Kindred (Heroes)

"Kindred" is the third episode of the second season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. The episode was written by J. J. Philbin and was directed by Paul Edwards. It originally aired on October 8, 2007.

Plot

Sylar awakens on an island beach, disoriented, next to a woman named Michelle. She explains that she is Candice Wilmer in disguise, and that she is creating the illusion of a tropical paradise while he is recovering from surgeries following his injury. Sylar is dubious, so she dispels the illusion to reveal that they are actually in a small shack in the middle of a forest. While recovering, Sylar discovers that he cannot use any of the abilities he acquired. Michelle explains that his powers will return, with her assistance, but that his wound must heal first. Determined to reacquire his powers, Sylar states that it will "start with her," and smashes a coffee mug against her head. After attempting to take her ability, however, he is unable to use it, then realizes that he is helpless and alone in the middle of nowhere.

Peter Petrelli tries to figure out how to control his powers, aiding Ricky and his gang in the theft of a large amount of cash. Ricky's brother Will, however, turns traitor and holds Ricky at gunpoint, demanding the money. He shoots Peter twice when he tries to intervene and continues to demand the money, but is surprised when Peter quickly regenerates and uses telekinesis to hold him against the wall, choking him. Due to Caitlin's pleadings, Peter stops short of killing Will. As a reward for his help and his loyalty, Peter is welcomed into the clan as a "brother," symbolized by Caitlin giving him a tattoo of the Celtic knot on his arm. When Caitlin presents him with his box, he chooses not to open it, afraid that he might dislike who he was. However, as the two share a kiss, the ink of the tattoo Peter just received shifts into the helix symbol before fading entirely.

Maya and Alejandro are still on the run. It's the next day and the two are in an active search to gain a car to get them to the border. When Alejandro tries to break into a random parked car, he and his sister are caught by the police, and the two make a beeline for the alleyway. Maya manages to evade the police by getting over the chainlink fence, but her brother isn't so fortunate; he gets arrested and brought down to the station. While at the station, Alejandro sees on a wanted poster that he and his sister are wanted for homicide. Meanwhile, Maya is thinking of a way to go back for her brother, and approaching the chief of police in the department, she rips the wanted poster down from the wall and shows him she's one of the people they want. As the policemen bar her against the desk, her eyes turn jet black and everyone, besides Alejandro, fall dead in the building. After he's freed, he's aghast that Maya had murdered just to free him. Grasping her hands once more, he revives everyone who was killed by his sister, including the American prisoner. Remarking that he has a car, the twins take the American along with much haste, speeding off in his vehicle which appears to be the Nissan Rogue that Mr. Bennet gave to Claire.

Niki Sanders and Micah Sanders are both at a cemetery, where Micah is feeling despondent about the loss of his father. Niki tries to cheer him up by saying he can finally live normally and if he wants to see his father again, she'll try to arrange it. Micah then runs into the field with his mother chasing after until they both stop at the gravestone of D.L. Hawkins, where Niki gently places a bundle of flowers upon his name. Later on in the day, the two make it to New Orleans, where Niki drops Micah off at Nana Dawson's home (played by Nichelle Nichols), while she continues to find a cure for her condition.

In the present time, Ando is in his office, still wondering if Hiro would ever come back. Opening his filing cabinet, he takes out the katana, and notices that the words "Ando, open" were inscribed on the bottom of the sword's hilt. Flicking it open, tiny little scrolls pour out into Ando's hand. He begins to read them, finding they were really letters from the past from Hiro, detailing his progression to make history right again.

Meanwhile, Hiro catches up with Kensei, who experiments with his ability by cutting his arm. After Hiro explains the nature of the ability, Kensei becomes thrilled, believing that it would be useful in bets. Realising that he's getting nowhere with convincing Kensei to be a hero, Hiro takes his arm and teleports him in front of the 90 Angry Ronin, convincing him to fight them, at which he succeeds. However, as he is reunited with Yaeko, Hiro is upset that he is unable to be with her since she's Takezo's bride. Believing that he has fixed the timeline, Hiro prepares to depart, despite Kensei asking him to stay, describing him as his 'conscience'. When Hiro prepares to go home, however, he changes his mind.

Claire Bennet is annoyed by West, who hassles her about not letting people know that she is different. He then reveals that he has a power, and he flies her to a beach, where they kiss. Claire then sees the scar on West's neck, the same one that Matt Parkman and others had. He then tells Claire that once he was riding his bike and was taken by "the guy with the horn-rimmed glasses" (Noah Bennet) and had lost a day's worth of memory.

Mohinder Suresh finds that his new laboratory was the old loft of Isaac Mendez, complete with his paintings in crates. When his overseer leaves, he quickly rummages through one of the crates, finding the last of the eight paintings Isaac did prior to his murder. Noah Bennet remarks that Mohinder has "nothing to worry about as long as I'm alive". After seeing the subject of the eighth painting, Mohinder takes a snapshot of it with his cellphone and sends it to him, remarking "that's what I'm afraid of." When the painting is shown, it appears to depict Noah's bloody corpse, complete with a bullet hole through his eye. In the background, Claire is embracing and kissing a shadowed figure. Quickly shrinking the image down when Claire comes in the room, he greets her briefly. After she leaves, the episode ends with Noah still contemplating the ominous painting on his computer screen.

Production details

• This episode marks the first appearance of Niki Sanders, Micah Sanders, and Sylar in the second season.
• As of this episode, Zachary Quinto (Sylar) is now credited as a series regular.

Critical Reception

In the 18-49 demographic, "Kindred" earned a 5.1/12 ratings share. This episode was watched by 10.91 million people.

Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B.^[1]

Robert Canning of IGN scored the episode 5.9 out of 10^[2]

References

External links

• Kindred at the Internet Movie Database
• Beaming Beeman - Season 2, Episode 3 - Director's blog on the filming of this episode.