As the episode opened, I found myself wondering, “Was there a slightly less insane-sounding way that Peter could’ve explained what he believed to be going on?” I mean, you can’t really blame Ando’s skeptical reaction to the comments…but, then, nor can you blame Hiro for blissfully sighing, “I have a sword…”
I think we all knew it was even money between whether Niki would kill or screw her ex-husband, so no real surprise that it turned out to be the latter. It’s amazing to me that she keeps falling back into her relationship with the guy…but, then, I’ve never claimed to understand the ways of the female mind. That was a gruesome scene she and her ex stumbled upon, huh? Is it wrong that my first thought, like Niki’s, was that her alter ego was responsible…? Although it only lasted about as long it took Niki to find that briefcase in the attic crawlspace, I admit to surprise that her ex spent the episode becoming an almost sympathetic character…even if Mirror Girl didn’t feel the same way. Her ex’s power of intangibility…paging Kitty Pryde!
Of things that didn’t surprise me, however, let’s talk about Claire’s dad. When Claire gets the chance to meet her birth parents, it immediately seems fishy that her dad – a.k.a. Evil Incarnate – would set it up in the midst of everything that’s going down. I didn’t trust for a second that it was authentic…and, of course it wasn’t. And Mohinder suddenly macking on the next-door neighbor…? Dude, at that point, I didn’t even need to see her talking to Claire’s dad on the phone to know for sure that she was working for the dark side.
Hiro and Ando find their way back to the poker table again, helping Mr. Cowboy Hat enjoy some payback for the losses he incurred at their hand a few episodes ago; thankfully, Hiro’s finally figured out a less obvious way to win…one which gets confounded when Ando accidentally discovers that one of the players is packing heat. Ando grabs Hiro and makes up an excuse to the others at the table, which leads to a hilarious exchange:
Gambler: You guys go to the bathroom together?
Ando: Yes. It is how we roll.
When a bloodbath goes down while they’re behind the bathroom door, Hiro begins questioning how much of a hero he really is, since he just allowed people to die. Ando floats the idea of Hiro just getting the hang of his powers first, then coming back and fixing everything with a “do-over.” It would explain his showing up from the future…but I just feel as though it bodes ill.
No sign of Alias Boy this week, but he’s in the preview for next week’s episode, which looks to kick ass. Wow, that’s new…
