Heroes: Turns out in a small town in Texas where Hiro is staring at Charlie through the window of "The Burnt Toast" diner Hiro is not arrested for indecent exposure. Instead the other waitress comments on Hiro's "nice butt" as Hiro through the pane of glass. This week Hiro tries to save Charlie's life from "the brain man" otherwise known as Sylar.

Hiro meets a young boy wearing a cowboy outfit as Hiro tries to steal some clothes from a clothesline. The boy tells Hiro the clothing is his Dad's. Hiro says he needs his Father's clothing so that he can save the life of the love of his life, Charlie. He tells the boy that he fell in love with a girl but "the brain man" killed her. He went back in time to save her over and over again, but every time he did "the brain man" killed her anyway. This time he must find a way to save Charlie from "the brain man." The boy tells Hiro that good guys wear white hats and bad guys wear black hats as he places his white cowboy hat on Hiro's head. Just then Sylar walks up behind them and asks them to excuse him so he can walk into the diner. Hiro and the boy allow Sylar to walk by. After Sylar goes into the restaurant the boy comments on the fact that Sylar, "the brain man," is wearing a black hat. Hiro gulps in an old fashioned, cartoon way. There are several more Western references throughout this episode. At time it's cute at other times trite but we appreciate the creative effort.

Meanwhile, in the present, Sullivan is freaking out about family members dying and not being able to replace them. He turns to Lydia to help him. She tells him that Charlie could help except that she died three years ago. Then she sees more people connected to their fate. Sullivan tells Lydia that he must go back in time and bring Hiro into the clan. Lydia tells him he can't do that. He replies, "Desperate measures and all that."

Back in the past Sylar asks Charlie a series of invasive questions. Charlie identifies Sylar's watch and tells him the details of the brand's history. Sylar picks up on her unusual knowledge and begins to pry. He sees her ability and the blood clot in her head. He tells her he can see how she works and how it all goes together inside her brain and how to fix it. He makes a hand gesture that implies that her blood clot will explode and kill her. She is a little shaken. Sylar gives her his order and dismisses her. She hobbles away to do her job.
At a table in the same restaurant HRG sits with his partner. She was late due to traffic caused by the homecoming game. HRG has just hung up from a phone call with Sandra about Claire. He lies and tells his wife that he might miss Claire's game due to his work schedule. His partner tells him she wishes she could be honest with her family too. She hates that she couldn't tell her Mom that the real reason she missed her nephew's bar mitzvah is that she was bagging a guy who can shoot fire out of his nose. She says they can only be honest with one another and they should take their relationship to the next level. She passes him a hotel room key and tells him it's his choice.

Sullivan shows up in the past to talk to Hiro about changing the past. Hiro calls Sullivan "Butterfly man" and tells him that Charlie is worth saving. Hiro freezes time just as Sylar is about to cut Charlie's head open and take her power. Hiro moves Sylar by strapping him to a dolly with duct tape and locking him in a bus's luggage compartment that is about to leave town. Hiro returns to unfreeze Charlie and tell her the good news but he suddenly realizes that if he does so then the Hiro of the past won't go back in time and fall in love with Charlie. He grabs the photo of himself and Charlie off the bulletin board. He is missing from the birthday photo. (Nice "Back To The Future" reference.) He unfreezes past Hiro and tells him he must go back in time and try to save Charlie. Past Hiro pops into the past as present Hiro looks at the photo. Past Hiro appears in the photo again. Present Hiro celebrates his victory and then goes to unfreeze Charlie and give her the good news.

HRG goes to see Isaac to try and convince him to use drugs and paint a picture of Sylar so he can save his daughter's life. Isaac is in rehab and refuses to help HRG. HRG's partner tries to console him and tells him they will face this together. Then she kisses him. He kisses back for a moment then gently pushes her away. She is embarrassed and tells him that they will nail Sylar together even without Isaac's help. Then she places her hand on his forehead and says she'll Haitian him so he'll forget the kiss ever happened. HRG says he doesn't want to forget.

Before Hiro can unfreeze Charlie Sullivan, the "butterfly man," asks Hiro if his plans are going well. Hiro is very happy and only thinking of his love, Charlie. Sullivan reminds him that Ando is sitting in a booth waiting for Hiro to come back from the bathroom. Hiro realizes he must convince Ando to wait for past Hiro. Ando agrees to wait. Then Hiro rushes to see Charlie. He unfreezes Charlie and asks her to go with him. She asks where. He answers anywhere. She says she has to pack. He says they can buy clothes when they get there. She realizes he's serious and tells him she wants to go to Otsu, Japan. It's where Takezo Kensei is from. You might remember the story of Takezo Kensei as the famous swordsman who inspired Hiro to become a time traveler and hero in the first season. It was his sword that Hiro went after to complete his first mission and "save the cheerleader."

Back in the diner, Charlie begins to rattle off random information about Otsu, Japan. Hiro snaps her out of her daze. She can't remember what she was saying but she knows it's because of the blood clot. She knows it's about to burst, she knows she's dying. Hiro freezes time in order to save her life. He releases Sylar. Sylar tries to kill Hiro. Hiro freezes time over and over again as Sylar tries to kill him. Hiro tells "brain man" he cannot kill him and that he has something he wants. Sylar doesn't believe him. He tells Hiro it must get tiring to freeze time and that he can try to kill Hiro all day. He asks if Hiro can use his power all day too. Sylar looks inside of Hiro's head and sees that he's dying. Hiro tells Sylar that Charlie is dying too and needs him to save her life. He agrees to tell her all about his future if he saves Charlie's life. Sylar realizes that he can't kill Hiro and that he doesn't want the power if it some with a brain tumor. He agrees to save Charlie's life as long as Hiro tells him all the secrets of his future. Charlie is scared as Sylar performs the "surgery." Sylar removes the blood clot and as he does blood flows into her eye and then streams out of her tear duct as bloody tears. She is shaken but she tells Hiro she knows it worked and she's fine.

HRG is waiting for Claire. She sees her Dad across the street from her bus. She talks with him. They decide to get a treat and visit before she has to go to the game. She asks him if he's happy selling paper. He says he's happy enough. She wants to know what he really wanted to do. He says he wanted to teach high school English and concentrate on Shakespeare. She tells HRG that he should do it. He should wait until she graduates from high school and then he should do what makes him happy. He tells her he is happy. Then Claire is called over to the bus and they say they're goodbyes.

Since Sylar saved Charlie he demands to know about his future. Hiro tells him he will achieve his goals and become the most powerful person on Earth but it won't matter. All the heroes will come together against him and kill him. And no one will mourn him. He will die alone and no one will care or shed a tear for him. Then Hiro transports him back to the alley where they had their "showdown." And by transport we mean he froze time, put Sylar on a moped and drove him to the alley, placed him in the alley then got back on the moped and unfroze time. No wonder this guy has a tumor. Sylar seems to be dazed only for a moment and then he decides to continue on his path to destroy the cheerleader.

HRG visits the hotel room using the key his partner gave him. She is drinking some whisky. How very western of them. HRG asks for a glass. They talk over one another. She says how glad she is he came. He says he can't do this. He tries to use work as an excuse but she sees right through him, He admits that he loves his family and doesn't want to ruin that. She asks him if he wants to be himself and if they deserve a little bit of happiness. He loves his family and as much as he wants to tell them the truth he's waiting for a time when he might be able to be honest with them. He doesn't want to ruin that chance. HRG tells her, "I need you Lauren." And we finally get to know the name of the love interest who will most likely show up in a future episode now that the writers have gotten rid of Sandra. She says she'll always be there for him.

Hiro finally gets to leave with Charlie and she has second thoughts. She gets mad that Hiro decided to save her and not the others that Sylar is planning on killing. She thinks that Hiro is selfish to have saved her just because he loves her when she was ready to die.

HRG and Lauren go back to the office. Lauren hands HRG an envelope with the hotel room key and a note in it. Lauren has no memory of their conversation or kiss. The note reveals that she had the Haitian erase her memory so she could try to be more professional. We all know it's because she couldn't continue working side by side with HRG carrying a broken heart around with her.

Back in the restaurant HRG sits next to Hiro at the counter. Hiro is sipping on a large mug of root beer, cowboy style. HRG asks if he's okay and if he knows him. Hiro says no, and under his breath," not yet." Hiro tells HRG that he has messed everything up with the love of his life. HRG says love is a messy business and that things will work out. Then Charlie comes back to talk to Hiro. She tells him she is sorry for calling him selfish after he did so much to save her life. She loves him and she wants them to have their "happily ever after." She was trying to fold one thousand paper cranes. Legend has it that if you fold one thousand paper cranes you can ask for one wish to be granted by the Universe. Hiro and Charlie leave the diner as Hiro tries to show Charlie how to fold a paper crane. He looks up and instead of seeing Charlie he sees Sullivan. Charlie is gone. Hiro freaks out on Sullivan demanding to know where Charlie is. Suddenly they are both in the present at the carnival and Sullivan is confessing to doing something horrible. He has kidnapped Charlie and forced the old man who was their time traveler to place Charlie somewhere in time. This was the old man's last act. Sullivan's request killed him. He had a tumor just like Hiro does. Sullivan tells Hiro he will get Charlie back as long as he does what Sullivan needs him to do for him. He needs Hiro to send him back in time and help him correct a wrong he committed eight weeks ago. Hiro agrees in order to save Charlie once more. This whole storyline is a little cruel if Hiro saves Charlie only to die by her side. He will have effectively cursed Charlie with the same sadness and longing he felt after she died. We can only hope Hiro is able to pop back in front of Peter in time for him to heal Hiro and give Hiro and Charlie a truly happy ending. Otherwise the Shakespeare reference could end in a tragic Romeo and Juliet style death for one or both of these young lovers.

The last scene reveals what happened eight weeks earlier. Sullivan killed Mohinder. Or lead to Mohinder's death. More will be revealed next week. This season is becoming more enjoyable with every episode thanks to the subtle mystery. It's not as heavy handed and hyped as "save the cheerleader, save the world." And this season is certainly more satisfying than the "Villains" storyline of last year. It seems the more low-key the series is with its mysterious story, the more we're interested in watching it unravel. The anti-hype approach is working. We're hooked. Now let's just hope the reveals and pay-offs are worth the time investment we've made by sticking with this show.

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Story by Erin MacMillan-Ramirez

Starpulse contributing writer