Close To You

Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you... on the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. So they sprinkled moondust in your hair and..... Oh I'm only kidding.

Matt Parkman is back! Hooray!

Matt Parkman re-enters our lives by making a recipe as a stay-at-home dad while his lesbian-looking wife goes to work. Usually Janice looks nice, I mean, even Sylar called her hot at one point, but for some reason the actress that plays her decided she should chop all her hair off. I have had my fair share of awful haircuts, don't get me wrong, but DAMN. Janice looks terrible. Anyways, Matt sees her off and is visited by Noah who tells him how bad his security system is. Very Benjamin Linus.

Noah convinces Matt to find Samuel's ex-girlfriend with him so they can get some answers. Noah needs Matt because Lauren refused to go on this "Obsessive" route to find Samuel. Matt is reluctant at first, claiming that he is safe and happy, but Noah tells him his head is in the sand by staying at home. He also tells him about Samuel recruiting Claire. A cheap shot at his own cowardice to talk to his own daughter? Maybe. But we get Matt and Noah together, so it is all worth it to me.

The two of them find Vanessa at a concert hall and convince her to trust them via Matt's mind trick. She describes Samuel as "All swagger and rock and roll", which we all believe in the "8 Weeks Ago" flashback scene when he killed his brother and Mohinder. Noah tells her to call Samuel, and they set up a sting at her apartment building. Only Samuel Sullivan is far too advanced for that, and takes her away before Noah and Matt can taze off all of the Eli replicas surrounding the building. Damn that Eli.

Noah quickly catches on an finds Samuel in the back. A great visual alluding to the old Western films is shot as Sam and Noah face each other. Good versus Evil, only Good is wearing black and Evil is wearing...tan with swirlies? Noah points the gun and yells out Samuel's name, demanding to know where Vanessa is. Samuel tells Noah that Vanessa is gone and rips the street in half between them, diappearing in the dust from the upheaval.

Matt and Noah follow a GPS they apparently put on her before the sting and follow her in their SUV. They stop when they see her signal stop and end up in an empty part of the desert. Oh no, the carnival is magically gone! Who saw that coming? Looks like Noah needs another plan... again. Matt yells at him for burning bridges with Claire and tells him to go hug her while he, himself returns to his wife(ish) and child. Noah apologizes to a very aloof and suspicious Claire, and Matt questions his bravery out loud to Janice.

Back at the Carnival we see Vanessa sitting in a lawn chair outside Samuel's trailer with several Eli's keeping watch. Kind of silly, but very resourceful, and a nice touch as far as effects go on this show. I hate and love Eli. But not like I hate and love Samuel. Speaking of which, Samuel comes out of his trailer with a tray of tea and that godawful swirly vest. Oh, man, that vest....

Vanessa is unimpressed with the tea, her chair, Eli, the carnival, her wrinkled face despite her beauty, and of course, with Samuel. She says she wants to leave and that she's being held there against her will. She stands up and Samuel grabs her, getting all sensual by touching her face. He does some strange John Travolta Face/Off thing and smiles while playing with his mouth. Classic Knepper. Vanessa CLEARLY wasn't having it...
Yes, kids, that's the look of pure desire. :/

Anyways, Samuel tells her to stay after calming her down and says he has to show her something 'beautiful' and 'perfect'. One can only imagine this 'thing' is the Promised Land he and Ian built in front of Claire, but with Samuel, you never know. It could be a shrine to her in a brides dress like Erik made in Phantom of the Opera. My vote is on the shrine.

The other story going on involves Hiro talking in pop culture references, begging Ando to admit him into an Asylum. Ando agrees, though he doesn't quite understand everything until Hiro points to a cell marked "Ahmadi". Ando uses his red lightning to break into the hallway, and puts two and two together. Dr. Suresh = Dr. Watson..... duh!
Ando takes Mohinder's medicine in order for him to snap out of his drugged stupor, and immediately regrets it. Although this helps the situation in general, Hiro now has to take care of a drugged up Ando while Mohinder uses his super strength to break out of his padded cell and straight jacket. What is the result? A child-like Hiro, a pissed-off Mohinder, and a high-as-a-kite Ando. Classic comedy.

Ando uses his red lightning again to get out of the asylum, and the three of them are seen running through the swamplands of Florida. The sounds of shouting and dogs barking aren't far away as beams of flashlights barely miss them as they make their escape. The viewer now knows that THIS is what they were showing in the collage at the end of the episode before Christmas Break. This was what was included in Samuel's last Promised Land speech.
Ando kept saying "I'm swimming!". Hilarious.

While the three amigos are running, however, Mohinder is still hot as hell and demands answers as to why he was put in the asylum in the first place. Ando's drugs have apparently worn off with his burst of exercise, and he stands up for his friend like he always does. He tells Mohinder that he doesn't have much time left, and is freeing him from the asylum before he dies. Mohinder immediately shuts up. Things might not be completely clear to him yet, but they are certainly put into perspective.

The dogs are getting closer and Mohinder tells Ando they need to teleport in order to escape. Ando says that with Hiro's mind the way it is, his powers don't work. He uses his red lightning after finding out that they would have used electroshock therapy in the asylum to fix him anyways, and Hiro is back. Sancho and Dr. Watson are gone.

"Ando, Dr. Suresh.... we must stop Samuel Sullivan!" And then Boom, they teleport away from the swamps and into Noah Bennet's apartment as he is kissing Lauren. Hiro looks embarassed and says that he is sorry to interrupt, but both Lauren and Noah look very excited. Noah smiles at them and simply says:

"Hello boys." Perfect. The Justice League is assembling again and I couldn't be happier.

The last character arc of the day is our beloved Peter. His story intertwined earlier with a carnival scene that I didn't want to cover until now. It starts off with Samuel drawing Vanessa before Bennett and Matt talked to her. He is alone in his trailer and is also writing what looked like a calligraphic poem. Lydia walks in on him and he attempts to cover up the drawings of Vanessa and says "I'm just writing a letter."

At first it seems he is trying to spare Lydia's feelings as he covers the picture and lies about what he is doing. But I am so over trying to figure out Samuel and Lydia's relationship that I just assume there was nothing deep there to begin with. I have come to terms with the idea that he likes having her there, they are friends with possible on-and-off benefits, but she could never match up to Vanessa (as if anyone could). He whores her out to do his bidding and doesn't ever think twice about how she feels about any of it. There. I can stop caring about those two. For good.

Anyways, Lydia says that the woman in the picture is beautiful. Samuel tells her that she will meet her soon enough and that he apologizes for all that has happened recently. He says Hiro, Claire, and Edgar were difficult situations, but it will all come to fruition soon enough. Lydia tells him that Sylar was difficult as well, and you can tell she was really upset about it. This just shows how much Samuel does NOT care about Lydia and her feelings, because in his eyes, she did what he needed her to do. She fulfilled his needs, and that's all that matters. He then tells her that they are so close to realizing their dreams.

"Our dreams, Samuel? Or are they yours?" Touche.

Samuel changes the subject and tells her to go into town and buy him some ink. The true Alpha Male is coming out in him.

Lydia leaves his trailer and talks to her daughter about not trusting him. Amanda says that she likes him, but Lydia knows better. She talks about how someone woulf be a better leader than Samuel, but she says that he is "so far away". Amanda tells her mother to call him, which, in the carnival, seems preposterous, but Lydia's power once again surprises me. She closes her eyes and thinks about Peter, and he wakes up in bed with the compass tattoo spinning crazily on his forearm.

What? She can call people like that? Or maybe just people Samuel has injected with ink? Maybe she awakens the ink? What is her power, exactly? I though she just sees people's desires..... ugh. Her powers have new rules every week and it is getting on my nerves.

Anyways, Peter calls Noah the next day to tell him about his tattoo, but gets a voice mail. He is drawn to Emma's apartment by her cello playing, and she tells him how excited she is that her Siren power worked. Peter sees the compass marking on her cello, and the two of them have a conversation about Samuel and William Hooper, and Peter finally realizes what he is up against. He tells Emma that he is a bad man and caused Noah to get stabbed, but she is naive and defends the Irishman.

Angela walks into Peter's apartment babbling on about some uptown restaurant she wants to dine at, and glares at Emma when she sees her.

"Peter, how do you know this woman?" Whoa. Angela has always been uncouth, but come on.

Emma gets uncomfortable (as she should), and she says she needs to get back to work. Peter walks her to the door and he asks his mom what the deal is. Angela doesn;t seem apologetic at all, and claims that she saw Emma in one of her futuristic dreams. She said that she saw her being responsible for killing thousands of people, and that Peter should stay away from her. Like Angela could talk, she was the one who almost convinced Nathan to blow up New York City.

Peter steals his mom's power before she leaves and dreams of Emma. He claims he has to 'see for himself' what Emma is capable of. I bet he wished he didn't take that power, and ignored what he saw in his precognitive dreams. He tosses and turns as he sees blurry visions of Emma sitting in a chair with her cello. She looks pallid and sickly, as if she cannot stop playing the cello and has a sad look of desperation on her face. She is in the mirror room at the carnival, and lights flash on and off in her direction, further disorienting our poor heroine. She looks up as someone walks up to her and offers him her hand. That person is Sylar.

"Don't worry, I am here to save you." What?

Peter wakes up and runs over to Emma's apartment. He barges in after she opens the door and he smashes her cello into pieces. He tries to explain to her about his dreams and his concern for her safety, but she doesn't care. She bends down to her broken instrument and refuses to read Peter's lips. She yells at him to get out and points to the door.

"Goodbye, Peter." She whispers without even looking at him.

This scene is so heartbreaking without capitalizing on Peter's emotions. Peter has fulfilled his own prophecy by trying to prevent it. The pieces of the cello are scattered at Emma's feet and are almost unrecognizable. Almost all of them except for the piece with the compass painted on it. To Emma, Peter just destroyed the one thing that could enable her to help people and be special. The several rejection letters from hospitals to accept her residency had left her at an emotional stand-still. And now the only person she had a connection with broke her favorite toy? It's almost impossible not to feel the betrayal Peter displays by shattering her dreams. It's also impossible not to feel the disappointment Peter has at his own actions. Both of them have suddenly reached a point in their relationship they never thought they would come to.... the end.

Emma will no doubt follow her compass to Samuel, and all hell will break loose. Hopefully we can see Mohinder, Ando, Hiro, and Noah team up and prevent that from happening.

I'm the king of wishful thinking.