‘Heroes’ Episode Nine Recap: ‘Cautionary Tales’

The episode opens with Claire's family packing, all except for Claire. Claire goes off on her father, she exposes him for being a bad man, an abductor of heroes. Claire tells her family that Bennet abducted West when he was just 12, and when he saw her dad, she'd never seen anyone so scared in her entire life. She leaves for class, daring her dad to tie her up. He would have done it if Claire's mom hadn't interjected. The scene ends with Claire telling Bennet, tears in her eyes, 'I hate you.' Yeowza. Tell him what you really think, Claire.

We move next to Kaito Nakamura's funeral. Hiro sits with his sister and Ando, and then goes up to speak. Overcome with emotion, he leaves the podium. Ando follows him, and Hiro laments his father's death. 'It's all my fault'. He tells Ando that to eulogize him is to admit he's gone, and he's not ready to do so yet. He travels back in time a week to stop his father's death and overhears his father telling Angela Petrelli that they should be punished for the people they killed. Interesting.

Matt and Molly have returned to lovely family life, and while Molly suggests that she can help in solving the puzzle of where the heroes in the picture are, Matt just wants them to be a normal family again. However, when they embrace, it's revealed that Molly can now hear Matt's projected thoughts. He IS becoming like his dad, isn't he...

Mohinder's made it to Costa Verde, CA. He still has misgivings about killing Bennet to get Claire, so Bob teams him up with his new partner, Elle. Her sharpshooting will be required to take out Bennet. But that's not how Isaac's picture goes!

Claire and West see each other for the first time since he freaked out. West accusers her of being a spy. She tells him it's not true, and that she likes him for who he is. She also tells him that her family is leaving that night, but she's not going with them, because she wants to stay with him. He tells her he wishes he could believe her, but he doesn't. Ouch.

Matt's on the phone with the FBI trying to follow up on the Kaito Nakamura case when his superior reminds him that it's closed, that Angela Petrelli confessed. Matt goes on his normal rant about how she didn't do it, and blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, there's something more going on and super cop Matt's going to find it out. 'Let it go, you've real work to do.' Matt uses his father's mind powers on his boss and tells him to let Matt finish his work. Nice move, Matt. While his storyline is sort of boring on a whole, his using these powers to manipulate people makes me respect him a little more. Like force persuasion. Go Matt!

Claire's parents are talking, and Bennet admits that what Claire said about him was true, but he chalks it up to thinking that they were doing good in the company. She's repulsed and can't figure out why she even wants to stay with him when he shows her the pictures that Isaac painted. Including the one of him dead. He tells her that he really needs her now. She leaves to take his son to school. He calls Mohinder to locate West.
Mohinder convinces Bob and Elle to let them feed Bennet a false location, and not kill him. Nice. Fat lot of help that'll do.

Circling back to Hiro, thankfully in NYC. One week ago. Not in ancient Japan. Thankfully. He's still spying on Angela and Kaito's conversation. 'I sought redemption by helping Hiro fulfill his destiny to save the world, how did you help your son?' That's what earned Kaito a smack from Angela? Nice move, Takei. Hiro announces his presence and demands that his father and he return to Japan tonight because if they do not he will die. Kaito accepts his fate, and tells Hiro, 'We have the powers of gods. That does not mean we should play gods.' Hiro disagrees and takes him back in time to show Kaito that he once agreed with Hiro's opinion.

Bennet can wait no longer and instead of waiting for a location from Mohinder, he sets off to Claire's school to find West. As soon as he's out of the door, he's picked up and abducted presumably by West. Sweet tactic, flying boy.West and Bennet go up into the air and West tells him that he wants answers. Not about his abduction, surprisingly, but about Claire's feelings for him. How romantic! Bennet tells him that Claire hid his existence from him, so he must mean a lot to her. He then tackles West and tells him that he's taking Claire and leaving that very night when he gets a call from Mohinder, telling him the fake place that West is located. It doesn't take a beat for Bennet to realize that he's being set up.

Hello, cheerleading practice. Claire gets called aside to talk to 'Mr. Bishop' from the state board of education. Who is Bob. Run, Claire, run! Bob calls her Ms. Bennet, and she freaks and runs. We cut to Elle and Mohinder in the stakeout van. Mohinder demands that he talk to Bennet first to avoid a violent confrontation.

As soon as Bennet pulls up, Mohinder jumps into his car and asks him to give up Claire. Bennet wants to know if they're forcing him to do this, and Mohinder says, no one is forcing me to do anything. 'We need her blood.' Mohinder says. Bennet goes with a really great retort. 'Are you kidding me?' Mohinder follows with 'She'll be returned safe, unharmed...' I don't think that's going to convince Bennet. Mohinder gives him his word. Bennet tells him his word isn't what it used to be and that what the company is doing to Mohinder is exactly what they did to him 10 years ago. To sum up the conversation, it's evident that Mohinder is crazy and now so much a part of the company that I want to smack him even worse that normal. And that's an awful lot. Mohinder pulls a gun on Bennet and tells him to start driving. Please.

Claire rushes home to find her father when her mother reveals the paintings to her and Bob walks in brandishing a gun. What nobody freaking locks doors around here?

Mohinder and Bennet are together in an alley when Bennet asks Mohinder who he's paired up with. 'One of them, one of you.' It's revealed that he knows Elle. Probably intimately since she's such a self-proclaimed skank. She comes near him with lightening in her hands and is tackled by West. Mohinder's about to bust a cap in Bennet when he wrestles the gun away from Mohinder and almost shoots him until West intercedes. He returns home to find Sandra tied up and Claire gone. But, he assures her that he'll get Claire back, because he's got collateral. And that collateral is Elle.

After tying her up and putting her feet in water so that her lightening power only serves to electrocute herself, the questions begin. Bennet enlightens Elle to how badly her father treated her in the testing facility and that she only doesn't remember it because someone took her memories away. (The Haitian, of course.)

Bennet calls Bob to negotiate a trade. Bob tells him he'll see him at the beach. And starts draining Claire's blood.
Hiro has brought Kaito back in time to his mother's funeral, to show him the pain he's feeling right now at his death, and how badly he wants to change it. While Kaito says it is the saddest day in his life, he still does not believe that Hiro should save him. Hiro meets his child self, and tells him that he can't play god. Hiro finally understands that he was being childish, and takes his father back to NYC.

As Bennet prepares to retrieve Claire, West demands to be taken along because he's the fastest way to get her out of a bad situation. Bennet agrees. I weirdly like that they're working together now.

Hiro takes his father back to NYC to wish him goodbye. It's a very emotional
parting and he asks Kaito to say hello to his mother. Sniff, sniff. Who comes around the corner to kill him but a man who Hiro stops time to discover the identity of. As predicted, it's Takezo Kensei, or Adam. Who didn't see that one coming, huh?

Matt interrogates Angela yet again. He begins to use his father's mind powers on Angela. She tells Matt that Adam did it. She also tells Matt that Adam is over 400 years old, that they locked him up and now he's seeking revenge. She withholds information on where the mystery woman in the photo is, telling Matt. 'I made a promise to this woman. If you take this secret from me, you won't be like your father, you'll be him.'

Bob and Bennet meet at the beach to orchestrate a trade. During the trade, Elle snaps her restraints and shoots Claire and West down from the sky. Bennet shoots Elle and is about to shoot Bob when Mohinder shoots Bennet in the eye, just like the picture. He is presumably dead. Oh Mohinder. You've just become most-hated character number one. I hope you get the Shanti virus, shrivel up and freaking die for how bad you suck right now.

West and Claire return home with Claire completely struck on the fact that the last thing she said to her father was that she hated him. Now she'll never get a chance to take it back. She enters the house, tells Sandra, and West sees them both collapse through the window.

We cut to Hiro giving Kaito Nakamura's eulogy. He tells us that his father taught him right from wrong, what it meant to be a hero and as long as his lessons live within Hiro, he will never die. He tells us that he taught him that some things are better left in god's hands, and the scene cuts to Mohinder with the gun, contemplating what he's done. With Hiro's voice-over we see each character mourning. And then in that final moment we see Bennet being fed Claire's blood, and his eye regrowing. Um -- kinda called that.

Wow. Just, wow. The 'next-on' preview looks even better than this episode. Thank you for stepping it up this time round, 'Heroes.' This episode rocked the freaking house. I can't wait for the last two, especially the show-down between Elle and Claire. Claire's totally going to take Veronica Mars down. Until next week 'Heroes' fans.