Heroes 3.2 Episode Review the Butterfly Effect

The second episode of Season Three of Heroes aired on September 22, 2008. The episode is titled The Butterfly Effect and focuses on the effect of Peter altering the future. Warning: My episode review contains major plot spoilers.

The episode opens with Claire distraught as her mother Sandra cleans of the messy house. She tries to get Claire to open up on what happened to her. As Claire picks up glass, she cuts herself and realizes she can't feel pain anymore. She is upset because she was grateful for the pain in the past because it was the one thing that helped her feel human. Now she questions whether she is human or not. Later in the episode, Claire films herself making attempts on her life again. On the seventh attempt, she tries to throw herself in front of a train but future Peter flies in and saves her. She is happy to see him and asks if he will teach her to fight. He cryptically says none of this should have happened and he can't be the one to teach her.

Angela dreams of the future where villains kill everyone she loves, including Claire (by cutting of her head and pulling the body away so she can't heal.) One of the villains is Niki/Tracy; the others aren't anyone I recognize. Peter is in his loft working on a timeline and Angela confronts him on the butterfly effect he has created. He mentions she isn't nice in the future and says he will fix everything.

Maya visits Mohinder in his apartment. He is very excited about his new abilities and shows him off. He still plans on finding a cure for her so she is happy. He is extremely cocky and different. They end up in bed together. Later after a bout of lovemaking, Mohinder wakes up feeling ill. He goes to the bathroom and sees that the skin on his back is starting to peel off.

At the Level 5 building Bob is reprimanding Elle for losing Sylar. She promises to make things right but he blows her off. She later returns saying she thinks Sylar is going to return to level 5 to get more powers. She is too late as Bob has already killed her father. She runs to Noah Bennet (who Bob had locked up) and frees him so he can help stop Sylar. Sylar knocks Elle out of the way and Noah shoots him repeatedly. Of course he heals himself and Noah is quite upset when he realizes Sylar has gotten to Claire.

Sylar goes after Elle and starts to cut into her head when she is able to use her powers and fries Sylar. Unfortunately, she also fries the circuit board which allows the villains to escape. Peter (in Jesse's body) also escapes and tries to help Elle before being dragged off by the other villains. Noah is able to capture Sylar before Noah heads home to check on Claire.

Hiro hires a private investigator who finds out the thief is named Daphne and leaves in Paris France. Hiro is about to teleport out without a much surprised Ando. Ando notices that Hiro is treating him differently and Hiro finally confesses that Ando is a villain in the future and kills Hiro. Ando says it couldn't have been him and Hiro finally realizes he can't blame Ando for future mistakes. Meanwhile they teleport to Daphne's apartment in search of the formula. They aren't able to get it back from her but they do discover that she is off to find the other half. Hiro has planted a tracking device on her and they are off on her trail.

Niki is now Tracy Strauss, an advisor to the governor. She advises the governor to appoint Nathan as a junior secretary for the State of New York. He follows her advice and sends her to New York to offer Nathan the job. As she is leaving, a reporter confronts her on her stripper pasts, which is insists wasn't her. When she meets Nathan, he recognizes her as Niki and again she insists she isn't Niki. She appears to be telling the truth and has no memory of Niki or is a completely different person. Nathan does eventually accept the job with the only request that Tracy stays as his advisor. Later the reporter confronts her again. He calls her the "Pastry Ice Queen" and then when she touches him he freezes and shatters. She is very shocked by what happens so it appears to be the first manifestation of her powers.

Future Peter tells Nathan the truth about being from the future and shooting him. Nathan takes the news in stride and asks Peter what he should do now. Peter just says make the right decisions. Linderman also visits Nathan several times and by the end of the episode he realizes that no one else can see Linderman. It is unclear whether Linderman is a ghost or a figment of Nathan's imagination. Linderman seems to be good and insists Nathan is to do God's work.

Angela is now in charge of Level Five since Bob is dead. She fires a distraught Elle and reveals herself as Sylar's mother. Future Peter comes to level five looking for present day Peter and is very shocked to find the villains gone. Angela yells at future Peter again and tells him to bring back her son and then go back to where he belongs. Hmmm, where does he belong now since he has completely changed the future? Meanwhile, Noah has called in Claire's birth mother to watch over his family while he hunts the escaped
villains.

Matt is wandering around the dessert when he is rescued by an African native. The native recognizes him and is also hero. He paints the future and realizes the future has been changed. Matt wants to go back to America but the native insists he needs to go on a spirit walk.

Wow, what another exciting episode. Again there is so much information contained in the one episode that it is hard to write a good summary. This is definitely a must see episode. I can't wait to find out whether Tracy is Niki or not. The Angela/Sylar twist was very shocking. The interaction between Hiro and Ando is hilarious. Hiro is still big on his comic book references, very funny. The Butterfly effect is a standout episode.