This episode was better than last week's, if only because it didn't focus 85% of it's energy on Nikki but remembered the rest of the cast exists. However, I do feel that these last 2-3 episodes have seemed to have more "drag" than the first 4-5 episodes. This I suppose is not to be unexpected; not only is the show a gaurenteed hit for at least a second season (thus they have to stretch it along), but very few stories can be told even with a large cast for a good 12 installments without there being SOME amount of drag. Hell, an X-Men comic book story that frequently has 7-10 cast members (not counting the villian most times) can feel draggy at a mere 6 installments. And no, I wasn't about to go, "oh, HEROES sucks because it rips off the X-Men". I just used it as a comparison as the X-Men also have a large cast.
The aforementioned Nikki didn't actually die from her fight from D.L., but wakes up frantically after finding Micah gone. Her alter ego also now has a name; no, no, not She-Hulk but "Jennifer". Whatever. Also missing is Isaac, who after meeting Eden last week has suddenly vanished, with all his prophetic paintings with him. Glasses-Man strikes again! Peter is naturally preturbed about this, but he has other things to worry about; his gal-pal's father died, but Peter seemed to have an odd dream about him as he passed. This at least inspires his girlfriend to aid him in his quest, telling him that the fella who bought one of Isaac's paintings...is the mobster that his bro Nathan just scored cash from in Vegas.
Meanwhile, on the road, D.L. tried to redeem himself in the eyes of Micah, however, this is hard considering he just seemingly killed his mother in front of him, AND D.L. doesn't try to explain that Nikki actually was the one who killed his men and set him up for prison in the first place. Either because this topic was awkward, he was still in shock about it, or because he maybe didn't want to scare Micah too much more by saying something like that about his mother. For plot convience, they happen upon a burning car in the highway, and D.L., either because he is somewhat noble or wanted to prove to Micah that he could be a "hero", uses his intangibility powers to save person trapped inside. And for more plot convience, Hiro & Ando happen upon the scene on their trip to NY. Hiro manages to NOT choke this time and uses his powers at the right moment to save D.L. and the passanger from a firey doom. He shows Micah his "future comic" and explains his powers in broken english. While I naturally like Hiro, it is starting to seem almost contrived and random how some characters just bump into each other. What next? Will Claire use the same toilet seat as Nikki? Will the hocked loogie that Nathan spits at the ground while flying happen to slip up a crook Matt is chasing? Or maybe I'm just not used to this kind of thing happening, as I never watched LOST.
Speaking of Matt, he returns again and gets considerable facetime. His FBI ladyfriend comes across another corpse, someone charred with radioation burns, who she belives is Syler. Matt is more skeptical, but she narrows down a fingerprint and with the magic of CSI computers, finds a match. It turns out their target seems to be a man who can harness radiation about his body at uncontrolled levels. They have a showdown with him at the hospital where his wife is dying of cancer and Matt uses his power (which he has difficulty "reading" at times) to tell "Radation-Man" what his wife is thinking before she dies, calming him down for arrest. Syler's powers weren't like this so I'm with Matt that this dude isn't him, simply another "special" killer. Matt also uses his power to unlock another TV cliche; his wife is distant because she's having an affair with his over-friendly best friend, who he clocks in the locker-room.
Claire's somewhat-annoying younger brother finds the tape of her and her buddy "testing" her powers (and literally staples her hand to "test" it; what a jerk!), but when Claire breaks down the kid lets her keep it and may be on par to keep her secret, for now.
Finally, as Nikki switches willingly to "Jennifer" mode to track down Micah (who is another special with a knack for machines, something fans have predicted for a good month now), Nathan's mother and wheelchair-bound wife (who he cheated on with Nikki) organize a "brunch" with a magazine guru to boost his polls, which Peter crashes and threatens to bungle when Nathan refuses to help him & orders him to leave. However, when the mag guy asks about the mafia connection, Peter proves to be a capable liar himself and twists it so Nathan can save face AND his marriage; for now. Nathan also is able to track down the painting but tells Peter he can't, and ignores a call for help from Nikki.
So, yeah, a better episode than last week but I am feeling some drag. I still enjoy the show, though, but hopefully it hasn't run out of steam before the finale.