Heroes: The Eclipse Part 2

In Heroes-verse, our super counterparts are still powerless.  And the world they inhabit is as dramatic as an episode of Law & Order where the ones wielding the guns have the upper hand.  Knowing last week’s episode was the first of a two-parter, I wasn’t surprised that my feelings of disappointment continued through this week.

Claire worsens and is rushed to the hospital.  In charge for once, Sandra is at a loss and pleads with Noah to come to the rescue of his dying daughter, but while Claire flatlines, Noah hunts both Sylar and Elle.  His main target is Mr. Evil Has-been, but since Elle and Sylar did the deed (Oh la la!), they’re a package.  With his Glock in hand, Noah resurfaces, spoils their tender moment and ends up shooting Elle.  As the pair limp away with Noah hot on their trail, Sylar takes one for the team and locks Elle up so she won’t get hurt any further.  In a power-free showdown, Noah corners his enemy and slits his throat. (Noah got joy out of this.  And again, I’m led to think, “Who the hell are the villains this season?!  I’m confused.  My head hurts a lot.”)

With a lot less drama and a lot more lovey-dovey pleasantries, Matt convinces Daphne that she is a good person no matter what she’s done in the past.  All the while, Hiro and Ando rifle through the comic book store in search of old 9th Wonders comics.  With what he learns, Hiro, still 10, never wants to grow up. (I don’t blame him, reading about slaying people left and right.) However, Seth Green, the comic book slacker, reminds Hiro that he gives people hope.  The comic geeks also suggest they hunt down Isaac’s infamous sketch book that was given to a messenger in “.07%.”

On the other side of the world, Peter and the Haitian plot to use brute force to help Nathan escape Samedi.  When that doesn’t work, they run while Peter holds off (oh, 40) a few men with machine guns.  Luckily, the eclipse is over just in time for Nathan and the Haitian to return super charged and save Peter before he’s riddled with lead.  The Haitian, with more lines than he’s had all season, takes down his brother.

Now that our frenemies’ powers have returned, Claire heals which inevitably means that Sylar will heal too. (I saw this coming from a mile away.  So like the writers to take the easy way out.) Elle and Sylar return to the Bennet house to exact revenge on the man with the horn-rimmed glasses, and Sylar almost succeeds in killing the man who so recently offed him, but Hiro saves the day.  Since reading in a 9th Wonders comic that Claire’s the key to regaining his memories, he time-trips both Elle and Sylar to a faraway beach and steals Claire, taking her to the Deveaux rooftop where we relive the moment Claire, as a baby, is forced on the Company Man. (Why this point is significant, I have no clue.) However, before they teleport, Noah gets in one low jab by telling Sylar that he’s not a Petrelli but a pawn.  This seems to flip a switch in Sylar’s head because when they arrive on the beach, he’s back to his old self again. (Not his “good,” old self but the “killer,” old-old self.)

Nathan also flips a switch and jumps over to the “villainous” side.  His (one day) vacation in Haiti has reminded him of the injustice in the world, and although he can never forgive his father, he does understand and want to be a part of his plan. (One plus one does not equal three, Nathan.  In other words, your logic is super twisted!) To make matters worse, he leaves Peter to hitch a ride back into the US. (I always knew that the battle between the Haitian and his brother was just foreplay for the showdown between Peter and Nathan.)

I wish this all made sense, but it doesn’t really.  We haven’t had any hints or correlation to the future we invested so much time in dissecting.  Plus so much still goes unsaid between our frenemies.  Why haven’t Hiro and Claire spoken more than once?  Shouldn’t everyone share information?!  For a small group of people in the world to know they all have powers, you’d think some of them would become pen pals.

Sidenote:

Mohinder spent the episode trying to figure out how the eclipse and their lack of powers were correlated. (He didn’t, and I assume we never will too.) Without successful research, he breaks out to go see Maya.  Sadly, the eclipse ends and his “rash” returns just as he reaches her door. (Don’t ask me why Maya needs to be included at all.)

On the plus side, though underused, Seth Green and Breckin Meyer were the funny bone that Heroes lost long ago.  They had a great way of mocking past events in a way that made you giggle, not cringe.  Plus they are true comic book geeks, and it showed. (I assure you, there was little acting.)

Though the action and drama was upped a notch with the “death” of both Sylar and Claire, it all felt rushed, expected and still, completely, disconnected to the initial idea of the “Villains” arc.  I know there’s no way for the writers to appease me with only a few episodes to go, so I will just continue on this bumpy road until the end and save the large judgments until then.  At least with the cancellation of my beloved Pushing Daisies, an inventive writer by the name of Bryan Fuller will be open to help return Heroes to the must-watch television it once was.  If it gets the chance.

Season 3, Episode 11: The Eclipse Part 2 (originally aired December 1, 2008)

For another take on this episode, check out Here Comes The Sun by Paul Secrest.

For more on Heroes, click here.

Mondays at 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC