Heroes - Brother's Keeper - Mohinder Returns - Recap
This was a very good episode! While watching, it felt like Heroes from Season One, which made me me very happy. Maybe it was simply the return of the "old" Mohinder Suresh, I don't know. But I have not felt this way about a Heroes episode -- as everyone knows here on the blog -- for a very long time.
Unlike in previous seasons, Mohinder is back to being the inquisitive scientist whose primary motivation is for good -- just like he was in Season One. There's a scientific problem to be solved, and Mohinder, against the dictates of tradition and an ideal life in India, takes on the problem head on because it's the right thing to do. Or maybe deep inside he just likes the adventure. I particularly liked the scene where Mohinder goes to the carnival to investigate Samuel. Visually it looked like a crime noir film.
The plot points also intersect very nicely, just like it did in Season One. For Mohinder, he is trying to stop Samuel who he discovers poses a danger to everyone because of his "power-amplifying ability." We all know from two weeks ago that Hiro is tangled up with Samuel who is allegedly holding the love of his life Charlie hostage. Hiro gives in to Samuel's blackmail and salvages a film reel which contained the "secrets to Samuel's" power that Mohinder was about to burn 8 weeks prior. Unknown to Samuel, Hiro also saves Mohinder from getting murdered by Samuel by making him wear a Kevlar vest. The sad part is Mohinder did not want to cooperate with Hiro by "staying out of the radar" for 8 weeks -- and sends him to a psychiatric ward. Damn you Hiro!
Samuel also is in touch with Tracy Strauss who is losing control of her powers. She bonds with Claire for a day in HRG's apartment. She realized that she needs to be with people who "understand her" -- just like the kind of life Samuel was offering. When she's stressed out, she loses control, but when she's calm, she's OK. She says yes to Samuel in a bar.
The big moment however is the scenes with Nathan, Peter, Sylar and Parkman. Even Claude Rene, the Haitian makes an appearance. Nathan and Peter find out that "Nathan" is dead -- but they don't know that Sylar is in Parkman's brain. Peter heals Parkman from his injuries and then after the pre-requiste Parkman "I can still act" drama (LOL, sorry I really hate the character) -- we get the brain transfer when Parkman touches Nathan's hand. Sylar however does not manifest in Nathan's body and he still acts like Nathan.
This was actually very well done. We get to see quite clearly that Nathan's "consciousness" is in control of Sylar's body -- and that is the essence of characterization. We can see Nathan physically, we can see his consciousness realizing what is going on, but we all know that we are looking at a shapeshifted Sylar whose real brain is inside there somewhere trying to get out. Nicely done.
I do hope that battle between Nathan and Sylar for Sylar's body will be interesting. Sad for Nathan he is bound to lose, but I'm looking forward to whatever twists they add in there. It better not suck NBC. Also, please bring back Mohinder as a permanent character. After watching this episode, I suddenly feel that there may still be life in this series for a lot more episodes.
