| No Ordinary Brother | |
| Season 1, Episode 12 | |
 | |
| Air date | 13 Jan, 2011 |
| Written by | Marc Guggenheim |
| Directed by | John Polson |
| Episode Guide | |
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Plot[]
Jim's wayward brother, Mike, makes a surprise visit to the Powell household and discovers the family has powers. But in an attempt to make some quick cash, he tries to convince JJ into using his abilities to win big by betting on the horses. Meanwhile, in a surprise twist, Katie is given a promotion at Global Tech by Human Resources VP Victoria Morrow, who may be hiding a secret agenda, and Daphne is placed on the school's peer disciplinary committee and believes a student may have been wrongly accused of possessing drugs.
Full Recap[]
It's past two in the morning, and Stephanie hears someone moving around downstairs. She wakes up Jim and tells him to go investigate. After choosing and discarding a baseball bat, Jim goes to the kitchen and grabs the intruder... and discovers that it's his little brother Mike. The next morning, the family gathers for breakfast and Mike explains that he needed to take a break from his girlfriend Tracy, and he's into a footwear repurposement job. Jim is impressed, but Stephanie isn't. Once everyone else leaves, Stephanie warns that Mike has never been reliable, but Jim wants to give him a chance.
The Watcher wakes up in Katie's bed and finds her sitting next to him, holding Stephanie's journal. When she shows it to him, he uses his powers to rewrite it so it looks like his diary. She assumes she made a mistake because of all the emotions from them being in bed. Katie then gets a call from Global Tech Human Resources.
Later, Katie tells Stephanie that she's received a promotion, and she's getting her own lab in Miami. Stephanie becomes hesitant when she learns that Katie is leaving town, but insists that she's happy that Katie is getting the promoted.
Mr. Litchfield tells Daphne that as the new student body president, she serves on the peer disciplinary committee. Using her telepathy, Daphne determines that the first two students are guilty. The last student, Chris Minor, was caught with Adderall pills. Chris gets another 3-day suspension, but Daphne overhears him thinking that he successfully fooled the committee into believing he owns the pills.
Stephanie goes to Dr. King to protest Katie's promotion, and he claims that he didn't know about it. He calls in the new VP of HR, Victoria Morrow, who claims that she was so excited that she forgot to inform Stephanie. Victoria points out that Stephanie gave her glowing reviews, and Stephanie is forced to stand behind them. Victoria wonders if Stephanie wants to keep Katie in a subordinate position, and Stephanie doesn't have an answer to that.
Jim and George go out drinking with Mike, who offers a toast to Jim for being there for him. He starts to pick up the bill, but then gets a call from his accountant. He goes outside and they realize that he faked the call to get out of paying the bill. After George lives, Jim goes to his car and finds thugs beating up on Mike. He intervenes and they escape, backing up and knocking Jim off the top floor of the parking garage. Mike sees his brother lying below, seemingly dead, and runs downstairs.
When Mike gets to the street, he discovers that Jim is unharmed. As they get home, Jim insists that he was lucky but Mike won't drop the matter. He wants to call the news, but Jim would rather ask about the thugs who attacked Mike. Mike persists and Jim finally says that he has superpowers. When Mike thinks that he's putting him on, Jim explains that he's invulnerable to almost anything but a bullet at close range, and invites Mike to hit him with a shovel. Once Mike does so, he believes Jim's claim. Stephanie superspeeds in without realizing that Mike is there, and they end up telling him about JJ and Daphne as well.
In the bedroom, Stephanie doesn't believe that Mike can be trusted with their secret, and warns that Mike has never followed through with anything in his life.
The next day, Katie is packing and Victoria is promising her everything she wants. When Katie admits that she might be letting Stephanie down, Victoria claims that Stephanie said Katie didn't have enough experience to run her own lab, and she wants to be the sole shining star of Global Tech.
Jim and a reluctant George show Mike the lair. Mike asks how much money they make, and they explain they do it for free to help people. Once Mike leaves, George warns Jim that Mike will do something to cash in on Jim's power. Jim thinks that Mike is sincere, but George checked the plates of the thugs' van and learned that they work for Frank Matthews, a loan shark.
Stephanie talks to Katie, and quickly realizes that Katie is angry about her conversation with King and Victoria. When Stephanie points out that it's unusual for Katie to be offered a job so early, Katie says that she supported Stephanie when something unusual happened to her, and asks why Stephanie can't do the same.
Mike gets JJ out of class and offers to take him on a ditch day for a break. They end up at the horse track and Mike convinces JJ to calculate the odds and help him win. JJ does the brainwork and Mike wins big.
At school, Daphne asks Chris who he's covering for. He insists that the pills are his and he doesn't care about his permanent record. She hears him thinking that he's protecting the real pill-holder's scholarship, and Chris' brother Drew comes up. She realizes who the pills belong to.
The principal calls Stephanie to inform her that Mike took out JJ for a family emergency. As Jim returns home, Stephanie tells him that Mike is dragging Jim into another of his scams, and this time he's taking the family along.
At the race track, Mike admits that he's impressed with JJ, and JJ notes that Jim thinks Mike is good at a lot of things, he just hasn't settled down. Jim calls Mike and demands answers, and hears the racetrack music in the background. Back at home, Mike insists that JJ is amazing, but Stephanie notes that he took advantage of JJ. Jim asks for the truth, and Mike claims that he needs a little seed money for his business. Daphne, telepathically overhearing, signals her parents that Mike is lying again. Jim gives him one last chance and his brother admits that he owes $15,000 in gambling debts. He asks Jim to help him, appealing to him as a big brother.
The Watcher warns King that he's not going to let him get away with moving Katie away. When he says that they're done, King warns that without the serum, he'll suffer withdrawal. The Watcher says that he'll find out in Miami when he goes with Katie.
Jim goes to Matthews' warehouse and offers to pay off the $15,000 in installments over six months. Matthews laughs and explains that Mike owes $150,000, and he doesn't do installment plans. He'll collect his payment from Mike, one way or another. Jim goes to see George at his house, and they go to the lair. However, they discover that all of the equipment has been stolen, and figure that Mike is responsible.
The next morning, Jim confronts Mike, who didn't figure Jim would try to pay off his loan. He claims that Matthews followed Jim and took the equipment to pay the debt, but Jim has had enough. Jim asks Mike where he was ten years ago when their dad had a heart attack. He called and begged Mike to be there, because he needed Mike there for himself. When Mike admits he didn't realize that, Jim says that he never has and then leaves.
Dr. King tells Victoria that the Watcher is leaving for love, but she figures that he just wants to be normal. Her boss says that the Watcher has never been normal, and that he isn't to leave the city.
Daphne asks JJ to help her break into Drew's locker and figure out if he has the pills. He reluctantly agrees and they find the pills inside.
When she learns that Mike is leaving, Daphne suggests that he should stay until her father gets over his anger. Mike says it won't work and gives her a hug. As he does, Daphne gets a memory-flash of him watching a sonogram, and she sees the date and time on the monitor.
Stephanie and Katie go to lunch and Stephanie apologizes, assuring Katie that she'll be there for her. Katie tells her that the Watcher is going with her. As they leave, a window slips free from a nearby crane and falls toward Katie. Stephanie uses superspeed to push her out of the way, and the crane operator apologizes profusely.
Daphne goes to the station to tell her father that she saw Mike at an ultrasound appointment when the lair was robbed, and that Tracy is pregnant. He calls Mike to apologize, but discovers that Matthews is holding him prisoner. The loan shark tells Jim to bring $150,000 in the next 24 hours or he'll kill Mike.
Katie tells the Watcher about the crane incident and says that it was an accident. He isn't convinced.
Jim, George, and Stephanie discuss what to do. Jim wants to pay the money, but George says Jim should just break in and take out the bad guys. JJ overhears them and suggests that he go back to the track and raise the money. Jim objects, but Stephanie says that he once said they got their powers to protect people, and they need to protect family.
The Watcher goes to see Dr. King and accuses him of trying to kill Katie. King denies it, but the Watcher says he's not going to let him take away the most important thing to him. When the doctor warns that he can't do anything without his powers, the Watcher says that he'll just have to try harder to make him pay.
Jim and JJ go to the tracks and win big. JJ picks a final winner and they bet everything. However, the horse goes lame in the race, something that JJ couldn't calculate, and Jim says he'll come up with another plan.
Later, Jim goes to Matthews' warehouse and offers to trade himself for Mike. He offers to let the loan shark shoot him as much as he wants. Matthews agrees, but prepares to shoot him directly in the head. Realizing that Jim can be killed, Mike attacks the thug holding him. Jim takes out Matthews and his remaining thugs, and asks Mike what he was thinking. Mike says that a simple thanks would be sufficient.
Chris finds Daphne and tells her that Litchfield found the drugs in Drew's locker, and they're going to suspend him pending evaluation. He thinks that Drew needed to be left alone, but Daphne insists that Drew will get the help he needed. Chris wonders why she cares, and Daphne says that she can understand people thinking you're someone you're not, and that she figures that Chris does as well.
Katie comes to Stephanie and says that she's been obsessed with accidents, but wonders if there are no accident. She plans to stay with Stephanie, working with a friend and a real-life superhero and figuring out the answer to how they got their powers.
Mike is handing out shoes to the family when Jim gives him a check: the reward for Matthews' arrest. When Mike tries to turn it down, Jim says that it's for the baby. Mike admits that he considered staying away as the best thing for the baby, but his life changed when he saw the baby. Jim assures him that he'll do fine as a father. Mike then admits that he was in the hospital parking lot when their father had his heart attack. He couldn't go in because he realized that Jim and their father had each other, and didn't need him. Jim assures him that he needed him.
George calls Jim over and reveals that his homeowner's insurance has total umbrella coverage. He has used the insurance payment to re-equip the lair better than ever.
The crane operator comes to see King, who wants to know how he failed. The "crane operator" transforms, revealing that it's Victoria, a shapeshifter. Dr. King has a new plan and says he knows exactly how she can help him.