Unexpected (''Heroes'')

"Unexpected" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. Regular cast members Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders) and Leonard Roberts (D.L. Hawkins) do not appear in this episode. Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance in the episode as the driver of the bus Hiro gets on. Although Ali Larter does not appear on this episode, she does do the voice over for the Previously on Heroes, which for the only time to date is placed after the first scene.

Plot

In the outskirts of the desert in Nevada, Ted Sprague sits in a remote cabin. He is mystified when someone contacts him via instant messenger on his laptop, even though he is not connected to the Internet. The mysterious person reveals herself as Hana Gitelman, an Israeli woman who can access radio signals with her mind. She reveals to Ted the marks on their necks are used for tracking by Primatech Paper Co. Hana convinces him to come along, because she can find Mr. Bennet, and then Ted can blow him up.

Claire Bennet, distraught when her mother cannot remember her or Mr. Muggles, calls her brother down to help only to find that their mother is fine and remembers them both. Later, Claire tries to broach the subject of the brainwashings to her mother. As she begins telling her mother she shouldn't trust her father and bringing up the possibility of the condition worsening, Sandra collapses in the kitchen. Claire runs over crying, attempting to wake her mother up.

In New York, Isaac Mendez explains to Mr. Bennet and The Haitian that Peter has become invisible. Mr. Bennet says that Peter, who absorbs the abilities of others, has come into contact with a man who they thought was dead. They go to the Deveaux Building to track Peter down, leaving Isaac with a gun. Isaac asks what does he do with it. Bennet replies, "Save the world." On the roof of the Deveaux Building, Peter's training continues as Claude attacks him with a long wooden staff to force Peter to defend himself; he does, using telekinesis to break Claude's staff (As shown above). Peter theorizes that he absorbed the ability from Sylar when they met in Texas. Simone goes to Isaac's loft to again enlist his help in finding Peter, and Isaac tries to convince her to stay away from Peter since he is dangerous. He once again tells Simone to keep the key to his loft.

Later that night, as Claude talks to Peter about Charles Darwin's theories and how they relate to their current situation, they are attacked by Mr. Bennet and The Haitian. Claude is hit with a Taser but Peter stops the projectiles in mid-flight and is not hit. When Mr. Bennet and The Haitian try to intercept both men, Peter throws Claude down the building. As Peter jumps after him, Claude questions, "What are you doing?" Peter responds, "Something unexpected." Mr. Bennet and The Haitian, confused, see Peter carrying Claude fly back up into the sky. Before Mr. Bennet can pursue them, he receives a phone call from Claire about his wife's condition. He tells her he'll be right there.

As Peter soars through the skies of New York, he anxiously flies to his apartment while carrying Claude. While lying on a bed in Peter's apartment, Claude punches Peter in the face. He reveals that he was once abducted, received the mysterious marks on his neck and has been on the run from those people ever since. Now that they know he is alive, he realizes that he cannot stay with Peter without being in danger and departs. Peter realizes that Isaac was the one who tipped off Mr. Bennet.

Simone goes to see Nathan Petrelli about finding Peter. Since they have found nothing, Simone suggests revealing their abilities to the world and getting the press involved in finding him. Nathan strongly objects since he believes that people with abilities like himself would be locked up for scientific study. He urges Simone not to go public.

Hiro Nakamura manages to convince the Gaming Commission Officer to bring him along to find Ando and Hope. Hope pulls in at a gas station with Ando, but when he tries to help her with her bags, he finds the bag is filled with stolen casino chips. Hope forces Ando at gunpoint to back away. During their car trip, the officer tells Hiro that having a partner is too much of a burden, and that he would only have his partner's blood on his hands if he messes up. When the officer finds Hope, they begin shooting at each other. Ando gets shot in the arm but he and Hiro manage to hide in the luggage compartment of a bus. Hope finds them and tries to shoot them but Hiro reverses time for the bullet, sending the bullet back into the gun knocking it out of Hope's hands. When time resumes normally, Hope is tackled before she can get the gun and shoot again. Neither Hiro nor Ando were aware that time had reversed briefly, as both men had shut their eyes when the gun was pointed at them; as such, they both assumed that the gun misfired. After Hope and the Officer are arrested, Hiro tells Ando that it was a mistake to have brought him along because he does not want to lose him, and urges Ando to return to Japan. Alone, Hiro gets on a bus to Las Vegas. This scene features a cameo by Marvel creator Stan Lee as the bus driver who asks "Hey young fella, all by yourself?"

In a cemetery, Ted is seen standing before the grave of his deceased wife. He tells her that he will find the reason behind his radioactive powers, and make things right, even though she probably will not like what he will do. He bends down to place flowers at the foot of the tombstone, but they wither away and die. The ground of the cemetery around him dies as well due to the enormous amount of radioactivity.

Janice Parkman finds one of the diamond rings that her husband Matt acquired from his last job. He tells Janice that he bought it for her, but when she tries to have the ring resized, she discovers that it is worth $40,000 and the jeweler suspected her of stealing it. Matt confesses that he took the diamonds from his last client, and he cannot give them back since he is dead. Janice insists that Matt hand them over to the police immediately, but Matt receives an important telephone call and leaves.

In the cemetery, Matt meets with Ted and Hana. Ted tells Matt that they have discovered evidence linking their abductions to Primatech Paper Co. and Mr. Bennet, and that the mysterious marks on their necks are from where they were injected with a radioactive isotope used in subject tracking. They want to bring them down, but they cannot do it without Matt's help, since Matt can tell if Mr. Bennet is lying to them. Reluctantly, Matt agrees to help them.

Mohinder Suresh and Sylar, still under the guise of Zane Taylor, travel to a garage in Montana to find a woman, Dale Smither, who has superhuman hearing, revealing they had found her by analyzing blood that she gave for the Human Genome Project. They agree to return the next day to run tests on Dale and go to a local motel, where Mohinder tells "Zane" about Sylar, the man who killed his father, Chandra Suresh. Mohinder admits he was a little skeptical with "Zane" at first about coming along, but he is now beginning to trust him. During the night, Sylar returns to the garage and kills Dale, acquiring her power. When Mohinder and "Zane" return the next morning, they find Dale's body and her head cut open. Sylar begins having severe headaches associated with his new ability. Mohinder knows that Sylar is behind the murder (though he does not realize that Sylar is his traveling companion), and he is convinced by "Zane" that they need to leave and alert the police when they are on the road.

Claire, in the hospital visiting her mother, tries to tell the doctor about The Haitian and his ability, but the doctor ignores her and goes to speak to her father. Later, when Mr. Bennet comes to speak to Claire concerning what she told the nurse, Claire becomes so distraught that she finally explodes and confesses to Mr. Bennet that she remembers everything and yells at her father, accusing him of causing her mother's neurological condition by constantly erasing her memory. As hospital staff turn to see the argument, Mr. Bennet moves Claire into a corner and quietly explains that what she knows is very dangerous. Mr. Bennet tells Claire about how Sylar came to their house, looking for her, but instead found her mother and attacked her. Bennet tearfully says that he did everything to protect the family that he loves and he begs for her forgiveness. Claire, still angry with Mr. Bennet, refuses to let the issue go. She says it's not enough to just apologize. Claire is still angry when the entire family returns home the next day, only to find Ted and Matt waiting for them (Hana has gone to find the man giving orders to Mr. Bennet). Matt pulls out a gun and demands answers.

Isaac completes a painting of Peter in his loft only to discover him there already. Peter confronts Isaac about his betrayal but Isaac is adamant that what he was doing would save the world. Peter concludes that Isaac is jealous of his relationship with Simone and wants to ruin it. Peter questions why Isaac had offered Mr. Bennet tips to find him and Isaac says that he did it to save New York. Peter becomes outraged and demands that he stops lying to him as he uses telekinesis to throw Isaac through several of his paintings. When Isaac gets the gun he received from Mr. Bennet and points it at Peter, Peter becomes invisible and starts hurling objects around the room. Isaac becomes so frightened by Peter's taunting that he whirls around and fires two bullets at the next loud sound, thinking it's Peter. He is shocked when he realizes he has just shot Simone twice in the chest. Peter cradles Simone in his arms as he and Isaac watch her die.^[1]

Ratings

The episode earned an 8.2/12 rating. In the 18-49 demographic, it earned a 6.0/14 rating. This episode was watched by 20.10 million people.

References

External links

• Watch "Unexpected" at NBC.com
• Beaming Beeman: Episode 16: Unexpected - Director's blog on the filming of this episode.
• Unexpected on IMDb