapped a crapload of C4 onto poor Matt and left him to stumble around the national mall. Nathan responds with the exposure-be-damned move of scrambling to the roof of Building 26 and soaring to his friend’s rescue. Using Matt’s powers to probe the thoughts of a bomb squad grunt puts a fun twist on the age old “which wire do I cut!” scene, and the crisis is successfully averted. Nathan tries desperately to remove Danko from power by appointing Noah to head the operation, which would be nice what with his being a good guy double agent to Angela. Speaking of the Petrelli matron, Danko tries to spook her by poking around at the family’s high flying skeletons, but one mention of a mysterious decision in the past that ended in the deaths of many sends the big bad hunter away with tail twixt his legs. But this round goes to Danko for the climactic move of shoving Nate through an open window, forcing his cards onto the table and putting him on the run from the operation he created.

Upon following the advice of the still unidentified Rebel, Doyle had given Claire a nasty surprise appearance claiming to be a changed man in need of a helping hand and a fresh start. Claire tells the puppetmaster where he can stick it, which really seems fair considering that when last they met, he forced the cheerleader and both her mommies into a game of Russian Roulette. She later decides to lay low by applying for her aquatic paramour’s old comic shop job, where she is instantly and hilariously hired on the grounds of extreme hotness, never mind that she can’t tell the difference between Clark Kent and a hole in the ground. Claire ends the episode by surprising Doyle and herself with an act of heroic mercy, saving him from the fuzz and giving him a fully loaded fake identity. But that was the kind of decisive action Danko’s brute squad must have been waiting for because the Claire/Government truce comes to an end and it would be a return to the slammer if not for the waiting arms of Nathan, now sharing equally the fugitive fate of his fellow gifted.

After flashing back to the possible heart of what makes his evil tick, Sylar has ditched his road tripping little buddy Luke for the final leg of his journey of paternal discovery and vengeance. Sy finds his dad eking out a backwoods existence as a casual taxidermist and terminal cancer patient. He admits to possessing the hunger for brain drain that he passed onto his son, but claims to have lost interest in the hunt long ago. At least until he gets a whiff of the chance to reclaim his health with a dip into Sylar’s fully loaded noggin. A sad semblance of a fight ensues, but Sylar easily bests his old man and leaves him to suffer and die slowly rather than granting the satisfaction of death.

The ep ends with Hiro & Ando back on the scene, and for once I’m actually looking forward to what comes next. Rebel makes them surprise nannies when they discover the son Matt Parkman doesn’t know exists, so get ready for “Two Japanese Men and a Super Baby”!

Season 3, Episode 19: Shades of Gray (originally aired March 9, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Inisia Lewis‘ review here.

For more on Heroes, click here.

Mondays at 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Trae Patton