Heroes/Collision

Collision
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	October 16, 2006
Production Number	104
Written by	Bryan Fuller
Directed by	Ernest Dickerson
Stream
← 1x03 One Giant Leap	1x05 → Hiros
Heroes — Season One

Collision is the fourth episode of the first season of Heroes.

Starring: Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez), Tawny Cypress (Simone Deveaux), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli)

Guest Starring: Nora Zehetner (Eden McCain), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Matt Lanter (Brody Mitchum), Eugene Byrd (Campaign Manager), Danielle Savre (Jackie Wilcox), Ashley Crow (Sandra Bennet), Deirdre Quinn ("Texas" Tina), Thomas Dekker (Zach), Nicole Bilderback (Ms. Sakamoto)

And: Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet)

Co-Starring: Jimmy Jean-Louis (Haitian), Toni Lewis (Medical Examiner), Matt Bushell (Linderman's Henchman), Kristen Veitch (Roulette Dealer), Mark Allan Stewart (High Roller), Ashlee Gillespie (Lori), Mark Nearing (Nevada State Trooper), Randall Bentley (Lyle Bennet), Paydin LoPachin (Brody's Next Victim)

Plot Overview

Peter tries to convince Mohinder Suresh that people with abilities exist. Nathan has a surprising encounter in Las Vegas. Hiro and Ando try to get rich quick. Claire deals with the boy who tried to rape her.

• Mohinder Suresh Voice-over: "Sometimes questions are more powerful than answers. How is this happening? What are they? Why them and not others? Why now? What does it all mean?"

• Unknown Location. Matt Parkman wakes up strapped to a table. There are electrodes attached to his head. The Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man tells Matt to relax. They drugged him in the bar and are testing his resting rate. Matt asks him if he's FBI or CIA. The Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man says he's not part of any organization that has initials. Matt tries to tell the Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man that he's made a mistake, he's no one special, but Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man tells Matt that isn't true. Matt tries to read Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man, but can't. Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man tells him that his friend - the man from the bad who Matt couldn't read is keeping Matt from using his gift. But Matt was able to pick up a name from Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man: Claire. Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man is impressed at how powerful Matt has become so quickly. He tells his associate to go deep, then clean Matt out.

• Montecito Casino, Las Vegas. Hiro Nakamura and Ando have just arrived. Hiro has left a message for Isaac Mendez, but he wants to learn how to say "You will die in five weeks and then New York City will explode" in English. Ando says it English, then goes off to gamble. Hiro follows. He passes by Niki Sanders and Micah Sanders as they go to the office of Linderman's aide. She has Micah wait outside the office. Linderman's aide tells Niki that her debt will be wiped out if she seduces a prominent politician coming to see Mr. Linderman, so he'll have something on tape to hold against him.

• Morgue, Odessa. Claire Bennet is being autopsied by a female coroner. She was pulled naked out of Red River Creek. The coroner thinks she was a victim of a homicide, possibly accidental. The coroner pulled the stick out of Claire's brain, but the phone rang before she could do more. She went to answer it and Claire's healing factor restored life to her. She was astonished to find herself on an autopsy slab. She folded shut the "Y" incision, and grabbed a spare doctors coat. She hid behind the door and waited until the doctor came back in, then slipped out, closing the door behind her.

• New York City. Isaac Mendez watches the sun rise, and glances sadly at a sketch of Simone Deveaux and Peter Petrelli kissing in the rain. Meanwhile, in Peter's apartment he wakes up next to Simone.

• Bennet house, Odessa. Claire sneaks back in the house and goes to her room.

• Outside Nathan's Campaign HQ, Midtown Manhattan, New York. Nathan Petrelli is warned by his campaign assistant to be cautious when he meets with Mr. Linderman in Las Vegas. Nathan is confident that he can handle him, and Linderman won't own him the way he owned his father. Mohinder Suresh runs up as Nathan is about to get into a car and gives his name. He tries to tell Nathan that he thinks he's in danger from a man called Sylar. He then asks Nathan if he's noticed any abilities like mind reading or teleportation. Nathan is disgusted, thinking that Peter sicced this guy on him. Nathan tells his security detail that he doesn't want this nut following him to Las Vegas.

• Peter Petrelli's Apartment, Lower East Side, New York. There's a knock at Peter's door. It's his brother Nathan. He's angry at Peter for sending Suresh after him. Peter denied calling him. Nathan offers Peter some money to disappear for a while, because he's becoming a liability in his campaign. Peter refuses the money. He and Simone talk. Peter asks Simone what if Isaac actually can paint the future. Simone tells him she thinks that's about as strange as it gets. She tells Peter that she just got out of a two-year relationship with Isaac that was very destructive and she needs some time. Peter agrees that he doesn't want to be the rebound guy.

• Bennet house, Odessa. Mr. Bennet calls Claire. She emerges from her room. He notes her muddy feet and asks if she's been out all night. She admits that she was with the quarterback, but says that they just played "poker". After he leaves, Claire finally lets her control go for a moment and cries.

• Mohinder Suresh's Apartment, New York. Mohinder is with Eden McCain. He's never been so humiliated in his life. Eden asks him what he expected a congressional candidate to do, invite him in for tea? Mohinder wonders what he's doing here, chasing after his father's research, if it really is just a lot of garbage. There's a knock at the door. Peter Petrelli got Mohinder's address from his brothers staff. He tells Mohinder that he might be one of the people with abilities that his father wrote about.

• Montecito Casino. Hiro finds Ando gambling their last bit of money on Roulette. In desperation, he goes into bullet time and places the ball on Ando's number, and tips a stumbling waitresses drink back upright before he resumes normal speed time. Ando is ecstatic at the win and wants to keep playing, thinking he's on a hot streak. Hiro confesses that he stopped time so Ando would win. He feels bad about doing it, but it was their last dollar. Ando talks him into helping him cheat some more.

• Niki Sander's House, Las Vegas. Niki tells Tina that she's been blacking out, and she's worried. Tina asks if she's worried about the two dead thugs in her garage. Niki says that it was, but Tina thinks it couldn't have been her because one of them was torn in half. Niki is still worried because she's been having very violent dreams, where she's tearing people in half, but it's not her, it's someone inside her. Micah enters and asks Niki if she'd play Scrabble with him. Niki says that she can't. Micah notes that she's been different lately. Niki admits that she knows she has, but she just has to do one thing that will solve a lot of her problems. Micah warns that it's safer over the internet then in person - on the internet it's acting, it's not real. Niki seems somewhat surprised that Micah knows what she does and what she's about to do.

• Mohinder Suresh's Apartment. Mohinder and Eden are talking. Peter has told him that when he was with his brother Nathan he could fly, and when he was with an artist he could draw the future, but at the moment he can't do either. Mohinder is skeptical of Peter's claim, but Eden thinks that he may as well see if this is real. She leaves and Mohinder talks to Peter. Peter suggests that maybe he can only do things when he's around other people who can do special things. Mohinder wants to go see Nathan, but Peter says that he's in Las Vegas, and offers to take him to Isaac.

• Isaac Mendez's Studio, Lower Manhattan, New York. Simone comes to see Isaac about selling some of his paintings. He tells her that he can't sell the new ones, he's going to need them to prevent the nuclear catastrophe. Simone says she can try and sell the old ones, but she isn't sure if anyone will buy them. Isaac asks for an advance so he can buy "painting supplies". Simone turns him down. Isaac shows Simone the sketch of her kissing Peter in the rain and asks her where she was last night. She asks him if he was following her. He tells her he sketched that seven weeks ago, and points out the painting of Peter flying and says he also painted that long before he ever met him. He asks Simone if she's in love with him. She says she doesn't know how she feels about Peter, or how she feels about him. Isaac tells her "here we are not knowing how we feel about each other, and this city's about to go [nuclear explosion sound effect]". Simone asks him if thinks he can save everyone by doing heroin. Isaac says he can save everyone, he's going to be a hero.

• Union Wells High, Odessa. Claire and Zack are at school. She told him what happened to her, and he's appalled that she isn't going to do anything after he tried to rape her and accidentally killed her. Zack theorizes that after the stick was pulled out of her brain, it rebooted. Claire said she's not a hard drive. Zack retorted with "No, you're Little Miss Miracle Grow". Claire told him never to call her that again. Zack tells her that she has top tell someone about Brody. Claire says that even if she wanted to - and she doesn't - there's no proof. Jackie and Brody approached. Jackie asked he what happened to her last night. Claire said that she doesn't remember, she had way too much to drink. Brody does remember, and runs off.

• Montecito Casio. Hiro uses his Bullet Time power to switch three aces from the hand of a cowboy to Ando's hand. The cowboy is very confused. Niki Sanders bumps into Nathan Petrelli and pretends that bump made her ruin her Celine Dion ticket. She turns on the charm and she and Nathan talk.

• Subway, New York. Peter warns Mohinder that Isaac is a heroin addict, but asks him to suspend his skepticism. Mohinder says that skepticism is the default scientific position. Peter points out that his father was able to get around it. Mohinder said that he used to believe his father... perhaps a bit too much.

• Isaac's studio. Isaac uses the last of his heroin starts painting, hoping that his art will reveal a clue to stopping the nuclear blast. His irises go milky white and he sees images, a terrified cheerleader (Claire) being chased by an unknown person who casts a menacing shadow. He is so absorbed in his work that he doesn't hear Peter and Mohinder knocking.

• Union Wells High. Lori Tremmel approaches Claire and asks her what happened with Brody Mitchum at the bonfire. Claire tells her that nothing happened. Lori tells her that once she went off alone with Brody too. "Nothing" happened to her too. Claire looks thoughtfully at Brody, who is pawing at another girl.

• Montecito Casino. Hiro and Ando are clad in nice new suits. They get accosted by some casino bouncers, and are bodily thrown into an alley out back. The bouncers thoughtfully also toss their luggage out after them. Ando wants to go hit another casino, but Hiro doesn't. The cowboy that they cheated and a group of toughs corner them in the alley. Ando tells them to watch out because his friend has "very big power". A thug knocks Hiro out with one punch.

• Nathan Petrelli's room, Montecito Casino. Niki admires the view. Nathan wonders what it'd be like to fly over the desert. Not in a helicopter, just fly. They tell each other a bit about themselves. Niki tells Peter that her husband is a criminal, but she has a son who is a boy genius. Nathan tells Niki that he has two sons of his own, and is happily married. Niki and Peter kiss, but she can't bring herself to carry through seducing him and leaves. One of Linderman's thugs is waiting for her in the elevator. He gets rough and threatens her, and her son. Niki's alternate personality Jessica comes out and kicks the crap out of the thug. When the door opens, Jessica tells the thug that if he threatens "our" son again, she'll drive her spiked heel through his skull. She goes back to Nathan's room and seduces him. They have sex while Linderman's hidden camera records all.

• Subway, New York. Mohinder is getting increasingly skeptical about Peter's claims. Time suddenly stops for everyone but Peter.

• Isaac's Studio. Isaac wakes up and sees his latest works. They don't offer the explicit clues he hopes.

• Union Wells High. Claire is waiting for Brody. She asks him for a ride home, and asks if she can drive. He agrees. She speeds though town. She tells him that she knows what he did to her. Brody says that she was drunk and came on to him, she wanted it. Claire asks if she wanted it as bad as Lori Trammel. Brody said that Lori was a slut. Claire asks if that was what he was going to say about her. Brody told her that he already does. Claire realized that Brody wasn't going to stop, he'll just keep on raping women. Claire speeds up and deliberately drives into a wall.

• Nathan Petrelli's room, Montecito Casino. The Horn-Rimmed glasses Man and his mysterious accomplice are in Nathan's room, looking at the sleeping Niki and Nathan. He tells his accomplice to just take the one.

• Subway, New York Peter is startled when a sword-wielding, English-speaking Hiro Nakamura appears. He introduces himself to Peter and tells him that he's from the future and has a message for him.

Notes

• The HDTV version of this episode that aired had a different opening flashback scene. It contained a different voice over and different clips for the most part.

Trivia

The Comic

• The Heroes comic Aftermath deals with what happens immediately after Claire crashes into the wall.

Behind the Scenes

• Hiro and Ando gamble at the Montecito. The fictional casino that the show Las Vegas is set. Las Vegas has crossed over with another of creator Tim Kring's shows, Crossing Jordan. All three shows air on NBC and are produced by NBC/Universal.

Memorable Moments

• Claire gets revenge on Brody by slamming his car (with him inside) into a brick wall at 70 miles an hour.
• Niki's alternate personality Jessica beats the crap out of a mobster who makes the mistake of threatening her son.
• A future Hiro, seemingly with greater skills in his power, swordsmanship, and English, travels back in time to give Peter Petrelli a message.

Quotes

• Claire: I'm not a hard drive.
  Zack: No, you're Little Miss Miracle-Grow.
  Claire: Don't ever call me that again.
• Jessica: Niki's not here right now.
• Jessica: If you threaten our son again, I'm going to put my heel through your skull. Do you understand?
• Future Hiro: You look different without the scar.