Heroes, Ep 17: Company Man
Wow. Best episode of Heroes we’ve seen this year. Was it because there was no Ando/Hiro action? No Niki? I think, quite simply, it was just great storytelling. And, like Lost, it revealed answers while creating new questions.

For anyone who said last week that it seemed out of character for Matt to be pointing a gun at Lyle, we see this week that it was a really difficult decision for him to be involved in putting the family in jeopardy at all. Bennet finally figures out that Claire has spoken to the Haitian and that he didn’t erase her memory, because Matt reads her mind and says it aloud. Claire opens up to Matt that her dad isn’t a paper salesman, committing the ultimate betrayal to her dad. Eventually Matt realizes Ted is far more dangerous than any of them, and he joins forces with Bennet and Claire to try to stop Ted. But when Ted catches on, and freaks out, they all risk dying. Claire, Matt, and Ted are all joined in that they are “different,” they seek answers, and they blame Bennet for who they’ve become. But Bennet won’t make it that easy for them – what he does at the end is an incredible sacrifice.

What was revealed: Bennet was hired as regional manager of Primatech Paper 15 years ago. But he was no Michael Scott – he knew from the beginning that Primatech was just a cover-up for an organization that looked into how the species was evolving, and why strange mutations were showing up in human DNA. Eric Roberts, looking a LOT older than his younger sister Julia, plays the head of Primatech. HRG clearly knows what’s up, agreeing that outside people cannot know what they’re doing, and that they cannot know what measures they’ll take to keep the world safe. Roberts tells him he’ll have to deal with things that are morally grey, and that he’ll have a partner who is “one of them.” HRG is all talk, and THINKS he knows what they really do, but when Claude Rains suddenly appears in the office, the way HRG jumps up from the desk and looks completely shocked makes me think he has no idea what he’s getting into. Bennet is given Claire to raise, with the suspicion that she might “manifest” one day, and if she does, he’s to immediately turn her over. Obviously, his fatherly love gets in the way of that. Claude, too, begins to question what they’re doing, and he hides one of “them,” and Bennet is asked to kill him, which he follows through on (or so he thinks).
-Mrs. Bennet’s memories have been erased for 14 years

Great moments: Ted picking up Mr. Muggles, Matt saying, “Don’t!” and Ted looking at him and saying, “I’m not going to NUKE THE DOG.”
-Matt shooting Claire. The scene is full of tension, and the effect on Mrs. Bennet is unimaginable. -Ted going completely radioactive in the house.
-Claire walking outside, half-immolated, and healing right in front of everyone
-Claire handing Bennet the horn-rimmed glasses, making him who he’s become today
-the Haitian erasing HRG’s memories, right after he says one last goodbye to his “Claire Bear.” How painful is that?! It’s like that episode of Angel, “I Will Remember You,” where Angel becomes human and Buffy and Angel have this amazing time together doing everything they couldn’t when he was a vamp, and then he has to erase her memory, while holding onto the memory himself. The next time HRG finds Claire, if he does, she’ll be just another mutant to him. I don’t think I can take it… this is Joss Whedon-type pain. SUCH a good ending!

Big questions: -What the heck was Hiro’s dad doing on the roof of Isaac’s building? What is his involvement with Primatech and what they do? Is Hiro really his son, or was he, too, asked to adopt a child and turn him over if he manifests? Why did he go so quietly back to Japan if he thought for an instant that his son – rattling on about his mission – might be one of “them”?
-How did Bennet first find out what Primatech did, and how did he become involved with them?
-Why does Primatech seek to destroy certain “mutants,” yet allows others (Claude, the Haitian, Eden, that woman in the lab at the end) to join forces with them? Do they choose the powers that could help rather than hurt?
-did HRG really bring Ted back his file, or was it fake? At the company he says he’s not going to give Ted the truth, he’s giving him a tranquilizer. Matt and the Haitian seem to argue that Ted really does need the truth, so does he give in?
-The Haitian says he spared Claire because he answers to someone who has more power than HRG, in Claire’s life. Who is it, Claude? Is he somehow still in contact with the Haitian?
-Who was Claude hiding? Was it Claire? How did he survive getting shot twice and falling that far off the bridge to solid ground? Did he actually fall, or because he went invisible did he actually grab the ledge and move to the side so HRG couldn’t shoot him again?
-did Lyle really call the police, or was the call immediately diverted to Roberts?
-why didn’t HRG and Matt have worse radiation burns?
-did Claire get the tranquilizer into Ted, or did he die? What if the reason everyone had to save the cheerleader to save the world is because she has some sort of healing property? Could she be the cure they’re all looking for? Is there something in her that might help heal the others?
-where was Hana in all of this? She sent Matt and Ted on this mission and then disappeared.
-what is the special power of the woman in the lab at the end?