Claire and West
At school, Claire tries out for cheerleading and appears to be the best of the three girls trying out, but I'm in no position to judge. I'm not particularly interested in cheerleading as quite frankly, I don't see the point. Anyway, head cheerleader Debbie says that none of the girls were good enough, including Claire.
At lunch, Claire tells West that she didn't make it, which is a big problem with her cover story. Claire explains that none of the other cheerleaders will stand up to Debbie, and West suggests that they give Debbie a taste of her own medicine.
Some time later, she phones HRG and asks if she can borrow the car that night. HRG gives her permission, provided that she locks the door that night. After she hangs up, West shows her a ski mask, and she tells him that she's in.
At cheerleading practice that evening, Debbie drinks from a bottle in a brown paper bag while writing numbers on the new cheerleaders' foreheads. Claire comes up to them and asks to speak to Debbie, promising to do her homework for her.
Claire and Debbie walk away from the other cheerleaders, and Claire asks Debbie if she's give her one more chance. Debbie refuses, and a masked West swoops down and grabs hold of Claire.
He flies high in the air before dropping her. She lands on the stairs, seemingly dead, and Debbie runs away, chased by West.
By the time the police arrive, Claire has revived and her body is gone. Debbie tries to explain when Claire shows up.
She's not wearing the same top as earlier, and while no one appears to notice, I think it's a flaw in the plan. I can understand her wanting to change, as her top looked a bit bloodied after she landed, but she should have really changed into a similar looking top. Then again, we've seen that Claire's inability to plan ahead, so it's not that surprising.
Another police officer joins them, holding the bottle which Debbie had been drinking from. The first policeman shine a torch in Debbie's eyes, asking her how much she had been drinking.
After the police have gone, Claire and West discuss what had just happened. Claire is initially concerned about what might have happened as someone might have seen, but West convinces her it was worth it, and Debbie learned her lesson.
Another cheerleader comes up to them and says that Debbie's been suspended from the squad and there is an opening for Claire. I'm a bit puzzled at how Debbie could have been suspended so quickly. It seems unlikely to me that teachers would come out in the evening and administer disciplinary action there and then.
Mohinder, Bob, Monica and Niki
In a gym at the Company, Monica is demonstrating her ability for Mohinder by copying a gymnast whose routine is being displayed on a large TV. Instead of watching and then replicating the gymnast's routine, Monica is performing it at the same time, which might be a mistake on the part of the writers, although I suppose there's the possibility that she's already watched it and Mohinder is now examining her to see how well she can mimic it.
Bob comes in and introduces himself to Monica as the chief of operations. He speaks to Mohinder in private and tells him to inject Monica with a strain of the Shanti virus in order to see if it can remove her powers, something which Mohinder is not very happy about.
At the beginning of their conversation, Bob put down a folder which was marked with the name Adam Monroe. Presumably, Adam Monroe is going to prove to be significant, otherwise his name wouldn't have been displayed so prominently.
Later on, Mohinder phones HRG who tells him to go along with Bob otherwise they'll lose everything the two of the have worked for. He tells Mohinder that they may have to do bad things in order to take down the Company.
Mohinder goes in to see Monica, carrying a syringe with the virus in, which he claims is standard procedure. He places the needle against Monica's arm, but can't bring himself to actually inject her.
Mohinder goes to see Bob and tells him that he won't inject Molly, to which Bob says that they'll just find someone else to do it. Mohinder picks up a stool and throws it at the cupboard full of vials of the virus, smashing it. He tells Bob that he's taking Molly and leaving the Company.
Mohinder goes to see Molly, who is still in a coma. He is joined by Bob, who apologises for asking Mohinder to inject Monica.
He tells Monica that he's currently dealing with a dangerous individual, and confirms it when Mohinder asks if it's Adam Monroe. Bob goes on to tell Mohinder that he's not just at the Company for his research but also to keep them in line.
Mohinder says that Molly's in no way to be taken away, but he also has no reason to trust Bob. Bob says that he has someone available who may be able to help in that regard.
Bob takes Monica home and tells her that they've arranged a cover story to explain her absences. He gives her a list of contacts and an video iPod which she can use to copy different skills. Bob tells her that New Orleans could use her skills, but I'm sure there's an ulterior motive in there somewhere.
Back at the Company, Mohinder learns that Niki is his new partner, and she's there to make sure that the trust issues between Mohinder and Bob are resolved. Mohinder looks concerned, which is understandable when you're assigned a super-strong partner with a psychopathic alternate personality, although I wonder if Niki would have been so happy to work for Bob if she knew what his plans for her second cousin-in-law once removed were.
HRG and the Haitian
In Odessa, HRG and the Haitian sneak into the house of an old man, whose name is Ivan. When Ivan finds them, HRG greets him as “Old friend”, before knocking him out.
Ivan wakes up to find himself sitting in a chair, handcuffed. HRG asks him about the paintings, and Ivan says that he's retired. He tries to appeal to HRG, saying that he trained HRG and Claude.
HRG replies that the Haitian can pull specific memories out of a person's head, and tells him to remove Ivan's memory of his wedding day. That's a particularly nasty trick, and while HRG's motivation is understandable, I do have to wonder what reasons the Haitian has for doing it. After all, he's the one who's actually removing the memories.
HRG then receives the previously-mentioned phone call from Claire. After he gives her permission to take the car, she asks where he is, and he tells her that he's on management training. She expresses surprise at him being sent after only working at the copy shop for a short time, to which he responds that he's a quick learner.
After HRG has hung up, Ivan says that it must be hard for Claire to be in hiding. He offers HRG and the Haitian a chance to return to the Company. He can offer them protection and the location of the paintings.
HRG notices a photograph of Ivan's family and wonders why he never mentioned his daughter. Ivan says that she died of leukaemia, and HRG tells the Haitian to take Ivan's memories of his daughter, which is all he has left of her. This is too much for Ivan, and he tells them the location of the paintings.
Ivan then asks if the Haitian is going to take away the memory of HRG and the Haitian assaulting him, but HRG replies that if they do so the Company would realise it's him and so they're going to make it look like a home invasion that ended in a murder. Ivan offers to give HRG a new life, but HRG shoots him, saying that he knows what life he has chosen.
HRG and the Haitian find the paintings and place them in order. They consist of a hand holding a vial (Number 3), a blond woman pounding on a door (Number 4), Hiro and Kensei sword-fighting (Number 6), a broken-nosed Mohinder holding a recently fired gun (Number 7), and the one we've already seen of HRG dead (Number 8).
There are two paintings we're not shown clearly. I think Number 3 shows Claire lying on the steps, but I'm not sure about that, and I can't make out Number 5 at all.
Maya, Alejandro and Sylar
As they drive, Maya and Sylar talk about their abilities. Maya says that she's killed a lot of people with hers, while Sylar says that his have gone and he needs Chandra's help to get them back.
When Maya asks why he would want them back, he says that he wants to be special. He reaches across the gap between the two seats and appears to be about to touch her when Alejandro, who is in the back seat, wakes up.
Alejandro tells Maya that they need to find someone to help them across the border, saying that he doesn't trust Sylar. Sylar says that he can help them get into America, and Maya is pleased at this news. Alejandro is definitely the better judge of character of the two.
They reach the US-Mexico border and, quite conveniently, find an opening where the border fence is unfinished. I don't know what the border control situation is like in that part of the world, but it does seem a bit implausible to me that a section like that would be unguarded. Although to be fair, it isn't unguarded, as once they've driven through, they find themselves surrounded by a group of armed men calling themselves the Citizen Border Control.
Maya begins to get upset, which results in her eyes starting to turn black. Alejandro tries to stop the process, but Sylar prevents him from doing so.
The eyes of the men surrounding the car start to turn black, as do Sylar's. He tells her to drive away, which she does.
After they have made their getaway, Sylar and Alejandro get into a fight. Maya breaks it up and she tells Alejandro that she did what was necessary for the three of them.
Alejandro's response is to say that Sylar has turned her into a killer and she must choose between the two of them. When Maya says they need Sylar's help to find Chandra Suresh, Alejandro says that he will stay, but the next time her eyes turn black, he's not stopping it and he will let Sylar die. Maya walks away, and Sylar tells Alejandro, who cannot understand him that he's only helping them so that he can kill them and take their abilities.
Hiro and Kensei
Ando walks in on the curator who is the middle of reading Hiro's scrolls. Ando insists that they go back to where they left off, with Hiro and Kensei having at Whitebeard's camp.
Kensei has gone off somewhere, and Yaeko is painting a picture of Whitebeard's camp. She wonders which tent houses her father,. Hiro thinks back to the story and tells her that her father is in the tent that smoulders.
Yaeko isn't willing to trust Hiro's “guess”, but just then Kensei returns. He tells Yaeko that he's found out where her father is, in the smouldering tent. Yaeko is a little startled at hearing Kensei confirm what Hiro said.
The three of them sneak into Whitebeard's camp and find the tent. Kensei walks up to the guard, who stabs him. Naturally, Kensei is unaffected, and he pulls the sword out and knocks out the guard.
They find Yaeko's father, who tells them that Whitebeard forced him to make guns in exchange for Yaeko's safety. He tells them that Whitebeard plans to overthrow the empire, and Hiro says that Kensei needs to save Japan by destroying the guns
Kensei begins to hack at the swordsmith's chains with his sword. It may very will be possible to cut through chains with a samurai sword, but it doesn't seem that plausible to me, particularly since Mythbusters showed that it's not possible to cut through a gun barrel with a sword.
Even if it isn't possible in real life, Kensei is able to free the swordsmith and they flee from the camp. Yaeko and Hiro and separated from Kensei and the swordsmith, and one of Whitebeard's men fires his rifle at them. Hiro teleports the two of them away.
Yaeko realises that Hiro also has an ability and that he was the one who rescued her and had a moment under the cherry blossoms. She says that everything she loved in Kensei came from Hiro.
She is about to kiss him when Hiro freezes time. He wonders out loud about the space-time continuum, but then unfreezes time and kisses Yaeko.
Kensei watches from a distance, and Hiro's voiceover says that it was the kiss that fractured time, and it change him forever. The scroll ends there, and the curator tells Ando that there are no more scrolls.
The storyline continues in Japan though, with Hiro finding Kensei. Kensei says that he saw Hiro kiss the girl he loves, to which Hiro replies that it was an accident, and Yaeko is Kensei's princess.
Hiro tells Kensei that they need to stop Whitebeard, which Kensei agrees to. However, as Hiro turns his back on Kensei, Kensei knocks him out.
Whitebeard appears with his men, who have captured Yaeko and her father. He tells Kensei that whatever he desires will be his.
Peter
At the pub, Peter apologises to Caitlin for Ricky's death, saying that he should never have let Ricky cover for him. Caitlin says that it's not his fault, and when Peter says that he needs to go to Montreal, she insists on going with him. She tells him that both of them were in the painting, and also that she wants to find her brother's killer and “Kill the bitch”.
The two of them travel to Montreal and find the building in the painting, which has the symbol above the door. They enter the building and find themselves in a room full of assorted items.
One of the items is a mirror, which has a note with Peter's name stuck to it. Peter reads the note, which says that “they” were right about the Company and the world is in danger. The note is signed “Adam”, and unless the writers of this show are complete idiots and have given two characters the same name, it means that the Adam Monroe Bob is concerned about has been working in some capacity with Peter.
Caitlin hugs Peter, and Peter says that he wants someone to tell him who he is and what the future holds. This has the effect of activating Hiro's power, as the two of them find themselves in a deserted street. Peter picks up a piece of paper which states that it an evacuation order. The order is dated the 14th of June 2008, a year into their future.