Broken Frontier

Longtime Heroes viewers will probably remember that in the show’s pilot, the characters’ powers began to manifest themselves during a solar eclipse. Appropriately enough, in “The Eclipse – Part 1,” another eclipse mysteriously takes their powers away.

Robbing a super-powered character of their abilities always has storytelling potential, as showcased in the Superman and Spider-Man film series. With Heroes having an exhausting number of characters who serve as reset buttons—Hiro can travel back in time and Claire can heal people with her blood—removing powers brings an element of danger to the show that has not been seen since its earliest episodes. However, it’s disappointing that just one week after the show brought its characters together with a common goal— to protect the catalyst—they’re all spread out again on separate missions. Why couldn’t the show stay focused? You have the good guys fighting on the side of Angela Petrelli, while the bad guys serve her husband Arthur. That’s all you really need. More straightforward storytelling still allows for interesting character interactions, such as the building tension between Peter and Nathan, without subjecting characters to outlandish and distracting sideplots. For example, in this episode, Nathan is kidnapped by the Haitian’s brother, who is apparently worshiped as a god. Unnecessary diversions such as this one make the show seem bloated and scattershot.

There were some great moments in this episode between Claire and her adoptive father Noah, who trains her to defend herself. She is, allegedly, the catalyst after all. The scene revealed some her deep-seeded resentment for Noah, whom she says was never really there for her growing up. This scene is made all the more poignant when, just moments later, Elle and Sylar burst into the room and Claire takes a bullet for Noah. Of course, none of them have powers and she doesn’t know yet that she can’t heal. Oops.

Speaking of Elle and Sylar, their blossoming romance took a turn for the weird this week. In the last episode, we were rooting for these one-time villains, but now Elle is manipulating Sylar into once again using his powers for evil. Soon after, they both try to kill Noah before learning that their powers were sapped. And once they learn that their powers are gone, Sylar feels liberated and the two embrace. How are we supposed to feel about this?

Matt, Ando and a mentally-10-year-old Hiro track Daphne to her Kansas home, where Matt professes his undying love for her. The big shock here is that the speedy Daphne—now powerless—cannot walk without the aid of crutches and leg braces. While Matt is otherwise preoccupied, Hiro drags Ando to a local comic book store, where they can hopefully track down the latest issue of 9th Wonders!, which will tell them their next move. At the comic book store, there are brief cameos from Robot Chicken luminaries Seth Green and Breckin Meyer, but they don’t do a whole lot. Perhaps their appearance will pay off later.

Heroes is doing a great job in building up to something this season, but because the show has become so schizophrenic, it’s unclear as to whether that something is worth waiting for.