How to Stop an Exploding Man

"How to Stop an Exploding Man"

"How to Stop an Exploding Man" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It is the conclusion of the three-part finale for season one.

The episode started filming March 26. It aired May 21, 2007. The title of this episode is in reference to a question that Hiro Nakamura asked in "Fallout".

Plot

Mr. Bennet points a gun at Molly, threatening her in order to save Claire, and Suresh in turn points a gun at Bennet, to save Molly. The stalemate diffuses when Molly spots Matt Parkman, and Parkman recognizes Molly.

Hiro tells his father he must save Ando and stop Sylar. He teleports to Isaac Mendez's loft, where Ando has been pinned against the wall by Sylar, who says Ando isn't worth killing. Hiro arrives to face Sylar, and Sylar challenges Hiro to move more quickly than he can. To Sylar's surprise, Hiro transports across the room to Ando and they both disappear before Sylar can do anything more.

Having just killed Linderman, Niki and an injured D.L. continue the search for Micah. Once the correct room is found, Niki leaves D.L. behind to get Micah. When Niki enters the door, it appears that Jessica is in the room with a dead Micah. When shen engages Niki in a fight, Niki sees the real Jessica in a broken mirror, who tells her that the other person is not her and that she still needs to save Micah. With a super-powered punch, Niki throws the imposter across the room, revealing it to be Candice. She hears Micah screaming and rescues him. She then looks in a mirror and sees only herself.

Nathan seems to have finally accepted his responsibility as congressman and future president. Nathan's mother informs him that Mr. Linderman is indeed dead, and yet he is unsure if that is a good thing. He seems convinced that his brother Peter will indeed explode, and also that he has no plans to try and prevent the impending disaster. Molly appears to have relapsed into her health problem from "Landslide" and Suresh is treating her. As this happens, Mr. Bennet contacts Peter and informs him of Sylar's new power gained from killing Ted Sprague. Bennet confides in him to stop Sylar before disaster strikes, and begs him to look after Claire. Peter visits Nathan and tries to recruit him in taking on Sylar who has also acquired the ability to go nuclear. Peter then realizes that Claire was right about not trusting Nathan, and turns to see that she has fled. He tries to locate her in an empty street, but his new "nuclear" powers start to take over and he collapses.

Nathan's true intentions remain unknown, but it appears he has no desire to help. Matt Parkman learns of Molly's amazing ability, but she is distraught to admit that she cannot find "everyone": there is one person she claims to be unable to find, someone "far worse" than Sylar, and that when she looks for him, he can see her. When Suresh, Parkman, and Bennet ask Molly to find Sylar, she states that he's already here and they start to go down to the plaza. When they arrive at the elevator, they see an injured D.L., whom Mohinder treats for his wounds, but they find that the elevator will not work. They wait until Niki and Micah arrive and Micah makes the elevator work. The entire group heads down for the final confrontation.

Peter is in a flashback of when he started caring for Charles Deveaux and sees his mother speaking to Charles about the bomb. Peter believes nobody can see him until his mother leaves and Charles confronts him. He reveals that he knew about the plan to use Peter as a catalyst to heal the world, but he felt that Peter is the only one with enough heart to save the world. He then calls the other Peter, who comes to escort him back into the house. When Mr. Bennet awakens Peter, he thanks Peter for saving his life, and tells Peter, "Call me Noah."

In the climax, Peter, Bennet, and Parkman confront Sylar in the plaza. Parkman shoots at Sylar, who stops the bullets and turns them back at Parkman, who is hit in the chest. Niki steps in and uses her strength to distract Sylar and save Peter. Then, Hiro teleports from Japan, after leaving Ando behind, and distracts Sylar from Peter. Before Sylar can do anything, Hiro impales Sylar with a sword, apparently fatally wounding him. However, before Hiro can do anything about Peter's request that he kill him, Sylar's last act is to telekinetically throw Hiro into the air; he teleports before he can strike a nearby building. After this, Sylar collapses and a silvery film covers his eyes. On his eye flash images of people he has killed, culminating with an image of Sylar himself. As Peter's hands continue to glow, Claire arrives and takes Bennet's gun. Before she is able to gather herself to shoot Peter, Nathan drops from the sky unexpectedly and says that Claire was right; the future isn't written in stone after all. Peter tries to convince his brother not to give his life. Nathan reminds Peter that he "saved the cheerleader, so we could save the world". Peter reluctantly agrees and Nathan grabs him and flies off into the sky, where a large dramatic exploson is seen in the night sky moments later. Matt Parkman is shown being loaded into an ambulance, barely alive. At the end of this scene the camera shows a trail of blood leading from where Sylar's body was to an open sewer with a cockroach crawling in, and the words "End of Volume One" appear on the screen.

Volume Two: Generations

After a fadeout, we are shown the opening of "Volume Two: Generations." Hiro lands in a grassy meadow with an ignoble thud. As he raises himself, he spots a group of samurai archers raising their bows towards him - but it is in fact the hero Kensei, poised behind Hiro, that they are about to attack. The subtitles then note that Hiro is outside Kyoto, Japan, in the year 1671. Before anyone can act, though, the entire landscape is darkened by a total solar eclipse, which creates the logo seen at the beginning of each episode.

Narration

At the beginning

Where does it come from, this quest? This need to solve life's mysteries from the simplest of questions can never be answered? Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we'd be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. But that's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here. Yet still we struggle to make a difference, to change the world, to dream of hope never knowing for certain who we will meet along the way. Who among the world of strangers will hold our hand, touch our hearts, and share the pain and triumph?

At the end

We dream of hope, we dream of change, of fire, of love, of death. And then it happens; the dream becomes real, and the answer to this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries finally shows itself like the glowing light of the new dawn. So much struggle for meaning, for purpose. And in the end, we find it only in each other. Our shared experience of the fantastic. And the mundane. The simple human need to find a kindred. To connect. And to know in our hearts... that we are not alone.