Zach's Heroes Watch: "Brother's Keeper"

Previously on Heroes: Sylar thinks he’s Noah, Tracy wants to go to the carnival, Matt tried to kill himself, and Samuel kidnapped Charlie to get Hiro to help save Mohinder.

Nine weeks ago, Mohinder was going through a geography lesson – and about change (THEME ALERT) – and we find out that the mystery video Samuel wants has to do with Mohinder’s father’s involvement in the Coyote Sands research from the no-longer irrelevant plotline last year. We also find out that the video involves Samuel and the theory that people with superpowers can amplify their powers by hanging out together – since Baby Samuel was born at Coyote Sands, he’s got super superpowers.

By researching this special force and following a special compass that he invented (mystery resolved!), Mohinder ends up breaking his marriage. But we know that Samuel could be unstoppable if he surrounds himself with enough supers – which he already has. Mohinder finds his way to the carnival and meets up with Joseph (played by a B-list version of Liam Neeson), who’s covering up that his brother is special, and with Samuel, who was kind of a shrimp back in the day. Turns out Joseph is covering up everything about Samuel’s powers so Ambitious Samuel doesn’t know. Joseph kicks Mohinder out of the carnival to try to keep everything under wraps, but Samuel was eavesdropping!

Mohinder feels like he made a mistake and wants to back off before Samuel finds out, so he takes some lighter fluid out of the minibar and burns the video – or is about to before Hiro stops time and switches the video for some nondescript film. Evil Butterfly Man arrives and menaces Mohinder. Jealous that his brother is “playing king,” Samuel kills Mohinder with rocks, or so it seems – Hiro stopped time, put a bulletproof vest on Mohinder, and saved his life. Hiro brings Mohinder up to speed on the season’s important plotlines and then hides him in a mental hospital for a few weeks.

Samuel wants Hiro to prevent him from killing Mohinder eight weeks ago because Mohinder has some mystery video from 1961. But Hiro just looks constipated because he’s having problems teleporting. Fortunately, we know that Hiro has changed time – he’s got the video and he saved Mohinder from a fate worse than cancellation. He presents a film can to Samuel and asks for Charlie to come back, but Samuel doesn’t deliver.

Meanwhile, Tracy wants to run away and join the circus because her superpowers are acting up. Somebody get this girl some antifreeze. While Claire does laundry at her dad’s apartment (where the heck do these people live, anyway?), she finds Tracy flipping out. Tracy takes a bath, but the whole thing freezes over, and Tracy ends up freezing Claire. That’s cold, Tracy. But this episode is weird and crazy because Claire’s foot falls off while she’s frozen, which Tracy ends up thinking is super funny – good thing Claire has a sense of humor about all this.

Tracy and Claire chill out (get it?) in their bathrobes while they figure out that Tracy’s problem is psychological. Tracy’s having an identity crisis, too, so she and Claire bond over knowing Samuel and wanting to go to the carnival. Noah comes home, and he’s slightly weirded out over the fact that there’s a severed foot on the table – can we please get a sitcom spin-off called “Same Old, Same Old” starring these three?

Tracy meets Samuel at a diner (favorite setting of the season?) and ends up scoring an invitation from Samuel to join the carnival.

Nathan/Sylar is puzzled over who he is and what the heck he was doing in a carnival. Rene the Haitian arrives with the exposition for this episode, promising “the truth.” Turns out Mama Petrelli wants all these messy memories erased, but the Haitian’s not buying it. Instead, he sends Peter on a quest to a storage facility – where the real Nathan’s body is stored. Nylar touches the body and starts to get memories from it. They know Matt Parkman has the answers, but it’s too bad he’s in critical condition; fortunately Peter has healing powers!

The Petrellis skulk around a hospital until they find Matt, who Peter heals. But Mind-Sylar is ecstatic because his body is right within sight. Matt spills the beans, but Sylar takes over and wants to put the moves on Nathan. In short, Matt’s trying to stop Mylar from touching Nylar to become Sylar again. My head hurts, but at least it makes sense. So Nathan’s identity crisis gets worse when he realizes he doesn’t actually exist. Nathan accidentally touches Matt, but it’s not clear who’s who for the moment.

Matt busts out of the hospital by using his powers, and Nylar takes Peter to a set with the Grand Canyon superimposed on the backdrop. More touching – Peter gets Nylar’s power(s). Matt makes a call to his wife and says all the craziness is over. Problem solved? What a strange ending – Nathan knows he’s Sylar but is afraid of how Peter feels about that. Complicated.

Verdict? Another fantastic episode from Heroes, if a bit complicated. A lot of plotlines are coming together, and we’re getting a sense of how the writers really do know what they’re doing this year. The cast is exceptional this year, and Robert Knepper really got a chance to shine by playing Past Samuel. But I couldn’t be more excited for next week, when Samuel reveals who killed Joseph (prediction: Samuel did it, but he’s going to blame Lydia or Edgar).