Heroes Season 4: Episode 7: "Once Upon a Time in Texas"

Season 4: Episode 7:
"Once Upon a Time in Texas"

Hiro arrives back in time three years ago to Texas at the diner where Charlie works. Hiro's still in hospital gown so he goes to a nearby clothesline to steal some clothes. A little boy has fake cowboy guns to aim at him saying he's stealing his dad's clothes. Hiro tells him the story of how he's there to save the love of his life, Charlie. A flashback is shown to the previous times Hiro met Charlie and tried to save her life but couldn't. Hiro says no matter how hard he tried, Sylar always killed her. Hiro says this time he'll defeat the brain man (Sylar). Hiro says he will make sure the brain man doesn't hurt anyone. The kid tells him good guys wear white hats, and hands Hiro his cowboy hat. He says bad guys wear black hats, and just then Sylar walks up to the diner. Hiro stands in front of the kid to protect him and Sylar, not knowing who Hiro is yet, asks him to move.

Back in present day, Lydia and Samuel are there. Samuel says Arnold's dying and it might be tonight. Samuel says he needs Hiro Nakamura now so he can fix the past. Samuel says he's unsure how he'll convince Hiro to help though. Lydia tells him desperate times, desperate measures. Samuel pulls out the ink stick to get a tattoo off Lydia's back. Her back reveals the image of Charlie and she tells Samuel Hiro's in love but the girl died three years ago. Samuel says that's an opportunity. Lydia tells him there's more. Samuel puts more ink on her back and it shows images of HRG linked to Claire who is linked to Sylar. Samuel says he'll have Arnold help him get back there.

Charlie serves Sylar coffee. During their exchange, Sylar learns of Charlie's super memory power and is amazed by it as he quizzes her on all sorts of facts. Hiro is hiding behind a newspaper nearby. Sylar asks if her gift is due to the blood clot in her brain. Charlie asks how he knew that and Sylar says it's his gift to know how things work. Hiro oversees this. Samuel appears right next to Hiro, who immediately know him as the man from the carnival. Samuel leads Hiro away saying they need to talk.

HRG is also in the diner and on the phone. A blond woman comes up to sit down at the table with him. He says to her he can't tell Claire he's missing homecoming due to having to track a serial killer. HRG says it's good to have a friend to talk to. The woman asks if he considers it two friends talking. The woman says it's flirting because they've been having breakfast twice a week for months now, miles out of town. The woman tells him they can talk about anything, but pulls out a key for him saying she booked a hotel room. HRG gets a call that someone has found the Sylar paintings. He leaves and walks out past Sylar, just as Sylar uses telekinesis to get his coffee cup closer.

Samuel is in a back room talking to Hiro. He asks why Hiro is trying to save Charlie. Hiro says it's because he told him he could right wrongs if he stepped on the right butterflies. He says this is like Mothra. Samuel says he's there to make sure Hiro understands what could happen if he makes the slightest mishap. He says a lot of people could be affected by this one move and asks if Charlie's worth it. Hiro says yes.

Charlie is in the back room opening a can. She notices a sound, but doesn't see anything. Sylar is shown hiding behind a shelf. He goes to use his buzzsaw power to cut into her skull, but just then time stops. Hiro enters and sees Charlie frozen, smiles, then turns around to face Sylar.

Hiro duct tapes Sylar to a dolly cart, then wheels him out of the diner. He spots a nearby bus, and opens the baggage compartment underneath. He shoves Sylar in there saying that he will go on his own path, and Peter Petrelli will stop him. Hiro says he and Charlie will live happily ever after.

Hiro returns to the diner and fixes his hair. He looks at Charlie still frozen, then realizes if she doesn't die, he never goes back in time to fall in love with the princess, and the world blows up. Hiro walks out and notices he's not in the picture on a bulletin board that had Charlie in it. Hiro goes and finds his other self in the diner, and unfreezes time to talk to him as Future Hiro. Present Hiro asks the future version where his sword is. Hiro informs present day Hiro he must save Charlie by going back six months in time. He says if he doesn't they won't be having this conversation today. Present day Hiro warps back in time, and almost instantly Future Hiro sees himself appear in the photograph.

Meanwhile, HRG arrives back to Primatech. Eden is there and she brings HRG to visit with Isaac Mendez about the paintings he did. He says the girl in the paintings is his daughter. HRG says he needs Isaac's help. He tells him about how he and his wife were given a daughter when they had trouble conceiving a child. HRG goes to a room by himself and kicks a nearby trash can. The blond agent from before comes in and tells him she heard everything, and they'll handle this. She starts to kiss HRG, then pulls away. She tells HRG homecoming is over 37 hours away. She puts a hand on his forehead and says she's going to Haitian him. HRG says not to because he doesn't want to forget.

Back to the diner, Future Hiro is having brain issues as he puts his hand on his forehead. Samuel comes over to ask if he's ok. Hiro says yes and shows him the picture. Samuel reminds him he still has to have someone go over and talk to Ando who's sitting in a booth, expecting the previous Hiro to return. Ando asks about his different clothes. Hiro says he is future Hiro and shows him the photo of he and Charlie. Hiro tells Ando to wait for the other Hiro to get back. Hiro then rushes back to greet Charlie in the back room. He hugs her ecstatically. She asks what's gotten into him and he says he's going to take her to wherever she wants to go. He says he doesn't want to be apart for another minute. Charlie says they can go to Otsu, Japan, where Takezo Kenzei was born. Charlie starts spitting out all sorts of facts about Otsu at rapid fire pace, and then catches herself. She holds her head and seems woozy. Hiro helps her sit down. Charlie says its her aneurysm rupturing and tells Hiro she's dying. Hiro says not yet she's not.

Hiro goes back out to the bus, waits for the driver to step off for a second and quickly opens the luggage area. He finds that Sylar is now missing. Just then, Hiro is thrown up against the bus face first. Sylar appears behind him, using telekinesis. He spins Hiro around and asks who he is and what he did to him. Hiro tells Sylar he heard that he can fix things and says Charlie is dying. Sylar tells Hiro he's going to die first. He puts his finger up and prepares to buzzsaw him, but Hiro freezes time, and drops down from the side of the bus.

Hiro unfreezes time and starts to taunt Sylar. He says he can't defeat him because he's the master of time and space. Hiro continues to freeze time each time Sylar goes to buzzsaw his brain to steal his power. Unfortunately, Hiro gets woozier after each time due to his medical problem. Hiro tells Sylar if he kills him he won't learn all he knows about his future. Sylar says Hiro is lying and he's going to be invincible after he goes to kill the cheerleader. Hiro asks if he's sure about that. He promises to tell Sylar all he knows if he helps him save Charlie. Sylar asks if Hiro's dying too, and then says it's a tumor. As they're conversing, they see a group of cheerleaders rush past the alleyway on the way to homecoming.

Sylar and Hiro go back into the diner together to the backroom. An older woman is with Charlie and asks who the other guy is. Hiro says it's a doctor. Hiro says they can help her. The older woman leaves. Sylar jokes about how he doesn't mind going into Charlie's brain. Hiro warns him if Charlie dies, then so will he. Charlie tells Hiro if she dies she's ok with it, if it's her time. Hiro professes his love again, as Sylar is pacing behind him eyeing them both. Sylar begins to do his thing as Charlie says she is scared. Hiro tells her a story of someone in ancient Japan to calm her nerves. Just then Sylar makes a gesture and gets rid of the tumor.

The scene shifts to the cheerleaders yelling The scene shifts to the cheerleaders yelling cheers about their team. HRG is there and Claire runs over to him. They grab drinks to hang out. Claire asks HRG if things are ok with his job selling paper. He says he likes it a lot. HRG says growing up he wanted to teach high school English and Shakespeare. He recites part of a Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream. Claire calls HRG a "drama geek" and suggests maybe he should become a teacher. HRG says he doesn't think that will happen. Claire gets called over by her other cheerleaders so she leaves on the bus. HRG takes out the room key and looks at it, contemplating things.

In the back of the diner, Sylar walks in eating some food. He tells Hiro to honor the deal now and tell him the future. Hiro says Sylar collects a lot of powers, but becomes nothing. Hiro says nobody will mourn his death and he will die alone. Hiro says everyone comes together to stop Sylar. Hiro says now he must go on his path. He teleports Hiro out of the diner, and Hiro gets on a scooter. He unfreezes time and drives away, leaving Sylar behind. Sylar hears the cheerleader's and picks up his hat which fell off. He puts his hat on and gets an evil grin on his face.

HRG goes to the hotel room where his blond agent coworker is. She's having a drink and pours one for him. They both talk at once, with HRG saying he can't do this due to their job. She tells him that's not a good excuse. She tells HRG he cares about her, so this isn't some random romp in the supply closet at work. HRG admits he cares about her. The woman says they are such good liars about all the stuff they've been doing together. She asks if HRG wants a bit of happiness, and to be himself. He sits down on the bed with her, and says he loves his family. He says as much as he lies to them and it's complicated, he still loves them. HRG says he doesn't want to destroy the possibility of eventually telling them the truth. HRG calls her a great agent, then finally says her name, Lauren. He says he needs her help with the Sylar case and with Claire. She says of course, she'll always be there to help him. They decide to go back to work.

Back to the diner, Ando sees future Hiro looking into the diner from the outside window. Ando asks if things are ok, and Hiro says yes, then tells him to go back in and wait for the other Hiro. Charlie comes walking out to tell Hiro she feels like she's cheating things by still being alive. Charlie asks Hiro why he's going to let Sylar kill a lot of people. Hiro said he had to keep the time-space continuum as it was. Charlie asked Hiro why she needs to live when so many people die each day. Hiro says because he loves her. Charlie tells him that's selfish of him.

HRG is at a table in the break room at Primatech, when the blond agent Lauren comes in. She says someone left him a small manila envelope. He opens it to find a room key and a note saying "I've gone Haitian, it'll be best that way, Lauren". HRG realizes she erased her memory to prevent any future problems from coming up.

Hiro goes back to the diner to order a root beer. He says in Japanese "it's over". HRG happens to be sitting next to him and speaks Japanese to him, asking if he knows him. Hiro mutters "not yet" in Japanese. HRG asks if everything is ok. Hiro says he may have ruined his chance at finding true love. HRG tells him it's a messy business, and that true love's course never did run smooth. HRG bids him good night and leaves, just as Charlie comes back in. Charlie says she was awful to him earlier. Hiro says he understands what she thinks about him being selfish. Hiro says the world is a better place with her in it. Charlie thanks him for saving her life. She hands him a piece of origami paper saying she was trying to make 1,000 cranes. She tells Hiro in Japanese she loves him and wants their happy ending also. They kiss and then leave the diner to go off on their journey.

As Hiro follows Charlie outside he's busy looking at the origami she made. He says something to her, but then looks up to see Samuel standing there. Samuel says he's taken Charlie. Hiro becomes upset asking where she is. Samuel said he brought her to his carnival at present day's time. Hiro grabs him asking him to take them to Charlie now. Samuel says Hiro needs to dig deep and seize control of his power again. Hiro angrily shoves Samuel forward and they teleport to present day at the carnival.

Samuel then confesses Charlie isn't actually there. Suddenly, various other carnival people surround them. Hiro starts to ask them each where Charlie is, until he notices her diner name badge down on the ground. He runs towards a nearby RV, and inside finds someone under a blanket. Samuel tells Hiro that's Arnold, a fellow time traveler who couldn't take the strain anymore. He said he had a bad tumor also. Samuel says last thing he did was to ask Arnold to trap Charlie somewhere in time, then he died. Hiro demanded Samuel to tell him where Charlie is. Samuel said he had to manipulate Hiro so he could help him fix his past. Hiro realizes Samuel is an evil man. Samuel tosses him Charlie's name badge and says he's the only one who can help him save Charlie. Samuel says he has his own butterflies to crush. Hiro looks at the name badge and asks what he has to do. Samuel says he made a mistake 8 weeks ago.

Time flashes back eigh weeks to show Samuel, who is upset and keeps saying "I'm sorry". There'a fire in the room, and then a dead body on the floor. The face is eventually revealed and it appears to be Mohinder Suresh...To be continued...