“Kindred” is another lackluster episode in comparison to the first season. It has a feel of been there done that as it slowly plods along.

Sylar awakens on a beach very disoriented next to Candice who is in disguise. She tells him that she doesn’t go by Candice anymore, instead she goes by Michelle. She explains that she is creating an illusion of a tropical paradise while he recovers from the many surgeries it took to save his life after Hiro made a shishkabob of him. Sylar hates it and wants to see the truth. He also learns that he is powerless. Michelle tries to explain that it’s temporary, but as we know Sylar is not patient. He attacks Michelle, killing her, hoping to get her powers. He takes her brain, but finds out that despite taking her powers he still can’t use them. Then he discovers that he’s in the middle of nowhere far away from civilization. It’s interesting enough, but it’s slow in developing.

We shift to Peter’s story in Ireland. He attempts to figure out his powers in humorous fashion, as he prepares to aid Ricky and his gang in knocking over an armored car as reparations. Peter reads the mind of Will, who is Ricky’s brother and reads that he is going to take the money. Peter calls him out but Ricky says he trusts Will more than Peter. The heist goes off without a hitch, but when they go back to the pub Will turns against him just as Peter read. He turns and shoots Peter to show how serious he is.

Of course Peter regenerates and uses his telekinesis to knock Will against the wall and begin to choke him. We see the beginnings of a dark side with Peter as it takes Caitlin to stop him from killing Will. It’s a great kind of swerve and perhaps foreshadowing as he would make a great villain eventually. But in the meantime, it’s a fun sequence.

Ricky is very appreciative and gives Peter the box of secrets but he worries over what he was. He decides to stay with Caitlin for now. The two embrace.

Back to boring twins. Alejandro and Maya try to break into a car and Alejandro gets caught. Maya goes to the police station and with her power kills the police, breaking her brother and another inmate out. They go to a car which looks suspiciously like the car Bennet gave Claire that was stolen.

It’s almost as if it’s a sidebar to the real show. This would work so much better as a webisode.

From one non-story to another, we jump back to Niki. DL is presumed to be dead and Niki has an unspecified condition. She drops Micah off with his cousins in New Orleans and makes a call to Bob who offers her a cure if she helps them.

We then jump to Ando who is working in his office. After a bit, he takes out Hiro’s sword and reads the bottom where it is inscribed “Ando, open.” He flicks open the bottom of the sword and some little scrolls fall out. Hiro wrote to Ando to explain his adventures.

Hiro’s tale continues as he has to further convince Takeo Kenzo that he is a hero. After getting over the fact that he has the powers and that Hiro isn’t a devil cursing him, the two become a dynamic duo of sorts. Unfortunately Hiro has fallen for the woman who was destined to fall for Kenzo. He knows it’s wrong and he can’t wreck the future, but when he decides to go back, he begins to use his powers and then stops and decides to stay. It is unclear whether he consciously chose to do so or not. It makes more sense that he chooses to do so since he doesn’t react as if he couldn’t.

Claire and West have strange interactions as she tries to convince him that he didn’t see what he saw. The don’t leave on good terms and it gets worse when West brings up regeneration in science class again. She storms off and West follows where they reconcile as West flies her off and we get a nice Superman Can You Read My Mind Moment without the cheesy music and dialogue.

Mohinder Suresh gets a laboratory from the Company in Isaac Mendez’s old apartment. He finds the eighth painting of eight, and quietly reports to Bennet. Bennet wants to know what is going on and Mohinder tells him he’s not sure he will want to know.

The picture is revealed to be Bennet shot thorugh the eye, lying in a pool of blood.

Overall it’s alright, there just doesn’t seem to be a whole lot in the way of focus or pacing. Nothing’s horrible, it’s just lackluster.

C+

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