# Heroes 12/1/08 "The Eclipse, part II" (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276 "2008-12-02T01:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/21 "2008-12-02T10:49:36Z")
**Annie** , that was great as always. 🙂 Actually, I really liked this episode. The whole ‘getting advice from the comic book dudes’ was hilarious and, or so I thought, a bit of a nod to the hordes of fanboys singing the swan song of ‘why doesn’t anybody do anything even remotely smart with their powers?’. But did Noah just watch Elle and Sylar screw through his scope? “Now I can finally kill Sylar! …Oh well, or I can watch him bone my hot ex-partner first. Then kill him.” That just seems wrong even by Noah’s standards. ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/22 "2008-12-02T13:22:23Z")
I thought Sylar’s hunger is to learn how people’s ability work? However, he has _already_ learned Elle’s ability. Why does he still feel the need to open up Elle? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/23 "2008-12-02T14:17:59Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > I thought Sylar’s hunger is to learn how people’s ability work? However, he has _already_ learned Elle’s ability. Why does he still feel the need to open up Elle? he learned her ability, but not her control, so obviously, the thing to do is to look into it further. I was just surprised she didn’t short out like last time. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/24 "2008-12-02T15:02:11Z")
I figured “the hunger” was a hunger for _power_, not necessarily abilities. Sylar made that point while fighting Noah; “I get it, you’re in control now” or something to that effect. The abilities are Sylar’s means of getting and maintaining power over others, but he needs to actually exercise control over others to feel satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/25 "2008-12-02T15:06:31Z")
He has also always said that people were broken and he wanted to fix them. The first bunch, all he could do was take their powers, but they died. With Elle, he learned how to use her power without killing her. Now, maybe he thinks he can fix her power (so she can control it) without killing her. Or, he’s going to kill her. Do we think Claire can feel pain now? > [@](#): > > HRG: While my nemesis is distracted by necking with my old partner, I can line up a- woah, dude, that was fast. And not in a good way….. Yeah, that was awkward… either they’re really fast, HRG’s a bit of a voyeur, or [gasp] there’s a bit of a continuity error here. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/26 "2008-12-02T15:21:16Z")
I thought Hiro was pretty awesome this week. Too bad for Elle he didn’t decide to separate her from Sylar though. I really thought Elle would be the baby mama. Maybe she still is somehow, involving time travel or brain removal not being fatal to her since she doesn’t really use it much. ---
**Author:** ![Gwyen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/858c86/32.png) [@Gwyen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwyen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/27 "2008-12-02T15:40:31Z")
Why did Hiro pop Sylar and Elle to the same place? I would have kept all the “bad” guys apart… but then again he is still 10 years old. I enjoyed this, even though I knew it wasn’t going to stick, it was a senseless yet fun ride. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/28 "2008-12-02T15:57:04Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > I thought Sylar’s hunger is to learn how people’s ability work? However, he has _already_ learned Elle’s ability. Why does he still feel the need to open up Elle? Can we still keep prosaic old ‘intimacy issues’ up on the whiteboard for consideration? Actually, the Elle-icide, and Nathan flying off to join Vader, errrr, Arthur were my only “uh, what? OK, what_ever_!” moments of the show. The “oh, FFS!” quotient of the show has been falling over the past few episodes, and I even get a few “fuck, yeah!” 's thrown in. I always love it when Mo knocks someone out with lab equipment (by my count: microscope, tackboard, fire extinguisher and a bronze elephant); and Noah’s ‘they aren’t your parents, you know’- well, I hope to god he’s right. That was a soap opera turn that needs to be yanked back at someone’s earliest convenience-or whenever it will make Sylar absolutely bugshit, whichever.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/29 "2008-12-02T16:10:22Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > Actually, the Elle-icide, and Nathan flying off to join Vader, errrr, Arthur were my only “uh, what? OK, what_ever_!” moments of the show. I dunno. I can kinda buy the whole “what’s so bad about giving people super-powers?” aspect. Sure Costa Verde blew up, but that happened because a bunch of guys _who already had_ super-powers showed up and decided to slug it out. > [@](#): > > …Noah’s ‘they aren’t your parents, you know’- well, I hope to god he’s right. That was a soap opera turn that needs to be yanked back at someone’s earliest convenience-or whenever it will make Sylar absolutely bugshit, whichever.😉 Yes! I like Sylar as a monster. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/30 "2008-12-02T17:05:32Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > The “oh, FFS!” quotient of the show has been falling over the past few episodes, and I even get a few “fuck, yeah!” 's thrown in. I had a FFS moment when Maya chose to answer the door, rather than fire a few shotgun shells through it. I mean, why? ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/31 "2008-12-02T17:15:29Z")
Did I miss anything with Claire’s escape from the hospital? I was doing a couple things at once. Did they actually show her sneaking out? Or will the cops show up next week wondering WTF happened? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/32 "2008-12-02T17:28:05Z")
I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who was amused when ten-year-old Hiro said, “Save the cheerleader.” Of course, that raises the question… Why would he say such a thing? After all, his ten-year-old self would have no memory of the cheerleader prophecy. I do think there’s a reasonable answer, though. Perhaps he read about it in the comic book. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/33 "2008-12-02T17:29:52Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I dunno. I can kinda buy the whole “what’s so bad about giving people super-powers?” aspect. Sure Costa Verde blew up, but that happened because a bunch of guys _who already had_ super-powers showed up and decided to slug it out. However, Costa Verde blowing up is not what Peter is supposed to be stopping. This season is supposed to be about stopping the world from _cracking in two_. Not making that clearer is really something I have to cast blame upon poor writing for. The only reference to the whole world blowing up we’ve seen reinforced are those paintings of Dead African Guy. And those’re usually in the background. Whereas the Costa Verde kaboom was actually _shown_ to us. The good writing adage: show, don’t tell. They’ve decided to only _tell_ about the season’s plot-point, and at the same time _showed_ something that looks like a competing plot-point. Bad writing. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/34 "2008-12-02T17:39:44Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who was amused when ten-year-old Hiro said, “Save the cheerleader.” Of course, that raises the question… Why would he say such a thing? After all, his ten-year-old self would have no memory of the cheerleader prophecy. > > I do think there’s a reasonable answer, though. Perhaps he read about it in the comic book. I would assume he did read about it in the comics. Wasn’t his reason for refusing to grow up because he saw all of the horrible things that had happened? He was having a weird little self-fannish moment. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/35 "2008-12-02T18:21:43Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > The good writing adage: show, don’t tell. They’ve decided to only _tell_ about the season’s plot-point, and at the same time _showed_ something that looks like a competing plot-point. Bad writing. They did show at least some bigger catastrophe though, with Tokyo (I think it was) being swallowed skyscraper by skyscraper by some mile-high dust cloud, I think it was in the future where Ando zaps Hiro with red lightning. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/36 "2008-12-02T21:34:31Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > However, Costa Verde blowing up is not what Peter is supposed to be stopping. This season is supposed to be about stopping the world from _cracking in two_. > > Not making that clearer is really something I have to cast blame upon poor writing for. The only reference to the whole world blowing up we’ve seen reinforced are those paintings of Dead African Guy. And those’re usually in the background. > > Whereas the Costa Verde kaboom was actually _shown_ to us. > > The good writing adage: show, don’t tell. They’ve decided to only _tell_ about the season’s plot-point, and at the same time _showed_ something that looks like a competing plot-point. Bad writing. I agree with both you and Maus Magill - the season’s main plot point has been handled extraordinarily badly, writing wise. We’ve been led to believe in vague fashion that the release of formula = imminent end of the world through the vision of Hiro in the future, plus the cracked world paintings. But yeah, the whole thing is definitely damaged by Peter and his journey to the future. For a start, as Maus points out, far from being a hellish dsytopia with everyone with powers in cages, (like Future Peter tells Future Claire in this season’s opener ), things seemed to be carrying on well enough with the same occasional major disaster you’d get from having the natural born supers running around. AND the cracked world graffiti was still there in the future if memory serves me. So…no imminent threat or clear evidence of the formula being disastrous and never been any clear notion of what Peter thinks his mission has been this season. Everyone’s just been buffeted about by events. ETA: and we got no shirtless Adrian Pasdar either - sometimes this show just flat out blowz. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/37 "2008-12-02T21:39:25Z")
So…did characters that had their powers before the previous eclipse not remember that this happened to them a year ago? Like, say, Elle? Elle’s father? Claire’s father? Parkman’s Dad? Adam? (“Uh-oh…I’m turning into dust…” ) No documentation of this phenomenon occurring anywhere in the records at Pinehearst or Primatech? Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/38 "2008-12-02T21:44:11Z")
Didn’t it take Hiro a long time to learn how to use his powers in the first season? Now, as a 10 year old, he’s able to use them perfectly after a couple days? And I agree. How long did HRG watch Sylar and Elle before he took a shot? ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/39 "2008-12-02T21:46:10Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > So…did characters that had their powers before the previous eclipse not remember that this happened to them a year ago? > > Like, say, Elle? Elle’s father? Claire’s father? Parkman’s Dad? Adam? (“Uh-oh..I’m turning into dust…” ) > > No documentation of this phenomenon occurring anywhere in the records at Pinehearst or Primatech? > > Sigh. From Arthur’s insistence that Mohinder figures out why the eclipse affects their powers, I think it’s safe to say this is the first time that an eclipse has (in his lifetime) taken away powers. Thought that was pretty clear; it’s not just ANY eclipse that gives or takes away powers, which is why Mohinder is having such a hard time figuring things out. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276/40 "2008-12-02T21:50:59Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > From Arthur’s insistence that Mohinder figures out why the eclipse affects their powers, I think it’s safe to say this is the first time that an eclipse has (in his lifetime) taken away powers. Thought that was pretty clear; it’s not just ANY eclipse that gives or takes away powers, which is why Mohinder is having such a hard time figuring things out. I figured since he was in a coma he wouldn’t remember the last one. But surely Adam has encountered a powers-sucking eclipse before and did _not_ turn to dust. Unless this is the first time it’s happened in 400 yeras or so. I really hope they provide a clear explanation of the powers-giving eclipse and the powers-taking-away eclipse and how it ties into people who already had their powers… …I’m not holding my breath. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-12-1-08-the-eclipse-part-ii-spoilers/475276.md?page=3)