Heroes - Exposed

Okay now--Rebel is not: Matt, Peter, Nathan, Claire, Alex or Eric Doyle. Rebel is also probably not Angela, Danko, Tracy, Luke or Sylar. So who does that leave? Did I not speculate that Noah Bennet was acting as a double-agent?

Wait and see: I bet I'm right!

There were three stories intertwined on last night's episode of Heroes: Claire and Fish Boy, Matt and Peter vs. Building 26 and Sylar and Luke's buddy road trip coming to an abrupt end.

After spending the last couple of days hiding out in Claire's closet, Fish Boy aka Alex is discovered by Sandra and Mr. Muggles. (It's been a while since we've seen the mangy little mutt...) Claire lies and tells Sandra that Alex is her new boyfriend and he's hiding in the closet because they were having sex. Alex vehemently denies it.

Aafter being angry with Claire for lying to her, Sandra becomes an ally in aiding Alex's escape. She tells Claire about the van parked outside their home. "They're watching us. They're watching you." She uses Lyle's driver's license to construct a fake I.D. for Alex--a skill she acquired when she was a teenager and a fan of Def Leppard's bass player Rick Savage.

Claire's mom was a headbanger. How funny is that?

Alex thanks Claire for helping him. "Well, we're an endangered species," she replies. He tries to make a move on her, but she demurs--a bit gunshy due to the current situation with Sandra and Noah. (What ever happened with West, huh?)

The agents staking out the house decide to do a search and Sandra hides Alex in the crawlspace behind the grate. After the agents leave empty-handed, Sandra plots a diversion with her and Lyle peeling out in the SUV while Claire and Fish Boy make a break for it out back.

While the agents try and track them down, Claire and Alex hide submerged in a swimming pool. In the episode's "Awwww!" moment, Alex kisses Claire to enable her to breathe underwater. Later, Sandra asks Claire if she'll miss having a cute boy in her closet. She plans an evening of sappy movies, but when Claire goes to retrieve the popcorn from the microwave she finds it empty.

Because it's being scarfed down by puppetmaster Eric Doyle. Doyle shows her a text message from Rebel telling him that "Claire will save you." "I need your help, Barbie," he says.

At Building 26, Danko steps it up a notch by setting his sights on Peter Petrelli. "Shoot to kill" is the new order, much to Nathan's dismay. He appeals to Bennet, but Noah keeps up the facade by claiming to want vengeance on Peter and Matt for kidnapping him.

Matt is doing his psychic trance painting--the same image over and over of bombs strapped to his body and Washington, D.C. blowing up. Matt is determined to rescue Daphne and while he and Peter are trying to come up with a plan, their computer flashes on with a message from Rebel giving them the location of Building 26 and warning them to make a run for it.

The goon squad shows up, but just misses them. The duo show up at Building 26 and Peter absorbs Matt's power so they can both use mind control to make their way through the building. When Danko detects them on the video monitor, Bennet warns him "I wouldn't go out there if I were you." Danko replies, "You're not me," but is stopped by two of his own men holding guns on him.

I'm beginning to think the brain mojo thingy might be the best power of all...

Peter and Matt ascertain via the computer system that Daphne has been transferred to a medical facility, but Rebel provides them with file footage showing the heroes being shackled and imprisoned in violation of their civil rights. They download the footage onto a flashdrive in order to use it to negotiate for Daphne's freedom.

Peter manages to escape, but Matt is captured. So Peter calls Nathan to arrange a trade: the footage for Matt and Daphne--or else he'll release it to the media. Nathan agrees to his terms, but when he asks Danko if Matt and Daphne are ready for transport, Danko replies "No, Senator--they're not. We're not making a deal." Nathan tells him he needs to comply with his orders but Danko responds, "I'm following orders. Just not yours."

A lot of bravado from the albino midget...

Nathan tells Bennet--in what was either a warning or a plea--"Noah, just remember Peter can hear your thoughts." So when the meeting goes down, Bennet tries to communicate to Peter that it's a set-up. But Peter hesitates and is shot by Danko. Somehow he manages to fly off.

How exactly did he do that? He can only use one power at a time and the last power he had was Parkman's...

A little family reunion between Nathan, Angela and Peter with arm in a sling takes place with Nathan offering to take care of Peter if he gives hmself up. Peter hugs his brother, absorbs his power and flies off.

He also releases the video footage to the media--but Danko has a trick up his sleeve to counter the negative public reaction. He drugs Matt and sets him loose on the D.C. Mall with bombs strapped to his body. Just like in Parkman's trance paintings...

Sylar and Luke continue driving to their destination. Luke whines not understanding why Sylar needs to make this journey: "You're the most powerful dude on the planet!" he tells Sylar. Sylar pulls to a halt before an abandoned truck stop called "Big Jim's Franks and Fries." As he and Luke explore the empty building, Sylar flashes back to 1980 with Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" providing a musical backdrop.

Not only did Sylar's Dad sell and abandon him, he sliced open his mother's skull. Little Sylar was pretty old when this happened--how is it he never remembered until now?

Sylar becomes angry with Luke when he realizes his father is a monster (like father, like son--eh?) telling him, "You made him sound like Mr. Freaking Rogers!" He starts to pin Luke for the inevitable skull slicing and Luke whines some more: "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because you're here and I need to express my feelings," Sylar answers.

But Sylar releases Luke and tells him to go home to his Mommy. "You're not going to kill me?" Luke says incredulously. "Seems a little on the nose," Sylar says archly.

And off he goes to even the score with Daddy Dearest...