Heroes: Power Couples

I kinda liked it (that's what she said).

Actually, I'm talking about the second half of "Heroes'" two-part "The Eclipse," in which the characters got their powers back following the Longest. Eclipse. Ever. (Pardon me for paraphrasing Seth Green's Sam.)

No, it wasn't exactly the Best. Day. Ever. for "Heroes" because too many of the characters are still relentlessly stupid, the "romances" are still completely unbelievable, and Mohinder is still alive. Still, I saw some things to like, including interesting character development, a couple of solid action sequences, Seth Green and Breckin Meyer (pictured, left, and the only two actors who appear to realize they're not acting in a serious show) as comic book nerds Sam and Frack and even some (intentional) humor.

As we caught up with our still-powerless heroes, H.R.G. was still intent on killing Sylar and Elle, Nathan had been captured by Baron Samedi (the Haitian's brother and a Haitian himself, though Jimmy Jean Louis showed his TV brother why he's THE Haitian), Mohinder was happy about being cured of his scaliness, and Parkman and Hiro were still acting like idiots in Kansas.

I mean, really Matt? "What are those things on your legs?" after seeing Daphne in leg braces? Didn't you see "Forrest Gump"? Unfortunately for us, there is no end in sight for this "romance" as Matt helped Daphne reconnect with her father and her scarecrow.

I'm slightly more optimistic about Hiro's storyline, only because it seems like Sam and Frack are on their way to helping put an end to this 10-year-old nonsense. Through some "9th Wonder" back issues, the duo discovered that Hiro needed to pick up Claire and time travel back to the moment when the Company handed her over to Noah. I also liked the idea that, given all the horrible things that have happened, Hiro was hesitant about embracing his abilities again. Of course, this could've worked just as well (actually better) if Hiro had merely lost his memory and not reverted back to childhood, but it's too late to undo that embarrassing turn of events.

Of course, when Hiro popped into the Bennett household as Sylar was about to kill H.R.G., and teleported Sylar and Elle out of there while taking Claire to safety, he also took all the drama that had been built up with him. Still, I thought it was funny way to cut through the tension. H.R.G. had been hunting the mostly-defenseless couple through most of the episode before slitting Sylar's throat earlier.

I liked how coldly Bennett disposed of Sylar and I thought the idea that Claire could get deathly sick because she's never had to develop resistance to any infections was very clever. However, the fact that this show has killed and brought back its central characters time and time again pretty much robs every major "death" of excitement or drama. I think I may have actually yawned when Claire flatlined.

One person who doesn't appear to be coming back is Elle. At the end of my recap last week I asked the writers to please kill Elle before I disliked Kristen Bell any more due to this show. Well, I got my wish. I would like to say that I'll miss her, but that character had become such a confounding mess, that I'm just happy Kristen Bell can do something better with her time. I mean, did she want to have her powers or did she want to be rid of them? Did she want Sylar to be good or bad? Well, she didn't really get a choice as Sylar reverted back to his old habits and sliced her head open (despite the fact that he already took her power through empathy) after their "From Here to Eternity" moment. Bell's acting, however, was good in her final moments, expressing both fear and a sort of acceptance for the monster she helped create.

While I actually enjoyed the Sylar redemption storyline (and Zachary Quinto's performance), I'm glad to see big bad Sylar back and on a tear. He could be an interesting wild card since he has beef with the Company and Pinehearst. Well, he actually has a beef with Angela and Arthur Petrelli, since they apparently lied to him about being their son (I never fully bought this to begin with, since we saw him with his mom in the first season).

Speaking of Petrellis, Peter and Nathan's jungle adventure was predictably boneheaded. While Baron Samedi was shockingly easy to defeat (not exactly god-like) and the "Haitian prostitute" plot line was a bit much, I DID enjoy Peter doing his best Stallone impersonation with the AK-47. Still, I liked the idea of him trying to prove that he's a hero without his powers. And I really liked Nathan's decision to join his father's mission of developing the formula to give people powers. I'm not exactly sure that Arthur's plan for super humans involves helping people in Darfur, but it's an interesting idea nonetheless.

Finally, Mohinder did something awesome! (I know, I did a triple take too.) After yelling at him the entire episode to simply rise up and kick a powerless Flint's ass, he finally did so! (Less awesome was him looking up Maya. Do we need to go down that road again?) Fortunately, his powers (featuring extra face and neck scales) and that snake sound effect in the sound track came back and he had to run back to Pinehearst. Once there, Arthur suggested that Mohinder may have an extra something in him that would allow him to beat a man nearly to death. He's probably talking about a dark side, but I thought it was interesting that the eclipse took Mohinder's powers away, despite the fact that he didn't get them from the eclipse in the first place. Maybe Mohinder DOES have some secret ability we don't know of yet (other than being incredibly annoying, of course).

So what'd you think of this episode? Why does Seth Green have a beard? Are we ok with the fact that H.R.G. watched Sylar and Elle get it on for an extended amount of time through his sniper scope? (I mean, honestly — there wasn't an actor, director, script supervisor or editor who realized that ending one episode with Noah having Sylar and Elle in his sights, having the couple have sex, and then, finally, having H.R.G. take a terrible shot at them makes him look like a huge Peeping Tom? Maybe they were going for that.) Is Sylar really not a Petrilli? Finally, is there a current TV couple with less chemistry than Matt and Daphne?