Heroes: “1961″

Even robots have childhoods. It’s true. Just look at Angela Petrelli on Monday’s episode of Heroes when we flashed back to 1961 where she was just another teen. Just another teen with magical abilities that whisked her and her family away to a refugee camp setting the course to everything as we know it. “It’s time everyone knew the truth,” Angela says. Or, as much of the truth producers are willing to serve up before the finale. But I digress. We open with Angela’s group of Petrellis and Bennets digging up old skulls at Coyote Springs. Pete is complaining over the tiresome chore like he’s being told to do the dishes. He’s pissed at his mom and he’s pissed at Nathan and he’s pissed at Noah. He’s just a barrel of sunshine. Claire somehow is on team Noah again, when did that happen? That was a short lived teenage rebellion. Peter can’t let it go that his mom didn’t tell them all she had a sister and demands answers. Which puts us on a time warp back to 1961 where a bus pulls up to the bustling Coyote Springs “Relocation Center” where young Angela and her family arrive and are greeted by Dr. Suresh and Dr. Zimmerman (Suresh being Mohinder’s Dad and Zimmerman being the doc who later “created” Nikki/Jessica/Tracy/Barbara) who promise them their stay will be full of toys, movies, games, and good times! Nevermind there are guards watching their every move. After Angela and her sister Alice settle in their room, they’re greeted by three teenage boys who introduce themselves as Charles Deveaux, Robert Bishop, and Daniel Linderman (aka some of the major founders of The Company). Is it just me or is Linderman’s younger version incredibly flamboyant and cheesy? After they leave Alice is scared but Angela talks her younger sister through it and promises to always take care of her just like the doctors will do when they make her nightmares go away. Or so she thinks.

Back in real time, Angela speaks in monologue speeches somewhat directed at other characters while staring off into space, warning that they must settle their differences or history will repeat itself. She doesn’t see it, but naturally we see a hand in a window. Whoever could it be? Why, perhaps Angela’s long lost sister? Angela tells whoever is listening to her at this point, that the government rounded them up back them with promises of a cure that went terribly wrong and she was lucky to survive. I guess they’re a little late in keeping history from repeating itself then. She’s been dreaming of her sister and wants to find her body or some remnant to give her a proper burial. After she got away, she and a few others launched The Company with their signature tactics of mind erasing, destroying evidence, and murder, to protect their identities until the current situation with Danko ruined it all. She tells the group they must go back to The Company’s strategies in order to succeed which pisses Peter off more and he flies away with Nathan close behind.

Back to 1961 - Angela realizes her new friends have powers too when Linderman demonstrates he can heal her scar. She reveals she dreamt that Dr. Suresh was untrustworthy and leaves them to find her sister who also has a power - she can control the weather. Talk about convenient.

So therefore, it’s not a shock that when Angela confides in Claire she did something so awful she can’t think about it, a huge storm begins. Nathan meanwhile followed Peter to the Coyote Sands café where Pete rips into him for starting all of this. Quite true. Stick it to him, please, Peter. That is until he makes it all about a Mets game from decades ago where Nathan got to go to a play-off game. Duude, get over it. There are sooo many other, more relevant, Nathan screw-ups to focus on here! Suddenly, an emergency storm warning goes off, and there’s a massive wind storm blowing at Coyote Sands. Noah is pulled aside by Mohinder who just showed up looking for information on his father. He has an original file from his Dad’s days there, which brings us back to ‘61…

Dr. Suresh takes Angela in for a meeting where he tapes a card test. It seems she knows what each card is without seeing it but it’s only because she dreamt it. She tells Suresh she dreamt this and that Suresh would kill everyone there. He dismisses this and shoves a huge needle in her arm. Do we want to know what they’re injecting them with? Angela recalls all this to Claire, who, by the way, really needs to do something about these bad wigs she’s wearing. It’s distracting. Angela then decides it’s a good idea to run out into the storm screaming for her sister. Nathan and Peter return but it’s too late; though the storm is over, and Angela is gone. Noah tells Mohinder that his father was a good man and he shouldn’t judge without knowing all the circumstances while they split up looking for Angela. Peter is the next one to talk Mohinder off his figurative ledge. When did this episode become a pity party for Mohinder? Who cares! Apparently it’s also an episode of self revelation as Claire realizes trying to save everyone and grow up fast only made her look like an idiot. No kidding, Claire-Bear.

Back in the 60s Charles tells Angela now is their time to sneak out but she can’t bring Alice. Angela lies to her sister to keep her calm, and tells her she dreamt Alice would be safe there and leaves without telling her of her plan. She and the boys make it out but fail in finding help when cops won’t believe them. Soon, a storm warning comes on, meaning Alice is anything but calm.

All of a sudden Angela wakes up in real life in a cluttered room. An older woman enters with wild, crazy, curly hair, who it should be no surprise at this point, is Alice. What’s up with her blondish hair? The same hair was black in the 60s. A bad older version if you ask me. Alice seems seriously loopy, which I guess is expected after hiding out alone for 50 years, and tells Angela she stayed there all along because Angela told her to. The night Angela left, Suresh tried to run tests on her, which triggered her to unleash a huge storm. The storm led to chaos, mass killings, and the deaths of most everyone in the camp - except Alice who hid out. It seems all is forgiven until Angela reveals she lied about that dream and leaving which leads Alice to ignite another storm. Peter and Mohinder run in, and Alice shoots lightning their way, until Angela begs her to stop, letting her know she’s attacking her own family. Alice ends it but then disappears without a trace. As everyone is leaving, Mohinder decides to stay, as he is not ready to move on and forgive himself. Okay, I get that, but does he really want to hang out alone with a bunch of dead bodies and a crazy lady who wreaks storm havoc? Everyone else leaves and goes to the café where they plan a new kind of Company, a Family Company. Nathan is already ready to go back to DC and take responsibility for his actions when suddenly he’s on the TV at a press conference. Only it’s really Sylar, promising nothing will ever be same. Ohh this shape-shifting is tricky - I like it!

I hardly think this is the last we’ll see of Alice. Maybe she’ll be the one to save the cheerleader (or whoever it is this time), save the world, this season?

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