So Nathan is Claire’s real father. Of course, when Meredith calls him, it’s quite a shock since he thought she had died in that fire 14 years ago. Now, he finds out not only is Meredith not dead, but the baby girl he sired is also alive and well. Nathan seems torn, but it’s election time and he really can’t afford any messy mistakes. Mama Petrelli tells him to consider himself a sperm donor and forget the child. He offers Meredith $100K to keep quiet but drives the money there himself.
Mr. Bennet brings his wife home, practically catatonic after a neurologist appointment, babbling about Mr. Muggles. Mr. B grounds Claire for skipping school, so she calls Meredith, who tells her she found her real dad—and he is offering to take care of them, financially at least. Claire still wants desperately to meet him, thinking he may be the answer to her troubles. Claire goes to see Meredith, determined to stay until her real father shows up. But Meredith tells Claire that her dad doesn’t want to meet her. No matter. Claire waits outside Meredith’s trailer, when Nathan shows up with the money. At first, it seems like he may want to meet Claire, but he agrees with Meredith it’s best just to send Claire away. Claire, listening, is destroyed, and as Nathan is leaving in his limo, she throws a rock at his car and runs. She comes home to find Mrs. Bennet afraid of her own dog, not knowing him–or Claire. Maybe the Haitian’s nifty trick of erasing memories backfires if he uses too much on one person.
Hiro and Ando return to Las Vegas to get the sword from Linderman. Ando is really questioning the whole mission, but his friend tells him all he needs is some hope. Then, suddenly, while going into Linderman’s hotel, Ando sees a showgirl, sobbing. Her name happens to be Hope. Coincidence? Not in this show. Hope begs the boys to get her bag, with all her money, from the hotel room of her abusive boyfriend. Also, if they do this for her, she promises to introduce them to Linderman. Hiro immediately protests, but Ando, quite taken with the comely showgirl, see it as his chance to shine and be the hero for once.
Posing as room service, Hiro and Ando get into the room—and the guy definitely looks like a brute. As Hiro becomes more and more unsure, Ando starts spouting Hiro’s hero clichés. He finally throws Hiro out of the room. Hiro goes back downstairs and overhears Hope talking to someone about how she duped “two Chinese guys” into getting her bag. Clearly, she isn’t a nice person. In fact, as Hiro confronts her, she decks him. Later, Ando runs in with the bag. He hands it to Hope and asks where Hiro is. She makes some lame excuse and asks him for a ride. Ando doesn’t want to leave without Hiro, but Hope suddenly kisses Ando. That’s all it takes and they are off. Meanwhile, Hiro is locked in a stockroom, and Hope’s “ex-boyfriend” lets him out. He’s actually from the gaming commission. The plot thickens.
Mohinder is trying desperately to get a hold of someone, ANYONE, from the list but can’t get through to them. They all hang up on him—except one. A guy named Zane Taylor calls Mohinder back, begging for him to come over and help him. We then see someone knocking on Zane’s door—but it isn’t Mohinder. It’s Sylar, posing as Mohinder. Zane fidgets and babbles in a plastic coated room and shows Sylar how he can spontaneously melt any metal object. By the time the real Mohinder arrives, Sylar has killed Zane, taken his power and is now posing as the man. He even gives Mohinder a DNA sample from a swab on Zane’s dead cheek. Creepy. Mohinder is just excited about finally reaching someone—and when Sylar offers to help Mohinder in his search for more people with powers, Mohinder considers it. Of course, the rest of us watching are yelling at the TV screen, “Don’t do it!”
And then there’s lovely Jessica, who still seems to be in total control, while Nikki helplessly looks on from any mirrored image. Micah even suggests that maybe the three of them should use their powers to fight crime, or something. But Jessica has a whole other agenda. Apparently, in order to get out of jail, Jessica—unbeknownst to Nikki—made a deal with Linderman: Get out of the padded cell, become a hired assassin. Her first assignment is to kill Malsky, the former Linderman henchman who went wayward and took some of the kingpin’s money.
Which takes us to Matt, still on suspension from the police force, who is now working in “private security” to pay the bills. He has been hired by Malsky to protect him while he is in L.A., conducting a diamond trade. But Matt’s telepathy tells him it’s a setup, and luckily, Matt can hear Jessica coming, too. He takes Malsky and runs, with Jessica hot on the trail. Nikki breaks free at one point and pleads with Jessica not to do this—and Matt actually hears the conversation from behind the walls. He confronts Jessica, asks her where her “partner” is, which surprises Jessica, since she realizes Matt could “hear” Nikki. But then she just throws Matt out the window—and gets busy totally mangling Malsky’s body. Matt survives, and when he tries to tell the cops about Jessica, they just think he’s crazier than ever.
And the assassin Jessica’s next assignment: Nathan.
