Matt and radioactive Ted have broken into the Bennet home, looking for evidence. When the family comes home from Mrs. B’s stint in the hospital, Matt wants to leave but Ted convinces him to stay. The Bennets walk in, and Ted is immediately hostile. He wants a cure, and if he doesn’t get, he’s going to go nuclear.
Matt is a little less militant but still wants Bennet to fess up to what he has been doing with the people who have special powers and if he is the one responsible for giving them their abilities. We flashback to 15 years ago, where Bennet is just starting to work for the organization, under the cover of being a paper supply salesman. His boss (we’ll call him Eric Roberts) introduces him to his partner, Claude. Yes, the Invisible Man. It’s customary to be pair up someone without powers with someone who has them–a “super.”
Jump ahead a few years, and we see Bennet, Claude and—is that Mr. Nakamura, Hiro’s dad?—on the roof of a burned-out apartment. Nakamura is holding a baby girl and gives her to Bennet, telling him he must look after her. Bennet is reluctant, but Nakamura insists. He tells Bennet he isn’t allowed to get too close because if the baby starts showing any signs of abilities, Bennet is required to bring her in. The penalty for hiding a super is death. We find this out when Bennet is ordered to kill Claude, who is apparently harboring someone. Bennet shoots him, but Claude disappears and Bennet isn’t quite sure if he got him or not (he didn’t, of course).
Back in the Bennet’s house, Matt is trying to read Bennet’s mind but mostly hears Claire, who lets him know a few things: First, she can heal spontaneously; second, the Haitian can talk and swipes people’s memories; and third, her dad certainly does NOT sell paper.
Ted is the bigger problem. In fact, the more irate he gets, the more violet. He points the gun at Mrs. B’s head and will kill her if Bennet doesn’t respond. Bennet quickly tells Matt, via telepathy, that he must shoot Claire. NOW. He does. Mrs. B is devastated, thinking her little girl is dead, but the distraction works on Ted. Bennet realizes Matt is now more an asset. He tells Matt to get Claire out of there before the family can see her heal. In her bedroom, she comes back to life, spitting out the bullet, and Bennet says he is not responsible for the powers. They’ve always had them. But Bennet has been hiding Claire because he indeed has grown close to her, as a good father should, and only wanted to give her some sense of normalcy. Claire wants to still be angry with her father, but she softens.
Bennet and Matt head off to paper supply warehouse under the auspices of getting the information Ted wants. Bennet’s real plan is to tranquilize Ted. Meanwhile, Ted ominously practices his craft, as Claire watches from hiding. When she maneuvers Ted out of the living room, Claire tries to rescue her completely flabbergasted mom and brother but is discovered. Lyle gets free but Mrs. B stays to save Claire. She sees Claire heal from Ted’s burning hand.
Mrs. B believes Claire is a miracle and that God has given her and all these people their powers. Matt and Bennet come back with Ted’s file, and Ted sets the family free in exchange. As Mr. Bennet explains, there’s no cure and it’s either kill you or let you go. Suddenly, Eric Roberts shows up and shoots Ted, who immediately starts going nuclear. The guys try to talk Ted down, but he can’t help burning everything around him. As everyone else waits outside, Bennet tries to inject Ted with tranquilizer but can’t get close enough. Claire does it for him instead. After a wicked explosion, Claire emerges from the house, charred. But as she walks to her anxious family, waiting on the lawn, she heals before everyone’s eyes, including Eric Roberts. Uh-oh.
Back at the office, Bennet has made it look like the Haitian has been the one hiding Claire, as so orders his death warrant. Of course, Eric Roberts also tells Bennet he has to bring in Claire. Meanwhile, they have Ted strapped down in a cell, and Matt under observation. They like the idea of using Matt’s power to keep everyone honest. OK, one question: What happened to the chick who could access the Internet just by thinking about it? Wasn’t she part of the Matt and Ted’s original plan?
Bennet is driving Claire to her unknown fate. He pulls over on the same bridge where he shot Claude many years ago, and there is the Haitian, who pulls a gun. Bennet is going to take a bullet to make it look like the Haitian and his daughter have escaped. After a tearful goodbye with Claire, the Haitian wipes Bennet’s memory.
Oh man, this is getting good.
