“Landslide” is just that. A victory of a set up for the finale. It moves the story along at a brisk pace and the characters remain energetic and memorable as we move to the inevitable climax.

We open where Peter is about to go supernova from taking Ted’s ability. He begs Claire to shoot him, but then he is able to keep it under control. It’;s this meeting that signifies how close we are to bringing everyone together now.

Meanwhile Hiro is depressed as his sword is broken…almost as broken as he is. It is here that Ando proves his worth as a sidekick, dragging Hiro towards his destiny. He finds a swordsmith advertising in the yellow pages that bears the familiar helix. With newfound hope the pair begin the next step of their adventure.

Bennet and company make plans. Peter and Ted agree to leave the city in case one of them does explode and Claire will go with them. Bennet and Ted will go destroy the tracking system. Unfortunately for them, Sylar is near enough with super-hearing to hear what is going on.

Nathan is struggling with a lot of things at the moment, which of course makes for a very interesting character. He struggles with his family, with his poll numbers, with his involvement with Linderman. It’s not clear how everything is going to end and you hope he sees the light. Linderman meanwhile heals Nathan’s wife and she can walk agian.

As Peter, Ted, and Claire make their way out of the city, Peter hears a stray thought from Sylar and realizes that he’s close. Suddenly Agent Audrey Hanson and her FBI team appear to arrest Ted. Peter grabs Claire and turns invisible.

Hiro and Ando run into Nathan and Hiro appeals to him. He tells him that he will become a bad person if the bomb blows up buthe has faith in him now. Nathan tells him that nothing can stop the bomb, Hiro declares him a villain.

The look on Nathan’s face for that brief moment is perfect.

Hiro and Ando make it to the shop and show the maker the sword, but they are surprised when Hiro’s father appears in the doorway. Ando doesn’t want Hiro to listen to him, but Hiro says that he owes it to his father to listen to him.

We see that Micah is reading some really rare comics and questioning why Candice doesn’t use her powers for good when Linderman arrives saying that if Micah helps him talk to machines, he’ll set up his family for life.

Believing that his father is there to bring him back to Japan, Hiro is shocked when he admits that he’s known about Hiro’s powers and quest all along. Although he doubted, he now believes his son will reach his destiny.. Hiro protests and tells his father about Sylar and the broken sword. Kaito does not listen and proceeds to take out a sword, promising to show Hiro the tricks of a master swordsman. Hiro learns in a short while, but unfortunately Ando doesn’t wait and goes after Sylar on his own.

We see what Linderman has in store for Micah. Candice changes her appearance and brings Micah to the voting machines where he tells the polls to give Nathan a landslide victory. It tires Micah out but Nathan gets his difficulties.

DL and Jessica track Nathan down where Nathan gives them Linderman’s location as a partial way out of his guilt over association.

Bennet and Parkman converge on the same building as DL and Jessica. They work together to get past security and then split up again.

Bennet and Mark make it to the top floor and Thompson ambushes them. Luckily Matt reads thoughts and is able to save Bennet who returns the favor in a great sequence by shooting Thompson twice in the head. Its pretty bad ass for the nerd that Bennet is. Bennet and Matt crash the party and everyone discovers that the tracking system is young Molly. Again the question of the greater good comes into play, especially given Matt’s connection to young Molly.

Syla stops the van that is transporting Ted and is able to kill Ted, and absorb his powers.

DL and Niki surprise Linderman who makes a last ditch effort to buy Jessica, but unfortunately for him, she chooses to remain with DL. Linderman shrugs and attempts to shoot Jessica but DL Jumps in front of the bullet . As Linderman looks to take care of Jessica, DL phases into Linederman’s brain and kills him.

Nathan wins the election and he gives a poignant speech.

Meawhile we swtich to Sylar who has assumed a great many powers and is just awaiting the next chapter. It’s a great sequence as he stands up against the night sky and plays with his newfound nuclear powers and whispers one ominous word.

“Boom”

It’s a fun episode that makes it so you can’t wait til the finale where it all comes together.

A-

Previous - 1.21

Next - 1.23