How do we find out true purpose? Is it something we’re born with, written into our genetic code? Or is it something we must learn over time? A growing awareness derived from life’s joys and sorrows. From our loves…our losses. Our achievements. And our suffering.

Mohinder’s familiar voice-over leads us right where last week’s episode left off. Tommy and his mother are out of it from getting t-boned at the intersection. Seeing his mother’s in very bad shape, Tommy’s able to teleport her to the hospital. He’s not there long before his new ‘best friends’ (read: his only friends), Emily and her periphery boyfriend Brett, show up. Tommy gets the news that his mom’s in need of the rare O-negatve blood type. When Tommy fails to match the test, he and Emily (after sharing an intimate but non-physical moment together) pop in and out of a donor bank in Indiana and hands the nurse the O-neg blood bags. She immediately tells him to run as his blood test results went to a federal database. He knows he needs to get out of town but runs into the feds in the hospital lobby. He readies to teleport away but the lead agent warns him not to or his mom won’t be getting any sort of transfusion.

Luke embraces his newly acquired solar abilities

In St. Louis, Joanne, with an increasingly uncomfortable Luke in tow, kills another Evo. Her veritable glee at the latest murder is a testament to her psychopathic nature. Luke continues his gentle suggestions that they can still quit, still be happy. During their drive to the next kill, Luke understands that subtle isn’t getting it done and, absorbing the rays of the sun, he burns the Evo list, exposing himself to a horrified Joanne. He holds the gun to his head and, for a split second, it seems as if she’ll pull the trigger but reigns in her inner monster and leaves, but not before throwing out an “I really did love you” to the man who’s been by her side despite her increasingly obsessive rampage of killing.

Who knew Carlos was so handy? Creating his own super suit in a few hours…

In East LA, a beat up Carlos is back at the car shop when inspiration strikes. He still needs to take down the super strong Captain Diering but is no match without a few modifications to his physical capabilities. In the span of a few hours—I know, we’re suspending belief here—he creates a rudimentary super-suit, integrating hydraulics and the like to make his confrontation with Diering a bit less one-sided. He even upgrades his brother’s car but, when he leaves to take it for a spin, Diering shows up with his goons and Evo-naps Jose and the good Father Mauricio.

A bit farther away from the mainland, Farah Nazan (aka the Invisible Woman) continues her lessons to the ultra-powerful and ultra-important Malina. The young woman, breathing life into a field of dead butterflies and her mentor eventually end up in Northern Canada. Malina’s impatience is stilted by Nazan’s reminder that Malina’s been hunted by the black hats since she was born. She refocuses the powerful girl and Malina practices her powers, making a seed rocket into a fully grown tree. Unfortunately, a hiker runs into them but Nazan takes him out. And if that wasn’t enough, she reminds Malina that “training is over”.

As all these story threads are currently disconnected, they will eventually lead to one place: Renautus and Erica Kravid. At the Renautus HQ, Noah and Quentin are still trying to find a way into the facility when they catch Kravid’s daughter Taylor away from the eyes of security and cameras. Noah’s able to reach a part of her suspicious of her mother’s actions. She takes Noah’s advice and questions her mother whose justifies her brutal actions as necessary to “save our species”. The response is enough to pit Taylor on the side of the white hates and she helps Noah and Quentin get into the facility. After taking out three Harris clones, they find the room where Evos are harnessed to the machines running EPIC. Somehow, despite the wires running into her, Molly Walker’s awake and still in control. When Noah gets too close, Molly commandeers his gun and adds more mystery to his own confusion. “I was there in the hospital when your daughter died” she tells him. She continues by swearing that she didn’t give Erica the location. Her final words—“forget the past, Noah. Save the future”—are meant to be the driving force for Noah’s new path.

Finally, as Ren and Miko show up at Renautus with a gaggle of cosplay Evernow fans awaiting them, Erica sends Harris Prime on a mission to find and destroy the child (Malina). It’s a serious task, one she requires that he take “The Shadow”.

“We all have a unique purpose and try as we might, we cannot run from it. The only question that remains: will we stay true to who we are or will we succumb to the pressure of destiny and become something else entirely. Something inhuman.”

Hero Space

Another week and another mix of welcome intrigue and eye-rolling clutter masked as mystery. I know it’s supposed to add to the suspense but, so far, it seems more like filler dragging things along. Despite Joanne being the most unlikeable character in the show this side of Erica Kravid, the story between her and Luke is the most interesting. Her reaction to his reveal was the first time I didn’t want her to die. Yes, she is a horrible person for what she’s done but there is potential in showing another side to her as she deals with Luke’s powers. Speaking of Luke, his change from the first scene has been the most consistent journey of any character so far. Though we still don’t know the full extent of his powers, it seems that anyone who can harness the sun’s energy could be pretty dang “super”.

But he’s not the only one displaying the potential for magnificent power. Malina’s ability to breathe life from death and the fascinating Aurora Borealis she creates/commands, in addition to people like Kravid wanting nothing more than to kill her, hints at her importance in the bigger picture. Of course, where there is light, there must be darkness. In this case, it’s the Sith-like child who, based on Kravid’s words, must be this enigmatic “Shadow”. Hopefully, this new player is a sinister the likes of Sylar and not the cookie-cutter villainy we’ve seen in Kravid, Harris, and the entire Renautus endgame.

We still have a long way to go before the finale but, if things don’t start to improve soon, I’m afraid that instead of recapturing the power and wonder of the first season of the original series, ‘Heroes Reborn’ will only pick up where the dismal Season Four left off. I won’t give up just yet but my hopes are starting to fade. Nevertheless, hope remains. That hope is firmly in the hands of Malina, Luke, Tommy and this newest adolescent antagonist…