Thoughts on HEROES, Season 4, Chapter 5 - Exposed

Now here's the question... will the title refer to superhumans in general be exposed to the general public, what Nathan's team is doing being exposed or will Nathan's status as a superhuman be exposed to his team?



Last Time: Matt, Peter and Mohinder kidnapped Noah to find out who was backing the government's efforts to capture superhumans. They found out that it was all Nathan's idea, that his field commander Danko is taking over more and more of the show and that Noah - who had signed on only because he thought he would be running things and that they would be containing powered people until they could find a permanent cure - was responsible for saving Daphne's life.

What they didn't find out was that Noah is also a deep-cover agent, working to bring Nathan's group down from within on Angela's behalf.

Mohinder gets captured and is given an ultimatum: help develop the cure or we start killing people, starting with the helpless women we have in custody before we move on to you and your friends.

And hiding out again in Issac's loft, Matt begins to paint the future... conjuring up grim images of a Washington DC in flames and Matt himself with a dynamite vest.

8:00 - Okay. Recap shows Sylar and Luke looking for their dad. Recapping Nathan telling his men about the fugitives, Peter nearly killing Danko, Claire saving the comic book guy Aquaman and Noah getting kicked out of the house. And, oh yes, Daphne is still alive.

8:01 - Heh. I like how Aquaman to be smart enough to realize how silly it is trying to hide out in a strange city with the government having the power and authority they have right now to have found him in the first place. Give Claire points for trying to be Harriet Tubman, though.

8:03 - Nice fake out with Muggles going after the sandwich under the bed. Of course Aquaman bungles it up anyway by making noise inside the closet.

8:04 - And here comes yet another Danko/Nathan dick-waving contest over lethal-force/non-lethal force. With Noah chuckling all the while, with Noah playing the villain by pointing out "They kidnapped me, drugged me, and mind-raped me. What makes you think I won't shoot them myself, orders or no?" as Nathan looks for sympathy from Noah.

8:05 - Heh. Peter being the smart one again... trying to get Matt to stop painting but eventually relenting on saving Daphne as a next step.

8:06 - Hmmm... someone hacking into Mohinder's computer to deliver a message, the address of where Daphne is being held and a warning, telling them that The Feds are coming. Micah being REBEL is looking more and more likely.

8:09 - The geeky guy is the new boyfriend? Yeah, I don't think mom is buying it.

8:10 - No. Mom DEFINITELY isn't buying it. And given everything that's been going on with Noah lying to her... she's REALLY not happy with Claire. Moreso about the lying than endangering them even more by bringing a wanted fugitive into their home.

8:11 - And yeah... Luke doesn't want Sylar to see his dad for some reason. Not that I - or Sylar - cares. And Sylar wants in at some abandoned road stop for some reason.

8:13 - Claire is trying the Peter Parker "we were trying to protect you - that's why we lied" speech. And Sandra is being a LOT less nice about it than Aunt May was when Peter finally told her the truth. And, of course, the Feds are already there. And they're watching Claire, suspecting that she WAS involved in Aquaman Alex's disappearance.

8:14 - "I have a plan. I just haven't thought of it yet." *face palm* Claire, Claire, Claire... when did you absorb the stupid from Peter?

8:15 - Speaking of which - Peter copies Matt's power, figuring they have a better chance infiltrating a building with two mind-controllers than with one mind-controller and a flyer who MIGHT be useful if they can get to the roof to escape. Peter is now officially my favorite character again.

8:16 - And sure enough... Peter is right. Two telepaths are better than one. But they have cameras everywhere and it doesn't take Danko, Nathan and Noah long to figure out what is going on.

8:17 - Of course Matt has this covered and has all the armed guards he and Peter walked past blocking off the hall. Awesome. Wait...Holy crap! This is the second time in as many episodes that the good-guy's plan actually worked! Matt so totally owned that smug nod at the camera monitor.

8:21 - Heh. Sandra is officially the coolest mom ever. Making a fake ID AND giving fashion tips for the fugitive on-the-go.

8:24 - Okay, so Sylar remembers this place and having been there once before. And here comes a B&W flashback. Not that I care.

8:25 - Awww... and he's tearing up the diner to get the toy car he lost so many years ago and now he remembers his father and having been abandoned here. And this is supposed to be poignant, I suppose. But it's just stupid and trite as hell.

8:26 - Ooooooh! Watchmen preview! Now THIS I care about!

8:30 - "How do I look?" Like an even douchier version of Sylar.

8:32 - Ooooh. So close to a kiss there. Bet you felt that, eh Claire?

8:33 - Good thing they don't have powered people in the government team. Cause a telepath would SO see through this ruse in seconds.

8:34 - Yet more evidence that Micah is Rebel. Bad news is that Daphne has been moved to a medical facility. Good news is that Rebel is able to hack the computer and gets all the evidence they need to prove that Nathan's group is doing very, very illegal things onto a drive for Peter. Of course, am I the only one cynical enough to think - especially in light of this news story - that the revelation of illegal incarceration of American citizens wouldn't be nearly that big of a deal?

8:35 - And of course Noah is the one to come up with a plan to deal with Matt; telepath's basic five senses get more easily overwhelmed when they are using their powers. So crank up the sirens and the lights.

8:36 - And... Matt is caught. But Peter gets away... with the evidence. Hopefully Peter will have the sense to go to the media rather than try and trade it to Nathan.

8:37 - And... more B&W flashbacks. Yawn. Yes, we KNEW this was where it Sylar's dad sold him to Sylar's uncle and we all saw this coming from the minute we saw Sylar pull over.

8:38 - Of course Sylar's dad having killed his mom...and having done it the same with with a telekinetic lash to the forehead in the parking lot of said pit stop... that we did NOT see coming.

8:42 - And Angela denies being Rebel or helping them. Or Peter. She also notes that she'd never bite the hand that feeds her with Nathan giving her immunity to what the government is doing. Of course we know that's BS and Nathan seems to be thinking that too.

8:43 - Okay. Peter IS trying a trade - Daphne and Matt for the files - but balancing it against the threat of giving it to the media. Here's hoping that Peter pulls an Ozymandis here and is doing both... or has some other trick up his sleeve.

8:45 - And we're back to the "way too dark" HEROES lighting here. How much you want to bet there is a pool and that Danko's agents aren't nearly as thorough as Bennet is about knowing a target's powers?

8:46 - Can I call it or what? And there is the air-trade kiss that we saw last time in the previews. Nice.

8:47 - Alright Peter! Making the meeting spot a news studio parking lot. Naturally Danko is planning treachery. And I love Noah's "dur-hey" look at Nathan when he says "Remember: Peter can read your thoughts now."

8:48 - Of course Noah remembered that. And of course he gave Peter a warning by thinking it. But Nathan showing up to pull an air-lift and get Peter out of there before Danko could start snipering Peter... that I did not see coming.

8:52 - Yeah. Peter is not buying the whole "you'll be taken care of thing". Of course given what happened the last time he trusted Nathan, can you blame him? And that's ignoring that Peter can read Nathan's mind now and see the BS trail. One touch and Peter is off and flying again.

8:54 - Oh, GO PETER! He did it! He passed the whole thing onto the media anonymously. Looks like the whole thing IS exposed, except the existence of super powers.

8:55 - And HERE is the Sylar we know and love! Giving Luke the smack-around he sorely needs and then letting him live to go back to his mother... because to Luke, that is SO much worse than killing him. And now he wants to find dad... to kill him.

8:57 - And, oh-crap.... THAT is how Matt winds up in a suicide bomber vest in the middle of DC. Danko doped him up and set him up.

8:58 - Still, Claire is feeling good and has done some good. Except...oh shit, there's Eric Doyle - aka The Puppet Master. Somehow he survived the Primatech fire. And now... he's looking to Claire for help, thanks to a tip from Rebel. On the bright side, that means there's a good chance Meredith survived too.



The Final Thoughts: A lot more action than last episode and nearly as good. I'm loving the show again, though I'd be happy with a lot less Sylar being emo. Hopefully this will be the last of it.