It seems like we’ve been at this forever, but we’re entering the stretch run for Tommy, Luke, Malina and our protagonists of the Heroes Reborn revival. Sadly, this week’s effort falls too much in line with the majority of episodes from 2015.
We start in Bedford, Missouri where Luke and Malina pull up, still unsure of Noah’s fate during the massive storm. They still have two days before the big one hits and life on earth is just a passing memory. In that time they need to a) get Tommy away from Erica Kravid in Midian and 2) make their way to Odessa. No big, right?
In the future, Tommy/Nathan confronts Miko. It’s not until he shows her the 9th Wonders book that he realizes she has a part to play in all of this. But her destiny isn’t here but Sunstone Manor where she must face off with her ‘arch enemy’ Harris, the man with the clones. Miko can feel her grip on reality fading but wants to do this one thing before she blinks out of existence. Tommy sends her to Sunstone Manor and, once she’s gone, tells Erica that Miko is no more.
Speaking of Sunstone, it’s a place of action as the Harris clone army closes in on Carlos, Farah, Taylor, and Renee (aka the Haitian). The quartet knows they need help if they’re to get out of Sunstone alive so the split up: Carlos and Farah head out to take down Parkman’s peaceful recording and find Jose while Taylor and Renee look to take down Parkman himself. Both are also looking to find Micah Saunders, aka Hero Truther. How does it all work out? Pretty well for Carlos and Farah, not so much for Taylor and Renee.
First off, after shutting down the recording and breaking the newest initiates out of their fugue state, Carlos and Farah run across the former’s super suit, rekindle their romance, run into Jose and release Micah from his hideous prison. They don’t get through it all unscathed as, in a sacrifice to save Carlos from being shot, Father Mauricio is killed. They don’t have time to lament as they need to get Micah to a computer to undue all the lies and misinformation Erica Kravid had him feed to the public regarding the rift between humans and Evos.
Renee and Taylor find Parkman and the Haitian disables the Evo’s telepathy. But somehow the duo, despite holding a gun on Parkman and Renee negating his power, the telepath is able to turn the tables and, afraid of Taylor’s proclamation that her mother won’t live up to her deal to save Parkman and his family, the former cop takes Taylor hostage and heads to Odessa where he’ll use Kravid’s daughter (and unborn grandchild) as leverage.
Outside of the Manor, Harris Prime comes face to face with Miko. Despite Miko’s earnestness, there’s no way to describe this fight as anything but terrible. The end result is what matter though and Miko kills Harris Prime, thus destroying all the clones. Her part played, Katana Girl, the avatar created by Hachiro Otomo, fades from reality.
Luke and Malina’s road trip to Midian is interrupted by Quentin, his psychotic sister Phoebe and two Harris clones. They have orders from Kravid to take Malina down with extreme prejudice. With not many options, Luke and Malina retreat in the cornfield where, after some cat and mouse, Luke gets the drop on Quentin, Phoebe and one of the Harris clones. Their interrogation of the brother/sister duo reveals that Erica has taken Tommy to Odessa, a fortuitous situation considering Odessa is ground zero for saving the world.
Back in Odessa, just prior to Micah’s message on Erica’s lies is broadcast to the world, the Renautus engineer takes Tommy to see his mother and Emily. Tommy’ s mother is suspicious of Erica’s motivations but allows her son to go with the woman where she shows Tommy just how he’ll be able to transport people to the future: a machine that amplifies his power—think Cerebro from the X-Men—and teleports anyone wearing a fancy watch-like doohickey to the future. And then Erica is outed for the lying skeeze she is but she’s not giving up so easily. She has Joanne brought in and shows the homicidal woman her next target: Malina.
Herospace
- It seems like the longer we go, the harder it is to find the positives in the Heroes revival. There are far too many instances of poorly conceived situations turning at the drop of a hat to further the plot. The handling of Parkman as a whole has been atrocious. The best villains—especially those who were once heroes—are those we can, at the very least, empathize with their situation. Whether it’s Greg Grunberg’s acting or his poorly constructed situation/dialogue (my money’s on the latter) his story is nonsensical and paints him as nothing more than a cardboard henchman. We won’t even get into his incredulous ability to turn the tables on Taylor and the Haitian…
- Speaking of bad guys, Harris Prime was a wasted concept, falling victim to an unbelievably stiff and tired portrayal. It’s very similar to Erica Kravid but whereas we no longer have to be subjected by Harris, we still have two more episodes of the terrible antagonist.
- That’s not to say all of the characters are as unoriginal/one-dimensional. Several of our protagonists—Tommy, Malina, Carlos—are decent characters who, in spite of some cringe-worthy dialogue, still give us someone to root for. But it’s Zachary Levi’s Luke that steals the show. Not only is his power pretty damn amazing but his transformation from bad guy to white hat trying to make amends has been the best aspects of the series and it’s not even close. He’s the one character whose death would have an emotional impact. And despite wanting him to survive, if done right, his sacrifice could not only help save the world but complete his road to redemption.
