In this episode several things are "exposed": Nathan Pettrelli's (Adrian Pasdar) operation is outed to the media, Sandra Bennet (Ashley Crow) discovers the secret in Claire's (Hayden Panettiere) closet; and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) remembers a piece of his past -- his father killed his mother.

When it comes right down to it, Mr. Muggles, Sandra's Pomeranian, is the one that uncovers Alex Woolsey's (Justin Baldoni) presence. When Sandra comes up to ask Claire about some missing house money, he barks at something under Claire's bed. When Sandra picks him up, he has half a sandwich in his mouth. Then there's a noise in Claire's closet. When Sandra opens the door, she finds Alex holding up something that fell from the top shelf.

Claire initially lies and tries to tell her mother that Alex is her new boyfriend and that they're having sex.

"You know my daughter is only 17," Sandra says to Alex. He protests ... he hasn't touched her; they've barely made eye contact!

So, reluctantly, Claire tells her mother the truth. At first Sandra is angry that Claire lied to her. She says that she's much stronger than Claire or Noah (Jack Coleman) believe. And then she offers to help.

She confiscates Lyle's (Randall Bentley) driver's license and uses it to create a new ID for Alex.

"I cannot believe you know how to make a fake ID. Where did you learn that? Dad?" says Claire.

"No. Claire, believe it or not, I was a teenager once, and an enterprising one, not unlike you, young lady."

The money Claire had borrowed was used to buy Alex a train ticket to Albuquerque, where he can start a new life and stay out of harm's way.

The agents who have been watching the Bennet house decide that Alex has to be there and come to search it. But they don't find him because Sandra hid him in a secret place where Noah used to hide guns and stuff.

But how is Alex to get to the train? Sandra, again, has a plan. She and Lyle distract the agents just long enough for Claire and Alex to get a head start running out the back. They are able to avoid capture by hiding in a swimming pool. When Claire can't hold her breath any longer, Alex shares and they kiss.

Meanwhile, back on the road, Luke (Dan Byrd), as usual, is getting on Sylar's nerves. But then they drive by an old, boarded up, hot dog shack and Sylar abruptly pulls the car over. Using his powers, he removes the boards. Luke has to duck several times to avoid getting hit in the head by the flying debris.

"Something terrible happened here," Sylar says.

A memory sequence plays out: Sylar's father brings young Sylar -- or should I say Gabriel -- (Joshua Rush) to the restaurant and leaves him at a table to play with a toy car. This is the place where he sells his son to his brother. When Gabriel runs after his father, he sees him get into the car.

His father and his mother are having a disagreement. Then his father makes a gesture with his hand, blood splatters on the inside of the rear window and his father pushes the body of his mother out and drives off. She lays dead and bleeding on the gravel, a cut across her forehead.

When Luke tries to make light of Sylar's father being a jerk, like all parents, Sylar pins him up against the wall, but doesn't kill him. Instead, he leaves him there to go after his father and kill him.

Meanwhile, back in Building 26, Danko (Zeljko Ivanek) -- a.k.a. The Hunter -- has discovered the location of Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg). He's given the order to shoot to kill, which, of course, pisses off Nathan.

The mysterious text message sender that has been communicating with Claire gives Peter and Matt the address where Daphne is being held and then warns them that the agents are coming and they have about 30 seconds to escape.

Peter is skeptical, but Matt takes down the information and they leave with about a second to spare before agents arrive.

Matt insists that they need to rescue Daphne and Peter reluctantly agrees. When they arrive at Building 26, Peter takes on Matt's power so that both of them can use mind control to get into the building and rescue Daphne.

It doesn't go quite according to plan. Turns out, Daphne has already been transferred to a medical facility. But, with a little help from Rebel, they are able to download video of when they were hostages in hoods being loaded onto the plane (from the first episode).

Controlling so many minds turns out to be too much for Matt. And, when Noah turns on the fire alarm, the stress is too much and he loses control. Rebel is able to turn the alarm off for about 30 seconds, which is enough time for Matt to hold the agents off as Peter escapes.

Later, Nathan is in the car with his mother. He asks her if she is helping Peter. Is she "Rebel"? No, she says. She knows who is protecting her, and is grateful.

Peter calls. He offers to return the damaging data he has found in exchange for Matt and Daphne. But, if anything happens to any of them, the information goes to the media. Nathan agrees to the swap.

Of course, Danko has other plans. He sends Noah to pretend to make the exchange, while he goes sniper and plans to shoot him from a hiding place. As they leave, Nathan tells Noah, "Remember. Peter can read your thoughts."

Although Noah has been acting like he is not really with Nathan, to gain Danko's trust, he uses his thoughts to warn Peter. However, Peter, confused, doesn't get out of the way in time and is shot in the arm. He stumbles and falls over the side of the building.

Apparently, Nathan was waiting nearby and flies Peter away to safety. They meet with their mother and Nathan tries to convince Peter to come with him and that he'll make sure he is treated well. Peter pretends to agree, but takes on Nathan's flying power and flies away.

That night, the media runs stories of some covert operation mistreating U.S. citizens, using the footage Peter provided.

What Worked

Sylar's memory sequence uses Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" as a backdrop and the lyrics are quite apropos to the story line.

"Damn your love
Damn your lies
And if you dont love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain."

The question is, will Sylar, eventually, be able to break the chain of evil he inherited from his father?

Another favorite moment: The episode closes with Claire warm and cuddly in her terry-cloth robe. She feels good about how she was able to help Alex. Her mother says she's popped some corn and offers to watch a sappy love story together. Claire goes down to get the popcorn out of the microwave, but it isn't there. She closes the door, turns around and there stands Eric Doyle, the Puppet Master.

"Hi, Barbie," he says. "I got a message. Someone called Rebel."

He shows her the text message on his phone. It says, "Claire will save you."

Wonderful edge cuts both ways, eh?

What Didn't Work

The mini-romance between Alex and Claire, while fun, seemed a little forced. And I can't put my finger on why.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Exposed" was written by Adam Armus and Kay Foster; and directed by Eric Laneuville. "Heroes" airs on NBC, Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.