The Heroes Recap 4.17

Posted by Michael Weyer on 02.02.2010

We learn how Noah got his start as Sylar and Peter have a breakthrough and Samuel's grand plan comes to fruition.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: At the Carnival, Samuel is trying to convince Claire Noah was the shooter but she’s not buying it (no doubt realizing her father would never try to shoot her). He takes her to the funhouse with Noah bound to a chair and that Rastafarian guy (who’s finally named Damien) comes out to give her a look at Noah’s memories so Claire can understand how this all started.

In black and white (shades of Season 1’s “Company Man,” we see Noah Bennett in 1985, a car salesman who’s a nice enough guy to tell a couple wanting a car that they can get a better deal at another dealership. He’s met by his young wife, Kate, telling her he just lacks the killer instinct to be a good salesman and she tells him he should just keep writing his plays. He says they need the money and she confirms that idea by revealing she’s pregnant. Claire is naturally stunned to learn her father had a completely other family before this and never mentioned it. She soon sees why: Later that night, a delivery man turns out to be a Special who telekinetically holds a stunned Noah at bay to rob them. When Kate asks what he is, the man hurls her into a table, the glass stabbing her through and killing both her and the baby. The man escapes and Noah mourns his late wife. Claire instantly realizes this is why her father started hunting the Specials down and he confirms that “the man I was died with her.”

A year later, Noah has put together the first version of the old “string map” and tracked down a repairman Special. He thinks that since he’s like the mugger, they know each other but the man is instead startled to hear he’s not the only one out there. When Noah holds a gun at him, the man uses a sonic blast to knock him back and charge but Noah shoots him, his first kill. We see him back at the car lot, now a bit tougher with some clients where he’s met by Thompson (Eric Roberts). Thompson tells Bennett “we’ve” been watching and quite impressed as his skills and want to offer him a job.

Two years later, the two are talking at a bar, Bennett admitting he’s uncomfortable with “one of us, one of them” as he can’t quite trust the Specials. Thompson says the Company is getting a bit worried about Bennett as in the last 17 cases, he’s had three “accidental” deaths. Thompson encourages Noah to find a family and settle down, balance his work life out and suggests Bennett check out a waitress nearby, who of course is Sandra. Claire is appalled that the Company basically arranged her parents’ marriage as Bennett says this is all in the past, ancient history. At that, we flash back to Thanksgiving weekend as Noah sees Gretchen while Claire is at the Carnival. Noah tells Gretchen that she needs to get closer to Claire and encourage her to seek a normal life at college. The Haitian shows up and Gretchen asks if he’s there to erase her mind but Noah just smiles and says no…as long as Gretchen does what he says. This is the last straw for Claire, furious her father tried to manipulate her life and she storms out.


Heal Thyself: Elsewhere in the Carnival, Lauren has snuck inside to take supplies from their well-stocked pharmacy. Emma shows up and sees Lauren is injured, helping stitch up the wound. Lauren tries to persuade Emma that Samuel is evil but Emma’s not buying it. Lauren hides as Samuel shows up and soon has Emma confessing Lauren is there. He confronts Lauren, who tries to be peaceful, saying Samuel is just going to get a lot of people killed and should be content at the carnival. Samuel scoffs over all the years he wasted his potential and could be so much more, so much stronger with the power of others feeding him. Lauren asks what the world ever did to him and Samuel responds they should have treated him better. He calls in Eli and tells him to send his “friends” to take care of Lauren. A bit later, Eli comes to Samuel, telling him his cat and mouse game with Lauren went awry as the “mouse” got away. Samuel tells him not to worry as he’s got a job for Eli, to stop some people who might be trying to ruin their plans.


Just Another Brick in the Wall: In the mindscape of a deserted New York, Peter yells out for Sylar, who’s in his old watch shop. They meet as it turns out that in Sylar’s mind, three years have passed in solitude which has shifted his thinking a bit. Peter is unable to bring him out and time passes as the two argue over Sylar’s murders and Sylar still thinks this is for real (pointing out how Matt could have made him know all the words to books like The Pillars of the Earth). The two suddenly come across a brick wall surrounding the city which Peter realizes is the way out. For days on end, they try to smash it but are unable to make a dent.

Years (relatively) pass as they keep trying and Sylar shows some old memories of Nathan’s which gets Peter upset. He blasts Sylar, saying he can apologize all he want but it won’t change things and suspects Sylar doesn’t want to leave, feeling he deserves this fate. Sylar in turn accuses Peter of holding onto his anger as a way to avoid his feelings on Nathan. Sylar says they’ve spent years here keeping each other sane and Peter has to know “I’m not that guy anymore.” Peter says he knows that as he swings at the wall and for the first time, a brick breaks off. The two are startled to realize the wall was Peter’s all along and start smashing.

Peter wakes up in Matt’s basement, heading to the now complete wall which rumbles before Sylar breaks out. Peter reveals they’ve been out for only half a day and Sylar asks “if it was in our minds, does that make it less real?” Peter just smiles and leads Sylar off…only to have Eli on the staircase with a couple of his doubles showing up behind the duo.


Burying Your Troubles: Samuel goes to see Claire, who lets him know she’ll never turn on her father, no matter what as she recognizes he’s nowhere near the monster Samuel is. She asks why there are no memories of Noah shooting Lydia as Samuel tries to talk to her of how it’s time these people stood up for themselves. He finally reveals his plan, to bring the Carnival to Central Park for “our greatest show ever.” Claire is horrified as Samuel shrugs off the deaths to come as necessary and then tells Claire he wants her on his side so a new generation can carry on Samuel’s legacy in this new world he’s going to create. He smirks over the fear he saw in Lauren and how he wants “to see that look a thousand times over.” Claire just shakes her head, calling him a desperate and small man. Samuel is nonplussed as he tells her Noah is in souvenir trailer nearby. Claire rushes to free him only to have Samuel open the ground and drop trailer fifty feet underground, the two buried alive as the Carnival leaves.

The 411: The bits on Noah's origins were terrific, showing new shades of the character and how he went from a normal guy to the cool hunter we know. The Peter/Sylar stuff was unique too, a logical way to change Sylar with "years" alone affecting him and sets him up to be a hero at last. And Samuel's grand scheme comes alive which promises to make the finale very wild indeed.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]