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Well, if Hiro can go five years into the future, then I can blog from one week in the past. Sorry, gang, but real-world obligations and a reformatted TiVO are to blame for the delay. I mean, aren't I a victim, too? Do you think I wanted this? Don't worry...your scalp is safe. For now...

I admit it, I was completely wrong. I truly thought that Linderman and The Company were on opposite sides. I thought that The Company wanted to track and (perhaps) eradicate Specials, while Linderman wanted to unite and protect them from The Company and other threats. Sure, at first I thought Linderman was in charge, but the last few episodes made me change my mind about that. I guess it wasn't a red herring after all. Give them hope by giving them fear...sound familiar (and evil)? The only question is whether Linderman got his inspiration from Bush or The Watchmen?

More's the pity, since it meant we got to see Candice being loathsome again. Sure, we all knew it was her visiting HRG in his cell, but the whole Niki thing...stop it, guys. I'm sorry, but with Candice's character, it's making it impossible for us to trust the writers or the story. It's bad enough that she's such a badly-written, cartoony character; now we get to see her used as Deus ex Machina...the way out when the story can't figure out how to resolve a conflict. Enough is enough, guys. Get rid of her character before it damages the show any more.

Enough negativity for the moment, let's talk plausible deniability. Linderman did not actually say that Peter exploded; only that his "curtain call" comes the day after Nathan is elected. Could this be him dying while trying to stop Ted or Sylar from exploding? And what of Mama Petrelli? When Claire asked her if she had a power, Grandmama stood upright, clasped her hands, and seemed to get ready to demonstrate. Then she evades the question. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that she does have some power, seeing as both of her sons do. Off to Paris with Claire and Grandma, I guess. Though if Peter's vision is any indication, that trip won't be happening.

To go back to Niki/Jessica and Micah, I do think it's interesting that Jessica wanted Micah to be off limits to Linderman. Is Niki asserting herself more in the schism? Is Jessica coming to terms with her other side (the side that, as the introductory voice-over informs us, was created to protect Micah)? How will Micah save the world? Based on the happenings in the ARG (Alternate Reality Game), Hana un-rigged the Petrelli election. I think that's the unravelling that Linderman mentioned to Jessica. Micah Diebold Sanders will be using his vote-fixing techmojo to ensure Nathan's victory.

Nice to see HRG, Matt, and Ted on the loose again. How much do you wanna bet that the tracking system in New York is in the Deveaux building?

No scar on post-Sylar Peter, huh? That makes sense, but I do feel a bit cheated, or at least duped on that one. The thing that bothered me most was that a telekinetic with Super Hearing couldn't hear a chalkboard being rolled at him, much less stop it from knocking him out. That was a little cheap. I will give Sylar credit for the "I can't to try that one out" line, regarding Peter's invisibility.

Random Question, a la Dwight Schrute...will Sylar get a contact buzz from eating Isaac's smack-riddled brain? And who was in that picture? Was it Sylar or Nathan in the Oval Office? I think it was Sylar. We know that he can't control a recently-eaten power very well (remember his hearing issues), and we also know that he's sociopathic, like any serial killer. I think that he sees the visions that Isaac did, but his homicidal madness makes him see himself as the center of everything; after all, he believes he's the next evolutionary step. So how did Isaac give "them" the way to stop Sylar? Did he somehow use himself as bait, with something in his brain chemistry that would be a poison-pill-style time bomb? With the Company on his side, Isaac should have access to most anything he'd need to ensure Sylar's neutralization.

By the time this is up, it'll be Tuesday May 1...one day after Five Years Gone aired. I have intentionally not watched that episode yet, since I want my speculation to be untainted. Shoot, I haven't even checked out any spoilers or podcasts yet. Now that we have new things to watch, I want to reel in the spoiling a bit.

That being said, I just finished reading the online comic. In the future, Sylar is the bomb, but survives because he kills Claire. Does this mean that someone else explodes in our timeline, or does Sylar in fact die? I'm really leaning towards it being Peter, since you know he has absorbed Sylar's whole ability salad. That, and we know that Ted is heading to New York.

Stay tuned, sidekicks! More really horrible things happening to your favorite people coming right up...and you know you can't wait to watch!