Episode 12 is called "Our Father". I really liked it. Arthur Pertrelli is dead, I think. But not before he took Hiro's powers, the catalyst to make the abilities formula work, and stranded him 16 years in the past. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'd say the episode breaks down into 4 big reveals and themes.
The first being that the catalyst was orginally in Hiro's mother. She had given it to Claire when Claire was a baby. Claire and Hiro had gone back in time so that Hiro could be healed and get his memory back by his mother. They stopped Hiro's father from giving the catalyst to Claire and Hiro recieved the gift his mother had wanted him to have in the first place. Unfortunately, Arthur also went back in time (using the powers he stole from Peter) he took the catalyst, Hiro's power, and left him stranded in time. He sent Claire back to the present so she could deliver a message to Anglea that he had won.
The second
thing I noticed was that Sylar is definitely evil again. He does not have to kill anymore to get someone's ability but he does anyway. He set Elle's body on fire (or at least it seemed that way). He killed the lady to get her power to be able to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth. He killed 3 people who walked in on him examining her brain. He has wembraced the darkness and no longer cares.
The third theme intertwines the entire series: parents relating to their children. We see adult Claire interacting with her father while she as a baby is laying nearby. She pleads with him not to hand the baby over and he agrees. That dialog was poignant and emotionally driven. We saw Peter interacting with his mother and his father. I'm not sure what kind of mother can use her children like windup soldiers in powerplays with her husband. D-I-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L to say the least. Peter was torn. He had always felt belittled and undervalued by his parents - both of them. He had seen the future and had come to the thought, from his mother, that the only way for the world to be protected was that his father had to die. I'm sure his own father trying to kill him helped him to that decision. Nathan had his "Oedipus Rex" moment where he replaced his father in running Pinehurst. I've got to wonder if he can wield that power any better. Third, Hiro interacts with both his parents. His father cannot relate to him and thinks his wife coddles their son too much. It's a terrible thing to hear a parent say "You will never amount to anything." no matter how old you are. It was a good thing that Hiro could remember his father taking all that back before he died.
The fourth thing I just can't stop thinking about was the climaxes of the episode. We get to see the serum work and give a soldier, picked by Nathan, superhuman strength with no obvious side-effects. The other thing was probably one of the coolest effects of the entire series, if not all of the television that aired in 2008. Peter was holding a gun on Arthur, the Haitian was using his powers to suppress Arthur's, while Arthur was trying to stall for time by trying to talk Peter into joining him. At the last second, Peter pulled the trigger, the Haitian's powers failed, but Arthur is unable to catch the bullet with his telekinesis, but the bullet stops in mid-air just next to Arthur's head, and it was still spinning. Sylar caught it. He wanted to use his newly-aquired ability to find out if Arthur lied about being his father. Sylar said Arthur was lying and that he knew the truth. He said, "Peter, you are not a killer. But I am." Then he let the bullet go and Arthur seemed to get shot through the head and died. Sylar turned to Peter and said "I'm not going to kill you, Peter. You no longer have anything I want." as he walked off. Of course I'm not sure what thjat effect was at the end as Peter stood over Arthur. It looked like Arthur's powers left him.
Some questions still hanging in the air are:
1. How do Claire and Hiro's action 16 years earlier affect the present? I mean does that mean Claire now never had the catalyst?
2. Is Arthur and Elle really dead?
3. How will Peter and Hiro get their powers back? I'd like to see Peter go back in time and get Hiro back?
4. How will Hiro get back to the Present?
Here is a clip:
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