Heroes recap: “String Theory”
Okey-dokey, five years from now…
Ando & Hiro find Futurehiro’s strings, and are confronted by him. The bomb still happened! Sylar was the one who exploded. Comic relief ensues: “I scare me,” says Hiro. Heh, Ando even calls him Futurehiro. The strings are to permit Futurehiro to go back in time to the precise moment to save the cheerleader. Futurehiro explains that Hiro is the one to kill Sylar, the day the bomb explodes, and that he must get them back. Then some baddies break in, led by EVIL MATT PARKMAN and EVIL MUTEHAITIAN!, and nab Hiro. FutureHiro spirits Ando out and explains that they’re taking Hiro to a mutual holding facility in midtown (ESPNZone, perhaps?), as all mutants are now terrorists post-Sylar.
“There’s only one person powerful enough to get us through,” FutureHiro says. “Peter Petrelli. We’re going to Las Vegas. Whooosh!”
FutureVegas. Strip clubs employ the same technology as ever. Apparently Peter’s girlfriend (Claire? heh) works there. Nah, it’s Jessica, in a predictable twist. Obligatory TV stripping ensues until Jessica sees FutureHiro and he bribes her for $200. Peter’s not interested, per her: “War’s over. General Chow. We lost, remember?” Hunh? He mentions Sylar and makes her mad; he mentions Bennett and she says that HRG is rustling cattle in Texas. Then she ponies up to the bar and drinks — but not alone! InvisoScar Peter is there, looking mean and scar-y. He says that Sylar’s dead. Oh, and Micah died in NYC (so it’s not a total disaster). They make out, and it’s as ugly as his scar. Make it stop!
Finally Peter glares at the screen and makes the cables pop out of the TV.
FutureNYC. Hiro’s being interrogated by Evil Matt, to some hilarity. Evil Matt mentions families being torn apart, and Evil Matt reads his mind and is frustrated by the emptiness. Evil Matt then calls President Petrelli in his frustration. Nathan sports an insignia ring. President orders Evil Matt to “rip it out of him.” Then Nathan brings in Mohinder. After Sylar blew, the two made a pact to prevent such bombs from occurring at any cost. Billions in research later, how close are we to that? Not much closer. It’s like they’re a separate species. President Kelly Petrelli outlines a growing mutant threat, and suggests genocide. Perhaps by giant killer robots? Mohinder admits that he probably can’t reverse the genetic changes, and Nathan says that it’s time to start with Plan B.
FutureNYC. Hiro is having the tar pounded out of him by Evil Matt, and looks at him with his doe eyes. Why do you hit me, if you are special? Then Hiro is left with MuteHaitian. Meanwhile Mohinder wanders FutureHiro’s apartment.
Primatech. HRG (now with different glasses) gives a blood test to a young mutant, and sets them up with a new identity, courtesy of Hana Gitelman. He gives them fake blood to keep with them all the time in case they get busted, and sends them on their way. FutureHiro and Ando show up, and HRG says “it’s out of the question,” despite the fact that FutureHiro mentions rescuing “D.L., Candace, and Molly Walker.” And yet HRG is confused when Ando mentions that Claire is alive.
FutureNYC. Mohinder is walking through FutureHiro’s strings, realizing that FutureHiro was trying to undo the past. Matt Parkman is skeptical, and Mohinder says, “Is that any stranger than being able to read someone’s mind?” “Yeah, it is.” heh. GREAT delivery on that line. Mohinder remembers the day that time was frozen on the subway, and he runs out.
FutureMidland. Claire is working in the same cafe as everyone else, but her hair is darker and longer. Now that she’s over 21, I hope she’s been keeping away from Peter. People call her “Sandra.” She’s engaged to some short-order cook, who is perfectly repulsive. He must die. Then he points out HRG. “Sandra” walks over to take his order; he points out that his table is sticky, she wipes it, and he says, “someone knows about you, Claire — you need to leave as soon as possible.” HRG thankfully tells her to put an end to her relationship with Andy the Repulsive, with whom she has not shared her identity. Meanwhile the news is filled with clips of people being herded into buses and cars by Homeland Security; “Sandra” takes her new identity from HRG and moves on.
Meanwhile, Ando and FutureHiro are watching the same news channel, as FutureHiro describes the various difficulties of breaking into the midtown security center. Ando offers to help — but no, he’s asking what happened to him, and FutureHiro evades the question. FutureHiro says, “there’s something I need to tell you. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH” as he is zapped by a tazer wielded by Evil Matt, and armed men come and abduct Ando. “We already caught you,” muses Evil Matt, as he realizes that Hiro really can time travel. Then KABOOM, FuturePeter waltzes in, knocks people over with telekinesis, TOTALLY stops time like nothing, takes the sword and vanishes away with FutureHiro and Ando. NICE. “What!?” exclaims Evil Matt.
Primatech. HRG sees that his lab is busted up, and confronts Evil Matt. Turns out they’re both harboring “persons of interest.” Evil Matt asks about Janice; HRG shows him a drawing done by “Matthew,” explaining that he did right by them (supposedly by leaving). Then WHOA, HRG sees Gitelman dead on the floor with a bullet in the brain, and Evil Matt has a gun to HRG’s neck, saying “I’m ending our arrangement.” Then he pulls Claire’s location out of HRG’s mind, and KILLS HIM (offscreen).
Midland Diner. “Sandra” suggests to Andy that they elope. Aw shucks, he’s repulsive. He agrees to elope — he’s not as stupid as he looks. She offers coffee to everyone, then is confronted by Evil Matt. “What’s good?” he asks. This is Greg Grunberg’s best acting ever — he should be a bad guy more often.
FutureNYC. Mohinder is interrogating Hiro about saving the cheerleader, but he points out that Isaac’s comic is wrong — he didn’t stop Sylar. Mohinder asks about the propriety of changing the past, and Hiro replies, “if you could save millions of lives, wouldn’t you?”
FutureVegas. FuturePeter gives a blanket to Ando and is amazed to see him. Turns out, Ando’s dead. Killed by the bomb. Which is why FutureHiro is so pessimistic and mean — he wants to save Ando.
FutureNYC. Mohinder explains that Hiro was trying to find a way to kill Sylar and stopping the bomb by travelling into the past. Nathan wants to continue with his plan of genocide. “I understand how things work,” he says. Hmm. So Nathan is SYLAR, eh? Maybe I spoke to hastily. Let’s see…. “Nathan” then says that he’s going to announce a new vaccine for mutants, one that will kill millions in a “fatal mistake.” “At first they’ll be united in grief, and then they’ll just be united.” “Nathan” then asks for a pact, which Mohinder provides. Evil Matt then comes in and explains that they have the younger Hiro, and “Nathan” then requests that Mohinder be the one to kill young Hiro. “Mr. President,” Evil Matt says, “that’s not the only thing I found in Texas.”
Petrelli Mansion. Surprisingly not-blown-up. Claire meets her daddy, and she’s mad at him for being such an evil man. He replies with extra evil talk about being the leader of the free world, having tons of power, and meeting “lots of special people, like this girl named Candace who allowed me to become president. But I’m done. I just want to eliminate the competition. I don’t need any more power, especially after you.” Hi, Sylar. And Claire’s brain goes splat: “I’ve waited a long time for this,” says Sylar.
FutureVegas. FutureHiro wakes up and starts complaining at Ando, who in turns complains of being lots of dead. FutureHiro is very upset by this. Meanwhile Jessica and Peter are arguing — she’s not Jessica, though, it’s Niki. “You look in that mirror, but nobody is looking back at you.” “Jessica was right all along,” she replies. Peter wants to help them, because he was the one responsible for the bomb. Nathan lied to protect him. Peter saunters out, on a mission.
FutureNYC. At the bomb’s ground zero, Nathan gives a maudlin speech. Five bells ring as the various characters get really mad at Nathan’s speech. Peter, FutureHiro and Ando break in to the center, Matrix-style. It totally rules as FutureHiro slices people up and Peter kicks ass. Mohinder gets the drug ready to give to Hiro, who pees his pants waiting to be saved. “The world is saved,” declares Sylar.
Evil Matt gets impatient waiting for them to come to him. The elevator opens up, and it’s empty. Mohinder is about to inject Hiro, but he TOTALLY kills MuteHaitian instead! It’s a happy reunion, and FutureHiro is about to send them back when Evil Matt comes in and kills FutureHiro. Peter slams the door shut on Evil Matt, while Sylar grieves at ground zero (was that a bearded Eric Roberts in there?). Evil Matt gives Sylar the update; Nathan’s very upset that Hiro is going to escape, so he totally flies off. Meanwhile FutureHiro hands a bloody comic book of Isaac’s to Ando. Nathan arrives, blows the door open on Peter and confronts Sylar.
Nathan/Sylar confronts Peter. FuturePeter is P.O.ed. Mohinder gives the sword to Hiro. Meanwhile HOLY CRAP, Sylar conjures ice in his hands, while Peter conjures up fire in his. “When I killed Nathan, he’d already turned against his own kind.” “Liar!”
Ando gives Hiro a really quick pep talk while the hallway outside begins to explode. They warp away just as things go nuts, and find themselves back in NYC, pre-blown-up NYC. And Hiro’s got the comic book that shows him killing Sylar. “And now the hard part,” says Hiro.
Next week: the heroes come together in NYC. A new little girl, Molly, is introduced, along with Momma Sylar and lots of crazy sacrifice.
One of the best episodes of the show yet. I loved it, even though there were a few things that left me confused.
Comment by BTD Greg — April 30, 2007 @ 11:11 pm
So I missed the last scene… Hiro and Ando wereback on the roof in pre-bomb time. Anything happen next?
Comment by Geoff J — April 30, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
I too can’t wait to see this show every week — I can’t stop thinking about the show tonight! Wow did it keep me jumping up and down worried about everyone! I haven’t been so excited about a show in …. forever.
Lili
Comment by liliana — May 1, 2007 @ 12:05 am
Agreed, BTD Greg– this was a great show.
Comment by Supergenius — May 1, 2007 @ 12:23 am
Our DVR cut off right at the end too. Anything happen in the last minute?
Comment by BTD Greg — May 1, 2007 @ 6:12 am
The show ended as my recap says.
Comment by Supergenius — May 1, 2007 @ 7:54 am
It is well and good that Hiro is going to kill Sylar (except that we know he isn’t) and that that will stop the explosion (except it won’t since Peter will be doing the exploding). Yeesh
Comment by HP — May 1, 2007 @ 9:13 am
One of the nice things about having a good guy who time travels is that you can kill off anyone and everyone. No worries. They can all come back once the timestream is fixed to prevent the awful bad thing.
Damn shame that we couldn’t see the full fight between Sylar and Petrelli. Maybe in the next episode? Or does the result even matter?
Just about every concept that shows up in Heroes has been dealt with by X-Men storylines in one way or another. That doesn’t mean I’m rejecting the Heroes version. Not at all. Quite enjoyable.
One random thought - shouldn’t sponge Petrelli find close contact with Sylar to be like a buffet table of new mutant powers? It seems Petrelli should be able to “figure out” how Sylar’s brain works and eat him (too).
Comment by danithew — May 1, 2007 @ 9:30 am
HP, maybe the comic FutureHiro handed to Hiro at the end will help Hiro realize the Peter is on track to be the bomb.
These timeline stories are always, always messy though. Would the future people really want to make their entire world not exist (flaws and all)? Oh well. I’ll just play along I guess.
Comment by Geoff J — May 1, 2007 @ 9:47 am
I keep wondering if they don’t show much fighting because of the cost and time involved in all the CGI it requires?
Comment by Susan M — May 1, 2007 @ 9:48 am
Susan, you’re probably right — those effects are pricey.
Comment by Supergenius — May 1, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Ok so I opted for the Mormons over Heroes- did I make the right choice?? In a life without a DVR sometimes a line gets drawn! Does anyone know if the episode can be viewed online? SG?
Comment by tracy m — May 1, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
Tracy, you can find the full episodes for viewing here.
Comment by danithew — May 1, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
Thank you!!
Comment by tracy m — May 1, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
And tracy, you made the wrong choice.
Comment by Supergenius — May 1, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
But I just watched it! Wow!!!
Comment by tracy m — May 1, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
yeah, it was pretty good. I think the show is in a good groove.
Comment by Supergenius — May 1, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
One of the best episodes but yeah, I was disappointed that all the Matrix like fights were cut. Understandable. I’m sure with their problems NBC can’t increase the budget for the epiisode by $50 million. C’est la vie.
(I just saw it btw - yeah a day late)
Comment by Clark — May 2, 2007 @ 12:01 am
I didn’t understand how Sylar and Claire could be alive simultaneously in the future. If Sylar regenerated after being stabbed by FutureHiro, wouldn’t that mean Claire would have to be dead in order for him to have that skill?
Comment by Mephibosheth — May 2, 2007 @ 2:31 am
Mephibosheth,
I think it will be because Sylar will kill Linderman.
Comment by HP — May 2, 2007 @ 6:41 am
“I didn’t understand how Sylar and Claire could be alive simultaneously in the future. If Sylar regenerated after being stabbed by FutureHiro, wouldn’t that mean Claire would have to be dead in order for him to have that skill?”
This really confused me as well. I think I finally worked it out. Let’s see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense:
There are two important moments that FutureHiro identified as being moments in which future events could be averted: 1) the day Sylar tried to kill Claire; and 2) the day of the explosion.
The first key date (”save the cheerleader, save the world”) has already past, and Claire was saved because FutureHiro went back and talked to Peter Petrelli, even in the future scenario we saw in this week’s episode. It turns out, though, that saving the cheerleader was necessary, but not sufficient for saving the world. In addition, Sylar had to be killed on the day of the explosion.
So, basically, there are three possible futures. In the first, which we’ll call Future, Sylar kills Claire, absorbs her power, survives Hiro’s attempt to kill him, becomes all-powerful and takes over. In the second, which we’ll call Future Prime, Sylar is unsuccessful in his initial attempt to kill Claire, Peter explodes, Sylar takes Candice’s ability to imitate others** and lives as Nathan, eventually becoming president, then killing Claire and becoming all-powerful. In the third scenario, Future Double Prime, Peter Petrelli saves Claire from Sylar and Hiro kills Sylar with his sword, averting the destruction of New York and the inevitable world domination by Sylar.
**This part I’m unclear on. Didn’t we see Candice working with Rimless Glasses in the Future Prime world of five years from now? If so, how was Sylar able to copy her powers?
Comment by BTD Greg — May 2, 2007 @ 7:46 am
Wait, what I described doesn’t quite work, either, because FutureHiro did say that he had already tried to kill Sylar. Maybe FutureHiro thought he was stabbing Sylar, but he was really stabbing Peter, who had absorbed Claire’s power, and who everyone believed was Sylar when he exploded.
Comment by BTD Greg — May 2, 2007 @ 7:54 am
“**This part I’m unclear on. Didn’t we see Candice working with Rimless Glasses in the Future Prime world of five years from now? If so, how was Sylar able to copy her powers?”
Okay, maybe that was Wireless, not Candace. The two actresses look similar to me.
I’m done replying to my own posts now.
Comment by BTD Greg — May 2, 2007 @ 8:26 am
Greg, I think that my comment #7 above ably describes the wealth of useful information that can be derived from this episode. I thought it was good, tho.
Comment by HP — May 2, 2007 @ 8:28 am
Yeah, it was the Israeli girl and not Candice.
Here’s my big problem and it’s a problem with time travel stories in general. Why doesn’t Future Hiro simply go back to when Sylar first has powers and kill him?
We can’t say it’s because of a paradox. That is we can’t say that’d change the future and then future Hiro wouldn’t exist because that’s true of every change.
I’d like them to say what the “rules” of Hiro’s time travel are.
Comment by Clark Goble — May 2, 2007 @ 9:16 am
Clark, I agree. Time travel stories never make a ton of sense to me. I also wouldn’t hold your breath for a more detailed explanation. As soon as they explain it more, the whole thing will fall apart again.
Comment by BTD Greg — May 2, 2007 @ 9:19 am
“What!?†exclaims Evil Matt. - I liked the delivery of this line. It’s not a question, but an exclamation at one of his gun-men looking shocked at the disappearance of the mutants. I agree that Greg’s performance was great in this episode.
No discussion of Peter’s scar? I’m thinking it’s evidence that Hiro tries to stop the bomb and fails, or he had in that storyline. But it could have been a result of the “war” Nikki refers to.
Comment by cantinflas — May 2, 2007 @ 9:42 am
Why does Peter have a scar when he’s got the magnificent instantaneous healing powers?
Comment by danithew — May 2, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Hmm. Good point. He can get a chunk of glass through the head but not heal a scar?
Comment by Clark Goble — May 2, 2007 @ 9:52 am
Obviously the scar has something to do with the mute (or not so mute) Haitian…
“Ouch! That hurts! Wait. Why am I still bleeding?!”
Comment by Rick — May 2, 2007 @ 10:25 am
Oh, good point. But wouldn’t it heal once he was away from the Haitian?
Comment by Clark Goble — May 2, 2007 @ 10:26 am
I really depends on how much time they spent together … five years is a lot of time.
Comment by Rick — May 2, 2007 @ 10:32 am
Perhaps FutureHiro struck Peter, thinking he was attacking Sylar. As we know Peter was the bomb, and perhaps he had gathered Candice’s ability as well. Peter then posed as sylar to throw everyone off (so his brother could be elected). Peter then keeps the scar as a reminder - or possibly because of the haitian.
Comment by ola senor — May 2, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Another question I was asking myself - Peter can teleport through time now - so why is he worrying about Hiro? Why not just go do it himself?
Comment by danithew — May 2, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
“Why not just go do it himself?”
Maybe Peter’s already tried … and failed!
Do we know the extent of Hiro the Hero’s powers yet? Nope.
What is so special about the Hiro from the past, and what differentiates him from FutureHiro?
Maybe there’s more about FutureHiro than we know about.
Comment by Rick — May 2, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
When I saw the scar on Peter’s face, I thought it might be from a sword stroke (did Hiro slash him with his samurai sword?).
I still haven’t figured out what the deal is with this sword. Does Hiro merely need it for confidence or does it actually help him in some mystical way? The fact that the mutant emblem is on the sword seems to indicate that it does have something going on.
I wasn’t sure if I was buying the Matrix Hiro that was slashing people left and right with his sword. Then again, maybe he’s had some time to work out.
Comment by danithew — May 2, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
Wasn’t it Hiro’s father that would tell him stories about the original owner of the sword? Interesting now that we know Hiro’s father is involved in everything. I’m really curious to see what the story is on that, and Peter’s Mom, etc.
Comment by Susan M — May 2, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Susan, Hiro’s father has powers, which we discover in the next two eps.
Comment by Supergenius — May 2, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
They hinted that Hiro had studied swordsmanship. (Although I don’t recall the school - not kendo obviously which is kind of a joke like judo)
Comment by Clark — May 2, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
“Hiro’s father has powers, which we discover in the next two eps.”
I believe his powers are in related to passive aggressive manipulation and intimidation … no wait. That’s my dad.
Comment by Rick — May 2, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
Wait, how are kendo and judo a joke. I don’t get it. Is that because they’re not the most high-impact martial arts?
Lots of kids learn kendo in school in Japan.
Comment by BTD Greg — May 2, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
They are sports and not really martial arts with the emphasis on martial. Thus ju-jitsu became ju-do and ken-jitsu became ken-do. Of course just because something is a way and not a focus on the martial aspects doesn’t mean when it is taught one can’t focus on such things. My sen-sei back when I did Aikido definitely focused of the combat but he acknowledged that most Aikido dojos didn’t. (He had several black belts and had been undefeated on the Hawaiian kickboxing circuit which is nothing to sneeze at)
Sadly it’s been years since I had time to study it. It was a great way to exercise and learn your body. I’m hoping when my kid gets a little older we can go back and take it together. Of course right now I’m just hoping my kids sleep through the night long enough for me to get to the gym!
Comment by Clark — May 2, 2007 @ 9:09 pm
So is the show telling us that the futurePeter with the scar was the bomb? And that this same Peter survived being the bomb? That is plausible if Ted always survived his own blasts too, I guess, but it’s hard to believe if they think Claire’s healing powers (absorbed by Peter) would be enough to keep him together at the center of a huge nuclear blast.
Comment by Ryan Bell — May 4, 2007 @ 10:57 am
So long as nothing got lodged in his head, I don’t see the problem
Comment by HP — May 4, 2007 @ 11:00 am