When a music geek is handed an episode with a title like “The Eclipse,” you’re given a lot of different choices for lyrical references as the title of your blog entry. Should I go with Pink Floyd (All that you slight, everyone you fight…), or should I go with Bonnie Tyler (Once upon a time, there was love in my life…)? Instead, I went with a relative obscurity – a line from the closing track of the Beta Band’s Hot Shots II – but given the way the series has been going, it seemed rather appropriate.

Let’s split this week’s blog into two parts, shall we?

Before the Eclipse:

Arthur has just been a sketching fool since taking on the power of poor Usutu, but, wow, he’s really let his people skills drop off. Really, though, can you blame him? Thanks to his new abilities, he knows what’s coming…and, yet, he can’t seem to do a damned thing to change it.

The relationship between Sylar and Elle turned darker this week than I expected. I mean, I know I made a comment a few weeks ago about how Sylar’s so freaking wishy-washy that he’ll probably switch sides half a dozen more times before the end of the season, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that he left his touchy-feely side behind, but I just didn’t expect Elle to be the one who turned him. She’s a complex character, that one. (Her throwaway description of HRG as “Glasses himself” was hilarious.)

Mohinder really just isn’t a very good scientist, is he? “I, uh, didn’t think the eclipse had anything to do with it,” he mutters. Whoops. From there, it was back to “Return of the Fly,” unfortunately.

Matt and Daphne’s quest to find Hiro turned out to be a short one when he and Ando turned up, courtesy of their comic book intel. I loved the interplay between Ando and Daphne, not to mention Hiro and the turtle, but I’m wondering how long this whole back-and-forth thing between Matt and Daphne is going to go on. That said, once the boys followed Daphne to Lawrence, Kansas, I had to laugh at Hiro’s exclamation: “Holy crap!”

I’m sure no-one really thought that Claire was going to listen to Mama Petrelli and lay low (if Claire even thinks she knows how to spell “subtle,” I’m sure it involves two Ts and no B), but leave it to Mama to team her up with HRG. Not that he’s ever been much better at keeping Claire in line than anyone else, but the idea of him finally using his knowledge as an agent to give her some decent physical training was a long time coming.

Speaking of Mrs. Petrelli, her retort to Tracy’s comment, “No rest for the wicked,” was classic Mama. As for her boys Nathan and Peter, we didn’t really get to see them do much except embark on a trip to find our man Brother Voodoo…and, as the eclipse began, to fall out of the sky and into a convenient body of water.

After the Eclipse:

Mohinder really got a lucky break with the eclipse, huh? Well, at least as far as his unfortunate transformation, anyway. Now, of course, he’s stuck under the watchful eye of the ever-belligerent Flint.

It was pretty funny to watch Matt trying to use his abilities, but not as funny as listening to Daphne’s dad’s reaction. (“Why are you turning your head sideways? What’s your problem, son?”) I immediately started getting interested when Daphne told her father that “it’s happening again,” and the reveal at the end was definitely unexpected. Clearly, the best bit about the trip to Kansas, however, was the trip to the comic shop…and on a Wednesday, no less. I don’t know what the writers of “Heroes” have against Red Hulk, but this is twice now that they’ve used him as a punchline; maybe they’ll go three for three in “The Eclipse, Pt. 2,” when we get more Seth Green / Breckin Meyer action.

All credit to Nathan: his point about Brother Voodoo’s abilities was a valid one. But, man, he sure descended into the role of the dickish big brother like nobody’s business. (“You read the map right. Congratulations.”) So, what, did Nathan’s common courtesy vanish along with his ability to fly? But, seriously, it was a pleasant change to see the brothers get the chance to bicker back and forth again like they did in the first season of the show. The subplot involving the Haitian militia seemed like it was going to be a bit much, but when Nathan got punched in the face by the commander who’d gotten intel from Papa Petrelli, I changed my tune.

I’m not entirely sure why Claire didn’t realize that her powers were gone long before she found herself on the business end of Elle’s gun. Surely the first time she hit the wall with that 2×4 post-eclipse, she would’ve felt the impact all through her body. Maybe the writers of “Heroes” don’t exert themselves enough physically to know that…? I had some issues with this segment which extended beyond that one, though, the biggest one being this: if Claire is so freaking important, then why did HRG hide her within driving distance of his normal residence? Oh, well, at least it was good fun to see him beat the shit out of Sylar.

And as long as we’re on the topic of people getting the shit beat out of them, that’s exactly what I’d like to do to the folks at TiVo…or possibly the programmers at NBC. All I know is that I put my daughter to bed tonight, so I couldn’t watch the show live, and when I went to watch it on TiVo, I was watching the climactic conversation between Sylar and Elle…and it cut off. Fortunately, Jason Zingale happened to catch it live and was able to fill me in, but, DAMN, I was PISSED! I was actually interested in seeing the “Next time on ‘Heroes'” for a change!

Anyway, tonight’s episode was a good one, and I’m looking forward to seeing Pt. 2…but, clearly, I’ll have to watch that one live.