Round Two: Heroes Reborn

Heroes Reborn: Season 1, Episode 3 “Under the Mask” (C)

This series is following a predictable course, telling an interesting story but falling prey to the same limitations as the original show did. This universe has a fascination with the exciting and the unknown, and that manifests itself most in Miko’s plotline. Now it is definitely cool to see someone who’s able to clone himself after he gets his hand chopped off, but I think that whole plotline is just too tangential to everything else, and the revelation that it’s Hiro Nakamura’s sword, hardly a surprising fact, just ties it back to another plotline that will only be fully realized once Masi Oka does in fact return as Hiro. Claire, on the other hand, won’t be back, and that’s why we have this drawn-out treasure map for Noah to piece his memory back together with the help of obnoxious comic relief Quentin, who I can’t hope to take seriously. The fact that Molly wouldn’t be apprehended and plugged in until the exact moment of the global launch seems foolhardy since it would probably have been worthwhile to test that it worked beforehand, but there’s a certain absurd urgency and immediacy that this show follows which I’ve never understood. The one bright spot is the fact that, thanks to a helpful realization from Emily, Tommy now knows how to use his powers much more explicitly, and as long as that car crash didn’t kill him, he’ll be in better shape now. Luke discovering that he has powers is not a shock, but Joanne definitely won’t be happy, and it’s all but guaranteed that he’s soon going to switch sides.