West: "You're indestructible. You can skydive without a parachute."
Claire: "You could skydive without a plane."

Cork, Ireland: Lots of Peter with his shirt off again, probably because he's so buff now. He's certainly won Caitlin over. Who could resist a kind superhero who looks like Milo Ventimiglia?

I thought Peter using his powers for armed robbery was a lot of fun, and he continued to be Peter by keeping people from getting hurt. I especially liked the truck sliding into place, and the Darth Vader chokehold. The celtic family crest tatt dissolving into the Godsend sign and then disappearing was unexpected and fun. (I wonder if Jessica originally had another tatt?) And I loved the way the bullet just popped out of Peter's finely honed chest.



Wherever Sylar is (I think it's the Island on "Lost"): Alas, poor Candice. We didn't really know her at all, and now we never will. I thought Candice/Michelle would get more than half an episode before Sylar took off her head, but no. (Who did Candice call? Bob?)

I also thought that, if Sylar took Candice's power, he could be played by just about anyone while Zachary Quinto was doing the new Star Trek movie. Will he get his powers back when he heals? How long will it take? I must say I am delighted by the thought of Sylar stuck in the middle of nowhere, in serious pain. I want Sylar to be in pain. This is a good thing.

Las Vegas and New Orleans: D.L. is apparently dead, with a tombstone and everything. Except that Niki said Micah could see his father any time he wanted. Is D.L. underground literally, or just figuratively? And who is Uhura? Niki said she was family, but she can't be his grandmother because we saw D.L.'s mother in a season one episode. Is Uhura a great aunt? I wonder if she's one of the Nine?

Costa Verde, California: Claire now has a love interest who's a freak like her, and that hugely conflicts with her relationship with Noah the Company Man. (Flying together. How romantic.) Claire is gifted, and so is West. Even though Noah has changed sides and given up practically everything for Claire's sake, he's still not what she is. But 8/8 painting or no 8/8 painting, I have a hard time believing that Claire would ever turn on Noah, for any reason.

Japan, past and present: I loved the "Ando open" thing on the sword. Very clever, Hiro. Except that Hiro is headed for heartbreak. Is Kensei the stuff that heroes are made of? Will he make the swordmaster's daughter happy? The cherry blossoms hinted that he would, but it's hard to tell. No matter what happens, it's going to be sad. I also felt mildly cheated that we didn't see Kensei take out the Ninety Angry Ronin. I just have to remind myself that this is network television, not "Kill Bill."

Kensei's power is new, like I thought. It was activated by the eclipse, wasn't it? Pardon me if that was an elementary question. Dan doesn't think the eclipses activate evolution, but it seemed like a lightbulb to me.

New York, including Brooklyn: Mohinder not only has an apartment with Matt and Molly, he's been given Isaac's immense loft, all repurposed for genetic research. I bet Bob and Company know what Mohinder is doing. I keep thinking that they're setting him up so that he'll lead them to someone more important. As Matt said, Mohinder is hardly 007.

Somewhere in Mexico: The Doublemint twins got separated by the cops, but reunited before Maya could take out half of Mexico. (Every time I see Maya and Alejandro putting their fists together, I think, Wonder Twins Power, Activate!) Did all of the cops recover, or was it just the American kid who stole Claire's Rogue? Either way, this segment had better get more interesting soon, because it is doing absolutely nothing for me.

Bits and pieces:

-- Three more people in the cast now: Noah Gray-Cabey, Ali Larter, and Zachary Quinto. Quinto was a guest star before. No Adrian Pasdar this week.

-- The title, "Kindred," could refer to a lot of things (other than the vampire reference). I think it applied most to Claire and West, as well as Peter and his new Irish family of thugs. And possibly Uhura and Micah.

-- Yes, let's follow Sulu with Uhura. If they're going to bring in the cast of Star Trek, go all the way. Nichelle Nichols wasn't the only Star Trek cast member. Evil Irish Minion Number Two was played by Dominic Keating from "Star Trek: Enterprise."

-- We saw Candice's dead body, but not her face. As expected, she was a big girl. She's dead, isn't she? Unless "Reaper" gets canceled.

-- Ando has a windowless office now (easier to film than those cubicles) in which he can play video games and watch internet strippers. Ando's boss had such an expressive face that he made me laugh out loud.

-- "Daniel Lawrence Hawkins. 1976-2007. Husband, father, hero."

-- Bob Midas thinks he can cure Niki. (Using Mohinder, no doubt.) In return for what?

-- Claire can regenerate a toe. What about decapitation, like the immortals on Highlander? Claire does feel pain, but she gets over it quickly. That explains it. I was wondering.

-- Bob Midas was reading the 9th Wonders issue that had Hiro on the cover saying, "I did it!"

-- Isaac Mendez' 8/8 showed Noah dead with a bullet hole through the lens of his glasses. It looked like Claire, or possibly another blond woman, was in the background being held and possibly kissed, or possibly held back, by a man in the foreground. Claire, or the blond, was wearing a fluffy short skirt. Could be a cheerleader skirt. Could be a tutu.

Quotes:

Niki: "I promise you. Whenever you want to see your father, I will make sure that happens." That didn't sound dead to me.

Peter: "Lightning! Lightning! Sparks! Lightning!" Dan noticed that Peter and Sylar both tried and failed to ignite their powers in a storeroom. I hadn't caught that.

Kensei: "Where have you taken me?"
Hiro: "To get the fire scroll. It's on top of those steps."
Kensei: "Who are they?"
Hiro: "Those are the ninety angry ronin, sworn to protect it."
Kensei: "How angry are they?"

Another good one. I'm liking these better than the initial episodes of season one. Maybe I'm just more into it now. Three out of four stars,

Billie Doux
Billie Doux's Review Site