Heroes - Season 1, Episode 23 - How to Stop An Exploding Man (Season Finale)

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!

How do you stop an exploding man? That is a question Hiro asked a few episodes ago and last night it all played out.

To recap how we got to this point...

Future Hiro realized that Sylar was going to explode so he went to the past to see a young Peter Petrelli. He told Peter that he must save the Cheerleader so Sylar doesn't get her powers of regeneration. Without the regeneration power, Hiro would be able to kill Sylar with his sword and stop Sylar from blowing up.

However, as the plot unfolded we started to question who really was going to explode. Both Peter and Sylar had the potential to explode and for some unexplained reason Peter could not control his fire hands.

Now it was up to all the heroes to stop both Sylar and Peter from exploding.

The episode opens with DL and Niki with Linderman. The scene from last episode replays and we see DL take the shot for Niki and then pull out Linderman's brain.

DL and Niki hear people coming after them and they need to escape. DL is badly injured from the gunshot wound but Niki puts all her effort into getting DL to use his powers so they can walk through the wall and escape. He manages to get it together and they leave before they are caught.

On a different floor in the same building we go back to the scene from last episode when Thompson sees Matt and Mr. Bennett. Thompson sneaks up behind Matt and as he is about to shoot him, Bennett comes from behind and kills Thompson. Matt and Bennett then find Molly. Mohinder knocks Matt to the floor and Bennett has his gun pointed at Molly while Mohinder has his gun pointed at Bennett.

The scene then changes and Mohinder and Bennett have their guns pointing at each other and Molly is under the bed and she recognizes Matt. He is her hero! He promises to her that nobody is going to hurt her.

Meanwhile, Hiro tells his father he must find Ando and his father disagrees with his plan to save his friend. Hiro's father is worried about their legacy and the fact that Hiro may miss the opportunity to save the world. Hiro puts that aside and goes to find Ando.

Sylar is painting the future and we see what soon will be the final scene - Sylar v Peter.

Nathan is in his office after his victory speech. His mother walks in and breaks the bad news - Linderman is dead. She reminds Nathan that this wasn't only Linderman's dream - it was hers as well. Nathan is supportive and tells her that the world will need him after this tragedy.

Mohinder and Bennett work together to hide Thompson's body. Matt runs in and tells them that Molly is sick. Mohinder gives her a blood transfusion so she can have his antibodies. Her strength will be needed to find Sylar.

Claire and Peter are still in NY and they call Bennett. They tell him about Ted being killed by Sylar. They need to find Sylar so they can stop him and that is where Molly will come into play.

Peter and Claire drive into a parking garage and there is Nathan waiting for them. Peter lied to Claire and called Nathan for help. Claire doubts Nathan's interests and is angry with Peter for calling him. Nathan tells Peter that the explosion is inevitable and suddenly Peter sees that Claire was right. Peter then turns around and Claire is gone.

We see Claire running and she runs into Mrs. Petrelli. She insists that Claire come with them so she won't be harmed by the bomb.

At the same time Molly is using her powers to locate Sylar. When she finds him on the lower east side (Isaac's studio), Bennett calls Claire to let Peter know where to go. Mrs. Bennett answers the call and tells Bennett they are taking her away. Bennett tells Claire to stay with them so she will be safe, but as soon as she can escape she should run. Bennett asks where Peter is but Claire doesn't know. Time to go back to the tracking system.

Peter went to find Claire and ends up outside on the street. His hands start burning and he can't control it. And then suddenly he passes out on the ground.

(as an aside - where are all the cars and people in NYC during this episode?)

Peter wakes up in a scene from his past. It was his first day working for Charles Deveaux (Simone's father) and Mrs. Petrelli is there having a meeting with Charles. In a separate room Peter meets Simone for the first time and they talk about being a hero and death. All the while, present Peter is watching the scene with past Peter standing right in front of him, but nobody can see him. I am guessing he used Hiro's ability to travel time.

Present Peter then steps out into the room where his mother and Charles are speaking. They are debating who is the stronger brother - Peter or Nathan. One of them is going to be chosen to save the world and be a leader after the explosion. Charles thinks the bomb doesn't have to happen, but Mrs. Bennett says it is inevitable. Charles thinks Peter has the ability for unconditional love which will make him a better leader, but Mrs. Bennett thinks Peter is not strong enough.

After Mrs. Bennett leaves Charles says hello to Peter. He saw Peter there the entire time. He tells Peter that he needed to see that scene to know what was really going on. And then he tells Peter he must go save the world.

Peter then wakes up with Mr. Bennett standing over him. Peter thanks him for saving his life, but Bennett only sees it as repaying him for saving Claire's life. And then he tells Peter to call him "Noah" - finally I don't have to say Mr. Bennett anymore!

So almost the entire episode is over and we still didn't see Ando. Finally, we see Ando go to Isaac's studio to confront Sylar. Ando doesn't even get a full swing at Sylar before he is pushed up against the wall in a death grip. Ando dropped the comic book that Isaac made to show how to kill Sylar. Sylar reads it and laughs at the thought of a little man like Hiro killing him with a sword. Then Hiro appears from behind them.

Sylar challenges Hiro to use his powers to save Ando before Sylar can cut open Ando's head. Sylar is caught off guard when Hiro disappears and then reappears next to Ando and they disappear together.

Ando is brought back to Japan to be safe. He wants to help Hiro get Sylar but Hiro insists that Ando stay behind to be safe. Ando understands and let's Hiro go save the world, but not before telling Hiro that he looks "bad ass."

Niki left DL behind so she can find Micah. She sees an open door and sees herself sitting on the couch. Behind the couch she finds Micah laying on the ground and he looks dead. Then the person she thinks is Jessica starts kicking her ass.

As Niki lays on the ground she sees a broken mirror and in the mirror she sees the real Jessica. (we should have known J/N are never physically in the same room at the same time - they can only talk to each other through the mirror). Jessica tells Niki that the woman beating her ass isn't really Jessica and that Niki has the strength to stop her. Niki then gets up and beats down the fake Jessica - who we now know is really Candice.

Micah laying on the floor then disappears and we hear Micah is trapped in a closet. Niki saves him and they escape.

Meanwhile, Matt is on the hunt for Sylar in the lower east side at Isaac's studio. Sylar isn't there but his paintings show a red sculpture that Matt recognizes. Matt heads there to find Sylar.

Nathan, his mother and Claire are in a building getting ready to leave town. Claire is still angry and confronts them on their actions. She can't believe that Peter's family would just let him die and blow up NYC. She then jumps out the window to escape.

And now the final scene comes together. Niki, DL and Micah are escaping out of the building where Peter is waiting downstairs in front of the red sculpture. Mohinder and Molly are not far behind. Noah is there with Peter and Matt shows up shortly after.

As Peter stands there waiting, Sylar shows up. The showdown is about to happen.

Noah shoots Sylar but Sylar uses his power to throw the bullets back at Noah. Noah is down. Somewhere in all this Matt also gets hurt and it is unknown whether he lives or dies.

Sylar pulls up a parking meter to hit Peter with. Niki comes from behind and grabs the parking meter and hits Sylar with it, knocking him to the ground.

Peter then starts to glow meaning he is about to explode. Then Hiro appears and stabs Sylar right through his stomach. Sylar is dying but his powers are still in tact. He sends Hiro flying through the air. The villain is dead but Peter is still a threat.

Claire then appears and takes her father's gun so she can shoot Peter. She can't seem to get up the courage to shoot Peter.

Then in a great twist Nathan comes flying in. He tells Claire the future isn't written in stone. He takes Peter away and they fly into the air to explode in space. NYC is safe. And that is the end of Volume One: Genesis

****VOLUME TWO: GENERATIONS***
The show gave us a tiny taste of what we can expect for next season. Hiro finds himself transported to outside of Kyoto, Japan in the year 1671. It looks as if a war is about to happen and one side has a flag with the helix symbol on it. As the two sides are about to clash a full solar eclipse happens.

Next season we are going to find out the legacies of the big families in this show - Petrelli, Deveaux, Nakamura, Linderman and other families who will be revealed in the next season. A lot of the same characters will appear next season and new heroes will also be revealed.

Will Peter and Nathan survive the explosion in the sky? Will Matt be back? Will DL live? Where will Molly go? Are the heroes all going to live together in one big hero community?

Until next season...

(Pictures from Heroes Pictures)