Company Man

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“Company Man”

Heroes episode

The Bennets reunite after the explosion.

Episode no.

Season 1
Episode 17

Written by

Bryan Fuller

Directed by

Allan Arkush

Guest stars

Eric Roberts
Ashley Crow
Matthew John Armstrong
Missy Peregrym
Jimmy Jean-Louis
George Takei
Christopher Eccleston

Original airdate

February 25, 2007

Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Unexpected"	"Parasite"

List of Heroes episodes

"Company Man" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. This episode focuses on the Bennets and Mr. Bennet's past.

1 Plot
2 Production Details
3 Ratings
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The episode opens just prior to the ending of "Unexpected". Ted melts the doorknob to break into the Bennet house. He and Matt argue about whether to continue to search the house or go to Primatech, but the family comes home before they decide anything. Matt and Ted hold the Bennets hostage. Mr. Bennet knows who Matt is but claims not to know Ted.

In a flashback, Mr. Bennet is shown before he began his cover identity at Primatech. Bennet's mysterious boss, Thompson, tells him that they all work with partners possessing powers. In Bennet's case, he is partnered with Claude, who appears right in front of him.

Bennet learns that The Haitian did not wipe out Claire's memory after all, and that she knows a lot more than he thought, when Matt repeats some of Claire's thoughts aloud. Matt tries to assuage an agitated Ted, who calms down when Claire says that her father is not a paper salesman.

Alone in Mr. Bennet's home office with Claire, Matt admits his own powers and tells her that he thinks Mr. Bennet did it to him. Claire thinks of Peter Petrelli, and learns that Matt knows him too. She tells Matt about her own powers.

In another flashback, Claire is handed over to Bennet on the Deveaux building rooftop in New York after the fire that allegedly killed Claire's biological mother. She is held by Kaito Nakamura, Hiro's father. Mr. Bennet, Mr. Nakamura, and Claude have a conversation in Japanese, during which Mr. Nakamura says of Claire, "She belongs to us. If she manifests, we take her." A very young Hiro sits nearby playing with a Game Boy, seemingly oblivious to what is happening. Mr. Bennet has been hiding Claire all this time, not telling his bosses when he learned of her powers.

Matt realizes that Mr. Bennet is thinking in Japanese in an attempt to throw him off. Bennet then thinks of a diversionary tactic to get Ted out of the room. He leaps for a hidden gun, which Ted confiscates from him in a scuffle. When Ted is ready to shoot Claire's mother, Matt shoots Claire at the insistence of both Claire's and her father's thoughts. Mr. Bennet then thinks to Matt that he needs to get Claire away from Ted before he discovers her healing power. Matt and Mr. Bennet have a staged fistfight and take Claire's body upstairs where she heals, coughing up the bullet. Matt claims that Bennet is telling the truth about not telling "anyone at work" about Claire's powers.

Another flashback takes place outside the Bennet house, showing Mr. Bennet expressing concern that his wife is suspicious about what is going on. Thompson tells him of a mute child whom they discovered in Haiti who can wipe memories out of the minds of others, described as pulling worms out of a person's head. Mr. Bennet lets the young Haitian in for the first of many memory erasings of his wife.

At Ted's suggestion, Matt and Bennet go off to Primatech, with Ted staying behind with the tied-up Lyle and Sandra. Ted threatens to blow up the home if the men do not return in an hour, telling them to "Look for the mushroom cloud". Bennet gathers up tranquilizers and has signaled for The Haitian to meet him at the factory. Upon seeing The Haitian, Bennet confronts him about not erasing Claire's memory. The Haitian explains that he answers to someone else "in [his] daughter's life." After they argue about Claire's well-being, Matt says they must give Ted what he wants.

In a flashback from seven years earlier, Bennet is supposed to kill Claude for breaching security and hiding someone. Claude is not surprised at all, stating that he was in Bennet's office when the order was given. They pull over at a bridge, and Claude argues that Bennet is doing the same thing by protecting Claire. Bennet hesitates about shooting Claude but pulls the trigger. Claude becomes invisible after Bennet shoots him twice, leading Bennet to believe that Claude has fallen over the bridge.

Back at the Bennet house, Claire sneaks downstairs, much to the shock of her mother and her brother. She unties them, but Ted catches them before they can all get away. Claire urges them to escape; while Lyle escapes, Sandra returns for Claire. Ted irradiates Claire's neck, who heals immediately right in front of her astounded mother. Ted ties them up again. While Claire is upset that her mom did not get away, Sandra thinks Claire is a miracle from God. Claire disagrees and tells her mom about her dad's various lies. Sandra replies that she also has faith in her husband. Ted listens and realizes that Matt knew Claire would heal before he shot her, which angers him even more. His hands start glowing just as Matt and Mr. Bennet return with the evidence. Matt tries to calm Ted down, asking whether he wants revenge or the truth. Ted calms down and takes the binder. The Haitian comes in through the other door and releases Claire and her mom. At the insistence of Mr. Bennet, they leave the house with Mr. Muggles.

Outside of the house, Lyle says he called the police. Bennet says he did not make Ted the way he was but found him when he was giving off lower levels of radiation. Suddenly, Thompson appears and hears the entire conversation. Thompson aims a gun at Ted, at which point Bennet screams that he will be set off. Thompson ignores this plea and fires. In a rage, Ted loses control over his power and begins to emit huge quantities of radiation, setting the house on fire. Bennet stays behind, trying to prepare a tranquilizer to dope Ted, but he cannot get close enough, and knows that if Ted is not quickly subdued he will explode with nuclear force. Claire returns and convinces Mr. Bennet to let her deliver the tranquilizer instead. Matt comes back inside as well, and Claire makes him and her father leave, saying that she is the only one who can subdue Ted. Matt, Thompson and Bennet get out followed by a large, fiery concussion wave. Claire finally comes out with her skin like blackened ash but begins visibly healing with every step she takes, as neighbors, family, the police, and Thompson look on. As the Bennet family hug together the camera spins round emphasizing how the family have been brought together. However, Noah sees Thompson watching and knows that he will have to give up Claire.

Later, Bennet and Thompson are at Primatech, discussing what a shame it will be to kill another partner, the Haitian. He has, however, gone missing, possibly knowing that he will be killed. Thompson seems to accept that it was the Haitian. not Bennet, who has been hiding Claire "all this time." Ted is seen, sedated and strapped to a bed, locked in a cell similar to Sylar's. Thompson implies that after they put Ted through tests, they will kill him. Matt, unconscious, lies in a bed in another room. Bennet says that Matt was very helpful, and Thompson suggests Matt's powers would make him a great partner for Bennet. Also present in the room is a woman, who is "one of them." Thompson states that she is very promising and will clean up the mess Bennet made. Thompson then asks when Claire will be arriving. Bennet says he will bring her in now.

Mr. Bennet drives Claire down the same road he drove Claude down seven years prior. Claire asks her father where she is going, and he replies that he does not know. Another flashback occurs to three years ago. Bennet is trying on glasses, with Claire helping him choose the best pair for him. Claire asks if she will need glasses someday too, since both her father and grandfather needed them. Bennet reveals to her that she was adopted, which upsets her at first. However, he assures her that they are her "real family" and that they love her very much. "You didn't grow in your mother's womb, you grew in our hearts." Claire gives him a pair of horn-rimmed glasses to try on. When Bennet asks Claire how he looks, she replies, "Like my dad."

The scene cuts back to the present, where Bennet stops at the same bridge where he shot Claude. The Haitian is already waiting there for them. Claire and her father say their goodbyes, both crying. Bennet instructs the Haitian to shoot him in the stomach to make it appear that the Haitian shot Bennet and took Claire from him. After Bennet is shot, he tells the Haitian to go deep into his memory and take anything that would lead his bosses to find Claire. Claire runs to her father and hugs him. Bennet says, "I love you, Claire bear," before having his memory wiped.

[edit] Production Details

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Global Television, which broadcasts Heroes in Canada, aired this episode a day ahead of NBC in some markets to make way for the new show The Black Donnellys.[1]
Eric Roberts makes his first appearance as a new character, Thompson, an associate of Mr. Bennet at Primatech.
Guest stars Eric Roberts and Christopher Eccleston have both appeared in Doctor Who: Eccleston played the Ninth Doctor in the 2005 series, and Roberts played archnemesis the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.
This is the first episode in the series that Masi Oka does not appear in. His character, Hiro Nakamura, however, appears as a child, played by Garret Masuda.
As of season 2, this episode has the least amount of regular cast members appear on the show. Only Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), and Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) appear.
This is the first episode that revolves around only one character and those connected to him at the time: Mr. Bennet.
The highway and bridge from this episode were filmed in the Cajon Pass, 60 miles (100 kilometres) northeast of Los Angeles.
Ted Sprague takes Bennet's wife Sandra hostage in this episode. The actors who portray the pair, Matthew John Armstrong and Ashley Crow, are married in real life.