While perhaps a step or two below the last couple of episodes “Truth and Consequences” certainly serves as a serviceable penultimate episode of the season, sending us hurtling into the finale.

There are plenty of slow and unspectacular sequences as Peter and Adam track down Victoria Pratt in Maine. Their goal is to find out where the virus is held, under the guise that they are going to destroy it although we know that Adam truly wants to release it. Revealing another member of the company is very anticlimactic. She’s a recluse and Adam sends Peter in saying she held a grudge against him.

She sees Adam and proceeds to shoot Peter just for being with him. She is about to shoot Adam when Peter knocks her down. After finding the location of the virus, Adam lets her loose knowing that she will attack Peter again, letting him shoot her. Peter is shocked but is mollified enough when Adam claims that she was about to shoot Peter in the head and in tribute to Highlander, ‘there’s no coming back from that one.’

Bob goes to the Bennet household and hands what he claims to be Noah’s ashes. The Bennet family release his “ashes” as Elle watches over Claire on Bob’s orders. Claire spots Elle who is being sloppy and Claire goes badass and tells her that she will blow the whistle on everything including the company.

We jump to the non-ashified Bennet who is being treated by Mohinder. He nearly flips when he finds out that it’s Claire’s blood that saved him. The two argue and Mohinder tells him that that’s what the company does now. Bennet doesn’t believe it and continues to rail against it.

It’s a very well done bit of storytelling as there is no black and white. There is enough doubt left open to wonder if the Company perhaps is not turning good. For so long they did questionable things, and perhaps they are trying to turn it around, but fall into bad habits with the best of intentions. I can’t give you a conclusive answer and that’s what makes it good. You can see Bennet being so obsessed with the takedown of the Evil company that perhaps he is going too far and that he is actually wrong.

Niki comes back to Micah and there is a happy reunion until he finds out that his cousin has taken his backpack full of rare comics to see how much they were worth. They are stolen by a gang, and the bag also contained D.L’s medal. Micah flips out. Monica believes she can get it back with her abilities. Again she has great powers and could be a great character, she just has such a little role to play in the storyline that like Maya and Alejandro, it really seems like more of a webisode than a part of the actual show. Monica is captured by the gang who hold her at gunpoint.

Speaking of the wonder twins, Maya bonds with Sylar at the park, and Sylar uses her emotional state into manipulating her into starting her powers. He then is able to successfully get her to control it. He then has complete control over her because she is honestly just stupid and easily swayed. He gets her to tell Alejandro to leave and that she will find him later.

As the two are separated, Alejandro tries to go to Sylar one more time and the two scuffle as Sylar kills him…and then for creepiness factor, kisses Maya moments later outside the room her brother’s corpse lay.

Meanwhile Hiro and Ando research all about Kensei and how he became Adam Monroe. With one more jaunt back to the past, Hiro quickly learns what Adam wants and where it is being kept. WOW…again with the writer’s strike needing to expedite the storyline. What takes most of the season to discover, Hiro catches up in the space of five minutes! He chooses to confront Kensei at Primatech.

Sylar and Maya reach New York just as Mohinder is staring to go to Niki with the cure. He somehow convinces the babysitter (I don’t remember Sylar having those persuasive type powers, although I suppose the babysitter is dead…if not, then she should be fired…) Sylar strokes Molly’s hair and gets Mohinder to come home to see Maya.

The end of the episode is great though as we see Adam and Peter arrive at Primatech. Then all of time stops except for Peter who is immune, and we see peter see Hiro. The two friends talk momentarily before Hiro decides that Peter has fallen to be working with Kensei. Hiro charges Peter and we get a brief glimpse at the great Hero vs. H(i)ero confrontation. Great ending, just wish the rest of the show measured up.

B-

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