US TV

'Heroes' S03E10: 'The Eclipse - Part One'

Published Wednesday, Nov 26 2008, 22:46 GMT | By Ben Rawson-Jones | 24 comments

'Heroes' S03E10: 'The Eclipse - Part One'

The advent of the highly-anticipated eclipse doesn't only rob the heroes of their powers, it seems to sap the show of its potency too. Not even the ever impressive art direction can compensate for the flat pace and ponderous story.

The sibling squabbling between Peter and Nathan is the stuff of mundane daytime soaps, the prophetic image depicting a slayed Claire has been done before in the first season, ten-year-old Hiro is increasingly annoying and Matt's mission to find Daphne takes too long to get anywhere. However, at least the revelation of Daphne's true crippled self is fairly eye-opening when it finally does arrive after much pottering about in the corn fields.

At least a certain character's horn-rimmed glasses aren't affected by the eclipse, as it's great to see Noah Bennet back on butt-kicking form when he batters the freshly impotent Sylar. In defence of Heroes, it's perhaps unfair to judge the merits of this episode on its own. It wasn't called 'The Eclipse - Part One' without reason. It's just a shame that the scene-setting for the inevitable payoff isn't more interesting.

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Craig, Glasgow, on December 5th, 2008
Tedious and boring - what has happened to Heroes!!!

Ollie, London, on November 30th, 2008
I really think this show is coming back on form and that this episode was a great set up for the next episode. Elle, Sylar, Claire, Matt and Daphne was all amazing and I just cannot wait to see what happens next!

lewis from harlow, essex, on November 29th, 2008
great episode, elle is such a great character hope she doesn't die, and i love the daphne twist

Faye, Exeter, on November 29th, 2008
I thought that this episode was pretty good! The scenes between Elle and Sylar were excellent as were those between Daphne and Matt!

Kate L'pool, on November 29th, 2008
Wow people are such misery guts. Great acting inventive storytelling can't wait to see what's next.

gareth, South Wales, on November 29th, 2008
What a series, fantastic writers, fantastic plots, just keeps me on the edge of my seat at the end of every episode.

Edward, Kent, on November 28th, 2008
I actually can't wait for LOST to come back after watching this ****.

granny, london, on November 28th, 2008
Not bad but still too many characters, too many plots. And the core story is the same as Season 1 - save the cheerleader, save the world... again.

rachel, west midlands, on November 28th, 2008
feel so sorry for daphne during the eclipse, hope she gets her powers back

Andysuth, Liverpool, on November 28th, 2008
Whole series is now naff. Can anyone tell me which software I need to Demux the plot?

Rimbaud, London, on November 27th, 2008
What's with the eclipse lasting ages and being visible across such a wide area? Is this intentional, or is the show written by idiots?

Paul Northampton, on November 27th, 2008
This was a great episode! It really had a great chance of feel to it. Once people had lost their powers, the story had to become straight character driven and I thought it succeeded! Those who didnt like it should be the 'dipsh*ts' Tim Kring was refering to! They probably also think Lost is good! Haha

nasrin from london, on November 27th, 2008
it was the best i want more heros big fan

Jlocke, hole island, on November 27th, 2008
I finally agree with one of these reviews! The story was subdued, boring, and the weird lighting made everything really difficult to see. I like Daphne and hope that she gets her legs back in working order soon. Otherwise this episode failed, even though it's just a set up- Lost's "Part One"s have all been pretty good and I don't know why Heroes can't at least try and aim for something like that. Maybe Part Two will pay off... we can only hope.

helen - bradford, on November 27th, 2008
This episode ruined the whole series for me, i am not watching ever again.

Jamie Blackpool, on November 27th, 2008
The best part of this episode was hiro - 'holy crap'

Aaron - London, on November 27th, 2008
I really enjoyed this episode, the stand off between Sylar, Elle, Noah and Claire was fantastic. The loss of powers are incredibly interesting, just to see how they cope. It was called part 1 for a reason, and we have gotten back to some core characters finally interacting a lot more! What more could you ask for!

RichardAM, on November 27th, 2008
The episode where the Heroes lose their powers, is ironically, the best episode of the season.

AJ brighton, on November 27th, 2008
You assume that when the eclipse is over all the heroes and villains will get there powers back or have the enhanced in some way i want to know if Peter will have his restored i cant wait ti find out. also Mohinder mentioned about the powers occurring around this time but Claire's must have start before as the first time we saw her when she threw herself off the scaffolding she said it was test 5 or something I'm not sure. but good play up of it. also if Syler can understand everythnig why is he being manipulated so much by everyone.

Victor, London, on November 27th, 2008
Some of the dialogue was grating, and Ali Larter continues to be the Denise Van Outen of "Heroes" (that wasn't a compliment, in case you're wondering) - but it did have its good points... I liked Claire seeming to relish being able to feel actual pain and prove she's human, the scene with Matt seeing a non-powered Daphne, and the "To Be Continued..." scene (when I find myself going "Aaaagghh!" at a juncture like that, a show's done its job). And I wouldn't bet against Noah hitting his target; rumour has it that a female blonde character is going to die before this is all over. And die for good. (And no, it's not going to be Claire.)

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