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In Summary, Sylar meets dear old dad and is surprised by what he finds. Claire struggles with the moral issues of helping -- or not helping -- the man that tormented her mothers and herself. Nathan walks the fine line of getting discovered by Danko when Matt Parkman shows up on Capitol Hill with a bomb jacket.

When Sylar (Zachary Quinto) arrives at his father's mobile home in the mountains, he is surprised to find the man that killed is mother is old, gray and dying of cancer. Samson Gray (John Glover) is working on his taxidermy hooked up to an oxygen machine.

This gives Sylar pause. The two have a strained father/son conversation as Gray shows Sylar how to stuff a bunny ... with the help of Gray's power. Gray whistles and twirls is finger, causing a live rabbit to stop in its tracks.

During the taxidermy lesson, Sylar cuts himself and heals before Gray's eyes. Of course, being the bastard that he is, Gray tries to subdue Sylar with his power (and a couple of arrows throw Sylar's torso, pinning him to a wall) so that he can get that healing power.

Sylar plays 'possum at first, but then unleashes his power on Gray, wrapping the man's oxygen tube around his neck. Gray tells him to just finish the job and kill him.

Sylar responds that Gray will die all right, but slowly and painfully from the cancer, and then walks away.

Meanwhile, back in Costa Verde, Claire (Hayden Panettiere) refuses to help Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence XVII) - a.k.a. The Puppet Master. Using his best puppy dog face, he turns away and leaves.

The next day, Claire goes in to comic book shop where Alex used to work and interviews for the opening Alex left behind. Although she is not able to speak geek with the manager, she gets the job because, well, she's pretty and her presence alone will sell comic books.

As she leaves, she gets a text from Rebel. The agents are closing in on Doyle. She must help!

Reluctantly, she goes to help him, arriving just in time to witness him trying not to hurt one of the agents while trying to get away.

In the end, she does help him. In an evening meeting at a park, she hands him his new identity and asks him if he really meant what he said about wanting to be a better person. His answer? A shrug that suggests it was all an act to get her help.

Now back to Parkman (Greg Grunberg). When we last saw him, Danko (Zeljko Ivaneko) had drugged him, suited him up with a bomb jacket and left him on the steps of Capitol Hill.

Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) realizes that Danko set this up and goes out to help Matt. Although he wants people with powers to be locked up, he apparently cares enough to not want them dead.

Nathan gets the Federal agents that are surrounding Matt to back off for a little while so that he can go and talk to Matt. He encourages Matt to read the minds of the bomb squad so that he can disable the bomb.

Due to the stress and the drugs, Matt is having a hard time getting the information he wants. But he is successful. The bomb is diffused and the day is saved. Then Nathan punches Matt in the face, knocking him out, and the Feds rush in to take him away.

Back and Building 26, Danko is wondering how Nathan got to the scene so fast. He begins investigating Nathan and the Petrellis. He meets with Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose) who deftly deflects all his questions. Then brings up Angola ... something terrible from Danko's past ... and uses it as a veiled threat.

Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) is the one who sent Danko to Angela. He's trying to fix the mess that he sees Nathan has made with Danko, while still keeping Danko's trust.

Nathan is finally able to get Danko fired, but before Danko leaves he confronts Nathan and pushes him out the window. Of course, Nathan is able to save himself and fly away.

Back in Costa Verde, Claire gets a text from Rebel: "Your free pass is up. Agents are coming." When they arrive, they don't find Claire, for Nathan is hiding her in the branches of the tree outside her window.

The episode closes with Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) arriving at a suburban residence. Hiro is insistent that Matt Parkman is somewhere here and needs his help.

A girl finds them and is relieved that her babysitter replacement is finally here. She hands a baby boy to Hiro, who obviously doesn't know how to hold a baby.

"You don't understand," he says. "We're here to help Matt Parkman."

"You're holding him," the girl replies.

What Worked

The scene where Angela slurps on an oyster while she verbally jousts with Danko was superb! It felt Hitchcockian and balanced underlying tension with a hint of humor.

What Didn't Work

If two strange guys showed up when you were expecting a baby sitter and protested that they weren't there to baby-sit, why would you leave a baby with them anyway?

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Shades of Gray" was written by Rob Fresco; and directed by Greg
Beeman. "Heroes" airs on NBC, Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.