Ironically enough, “Distractions” gets rid of what distractions the series had. “Distractions” is a very focused episode. One reason I think is very little of the Niki-Jessica sequences.

We open with Claude and Peter. Claude has been a great addition to the cast. A mix between Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Train ghost from Ghost, he has shaken things up in a good way. He tries to convince and teach Peter how to hold on to his powers without being around whom he sponged them from.

Dr. Witherson tries to reach Jessica, but is having difficulties.

Back at Primatech, Bennet walks in on Sylar and Sylar makes him pay. Sylar throws him against the wall and locks him in the cage after taking his license and intimating what he’s going to do with Claire. It’s a great sequence of dread, played well by both actors.

Simone asks Isaac to find where Peter is. Isaac is upset by it, but he’s been looking for Peter too, trying to draw him without success. It’s a little soap operaish, but it serves.

Claire wants to visit her birth mom, so she recruits Zach to drive her out. She tells her adoptive mom that she’s going to the aquarium for a school project.

In New York, Mr. Sulu tell Hiro that he’s finished with his mission and that he is coming home to meet his destiny and take over for him. His father tears the Isaac painting, and rejects Hiro’s mission.

Meanwhile, Niki comes to and finds her Dr. badly beaten. She gets taken back to her cell.

Back to Claude’s instruction, which is one of the best parts of the episode. Claude tries to tell Peter that he’s got to cut out all the “distractions” in his life. Peter is hesitant and uses Simone as an example. Claude suggests following her to find out.

Kimiko comes to Hiro to try to talk some sense in him, but turns out to be more inspiring than she thought.

Sylar makes it to the Bennet family home and finds Mr. Muggles. Sandra invites him in, happy that he “saved” Mr . Muggles. He claims to be from Primatech and happy to meet the Bennets. It’s kind of a stretch, how easily Sandra let him in.

Claire finally meets her mother, Meredith discovering that she can create fire, giving her a connection of sorts finally.

Sylar continues his press on Claire, finally sparking a sense of doubt, but it doesn’t matter to Sylar, as he comes right out and tells her he’s going to kill them. As he gets ready to kill, the door bursts open and Bennet and the Hatian come in with a flourish shooting Sylar down. He escapes, but Bennet and the Haitian are able to erase Sandra’s memory again.

Simone and Isaac share a moment on her father’s rooftop, nearly intimate. What no one knows is that Claude and Peter are there watching.

Soon after, Hiro manipulates his father well. He accepts the position of Executive Vice President, and begins to restructure things immediately which Kimiko blanches at lashing out at what they should do. Mr. Sulu is indignant at her response but impressed. Hiro tells Sulu that he doesn’t need him, that Kimiko can be his heir. Sulu reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile back in that other story, Linderman’s lawyer comes in and tells Niki that she’s freed, despite her best attempts at staying locked up.

Claude’s teaching reaches a new height (no pun intended), when after trying to hammer down the point, he throws Peter off a building trying to get him to fly. Peter gets impaled on a taxicab but is able to regenerate which excites him and Claude. Peter realizes that it’s opposite of Claude’s view. He needs to remember these people to get their power. Unfortunately with this realization, Peter starts drawing on all the powers to a point where he can’t control it, leaving Claude to knock him out in his own fashion.

Isaac paints Peter next to a taxi cab without a few limbs. He calls Bennet and tells him about it, to which Benett declares that someone’s not as dead as they thought.

The big reveal at the end, as Heroes usually does, is a big one this time. Meredith calls Claire’s father who turns out to be…

Nathan Peterelli.

Great episode. Wonderfully structured, paced well, with a moving story. And less Niki-Jessica. What else can you ask for?

A

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