This week's episode of Heroes [1] shows "there's a moment in every war when everything changes. . . No matter how much we resist the change. . . in the end, we're never truly ready when it strikes."

Arthur sketches all sorts of death and destruction, and then the eclipse begins and the heroes are surprised to find their powers diminished. It's kind of funny to see the characters try to use their powers, tilting their heads or twitching their fingers, and nothing happens. It all looks so silly.

Anywho, to chat about this first part of "The Eclipse," .

• In the intro, we see Arthur sketching his little heart out. He goes to Sylar and tells him to bring him Claire. Elle insists on going along and helping because after all, she was "raised to be a Company girl." Sylar asks, "You OK with this, Dad?" (Dad? Already?) Arthur calls the two of them "a good pairing."
• Claire whines about being the catalyst. Angela tells her to just stay out of harm's way. "But I can fight! I can do more, I can be more!" Ugh, shut up, Claire. HRG appears and takes Claire to Stephen Canfield's house, where Claire whines some more and argues with her dad like a brat. The HRG-Claire relationship used to be so cute but now it's just annoying. Then HRG starts training Claire.
• Mohinder's all up in arms because Arthur hasn't cured him yet. And eww, over the course of the episode, Mohinder gets grosser and grosser until he's in his own slime cocoon. Then he disgustingly slithers out of his cocoon thingy and finds that his scales are gone.
• Daphne calls Hiro a spaz but Parkman says he's "a walking do-over," and he wants to find him. Hiro and Ando show up at the door, and Ando says Parkman has to fix Hiro because Arthur erased his memory. You know, 10-year-old Hiro is not that different from the way they usually write Hiro's character, sadly. Daphne freaks out, Parkman tries reading her mind (how much would it suck if your boyfriend could read your mind?), and she flees to her parents' house in Kansas.



• Elle uses a rental car guy to ignite Sylar's anger and his "hunger."She says they're all trying to make him into something. "Who are you really?" Later, Sylar and Elle drive off in a snazzy red car in search of Claire.
• Tracy is still in cahoots with Arthur, hoping to make it into the oval office, but she's growing uneasy as she starts to see all that Arthur is capable of. He wants her to go to Paris Island, the marine training facility because, Arthur says, "Every war needs an army." Angela appears in the doorway and Tracy gets up to leave, saying, "No rest for the wicked." Ha, Angela: "I guess not."
• So, Claire was a sad little girl because her dad went on lots of trips. Yawn. Soon, Sylar and Elle come in but neither of them can use their powers. Still, Elle gets ahold of the gun, tries to shoot HRG but Claire jumps in the way of the bullet. HRG picks her up, just like in Arthur's sketch. He brings her to their house where he and Sandra treat her "flesh wound."
• Hiro teleports Ando and Parkman and himself to Kansas in search of Daphne just before the eclipse starts, which depletes all the heroes' powers. In Kansas, Daphne's dad won't let him see her. When Parkman tries to read her dad's mind, he looks at Parkman, puzzled. "Why are you turning your head sideways?" Ando explains to Hiro that Parkman can't use his powers. "This is a part of the Hero's Quest," Hiro says. "Can you triumph without powers?" Hiro throws corn at Parkman until he goes back to Daphne's house.
• Nathan and Pete fly off to find the Haitian, but they fall to the earth as Nathan loses his power to fly. They then begin a trek through the forest. Nathan spots a doll tied to a tree and Peter explains they're like "messengers. Prayers for salvation, redemption." The two brothers start quibbling: Peter doesn't want to be treated like an "idiot kid brother," and Nathan says he should try earning his respect. Then Peter accuses Nathan of being Arthur's puppet. It turns out Peter's sore because in the future Nathan chooses their dad over him.
• Hiro and Ando set off to find the next issue of the comic book. At the comic book store they find Breckin Meyer and Seth Green.
• Mohinder's scales, abilities — all gone. So, he looks up Maya (again with the Maya?). He starts to leave, but Arthur doesn't let him.
• Peter wants to help the Haitian find his brother, but of course, Arthur has other plans for them. He manages to have Nathan captured.
• Parkman tells Daphne he loves her, then walks into her house and sees that without her powers, she is in leg braces, on crutches. This is what Arthur saved her from, apparently.
• OK, Elle popping Sylar's shoulder back into place while he roars made me laugh, I admit. She says without their powers they can't take what they want anymore. "Says who?" Sylar says huskily. He grabs her and kisses her, as HRG watches them with a sniper gun.

As always, to be continued. . .

Photos courtesy of NBC [2]