Volume Three: Villains
Tonight’s episode: The Eclipse: Part One
Heroes is on a definite creative roll, which is nice. Sadly, the numbers continue to dive down and they have, as far as I can tell, not yet bottomed out.
However, there is a lot of talk these days about the effect of DVR shifting and how much of the audience is watching television after the live airings. The networks clearly don’t know how to handle the sea change in the way that much of the audience views television now. This is especially true with the highly coveted 18-34 demographic.
Recently, Lipstick Jungle was canceled and then uncanceled once ABC factored in its DVR viewers. The Office‘s viewership increases 28% when you factor in DVR viewers (it is the most DVRed show on the air) and 90210‘s ratings among the 18-34 demo goes up a staggering 79% when you account for DVR viewers. What does all this mean for Heroes? Maybe nothing, I haven’t seen much on DVR viewership for Heroes (although one report suggested that DVR would put Heroes at about 10 million viewers a week instead of just 7-8 live), maybe everything. I feel like Heroes would be a show that a lot of people would DVR and watch later. I know I did before we started doing these weekly live blogs.
In other news, in four years I will no longer be coveted by television advertisers. Which is awesome.
As always, I look forward to your thoughts, opinions, gripes, live-blogging, etc.
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I guess we are the same age Connor. I too will be shuned by advertisers in four years. Cheers to the big 30!
I also used to DVR Heroes before I found out you guys do the live blogging. I still DVR it in case I can’t catch the live airing.
This is gunna be my first time doing this so hell im looking forward to it. I was almost ready to drop this show untill 2 episodes ago. Im happy to see Heroes getting better lets just hope that it doesnt get cancelled.
I try to catch it live but most weeks I find myself watching it on dvr.
You would think by now they would have an accurate way to gague such things
]
ill be doing the live commentary here today too
Im a big fan of 10 year old Hiro
Here we go.
10 year old Hiro is the same as normal Hiro to me lol
I think that’s how most pros look by the last day of San Diego Comic Con after five days of sketching.
That might be so I guess what really got me was the chicken and waffles
well hello there.
So is Sylar a bad guy or good guy? can never tell these days
"company girl" does not sound right
I love how everyone refers to Claire as the "cheerleader"
@Tony – Sylar’s on Papa’s morally flexible side of things, currently. He’s a ha-UGE daddy’s boy, apparently.
i like angela back as a good guy. somehow, it warms the cockles of my heart that she’s not relentlessly manipulative and evil. of course, she still could be …
oh i was wrong.
Yeah! Noah!
hello dad/batman
Oh, neat. They’re using codenames now? 🙂
peter is having some serious inadequacy issues.
ugh grosss mohinder
"Clairebear" just sounds kinda… icky.
Mohinder needs some aloe vera. Like ten gallons worth.
@Conor It sort of does. I mean, he’s her dad and it’s sort of endearing, but when you bring the puppet guy into the frame it goes from sweet to creepy in 5 seconds flat.
i dont get this how catalyst thing, but oh well
Oooooooooooh – are preople going to die today?!?
Peter is becoming the Peter Parker of the heroes bunch. I don’t know if that’s what they going for, but it’s how I see it.
here comes the adds those 18-34 dont watch!!!!!!
is anyone Heroes Destiny? is it any good?
@bakerskater
lmao, its funny cause its true
I was a little hesitant watching this. If they don’t have powers, it doesn’t really seperate from any other show…but we’ll see what happens.
@HermitHomeboy – They’re not going to lose their powers permanently. It’ll be a temporary plot device.
WHY ARENT U GUYS WATCHING PRISONBREAK?!?!
Finally off work on a Monday night so I thought I’d join in. I have to say I’m a little worried about making the Eclipse some key thing. I rather liked it as sort of a symbolic thing or symbol of the show than an actual gimmick.
@smee – Because it got boring after season two.
i dont like prisonbreak
lmao Matt "oh you dont have to worry about Auther"
@conor- well honestly i loved heroes but this season is just weak…
It’s sad to say but if they don’t think of something productive for Hiro to do soon, I wouldn’t mind seeing him go away.
Did that just say Seth Green?
"simple setup, controlable, dont have to build a new set"
Seth Green and Breckin Meyer???
Seth Green guest. Sounds good. Colour me more interested.
Ok, Claire readily going back and forth between completely loving and completely hating her father for the millionth time. Getting old.
facial expressions on Hiro – awesome
love that turtle
@Templar – Do you not know any teenage girls? That’s how they act towards their parents.
noone knows how HRG works
I would like it if the turtle was responsible for everything. He is laying there, quietly controlling everything.
@Conor
wow your right
ooohh nice twist – bonnie and clyde
When did Electronica Mars grow up?
elle is awesome
Worst girlfriend ever? Or best girlfriend ever?
SYLAR GOOOOO become the badass you are
haha " I hate Heroes" nice line
if they cancel heroes the should make a Sylar and Elle show where they go around being badass
Sylar is, I think, bad when you get down to it. But he has such daddy issues that he wanted to please HRG before and therefore tried being good for a while. And then he found his real dad and now he can both please his dad and revel in his true nature.
@TonyStark4prez i would totally watch that
Here I thought Elle was ready to settle down or something, now she’s gone back to the craziness. Or maybe she’s working for someone? Probably just crazy.
I like how in the long run, we know that Sylar will become good
Sylar wants to please everyone his dad, his mom, his brother. Sylar has so many mental problems.
it should be interesting to see how weird looking mohinder gets.
Man, between the dead body and Mohinder’s skin problems, I bet it smells AWFUL in that lab.
Claire acurately acting like a typical teenager doesn’t mean I can’t not like her.
HRG tells it like it is, Claire!
Damn, it’s hard to watch, make dinner and liveblog at the same time.
according to tv guide seth green and breckin myer are supposed to be in this ep. haven’t seen them yet.
I’m hoping that a random sniper takes Tracey out.
@conor
yeah me too
Sweet! I love corn!
and i dont get why they dont read the whole freaking comic first
And… everyone is depowered.
I wasn’tpaying attention. Were the panels going from left to right or right to left?
WTF Mohinder is gunna be a butterfly
@cupcakecore They’ll probably be farmers or Daphne’s relatives,or funny if so . I know it won’t be talking action figures.
@Templar – Left ot right, it’s an American comic translated to japanese, not manga.
@Conor – I know. But sometimes they flip manga around, and I was curious if they flipped the western comic around, but assumed they didn’t.
Poor Ozzy.
People 18-34 love Rosie.
Was I the only one who thought it was a tornado coming to hit them in the cornfield? Kansas, cornfields, makes me think of the Wizard of Oz.
That’s stateist! Blatant stateism! Good day sir!
If I had a nickel for every morning I woke up like that…
Maybe the sun is Haitian.
If you mute the sound, it looks like Peter and Nathan are in an episode of LOST.
realized that we dont get enough Peter Nathon moments
lmao Matts Jedi mindtrick isent working
Ok, that was kind of funny.
i’m not sure i like the de-powering. it seems like a shark jumping kind of move.
@tonystark this isn’t the speedster you’re looking for?
@cupcakecore – It’s not permanent.
@cupcakecore – If it went on for several episodes, you’d have an argument. Let’s see where they go with this.
I wanna see a brother fight.
oh crap an accident with her dad is what injures her
LOL sylar and elle learning they dont have powers
I don’t expect them to elaborate on the eclipse thing, but I assume even a partial eclipse is good for… whatever. It can’t be a total eclipse in all the places the story is taking place.
aw claire just had a breakthrough
also i guess it’s a good thing that eclipse happened. maybe.
I like seeing these poeple depowered. We get to see what they’re really made of. It’s like HRG’s argument to Claire about her being lazy and relying on her powers too much. Now they have to show us their mettle.
YES! Eat lead!
..Wait, NO! Don’t hit my Elle!
HRG will wreck you.
@Conor I totally agree depowered Heroes kicks ass.
what sucks is we already know this episode will end on a major cliffhanger
@conor you’re right and you see how Sylar was broken by HRG without his.
In a world with no powers, Noah Bennet kicks EVERYONE’S ass.
He is like Batman in that regard.
I actually like the groups they’ve paired together in this episode, even if it’s ot an all couples one.
Your not invunerable you just have a healing factor.
Doesn’t every episode end with a cliffhanger? Or at least attempt to?
"The corn will keep coming!"
"seriously dude stop" lmao
@Templar – Yep. All serialized TV does.
Seth Greene and Breckin Meyer are totally going to be comic geeks. This might be cringe-worthy.
so all of a sudden ando’s englishgreatly improved. am i the only one noticing this?
its funny cause Hiro is talking about comic book stores
Ok, maybe Seth and Breckin will be the comic book guys Hiro is looking for….not stretching for deep parts there.
One man’s cringe worthy is another man’s awesome.
IRON MAN CUTOUT!!!!!!!
@Conor aw i hope not.
IT’S WEDNESDAY ON TV!!!
haha I saw the comic book store comming from a mile away
"Sam’s Comics" – that’s a nice touch.
fuck red hulk
Ando’s English has always been good.
Everyone loves Red Hulk.
If there is any gilty pleasure comic it is "Red Hulk"
@Templar yes everyone loves watching a train wreck
Man, Papa Petrelli is a BASTARD.
dude nathan’s french sucks. the ‘s’ is not silent in suis when it comes before a vowel. for the record.
Ok… I just had to log in, because of the "Lawrence cornfields."
As a resident of KS, I can tell you that the city of Lawrence, as well as the surrounding areas are not farmlands. Leave it to these terrible writers to belong to the long list of ignorant writers who think Kansas = farms and fields, and nothing more. You’d think one of these days, someone would do a little research.
comic book store scene – good
I took french in high school… I totally got by on charm. It was definitely not my ability.
McNuggets. They just got married, and she already gets half. Women! Amirite, fellas?
I hope Mohinder bites it. He loses his awful powers and first thing he does is look up the annoying Maya for a booty call.
@WonderManFan its all Supermans fault
@WonderManFan – Every geographic location is stereotyped.
Reveal coming…
Not terribly surprising.
aw matt… WHOA. i’m not sure how i feel about daphne like this. hmmm.
hardcore!
I thought she was going to be in a wheelchair like Locke.
Hell yeah! My new OTP.
NICE! HRG FTW!
NOOO HRG NOOOOOOOOOOO
Oh shit! HRG the sniper!
lame preview
Not a bad episode, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the last two weeks. Great Hiro stuff tonight, though.
It’s like the producers said "How can we make HRG more badass and have people love him more? What about giving him a big ass sniper rifle?"
elle/sylar is totally otp. BUT elle loses points for flip-flopping.
Man! HRG is going to try to clean house with the powerless.
saving my judgement on this episode till i see part 2, but i like it so far
I figured he’d just bust into the house and gun them both down. The sniper rifle is a very nice touch.
I still say getting rid of powers is stupid. It’s like when Jean Grey is killed (at least before she stayed dead for good). It gets a lot of attention, because she’s really important but it’s ultimately an empty move because she’s the Phoenix and can come back. The show wouldn’t be the show w/o powers, so clearly they are going to come back, but it feels like the writers got stuck a little bit.
well, i can tel you that i have all of this season of heroes on dvr and haven’t watched an episode yet. i am planning on doing so next month, glad to hear it is getting better as the early reviews made me reluctant to watch it.
So what is going on here? (very late to the party)
Is Noah taking down the bad guys while they are depowered? For once the show actually might have done something smart. I would totally love to see an episode with Noah sneaking like Soild Snake and taking down Sylar or someone.
For the first time in years, I’m interested in this series.
@WonderManFan I live in Kansas and can tell you that there are farms outside of Lawrence, KS. Not many cornfields, mostly wheat, milo, or soybeans. However, the large hills/small mountains do not exist in Kansas. Kansas is all flat lands, you can see in any directions for miles.
Ugh. Rosie Live.
DO NOT WANT!
Who is writing 9th Wonders! isnt Isaac Mendez dead?
I’m sure either we’ll find out, or at the end of the day it’s not really important.
The eclipse’s effect on powers is not necessarily an on/off switch. Powers could be lost, lost powers recharged or powers randomized. It could be like putting a piece of iron in a strong electric field and having it come out magnetized. Powers could return with a twist.
Love the speedster.
So they are basically ignoring the fact that Nathan could fly BEFORE the eclipse? So much for that thing bringing/taking away the powers.
Yeah I saw a lot of plot holes in this….and it was such a huge detour from the last episode. ‘Hey everyone is together so we can fight the good fight!’ Angela: Alright gang, let’s split up so you can all have problems trying to do one simple goal. Geez I know we got several episodes before mid-season break…but spliting them up was such a time waster and will be for the next episode.
Oh and very nice of Noah to just run away from Claire after she gains respect for the man earlier in the episode….No wonder she has conflicting emotions on him.
*sigh* just when I thought this series was getting somewhat better.
@connor – I know it maybe not important but when you create a world with rules, you should follow the rules. Its like when a writer gives a character a new power to get them out of a jam its just lazy writing. Like superman’s superkiss in superman II.
Way to be all over it TheNextChampion i mean how sloppy is that writing. He is excactly right Nathan did have his powers before the eclipse. Man its a shame they make so many writing mistakes on this show it gets really annoying. The show quickly is loosing that feel of being epic almost movie like. Its quickly becoming a train wreck you dont wanna watch but you cant turn away. I know my intrest in it is dimming. I mean Hiro a 10 year old when are they ever gonna do anything cool with him same with Peter its like they spend all there time figuring out how to not use him because hes so powerful they dont know what to do. I dont know maybe its just me but seriously i was starting to think it was getting good again but then thy depowered hiro and peter and now they just depowered everyone. All i could do was sigh im like how predictable. the only surprising thing and whats holding the show up for me is sylar and elle. well thats my thoughts i wonder what yall think let me know if you think im wrong.
You know what else I just realised? If the eclipse is suppose to be a way to get powers….how does that explain people like Adam or Claire? I assumed Claire was born with her powers (then again the bad DC comics arent really in canon) and Adam was alive for well over 400 years. How does that explain either one of them?
It might sound like nitpicking, but really when you start thinking about it; it distracts you from the overall story. The writers to me, feel like they are rewriting the series as they go by adding or dropping things from past seasons. I dont mind people doing that (Lost does it quite well actually) but if you handle it poorly then your gonna alienate the fanbase.
Or, it could be they haven’t finished explaining the eclipse and its effect yet since it was only part one of the eclipse story.
You know, either or.
@conor: But that’s not the point I’m trying to make.
The point is, is that the show is telling us this Eclipse will get rid of/or let people gain superpowers. But as of right now we’re pointing out 3 people who are excused pretty much from this concept. It’s poor writing and again, if we go back to that pretty medicore ‘clip-show’ episode we see Nathan could fly well before either eclipse. So….it’s obviously not the eclipse that gives them their powers….if that’s the case, why are we focusing on two episodes on it then?
If they gave you all the answers all at the same time (a) there would be no point in telling stories, (b) it would be really boring.
@conor: Again……your missing the point of this rant…
I dont give a flying crap if they answer these glaring plot holes or not….The fact that the writers are putting in these plot holes is giving us one of many reasons why this show is losing viewers every week. I know for a fact that the problems with the Eclipse involving Adam, Nathan, and Claire will never be explored. Cause the writing is so sloppy they wont explain these glaring problems.
If they wanted to make the Eclipse the biggest problem for the Heroes, then they shouldnt have revealed characters like Adam or Nathan to show that the Eclipse isnt as big as it should be.
"Your missing the point of [the] rant" is an extremely funny phrase.
@TNC – They aren’t plot hole if they are eventually explained. Because they aren’t explained OHMYGODRIGHTNOW doesn’t make them plot holes.
@conor: How can they explain for Adam when he’s dead damnit!?
Even if something seems like a contradiction now, that doesn’t mean that it’s a plot hole. There’s still an opportunity for things to be explained. Not all of the facts are on the table.
Come to think of it….How can people like Slyar, Arthur, Angela, and others have powers when they clearly show to have them before the Eclipse?
They’re level 5 mutants
i just think its real sloppy writing the dont have a real defined directions for the show i know maybe they will explain it but i believe we will be back here in a few weeks wondering the same thing were talking about now. The cant afford to leave gaping holes in the store when veiwers are tuning out because of it. I also believe the lack of origanality of the show is killing it to. I know conner your like i use to be and just have blind faith that the show is gonna be alright but i just dont have faith anymore. Theres to many good shows with a defined idea like lost and hell even smallville that its almost not worth tuning in.
I usually make it a point to avoid responding to people who can’t bother to spell my name correctly, but…
I don’t have blind devotion to, or faith in, HEROES. I genuinely enjoy it and have fun watching it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t. I drop TV shows all the time once I lose interest. I dropped THE WEST WING and that was my favorite show on television for four years. I’m too busy to waste an hour on something I don’t like.
If you don’t like HEROES then just stop watching it. No one is holding a gun to your head.
This episode was stupid, because it wasn’t written just the way I would have written it. If I had, I would have wrapped up everything nice and neat. Mysteries on a show are just stupid. So is building suspense and intrigue. If I was writing this show it would be perfect. Hollywood is stupid for not paying me to write this show. I should be the main character. I should probably not watch it, but what would the world do if I didn’t post and tell the world how much I hate things.
And Claire should be my girlfriend…and so should Elle.
@Next: Oh my god….Seriously cant stop laughing. The summary page is just, wow just total speaks me.
Good show whoever you are, I hope to see more in the future 🙂