What’s that line about insanity? Doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results…I’m truly starting to believe that Heroes Reborn has taken this approach in crafting their season story. The same clichéd narrative that plagued the original series in its last two seasons is overshadowing some of the genuinely solid moments of the revival. So, how do we divvy up the bad from the good? Well, let’s dive right in.

Luke reminisces about his son…

Starting with the mildly irritating, Tommy’s officially been printed and tagged by the government as a part of their Evo program. He’s grilled by a cartoonish Agent Cutler who informs Tommy that he’s adopted. After an understandable shock to the system, Tommy teleports out to visit his mother and, moments after he decides to blink out, the Penny Man pays his own visit to Cutler. Tommy confronts his mother about his true parentage and the Penny Man arrives as well. The two adults have been harboring a secret for quite some time and that is Tommy’s part in saving the world. Channeling his inner emo brat, Tommy refuses the proclamation and disappears before we ever hear the rest of his part in this world saving thing.

Our other world-saving character is Malina and she, along with her mentor Farah have found their way to St. Pierre, Quebec. They are there to meet a contact but a Harris clone and henchmen find them. Though Malina repels the first attack, the baddies pull out their secret weapon—the Shadow. The Evo’s powers of darkness overwhelm Malina’s powers and student and mentor try to flee only for Farah to be shot. Unable to continue, she gives Malina a letter that will explain things and the young girl charged with saving the world escapes, hopping a ride on a logging truck, her destination unknown.

In LA, Carlos returns to the shop only to find his nephew Jose and Father Mauricio gone. He knows Dearing had a hand in it and demands to see the captain but Dearing finds out just how bad things are when his own detectives try out their new EPIC gear and ID him as an Evo.  Still needing Dearing’s help to find Jose and the good Father, Carlos breaks Dearing out before he can be delivered to the Evo processing center with the captain’s word that he’ll lead Carlos to his people.

Taking a detour to Rochester, NY, we find Luke, the most interesting character in the show, returning to his home. There he finds stacks of bills and the painful memories of loss. The acute memories of his son are present in the kid’s room, a shroud of despair Luke cannot shake. Deciding the past is no longer a place he wants to leave, Luke sells his practice to friend/partner Don and cleanses his former life—burning his house down and everything (including his wedding ring) in it, save for the sailboat he made with his son. Luke’s journey towards atonement has officially begun.

Is there a reason why Harris is always using his ‘Batman voice’?

Finally, we have the primary location of the goings on at Renautus. So much about this plotline defies credulity and, at its backbone, is the primary driver for my comments on cliché and just plain bad setup. After Molly Walker doesn’t hesitate in blowing her own brains out, Taylor, Quentin, and Noah somehow remain able to skip their way through the bowels of Renautus without a hint of security tracking them. Hell, they even run into a giant seed bank, one that hints at Kravid’s goal to repopulate. While Noah pushes Taylor to make amends with Mommy Dearest, Miko and Ren track Harris as the Evernow cosplay give them cover. They need the sword and, when Harris leaves HQ with it, decide to follow him.

After getting a call from her daughter, Kravid leaves Richard, her project leader, to continue preparations. The mother/daughter conversation is short with no real resolution before Noah interrupts and questions Erica himself. He grills her about Claire’s death as well as Hiro but the focused Kravid continues her diatribe. “I am giving us a future. Somebody has to.” Harris then arrives, getting the drop on Noah but it’s short-lived as Miko bursts through the door, steals her father’s sword and unintentionally becomes distraction enough for Erica and Harris to escape, though one of the Harris clones remains in the hands of Noah and the good guys.

And then comes the kicker.

This entire time, Erica Kravid has seemed to be nothing more than a delusional, power-mad zealot who wants to reshape the world in her image. When she gets back to Renautus and Richard shows her the new projections of 96% of all species on earth being wiped out in less than a week, well, maybe she’s not as crazy as we thought.

Hero Space

  • “Starting over is never easy,” is Erica’s final line as we watch the (laughably bad) simulation of the sun’s merciless assault on our world. The new information begs the question on whether Erica wishes to be earth’s savior or if she has some sort of mega-powerful hand in the imminent destruction. I truly hope it’s the former because, despite my annoyance with her unoriginal proclamations of saving the world, it would be quite the curve ball to find that this villain is actually not the villain. Sure, it won’t save some of the poor writing and uninteresting characters, but it will add very interesting dimension to the story that will have my attention.
  • While it may be a small concern, will someone show Noah how to properly hold a gun!? Yes, it’s been mentioned before but his lack of discipline when holding a firearm is alarmingly bad (finger in the trigger guard, waving it at people when he’s talking…). Maybe he should ask Luke for some pointers in that regard.
  • Speaking of Luke, while I applaud his character arc, it’s funny that he wants to atone for his mistakes and sets his old home ablaze—despite the close proximity of his neighbors. Guess he didn’t think about how fire can jump from building to building.
  • Lastly, we have to touch base with Tommy. Yes, the shock of discovering you’re adopted has to be jarring but to throw a “no, no I won’t save the world” whine before disappearing does not endear me to the character. If his reaction would have been disbelief and overwhelmed by the moment, okay, I’d get it. But there was a petty vindictiveness about his reaction that knocks his character down a peg or two, not something you want to be doing to the person you want audiences to see as one of the major heroes of the story.