Review:

I've heard a couple of people describe this one as "transitional", in the sense that it's an episode which bridges previous story arcs with new ones.

I can't be certain, but I think that's just an ambivalent euphemism for, "This episode was dull, but necessary so that the next few episodes can be amazing."

It's not that this episode was bad. Not by a long shot. Bringing D.L. onto the show works well, the Eden storyline takes a neat turn, and Hiro and Claire's scenes are as much of a delight to watch as always.

But there's something about this episode which doesn't quite work. It differs from previous episodes because of the way it focuses on three specific characters and story threads. There's no sign of Nathan this week. Matt, we're to assume, is still lying on the ground at a convenience store (along with a melted tub of coffee ice cream). Simone, mercifully, is nowhere in sight (although, rather ominously, there is the hint this week that she's going to be central to tracking down the cheerleader). And Peter and Isaac have been written out of the episode within the first five minutes.

All of which would have been forgivable if the focus on Niki, Claire and Hiro had led somewhere. The problem is, they really don't. Niki's dual personality becomes more overt, but it's no closer to being explained than it was last week. Claire meets her biological parents, but it turns out to be an uninformative experience, and the strong implication is that they weren't even her real parents. Hiro watches blood seeping through the cracks of a door, which scares the bejesus out of him for half the episode until Ando lifts his spirits by telling him he'll fix it all one day.

The overwhelming sense here is that, over the course of the episode, the characters haven't changed, they haven't grown, and they haven't been affected by their experiences except in a "transitional" way.

The episode opens at Isaac's apartment. The camera closes in on a syringe, a bent spoon and a cigarette lighter. Nice attention to detail, and a promising start. Voice-over Mohinder starts out telling us how evolution is "an imperfect and often violent process," which, if you think about it, sort of summarizes this episode.

He goes on to elaborate that evolution is "a battle between what exists and what is yet to be born. In the midst of these birth pains, morality loses its meaning; the question of good and evil reduced to one simple choice: survive or perish."

Meaning, what, that some poor person's going to be in labor this week? That we're going facing nuclear winter? Guys, it's not even November 8th in the real world yet, let alone the show. Make some darn sense, would you? The only part I got here was the bit about morality going out the window if you're a superhero at the forefront of evolution. Which sort of undermines the whole "hero's code of ethics" thing, and makes a lot of my discussion about Hiro's heroic streak and Matt's shameful use of his powers kind of moot. Oh well.

The camera moves onto the various paintings in the apartment which we saw last week. Peter's flying. Hiro and Ando are at Claire's Homecoming. Peter's dodging a bunch of locker doors. And a cheerleader's lying in a pool of red paint.

Man, that last one looks like it was painted by a right-handed novice painting left-handed and with glazed eyes . Oh, hang on.

Isaac points out with a grave undertone, "We have to save her." Dude, we have to paint her! Like, artistically!

Hiro calls Peter, and we go through the whole bit where Hiro is asking for Meester Eeezuk and Peter's telling Hiro that he has a message for him. And the message regrettably doesn't involve waffles or the prospect of cheaper insurance if he decides to purchase the [PRODUCT PLACEMENT] Nissan Versa which he's renting.

Peter just about manages to stutter out the show's slogan, "Save the cheerleader, save the world." Hiro probably understands it, but finds it so hilarious that he pretends he doesn't, which forces Ando to repeat it. This could turn into a fun game. Hiro could keep pretending he doesn't understand, and everyone would need to keep repeating the slogan until ... Ah, never mind.

Peter tells Ando about Future-Hiro. He mentions the perfect English and the sword, but not the slicked back hair. Ando doesn't even tell Hiro about the perfect English. It's like a game of Chinese whispers, only with Japanese guys and a cellphone.

Hiro likes the sound of a sword, and gets a look of dreamy inspiration. It's undermined only slightly by the fact that we haven't actually seen Hiro use the sword. Chances are it's either a rubber prop or the kind of thing he'll only ever use to chop vegetables. Still, it's nice that it gives the guy hope. He needs it this week.

So Peter tells Hiro and Ando to head to New York. Good plan! What's 2500 miles? The only downside to guzzling all that gas is when you find out that the cheerleader is in Texas. Then it's just a couple of thousand miles more.

Peter and Isaac, in the meantime, determine that one of the paintings in this larger-than-life comic strip has been taken from the apartment by (who else?) Simone. See, even when she doesn't appear in the episode she can complicate everything.

Peter goes to call Simone. Isaac half-heartedly jokes that Peter should tell her that a guy from the future needs the painting. No, wait: tell her that a guy from the future has the ability to freeze time when she's in the middle of her arm-folding, feet-stomping, give-me-the-paintings-and-get-into-rehab-or-I'm-gone ultimatum. And that if she doesn't start being nicer to people RIGHT NOW, he'll leave her frozen like that for all eternity.

What better way to counter an ultimatum than with another ultimatum?

Cut from that to Mommy Bennet at home making cupcakes with Claire. Mommy Bennet becomes Sandra Bennet. It's supposed to make her more personable and more human, somehow. More so than coddling Mr. Muggles at the same time as baking. Cupcakes with dog hair frosting. Yay!

Sandra tells Claire that an equally dog-obsessed acquaintance wants to breed Mr. Muggles with her poodle. We go to a scary visual place. It's offset by the sight of Claire singeing her hands as she removes a baking tray from the oven, but not by much.

Claire insta-heals and doesn't seem too fazed by the incident. We get the impression that she enjoys mutilating herself just to check that her powers are still working.

Daddy Bennet enters and tells the "ClaireBear" that he isn't interested in shelling out a dollar for a cupcake, not even if it's for a good cause. Oh yeah, he's evil. Daddy Bennet tells Claire that he's been on the phone with her biological parents, and that they want to meet her. Sandra immediately begins protesting that they can't "just drop everything for these people." Well, technically, they might be superheroes rather than people.

Daddy Bennet insists that "nobody's dropping anything." As he says this, the camera cuts back to Sandra, whose hold on Mr. Muggles seems to be slipping. I'm ashamed to find myself hoping that Sandra might conveniently drop the dog over the garbage compactor.

After a moment of deliberation, Claire decides that she's "ready." It's a Big Decision for the heroine. Unlike, say, grabbing an oven mitt before she takes baking trays out of the oven. It's good that the girl's got things in perspective.

Niki, sleeping next to Micah, wakes up with a jolt. It's a moving little scene, but one which also has a lot of neat details, from the microscope on Micah's bedside to the baby picture on the wall in the corridor.

As established last week, there's a police car outside the house looking out for D.L. The cops in the car don't look like they're making much of an effort to stop a murderer from entering the house, but they're working a rather crappy night shift, so we're supposed to give them a break.

D.L. appears behind Niki and tells her she looks beautiful. Yeah, and he's only looking at her from behind.

Niki tries to run, but D.L. grabs her and wraps his arms around her stomach and neck. Niki weakly threatens to scream and bring the cops running. Given the camera shot we just got of the cops sipping coffee and generally not seeming too attuned to what's going on inside the house, that's really quite laughable.

Astonishingly, we learn that the low whispers in the house, the kind which don't even wake Micah, have somehow gotten the attention of the cops. Anonymous Cop looks like it's his first day at work, but does his best to reassure Niki by telling her that they'll be sitting in their car, sipping coffee and staring off into the distance, until the morning. Oh, that must make her feel so much better. His spider-sense tingles when he sees that Niki's acting a little weirded out, but Niki laughs it off and lets him get back to the conversation he was having with the other cop over coffee and radio in the car.

Niki and D.L. get to talking about how he "planned the job." Apparently, $2m was gonna get them "out of Vegas." Because, heck, a Nissan Versa isn't enough to do that. D.L. explains how he realized that Linderman would have hunted down Niki and Micah and killed them if they made off with $2m. It turns sinister when D.L. reveals that "someone" took over the heist in his place. He doesn't know who, but he knows that it was "a woman."

Uh, Hot Power Suit Lady?

The girl at the Fly By Night diner?

Sandra Bennet! No, really, think about it: if you wanted to avoid suspicion that you were a seasoned criminal laundering money from the mob, what better way to cover your tracks than to play the innocent wife of a guy involved with a covert operation researching superheroes? What better cover than a clueless mother whose only interests in life are dog shows and cupcakes?

Walking down her street, Claire is interested in figuring out how to ask her biological parents whether they're "freaks" without prompting them to lie. Zach suggests that she cut them. Which is a good suggestion and all, but I was hoping they'd think bigger. Like, flame-throwers. Or bazookas. Or, hackneyed though it may be, just a nice old Daffy Duck mallet.

Claire asks Zach, "What if they can do what I can do? What if they're like me?" Which is pretty much what drives the entire Claire story thread this week: the prospect of Claire discovering that her invulnerability is hereditary. It's intriguing, like the prospect of Daddy Petrelli being able to fly or Micah developing superpowers because his parents have them. But ultimately, the question I keep asking here is, "Who cares?" Let's say Claire found out that one or both of her parents had the same ability she has: would it affect Claire's story arc in any substantial way? I can't see how it would. There would probably be one or two scenes in which Claire and her parents share stories about how they mangled their limbs and came back from the dead, but beyond that, there would be very little story potential.

As it turns out, Claire's encounter with her parents is even less dramatic than that. It could have gone like this:

"Mom? Dad? Are you guys invincible?"

"Yes, sweetie. We've found ourselves on an autopsy table a bunch of times. It's nothing to be surprised about."

"Oh, that's good to know. How did you get that way?"

"Uh, we have no idea."

"Aw, shucks. Never mind. Let's keep in touch!"

Instead, it's more like this:

"Mom? Dad? Is there anything medically unusual with you guys?"

"Uh, diabetes."

"Cancer. Heart disease."

"Really? Oh. So, see ya."

"Bye! Thanks for the lemonade!"

My point is, either way, it would be difficult to get anything substantial from Claire meeting her parents. And that, sadly, is what drags Claire's story thread down this week. From the outset, whether it had turned out that Claire's parents had the same ability or not, there was very little distance for it to go. Unlike Peter, who is still discovering his ability, or Micah, whose ability hasn't yet been established, Claire already has a sense of what her ability is. She just doesn't know how she got it, or how far it can go. And honestly, we knew that meeting her parents this week was never going to clarify those points. Meaning this portion of the episode was never going to carry any significant weight, and it was never going to have any significant impact on Claire's story arc.

So, basically, it's pointless. It's a contrived way to persuade Claire that searching for her parents to find some answers is a dead end, and it's a contrived way to show how devious Daddy Bennet is when it comes to fooling his daughter.

And it's a way to shoehorn Mr. Muggles into the story and establish what a terrific mom Sandra is. Although those things aren't so much contrived as hilarious.

The camera cuts to the fender of Hiro and Ando's [PRODUCT PLACEMENT] Nissan Versa. The focus on the logo is even more shameful than usual. Come on, guys, don't sell out here. Leave the plugging to other shows. You're too good for that.

Hiro sits in the car swinging an imaginary sword and making annoying buzzing sound effects. Uh, Hiro? Buddy? It was a sword, not a lightsaber. The Star Wars allusion is great, but it really doesn't fit here.

Ando begins to wonder whether they should be driving across America towards a city which is going to explode. Shouldn't he just head to California and let Hiro teleport to Isaac's apartment? Hiro points out that this is their heroic journey, and that Ando doesn't need superpowers to be a part of it. All he needs is a driving license and a 30GB iPod. Or is it an 80GB? Whichever it is, he's already pretty darn heroic.

Hiro explains to Ando that Future-Hiro avoided meeting Present-Hiro for fear of causing a rift. Present-Hiro would have delivered the whole spiel about a time paradox starting "a chain reaction that would unravel the fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe," but Robert Zemeckis wasn't having any of it.

For a moment, it looks like Hiro and Ando are getting out of Las Vegas. They're reversing out of the car park when Anonymous Cowboy Guy blocks their exit. "It's the High Roller you cheated!" exclaims Ando. "Quick! Teleport us somewhere!" Yes, please do! Preferably anywhere but Nevada so that this story thread can go somewhere that doesn't involve gambling, deserts, or cowboy hats.

High Roller tells Hiro and Ando that it's "time for a little payback." Fine, take the Nissan! It was getting old anyway. Now we can move onto plugging a Ford!

Back at Niki's apartment, D.L. is dismayed to find out that she's "couching" him. It leads to Niki stomping around the room with bed linen, asking D.L. if he has any idea what she's "been through" in the past six months. Particularly of late, what with the road trips in flash convertibles and one night stands with Adrian Pasdar at luxurious hotels. D.L. candidly tells her that he doesn't know what she's "been through," but that he couldn't stay with her pretending everything was alright when he was earning thirty grand a year doing construction. Apparently, "that business doesn't fly when you have a family." Nor when the missus gets accustomed to eight-grand-per-night stays at the Montecito; D.L.'s probably going to need more than $2m to keep Niki happy now.

D.L. insists that he's "not mad" that Niki became an internet stripper. Heck, he was probably one of her most regular customers, pipped to the rank of Most Frequent Customer by Huggerz69. There's gonna be a throwdown there. And what are the chances that D.L.'s iPod is an 80GB? The line for macho posturing starts HERE.

But, and this really surprised me, Niki drowns in D.L.'s eyes when he says this. She shakes her head and gets this look that says, "Baby, you're not mad? That's so amazing of you. You're such a terrific guy. I don't know how I ever thought you were a killer." This leads to her telling D.L. that he can stay for one night, but that he needs to leave in the morning. Much reflection and inner turmoil follows as each of them contemplates what's happening. This inevitably leads to Niki officiating her wedding ring from the jewelry box and telling D.L. to "come to bed." He doesn't need to be asked twice.

In another part of Las Vegas, Hiro and Ando find themselves in a room where they're gambling once again. High Roller is playing against a wispy-haired guy with an orange tan and a cigar-smoking guy with an Adidas top. Wispy-Haired Orange Man deals the cards and becomes Ernie. Hiro freezes time and redistributes the cards. Ando's cards are six, seven, eight, nine and ten. (Can someone walk me through this? Hiro just gave Ando a straight flush. That's good, yes? Just checking.)

Ando's all, "No %*@#!" Hiro just smiles and nods to say, "Yeah, man, THAT'S the %*@# right there, baby!" Ando bets a thousand bucks, and Hiro keels over, lights out, goodnight. Woody Allen did this routine better.

Ando kneels under the table and sees the suitcase and revolver. It's enough to make him wet his pants. In the bathroom, Ando frantically tells Hiro that "the man with the scary face" has a gun under the table. In this week's Unsolvable Predicament, Hiro must decide whether to (1) freeze time and wait until his bladder wants to cooperate, then carry Ando away in his arms, (2) freeze time, remove the gun from under the table, continue with the game and risk going over to the Dark Side, (3) get out his copy of Poker Rules, read it thoroughly, and ensure that Ando gets a royal flush before the end of the night, or (4) panic in the bathroom because the sound of some super-strong lady cracking skulls outside is too scary for him to concentrate on freezing time.

Hiro opts for (4). And who can blame him.

Screams are heard. Bullets are fired. Then the sound of high heels clippety-clopping out of the room and the sight of blood dripping through the cracks of the bathroom door. Ando resists the urge to ask Hiro, "NOW can you pee?!"

What follows is another string to Masi Oka's bow: the ability to play grief-stricken and distraught alongside exuberant and upbeat. Hiro starts to berate himself for hiding in the bathroom while the Gambler's Club were butchered. Ando placates him by pointing out that if he'd stayed at the table, he'd be dead. The horror of the moment makes the scene stand out, but more importantly, Hiro's expression. Oka conveys this incredibly complex mixture of guilt, remorse, fear and uncertainty. We can see him trying to reconcile his heroic streak with his hesitation. It's subtle rather than melodramatic, but it's also the most poignant image of the episode.

Niki wakes up with D.L. and learns that she was up and about in the middle of the night. Niki gives the same "Whuh? How?" act that she gave at the Montecito after her night with Nathan. Then, finally, the story begins to take a couple of steps forward. Niki looks into the mirror opposite the bed and sees a reflection of herself and D.L., but also Mirror-Niki lying down on the other side of D.L., looking like she's enjoying this scene much more than Niki is.

Micah and D.L. bond over comics, and Leonard Roberts demonstrates that he can play warm and caring at the same time as aggressive and imposing. The comic book titles are half-visible. I didn't get the first one, but the other four were Tales from Space, D.J. Doom, Cosmic Man, and 9th Wonders, the last of which is a nice throw to continuity with Micah's comic in "Genesis" and Hiro's in "Don't Look Back".

It all turns serious when D.L. asks Micah how Niki's doing. Micah's all, "Well, Dad, she's stripping in the garage for thirty-nine bucks an hour, driving into the desert to bury blood-spattered corpses, and visiting hotels to sleep with congressional candidates. I'm pretending I don't know anything but this definitely isn't the best environment for a kid to grow up in, get me?"

Or, he just says, "OK."

D.L. tells Micah that he's "the man of the house," and Micah wearily tells his dad that he's trying. And you can really believe it because Noah Gray-Cabey delivers the lines with such a heavy-hearted emphasis that it seems like he's carrying an enormous responsibility to look after Niki. This scene between D.L. and Micah plays out so beautifully that you wish there could be more time devoted to these two characters than to Niki running away from her problems every week and dragging Micah along with her.

The Superman reference was a neat touch, if only to remind us that Leonard Roberts really DID have powers "just like Superman" when he was on Smallville.

Niki appears at the patio with a pot of coffee and looks out at her husband and son. Behind them, we get a glimpse of the swimming pool and what looks like a jacuzzi.

They got this place on thirty grand a year?!?

D.L. assures Niki that when he gets the name of the woman who took over his $2m heist, all of his problems will "go away." He concedes that "every cop in Vegas" is looking for him, but genuinely seems to believe that proving he didn't rob Linderman of $2m will clear him of all charges. This apparently includes escaping jail and evading authorities. What the heck, let's wish the best for the guy and imagine he really WOULD miraculously be a free man as soon as he elicits a name from a couple of shady crooks involved with the mob.

Mohinder gets his one scene of the week, as per last week. It begins at his apartment with Eden holding Lizard-Mohinder in her hand. At this point, I'm tempted to start a poll to find out how many of you would prefer to see the emphasis in this scene on the lizard instead of Eden.

Still, if she's going to be revealed as Daddy Bennet's spy, she deserves to finally get a caption that establishes her name, and she deserves to finally be referred to by name on screen.

Mohinder delivers his now predictable non-believer's angle, telling Eden how Peter is deranged. The days when Mohinder believed in teleportation, levitation and tissue regeneration are clearly long gone. And by long gone, I mean they were prevalent approximately seven days earlier, based on the show's established timeline. That's one drastic change in perspective.

Mohinder moves to give Eden a peck on the cheek, and Eden turns her head so that their lips meet. Eden is so confident in her ability to lure Mohinder back that she tells him she isn't going to say goodbye. Mohinder leaves his apartment. Apparently, he doesn't think to dismantle The Map. Or take the hard drive from Papa Suresh's laptop. Or take a second look at Papa Suresh's diary. Or hand in his resignation with the folks who let him drive one of their taxis on such short notice. Or collect the deposit on the apartment. Or even sort out whether Eden will look after Lizard-Mohinder. And did anyone ever eat that bowl of macaroni and cheese?

Yeah, Mohinder will definitely be back.

Claire meets her bio-parents. Bio-Mommy notes that Claire has the same mouth and nose as Bio-Daddy. Claire gets this look that says, "Gosh, this is fun."

There's an awkward moment when everyone sits there wondering what to say. If you look closely, you can see the dog statues on the coffee table. This in addition to the framed dog pictures on the wall in the background. And the dog statues which were sitting on the shelves next to the kitchen window a couple of scenes earlier. The only thing conspicuous by its absence is Mr. Muggles. I'm just saying, is it any wonder the bio-parents are freaked out? Very cute attention to detail, though. Whoever builds the sets and adds the props deserves some serious praise.

Sandra tries to be cordial, offering the bio-parents lemonade and cupcakes. She nudges Claire's shoulder and tells them that it's "sort of a thing [they] do." Rather disturbingly, this brings a smile to Daddy Bennet's face. He's probably just delighted that Sandra is making the effort to pretend she's interested in something besides dogs.

Bio-Daddy asks Claire, "What can we tell you about ourselves?"

Uh, what happens when you guys fall seventy feet and run through fire? Have you ever stabbed yourselves through the neck with a two-foot steel rod? What about slamming a car into a wall at 100mph? Well, look, let's skip the lemonade and go find out, shall we?

Niki drives D.L. to a white-walled building. She decides to use the red convertible, which has somehow been retrieved from the desert since "Collision". They enter the building and find the Gambler's Club. Ernie, Adidas Guy and High Roller have had their arms and legs severed. It can only be the work of Mr. Muggles.

Bio-Mommy becomes Lisa. Bio-Daddy doesn't get a name. They tell Claire how they separated before graduation. Daddy Bennet stands in the study, obscured by the blinds, and listens to the conversation. Sandra asks uneasily whether it's right for him to be eavesdropping. Daddy Bennet thinks about this for a moment, then replies with perfect comic timing, "Yes." It's one of those moments where the pseudo-villain could be the evil mastermind ensuring that his deception is going according to plan. Alternatively, he's the curious father who wants to make sure that his daughter's not hearing anything that would upset her.

Claire asks the bio-parents whether there's anything she should know. "Like, medically? Anything weird or out of the ordinary?" It's a suspenseful moment which is undercut by the revelation that Claire can look forward to becoming a diabetic who'll eventually need to be treated for cancer and heart disease. Unless her indestructibility eradicates all forms of illness, or unless the bio-parents are lying (which, it's implied, they are).

Which is as much of a let-down for us as it is for Claire.

You figure the show's now going to cut to another story thread. It does, sort of. But it also ties that other story thread with this one, and manages to vindicate Nora Zehetner by affirming that, yes, it was a part of the plot rather than bad acting on her part.

My notes here, underscored three times, read, "I KNEW IT!"

Truthfully, I didn't; I was going with the bad actress theory most of the time. But I think we all felt that something was wrong with the character, and it's preferable that it turned out to be an intentional story element rather than the result of poor casting.

But it also means I now need to retract all the criticism I heaped on Zehetner for the past six episodes. I must humbly credit her with being the equal to Lizard-Mohinder in the acting department. I must withdraw the claim that she was just a bad actress when she was surreptitiously trying to convey the fact that she was a spy the entire time.

Which was the second theory. Although, admittedly, most of us ran with the first. Now we know she was portraying a spy masquerading as a girl from the bookstore. Regrettably, it doesn't placate a considerably large portion of the fanbase who still feel she isn't doing a particularly stellar job of that either.

That said, it links up a number of threads, connecting Daddy Bennet to Peter, Isaac, and Hiro.

Plus points for the way the characters are all becoming connected. Minus points for Daddy Bennet's use of the word "cool", which sounded a little off for a guy in his forties. I get that he's supposed to be a nerd for superhero abilities and that he's enthusiastic about strapping people down in labs and analyzing them. But "cool"? There comes a point when you can no longer get away with using that word to mean "impressive".

Daddy Bennet hears the "save the cheerleader" tag. He's floored. Like the rest of us, he wonders why no one could think of something better. Or cooler.

Niki and D.L. return to the house and resist the urge to vomit. D.L. in particular looks like he's struggling with the image of Gambler's Club cartilage strewn across a floor. Courage, man, you've seen worse! You were turned into a cybernetic zombie and blown to bits by Riley Finn! You were banished to the Phantom Zone! You got through two scenes with Lana Lang! If you can do that, dammit, man, YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS!

Niki reveals that she's seen something like this before, and recounts the mobster-murder in the garage. She posits that she was responsible for both instances. Ali Larter gets a lot of criticism thrown her way, almost as much as Nora Zehetner. But this is one scene where she really sells the part. When she tells D.L. that she doesn't see how anyone else could have killed the mobsters, she exudes trauma and hysteria. For an actress who's going to play the opposite a few scenes later, that's shows remarkable versatility.

This is where the episode finds its footing, and where everything that slowed it down this week can be forgiven. When Niki stares at her reflection and asks what's happening to her; when Mirror-Niki starts talking to Niki and tells her to pull herself together; when the distinction between Niki and Mirror-Niki is placed side-by-side, that's when this becomes Niki's episode. Heck, that's when this becomes Ali Larter's episode.

That's when this episode begins to rock.

We get two radically different performances from Larter: the terrified, insecure personality that the actress has been playing for the past six weeks, and the confident, merciless alternative that appeared in the elevator during "Collision". Larter plays both of them brilliantly, particularly during this scene, but you get the sense that she's enjoying the Mirror-Niki performance a lot more.

It's finally established that Micah is clued in to his mom's issues. Liberating for the character because it means he'll no longer need to pretend that he's in the dark about knowing his mom has a dual personality, but also a vindication because Micah's "boy genius" status is now assured. For his sake, you wish he wasn't so clued in; as dysfunctional families go, this is about as screwed up as it gets.

Hiro and Ando return to the car at the Montecito car park. Are they EVER going to get out of this place? Is it some kind of an in-joke when the guy who can bend time and space is perpetually trapped in a Las Vegas car park with his Nissan Versa?

Oka continues to deliver a strong performance, questioning whether he's on the right path and whether he hasn't failed in his capacity to help people. For a brief moment, Hiro becomes the voice of negativity and despair, and Ando becomes the voice of reassurance and support. Ando gets in a joke about the hero's journey being the material that's later used for a movie (and given the show's current level of quality, you can bet that it's an idea already under consideration).

Then the part which is very moving, but at the same time detracts from the impact which Hiro's experience this week could have had. Ando comes up with the possibility of Hiro one day going back in time to save the Gambler's Club. Hiro's eyes flash with hope as he latches onto that one chance to save the day. And suddenly, it's the same Hiro it was before.

Which is precisely the problem.

I hope Hiro grows from this experience. I really do. Because if the character goes back to being the same upbeat, enthusiastic geek he's been since the start, it'll be funny, as always. And it'll be a pleasure to watch, as always. But it will also negate everything that happened to Hiro this week. The impression I got here was that Hiro "gets over" his trauma. He finds a reason to hope, and he "moves on." But if he does that so quickly, any resonance which his guilt and remorse this week could have had, and should have had, will be removed. And that means that Hiro's arc this week, like Claire's, will be fundamentally pointless.

Like I say, I hope I'm wrong, and that his experience this week will continue to reverberate and form a part of the character's development. But on the strength of Hiro's glee as he contemplates the prospect of a "do-over", I suspect it won't, and that really is a shame.

Daddy Bennet walks the bio-parents to their car. Bio-Daddy tells Daddy Bennet that he thinks that went "pretty well," and that if there's anything else Daddy Bennet needs ... Well, Daddy Bennet can let him know. It's very, very disturbing, and the overwhelming impression we get is that these weren't Claire's real parents at all.

Upon Claire's request, Sandra bins the cupcakes. Man, that's almost as shameful a waste as the cellphone in "Genesis". She could have at least given them to Mr. Muggles.

Sandra reveals that Claire had a cough when she was a baby, and that her parents needed to be found and screened. Likely to be a key plot point on the show at some time in the future.

Daddy Bennet shows up and embraces Claire. The camera pulls back and spooky music plays. The dog pictures ... The dog statues ... The awards on every wall ... It's all ... too ... much ...

Yeah, Daddy Bennet's brave. VERY brave.

Niki climbs into the attic and finds a suitcase filled with $100 bills. And a revolver. D.L. walks in as Niki jumps down from the attic, and displays a moment of real hurt when he tells Niki that he loved her.

"Screw that!" screams the bloodthirsty portion of viewers. "Let's skip to the fight!"

Mirror-Niki emerges after D.L. says he's going to take Micah and the money and run. Mirror-Niki sends him soaring across the room. D.L.'s power is established: he can phase through solid objects. This gives him the ability to hide behind walls, and, as we see, plunge his fist into Mirror-Niki's abdomen and choke her from the inside out.

And then Micah walks in on this, and you wonder whether the poor kid's ever going to get another restful night's sleep in his life. This seriously isn't the kind of %*@# you get over.

Isaac, meanwhile, studies his painting of Niki, applies a finger to her right shoulder on the painting, and etches out the frilly 'S'. Eden shows up at the apartment. How did Eden get the address when, as far as we know, Mohinder never told her Isaac's full name or location? It doesn't matter. The story threads are rapidly intersecting, and the promise that all of the separate arcs on the show will eventually tie together is rapidly being realized.

And Mohinder, bummed at the thought that he's been written out of the plot by such weak and inconsistent characterization, returns to regurgitate almost the exact same voice-over he had at the start. For want of a better word, it sounds cool.

The ironic part is it brings us full circle, right back to the start of the episode. And in a lot of ways, that's where the characters are still standing at the conclusion.

Claire still has no idea how she got her powers, and she still has no idea that her father is involved in locating and studying every individual with a similar power.

Hiro is still using his powers to gamble, and he's still hoping to get to New York, even though it's apparently impossible for the Nissan Versa to get out of the Montecito car park.

And Niki is still trying to figure out what's going on with her alternate personality, and she's still trying to protect her son, even when it seems like the person she needs to protect him from is herself.

Which brings me back to the point I was trying to make at the start: it's not that this is a bad episode, just that it didn't forward the characters in any definable way. It only complicated their story arcs a little: D.L. came into the plot, Hiro witnessed a massacre, and Claire was fooled into thinking that her biological parents had no clue about her power.

Those things will probably help the ongoing process of outlining and developing the characters, but they don't make for a particularly captivating 40 minutes. If the show is going to ditch a bunch of its main characters for the sake of concentrating on a few, it needs to be able to justify that decision by generating substantial forward motion for those few. And that wasn't the case here.

All in all, "Better Halves" is worth watching, as any episode on this show is. But it's a "transitional" episode, and the first episode which I would describe as a disappointment.

3 out of 5