1.03 One Giant Leap

Peter can’t seem to fly anymore, and Nathan is too busy campaigning to care. But Peter has located a copy of a book by Mohinder’s father.

Mohinder is frustrated with getting nowhere. When he throws his father’s notebook computer, a paper notebook falls out. It contains clues, addresses, and hair samples, perhaps from people who have ‘evolved’. One address is for ‘Sylar’ in Queens, New York.

Matt is being grilled by Audrey (Clea DuVall), but when he reads her mind, she realizes he is not a killer, and instead asks him to work for the FBI.

Simone tires of what she sees as Isaac’s drug-induced ravings, refusing to believe that he is painting glimpses of the future. She leaves him.

Hiro tries but fails to make contact with Isaac; if only he could tell the artist that his vision of New York going nuclear is true! Hiro does finally convince his friend Ando that he can bend time by freezing a scene and plucking a little girl from in front of a truck just before she is about to be hit.

Niki visits her mother-in-law, who defends her son D.L. (Micah’s father) even though Niki says he is a murderer.

Mohinder and Eden explore Sylar’s creepy apartment, where there is also a map showing people who may be genetically advanced. Sylar isn’t likely to surprise them, because he is, at that moment, trying to get the girl whom he missed at his last mass murder. Despite the girl being kept in a safe place, he is easily able to infiltrate, and later, we see why. Not only can he absorb multiple gunshots and make people turn their guns on themselves, he can move vertically to great heights to escape. It seems he may be a superhero gone bad.

Hiro and Ando journey together to New York City to stop it from going nuclear.

Peter tells Simone that he will no longer be sitting with her dieing father, that he is meant for bigger things.

Claire is ‘killed’ during a brutal attempted rape by Brody (Matt Lanter).

While driving home, Niki is stopped by a ‘policeman’ who tells her that Mr Lindeman (the mobster from whom she borrowed 30 thousand  dollars) wants to see her.

Simone and Peter meet at Nathan’s fundraising dinner, but Peter walks when Nathan lies during his speech and says that Peter recently attempted to commit suicide.

Hiro and Ando arrive in LA, but rather than flying to New York, Hiro says they must follow the comic book script and drive (in a Nissan Versa). First stop: Las Vegas, which pleases Ando, as his favorite website features striptease videos by a sexy girl known as Las Vegas Niki (yes, our Niki).

After an argument with his wife Janice, Matt seeks the solace of a bar, but reading the depressing thoughts of others isn’t very pleasing. But there is one tough looking black man who cannot be read and who meets and returns his stare – is this D.L.? As Matt gets up to leave, he feels dizzy, reels, and passes out on the floor.

Mohinder and Eden lead police back to Sylar’s apartment, but it is empty, and all incriminating evidence has been removed.

Peter punches Nathan twice for saying he tried to commit suicide.

On a rainy night, Peter and Simone share a first kiss under a shared red umbrella, and, back in his apartment, Isaac sees his sketch of that moment and knows it is happening.

Claire awakens, in the morgue, alone, undergoing an autopsy, her chest split open to reveal bloody ribs!

Comments

It’s becoming obvious that creator Tim Kring vision for a "…big show" can be realized. The characters and possibilities are so open-ended that, if handled well, this show could go on for years without ever repeating itself.

Eden (Nora Zehetner) is very skinny. Surely she is bordering on anorexic. They say television adds ten pounds. If so, she is probably invisble in real life.

Nits

It seems presumptuous for Eden to have and use her key to Mohinder’s apartment when she could have knocked first. She almost gets shot because of this. I also have a little twinge of misgiving about why Claire was making a video of all her exploits. At the time, it seemed like something a teenager would do, but when her father discovered it, it then seemed like a contrivance designed only to be discovered.

It seems unlikely that Nathan would view Peter’s suicide attempt as a positive way to gain votes.

Memorable Moments

• Time as frozen by Hiro

• Hiro shows Ando the next panel in the comic book, where the large woman sitting between them is sleeping on Ando’s shoulder. Ando’s expression is priceless (and sure enough, it happens)

• Subtitles when Hiro and Ando speak in Japanese – isn’t this a unique touch for an American TV show? I just hope they keep doing this

Quotable Quotes

Hiro: My only concern is…whether I need to hide my true identity. Perhaps a costume?
Ando: You even mention tights and a cape, I’m going home.

Peter: You son of a bitch!
Nathan: Easy Pete, that’s our mother you’re talking about.

"This force – evolution – is not sentimental. Like the earth itself, it knows only the hard facts of life’s struggle with death. All you can do is hope and trust that when you’ve served its needs faithfully, there may still remain some glimmer of the life you once knew."
- Mohinder’s closing narration