Heroes Reborn 1×04 review: ‘Chapter Four: The Needs Of The Many’

Is the central conflict of Heroes Reborn coming into focus or are things just getting murkier?

Let’s bitch it out…

We’re now about a quarter of the way through this series revamp of Heroes and the central plot / conflict is beginning to take shape. Last week’s X-Men inspired development at Renautus proves once again to be the most compelling story line as the peripheral pieces simply aren’t coming together. Too many characters spread across too many locations is definitely hurting the secondary stories.

Let’s start with the big stuff: the Renautus group’s plan to wipe out EVOs in order to either a) save the human race or b) kill 7 billion people. Riiiiight.

So Taylor (Eve Harlow) has never suspected what her mother Erica Kravid (Rya Kihlstedt) is capable of? Quentin (Henry Zebrowski) and HRG (Jack Coleman) convert Taylor to their side using her love for boyfriend Francis and (slooooowly – as in over the course of the hour) manage to sneak into the room where Molly (Francesca Eastwood) and the other kidnapped EVOs are being held prisoner. Unfortunately once they try to free her, Molly refuses to come along (again!), opting instead to speak in riddles and vague premonitions before killing herself. I’d say RIP, but Molly never amounted to more than the writers’ crutch. She was clearly more of a storytelling device than a real character (hence the riddles) and her dire premonition about what’s the come subsequently followed by her death is an obvious stall tactic rather than getting on with things. It’s frustrating.

Her death clearly comes as a defeat to Erica, who was not only planning on using Molly to identify the location of EVOs for profit, but also had Harris (Clé Bennett) hunting a specific EVO when her global tracking system goes down. The girl that the narrative has put forth as the saviour of the world is Malina (Danika Yarosh), the youngster with the ability to control the weather (or is it re/animate life?). In the space of a single episode Malina moves from the margins to the top of the food chain in terms of importance. With Molly gone and Malina and Farah (Nazneen Contractor) trekking down from the Arctic, Heroes Reborn is shifting the balance to reposition the EVOs as the power players on the show. Between this and the Luke (Zachary Levi) / Joanne (Judith Shekoni) story line, the humans are starting to come apart at the seams.

Or at least half of them are. The more isolated, stand-alone narratives see not only the EVOs struggling, but also the story lines they’re stuck in:

• Tommy (Robbie Kay) and Emily (Gatlin Green) jump to Indiana in the aftermath of his mom’s accident to secure blood. Unfortunately Tommy’s impulsive decision to volunteer his own blood lands him in a federal database and threaten to his mother’s life if he tries to jump away. Basically Tommy remains a minor compelling story, but he also feels stranded in his isolation. This could just as easily be a separate webseries.
• Carlos (Ryan Guzman), meanwhile, guzzies up the family car and fixes up the El Campeon suit (though it still looks totally ghetto). In his haste to speed off and do good with his new toys, he completely forgets to lock up the batcave – so naturally Jose (Lucius Hoyos) discovers everything. Unfortunately Jose reveals his powers to the kindly priest just when Hot Paul Dearing (Dylan Bruce) arrives, which presumably means a two the pair of them are in trouble. At this point this story line is a bag of meh. If it were cut entirely from the show, would you care (aside from the beef appeal that Guzman and Bruce bring to the screen)?

At this point, the series has hit an uncertain note. Are we moving towards a central conflict (as the Renautus storyline seemingly suggests) or will things remain steadfastly isolated (as the Tommy, Carlos and Luke/Joanne storylines suggest)? I wish it was more obvious, but I’m not even certain the writers know at this point.

Other Observations:

• Luke (Zachary Levi) tries to reason with Joanne (Judith Shekoni) that they should try to be “normal”, but ultimately they just break up when she learns about his newfound superpowers. He gets a little teary eyed; she looks pissed. I just get bored.
• Miko (Kiki Sukezane) and Ren (Toru Uchikado) travel to the US to break into the Renautus complex. At this point they’ve only made it to the front gates, but the suggestion is that the sheer numbers of Ren’s costumed friends will allow Miko to blend in and sneak inside. Still unsure what they plan to do once they’ve got her sword. Hop on a plane back to Tokyo?
• Farah vaguely suggests that Malina’s powers give “life”, but so far all we’ve seen is her control of the aurora borealis and grow a shoddy CGI tree. Try harder Heroes Reborn.
  • Also, is Farah basically this season’s Mohinder? She certainly fits the mould of Indian sage who spouts off philosophical BS.

Best Lines:

• Quentin (when HRG chastises him for working  at Renautus for years without saying anything): “It’s really good sushi”
• Taylor (when her mother begins grandstanding): “This isn’t a TED talk, mom.”
• Quentin (when HRG indicates he’s going to kill the Harrises before they can question them about Quentin’s sister): “I hate your face Bennett”

Your turn: what is Heroes Reborn‘s endgame? Is Malina now the most important character? Who’s in bigger trouble: Tommy or Carlos? Is Joanne going to seek vengeance on Luke? Sound off below.

Heroes Reborn airs Thursdays at 8pm EST on NBC