The Smoking Man definitely controls Blink, Sylar is clearly an independent - but he must be one of the characters we've already seen or they never would have taken so much trouble to keep his face shadowed. Yes, Matt the cop shot him - but then he popped back up and ... well. He was wearing his killing outfit; the same one Isaac painted him in, in the half finished picture where he slays the cheerleader.
Mohinder - the geneticist from India - was another independent. He was hoping to find the genetic supermen his father predicted and validate him - but discovered his father had given too much information to Sylar, who was clearly mad. Clearly the Smoking Man/Men In Black were spying on him, hoping to use him to finish his father's task .. but I think we saw Sylar had the same idea. (if he isnt one and the same as the Smoking Man ... which he may well be

..or .. not

)
okay ... what to say about this delightful ep .. I really enjoyed it and every fun twist (despite the little stalls

) so, lets start at the beginning (and just be glad I got out of doing those spoiler free reviews I used to do for Farscape! I kept the reviews so spoiler free that you could only follow what I was saying if watched the ep as you read it

)
We start right where we ended - with Ninja Hero, and a message from the future! (Loved the title "Hiros" heh heh - summed up a bunch of fumbling starts, but glimmering on the horizon - something great!) and ...save the cheerleader, save the world ... what the ..I mean, we had a whole week of promos and marathons to get used that one, and it still sounds strange - Hiro tosses that off just before he walks off into the future?
Okay - now Mohinder was looking right at Peter when he froze, when he unfroze, it should have looked as if Peter teleported halfway down the subway (which technically, he sort of did) and I was thinking that would clue him in - but apparently mad ravings "Hero, where are you!" (I mean, Mohinder isnt going to know he meant Hiro) and “. . . cheerleader.” make a great cover for that sort of thing. Mohinder thinks Peter is completely unhinged, and makes a clean escape. (he
thinks, anyway tho I saw the promos and Evil Waif isnt giving up that easy!)
Meanwhile Claire unintentionally rescues Nathan - overconfident Smoking Man lets go of one arm to answer Mummy's anxious call about their eldest project and
pow soldier from Bosnia Nathan attacks and gets clear - still thinking they had it under control and then - tada!
We've been so waiting to see that scene since it was included in the promos so many weeks back. Usually its just about a second or less long, so you couldnt even tell if it was Peter or Nathan taking off - but it was still a beautiful scene to see, somebody finally escaping the Men in Black!
and then Ando and Hiro! Ando cursing and complaining and blaming and Hiro's reply "Oh, waffles! Yoo hoo!"
(they actually subtitled that into English even tho each word was the same

I guess in case we thought he was saying something else that just
sounded like 'waffles, Yoo hoo!' do in English by extreme coincidence. ..my hearing isn’t that great – I could have missed it <g>)
It did crack me up when Hiro warned Ando:
"We got beat up because we used my powers to cheat at gambling. That is the
Dark Side"
And who should show up at those very words .. (or at least as Ando made his stomping exit) but Nathan! who learned all about sand burn the hard way. They were great together, which just shows that Hiro can bounce of any straight man and still be adorably funny.
Nathan clearly thought he was mad with the space-time bending, but on the other hand, decided he was the harmless, tourist mad that keeps you entertained on New York subways and between shows on the weekend. And he showed his personable,
how I got elected side to him, and even plays good samaritan giving him a lift back. Tho I think part of it was, being caught out in public in his pajamas with a crazy t-shirt, it was greatly comforting to walk out next to someone who appeared crazier in any given comparison. Plus, the crazy Hiro was going to keep his secret. Part of the club. (was it Merry Marvel Marching Society?)
The new password is "Vote Petrelli!"
And then Nathan continued to be nice to Niki, whom he thought might be in on the kidnapping. And he asked after her, her goals and worries, and tried to offer solace - he is a shark, but he's a personable shark when he wants to be.
And she gives him info that he in turn uses against his future blackmailer - no slouch he, makes use of everyone he comes in contact with to come out smelling like rose.
Niki tho- how awful she felt when she saw that tape, shocked and.. well, shocked. She gets another clue as to what is going on, and not in a good way. I'm glad the promos claim it gets spelled out for her next week - she could use a break after this ep. And it appears she knows more about DL's murderous ways than she even let on to his mother and son, from the way she talked to the cop. Tho it seemed she was scattering misdirection, to get DL blamed if the bodies she just buried were found. (Maybe she still believes he might have been responsable, since she knew she couldnt rip a body in half)
In this ep, got to see Niki freaked out, upset with herself, as a worried mom, and showing compassion to Ando when he chose the worst moment to knock on her door (actually he came in without knocking, so maybe it wasnt such a bad thing 8 cops with guns were there to express how that is not a custom to follow in this country). She kept it simple and to the point, fantasy girl in computer, vs mom with a kid in real life. (Her character has actually become someone likable that we could all root for, in just the last two eps. ) Ando was ashamed and left respectfully, to go back to the less glamorous chore of helping Hiro save the world.
DL, is one creepy guy.
We never see more than glimpse of him - but thats all he needs to convince us of that.
Meanwhile - poor Matt. Do you realize every ep he's been in has ended up with him under arrest or knocked out and in pain? He discovers the wife that he thought wanted him to leave actually really does love him, set out to give her the kind of date that would make any woman in the audience wish
her husband could read minds, and then is undone by coffee ice-cream and one good deed too many. I mean, this poor guy - I hope he ends up better in the next episode! (tho I expect that this blacking out will make everyone believe they know what happened to him during that missing day, covering for the Men In Black.) Or maybe that's his karma - to end every ep in trouble and keep on going despite it all. I mean, he may not be able to pass the detective test, but he clearly understands people in a way that isnt defined by his gift alone. He really just wants to help.
Claire confesses all - but clearly not the all Daddy Horn Rimmed Glasses was hoping for. Instead of the last step before taking her see Daddy's Day at Work, he becomes inspired to be a real dad again and take care of his little girl. Besides, the creep is interfering with his project - and he's not even a creep on the payroll! I guess he takes the underage thing seriously and it must be the only reason he let Brody live. He gave him a free pass to start life again, while enjoying the pain that psycho kid wouldnt remember. (tho I wonder if psychotics like Brody can be cured with amnesia. Lets pretend its not an issue, bcs this is television and its irrelevant to the story now)
Claire’s apology the rapist who killed her was somewhat astounding .. a do-over is what she offers, not realizing Daddy beat her to it in a big way. ***I guess they were afraid the audience would think her too callous or too easily turned to violence .. that we might not like her after she started killing people if she wasnt very sorry later. Somehow, I dont think there was person out there in TVland audience who didnt think she took the only option her character had to save the next girl in line, or the girl after that, or the girl after that.. and who knew how many other bodies would end up in the river after a fight? ***
But compassionate Claire it is .
Now, if she'll just stop being callous to the only guy who knows all and is trying to help her thru it ...
Peter and Isaac! At last! The two character who probably had the least chance of getting along (opposite of Mohinder and Peter) are the first two to hit it off and join forces to save the world! Hallelujah, we have a team! - it was great how Peter slid right past that ‘yeah, okay she was your girlfriend yesterday, but not today, so moving on’ - to his support and belief in what Isaac can do. He pulled out the pieces and could start constructing the story while Isaac was wallowing in the down time after the high, doubly depressed because none of the clues for the bombing were appearing the way he thought they would.
You could really feel for Isaac as he listed all the reasons for despair, staring at the chaos, how he tore his life apart, 'could have been clean'(in theory anyway, but lets not dash the dream) and lost Simone, and got nothing.
But once Peter got started, and then when Peter could see the painting - all that was forgotten. All Isaac wanted to do was know how Peter could see the painting, and how the two of them could save the girl, once they saw the horror that awaited her.
I'm kind of surprised that Isaac didnt make some comment about the whited out eyes - I would have been saying that, interrupting the process with 'Dude! Your eyes are whited out!" (and I dont even use the word 'Dude!

) but apparently Isaac's astonishment is the more self contained kind.
The artist had been slipping away a bit each ep, it seemed to me, and this finally turned him around and gave him some hope that was all going to work out after all. Now if he just survives the promos from next ep, which really could go either way, he'll be okay.
And then Peter, still on that roll from the first word from Hiro, realizes who is on the phone, and its payback time! …well okay, its Pay Forward time, but nobody’s got a movie trailer voice for that one. “I have a message for you.” Peter is actually getting everyone all together.
Okay, he’s not getting Mohinder in on it yet, but I think, looking at it, that Mohinder actually would have been a hindrance in that bit – I don’t think Isaac would have been willing to listen to Peter ramble with an audience there, who knew about Peter and Simone. And it was Mohinder’s day to play skeptic, so he would have been dragging the two of them back.
Maybe he’ll run into some of the heroes/Hiros at the airport as they rush to meet each other now, and start realizing the proof is wandering around beneath his nose…
If Evil Waif and Men In Black let him get as far as the airport, ..
(tune in next week!)
And yes, I edited it – left in the middle of and came back hours later and just hit the post button last night bcs it was way too late to carry on.