| No Ordinary Anniversary | |
| Season 1, Episode 9 | |
 | |
| Air date | 30 Nov, 2010 |
| Written by | Marc Guggenheim |
| Directed by | John Polson |
| Episode Guide | |
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Plot[]
Jim and Stephanie plan a romantic evening away from the kids to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, but instead find themselves teaming up and using their superpowers to deal with a serial arsonist who is exhibiting some special powers of his own. Meanwhile, Daphne and JJ are left home alone and join forces to win some big money in a poker game with some fellow students.
Full Recap[]
Jim is buying flowers for Stephanie for their 18th anniversary, and George is impressed they've been together that long. As they go, Jim admits that he just wants their anniversary to be normal. Fire trucks go by and George says that Jim needs to help. When Jim worries that he may not be invulnerable to extreme heat, George says that he has to take a leap of faith. Jim leaps to the building on fire and rescues a boy trapped on a roof. He emerges from the lobby and claims he was in the building all along, and notices a man in the crowd avidly watching the flames.
That night, JJ insists that he needs a computer that can keep up with his heightened brainpower, but Stephanie says he'll have to wait until he can afford it with his allowance. She tells both kids that their babysitter will be there the next night to babysit them. Daphne insists that she's old enough to watch them both. Jim comes in and agrees that Daphne is mature enough, and then tells Stephanie that his powers have evolved so that he can resist flames. Stephanie notes his ability in her journal
The next day, Stephanie and Katie test Jim's cell sample to determine how flame-resistant he is. Katie asks about when Stephanie realized Jim was the man for her, and admits that Will is somewhat of a closed book to her. Dr. Chiles comes in and asks to see the results of her experiments, and Stephanie refuses. He takes offense, insisting that she's stopping him from doing his job as her lab partner.
At school, Jesse and Dylan taunt JJ. He overhears them talking about the fact they have to cancel poker because they don't have a house to play. JJ offers to let them use his house, and says he'll read up on poker.
Jim gives Stephanie an anniversary present; a sculpture of two hands embracing each other, which he explains represents how they fit together no matter how different they are. They head out for their anniversary dinner, and the kids assure her they'll be fine. As they go, George calls to say that they have a serial arsonist on their hands, and the man that Jim saw has been at all of the fires. Jim tells him to let the police handle it while he goes on his date.
The man from the fires, Theo Patton, goes to another building and generates flames from his hands, starting a fire.
Jim and Stephanie arrive at the restaurant and discover an unsympathetic hostess who says they have a 45 minute wait.
Dylan, Jesse, and their friends arrive at the house, much to Daphne's surprise. JJ ushers them in for poker, and then asks Daphne not to interfere. When she balks, JJ finally agrees to split the winnings 50/50.
Dr. King summons Chiles to his office and tells him to inform him about what Stephanie is doing. When Chiles refuses to spy, insisting that it's beneath him, King fires him without hesitation.
While she waits, Stephanie calls Katie at the lab and asks her to check on Daphne and JJ. Katie insists that it's fine, and then tells her boyfriend that she has a problem. She's unaware that he's the Watcher, and he's glad to go with her and check out Stephanie's house.
Stephanie tries to convince the hostess to let them in early. When the woman comments about her inability to make time go faster, Stephanie invisibly superspeeds over and erases one name, replacing it with theirs.
JJ wins at seven-card stud thanks to his ability to see the cards and compute the odds. They wonder if he's cheating, and switch to five-card draw, where he can't see the cards.
Jim and Stephanie enjoy dinner, but then overhear the man who they bumped complaining to the hostess that he was hoping to propose to his fiancée. The Powells agree to give up their table and leave, and they end up getting hot dogs at a street vendor. As they walk down the street, they see the fireman clear the most recent fire. Jim spots Theo and tells Stephanie to call the police while he goes after the man. Theo flees into an alley but Jim corners him. The arsonist warns Jim that he doesn't know what he's dealing with, and Jim grabs him and slams him into a wall. Theo realizes that Jim is like him, and blasts him away with a spurt of flames. He tries to bring down Jim, who uses a dumpster lid as a shield.
Stephanie wonders where Jim is, comes to investigate, and knocks out Theo from behind. She admits that she likes the rush of crimefighting. The police arrive and Jim quickly gets Stephanie away so their secret identities aren't compromised. They realize the authorities are taking Theo into custody, but that they won't be able to hold him.
JJ loses because he can't count their cards, and complains to Daphne, He figures she can use her power to determine when they're bluffing. She refuses until she telepathically overhears Jesse drooling over her, and decides to get revenge.
Jim takes Stephanie to the lair and they suggest they break Theo out so that Stephanie can come up with a sedative to overcome his superpowers. George objects, saying he can convince Cordero to let Theo go due to lack of evidence, and they agree to let him try first.
Daphne reads JJ's opponent's minds and signals him for when to call, and he starts winning again.
At Global Tech, Stephanie works on the sedative as Jim admits that he's glad they're working together. Chiles comes in to clear out his desk, and tells Stephanie that they're all expendable.
As JJ cleans out his opponents, Katie and the Watcher arrive at the door. Katie is eager to accept their claim that nothing is going on, but the Watcher suggests they check it out so he can get inside the Powell house. Katie spots the poker players and orders them out. When Jesse refuses, the Watcher secretly uses his telepathic abilities to "push" him into leaving.
George tries to convince Cordero they don't have enough evidence to successfully convict Theo. He suggests they let Theo go and they can follow him to get the evidence they need Cordero doesn't buy it, and George calls to tell Jim they'll have to go with their plan. Meanwhile, Theo uses his one phone call to get hold of King, and says that he needs someone to free him before he gives away who his sponsor is. King agrees to send someone to take care of it.
JJ and Daphne try to convince Katie not to tell their parents about the poker party. The Watcher says he needs to use the bathroom, and then goes into Jim and Stephanie's bedroom. He finds Stephanie's snack foods and journal, and reads her notes on the family's powers. Before he can proceed further, King calls and the Watcher says that he'll take care of it.
Back at the lair, the trio makes plans to intercept the police van transferring Theo. While Stephanie blocks traffic, Jim will break Theo out of the van and bring him back to the lair, and Stephanie will work out a way to strip him of his powers.
Katie insists on telling Jim and Stephanie what happened. The Watcher comes out and says he has an emergency. Suspicious, Katie asks Daphne to scan his mind to figure out if he really has an emergency, and in return she won't talk about the poker party. Daphne asks the Watcher where he's heading, but only gets static when she tries to read his mind. As he goes outside to get the car, Daphne says that he was telling the truth. After Katie leaves, JJ and Daphne discover that the students broke Jim's anniversary sculpture. Daphne suggests that he use his super-brain to put it back together.
As Cordero supervises the transfer, he suggests that Theo confess in return for a reduced sentence. Theo assures him that they'll never find any evidence to tie him to the fires.
JJ figures they can put the sculpture back together, but they'll need epoxy and marble polish and the only place to get it is the art studio at the school. Daphne agrees to help him break in.
Jim and Stephanie are en route to intercept the police van when George calls to tell him that someone has already struck.
The Watcher finishes overturning the van, which is now on fire, and calls to tell King that it's done.
A few minutes later, Jim and Stephanie arrive. She tells her husband to stay and deal with the van and its unconscious occupants, while she goes after Theo.
JJ picks the lock on the school door and they get inside. A security guard intercepts them and isn't impressed by their explanation. Daphne reads his mind and realizes that he's underpaid, and gives him all of JJ's poker winnings in return for him letting them go.
Stephanie follows Theo's fire trail to a shipping warehouse. He warns her to stay away, but she insists she can't let him hurt anyone else. He fires a blast of fire and she dodges, and Theo then turns himself into a human fireball and launches himself at her. Stephanie dodges again and then runs off, and Theo launches himself in pursuit.
Jim gets the stunned Cordero out of the van along with the driver. He runs off before Cordero can get a good look at him. From the shadows, the Watcher takes it all in.
Theo manages to graze Stephanie, sending her sprawling. He prepares to launch a final flame burst, but Jim arrives and throws him under a storage bin, shorting off the controls. As Jim runs to Stephanie's aid, Theo prepares to kill them. The bin overhead opens, smothering him in sand and killing him.
At the school, JJ finishes rebuilding the sculpture. While they wait for it to dry, Daphne explains that she couldn't read the Watcher's thoughts, and that he was deliberately blocking her. Stephanie calls to tell them that they're coming home early. Daphne tells JJ that they have to get home.
As they drive home, Jim broods on the fact that he's killed someone. He wonders if Theo was ever like us before he got his powers, and Stephanie assures him that Theo was completely different. They arrive home and Jim finds a poker chip. JJ claims he was teaching Daphne online poker. Stephanie notices that they moved the sculpture, but doesn't realize it's been reassembled.
As the Powells go to bed, Jim admits that they were amazing together. Stephanie admits that it was great, but says she'll leave it up to him so that they're not both at risk at the same time.
The next day, the Watcher meets King in the park. He admits that things didn't go as planned, and King clams to understand. However, he then dumps out the dose of serum that lets the Watcher keep his powers, and says it will temporarily remind him of what it's like to be normal. After they both leave, Chiles emerges from the bushes and collects a sample of the serum.