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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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Heroes has so many plot strands, NBC needs to do its own pre-show recap. It’s only the fifth episode of the season, but now it seems at least some of the characters are starting to join forces, and we got some answers. And, even better, Peter was in a coma for most of this week’s episode, incapacitated after trying to kill his brother Sylar. How come Peter didn’t have Sylar’s power before anyway? Used to be he could absorb powers unintentionally, like a scenester Rogue. Nathan gets the voiceover this time. He is still conflicted over his visions of Linderman and the near-death experience that made him a man of God. Moses saw a burning bush, but I wouldn’t trust a “dead mobster” either. Malcolm McDowell, maybe. He tries to convince Tracy that their abilities were given to them by God to serve a higher purpose. She tells him that, no, in fact their powers were created by Dr. Zimmerman in Reseda, California. Nathan’s mom confirms this and that the Company was behind the creation of the formula that gives ordinary people superpowers, and of course, as recently resurrected Adam Monroe said, it’s come back to bite them all in the ass.

My favorite plot strand this week was Claire’s first encounter with Level 5 escapee Stephen Canfield. He has the really cool ability to create vortexes at will and make people and objects disappear. (My first reaction: please run into Maya.) Turns out, he really isn’t so bad and his plea to see his family again keeps Claire from capturing him and makes her question the Company’s intentions, and, by extension, her father’s. I enjoyed the standoff in the kitchen between Stephen, Sylar, HRG, and Claire. I feel like we haven’t seen people using their powers as much lately. Budget problems? Of course learning of her dad’s buddy cop adventures with Sylar don’t help her already hazy allegiance to him. I loved the moment when HRG pulled the gun on Stephen to force him to aim a black hole at a not-entirely-unaware Sylar. I loved it even more when poor Stephen chose to throw himself into the vortex instead of killing anyone else. Didn’t see that coming. Why do the cool character actors never stay? HRG remains the best thing about this show, especially when he’s pissed off and determined to protect his family. These Level 5 “Monsters of the Week” are pretty interesting, too.

Speaking of monsters, Claire’s biological mom Meredith went to look for Claire at the house of fugitive Eric Doyle, a creepy Timothy Spall– lookalike who can make people do anything he wants with the power of suggestion. She’s trapped having a really bad first date with him.

Mohinder’s truly evil now, which makes him less boring at least. Did you notice Mohinder in that pile of files Linderman was flipping through? What the hell is Dr. Suresh doing with those nasty cocooned bodies in his studio? How did Maya not notice the smell of that all this time? Did he really kill Maya?! Should be interesting when Nathan and Tracy call on him next week. He’s far from harmless now.

I’m glad Adam Monroe is back. His snarkiness offsets the extreme twee dialogue Hiro and Ando spout. Of course Hiro and Ando couldn’t make Adam help them find the power. And now the immortal man has been captured by fearmonger Knox and is en route to the mysterious genetics company Pinehearst. Speedster Daphne, whose weird head-tilting tic is starting to grate on me, is also seeing visions of Linderman at the company headquarters and he’s asking her to help him build a new world order and recruit special people (including Mohinder and Matt) to the cause. Daphne also recruited Knox and Hiro to Pinehearst’s side after a really unbelievable scene where Hiro puts a sword through Ando in the most anticlimactic way you can put a sword through someone to prove that he is “bad ass” enough to join their team.

The last five minutes were really good. Angela has a dream of Nathan, Tracy, and Peter being murdered in the Company halls. As it turns out Linderman is not a messenger of God, but a mental manipulation cooked up by Matt’s dad Maury Parkman to get Nathan and Daphne to do the bidding of…Arthur Petrelli, whose presence has hung over the family long after his supposed suicide. He’s still alive and is behind the whole Pinehearst evil plan. Cue dramatic music!

What did you guys think of last night’s episode? Is Ando really dead? My bet is on no way in hell, even though bringing him back will negate almost everything we’ve learned about time travel in this universe after Charlie’s death in season one. Why is Heroes so sloppy? What will Adam reveal to Arthur Petrelli about the location of the formula? Will Matt and Daphne’s first encounter be love at first sight? How will Claire save her bio-Mom? Will Milo Ventimiglia please put his shirt back on? Why can’t I stop watching this show even when it frustrates the hell out of me?

Heroes airs Monday night at 9 P.M. EST on NBC.

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Theresa DeLucci

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