Heroes Reborn 1x04 "The Needs of the Many" (Or the Needs of None) [Contributor: Meredith]
3:01 PM contributor: meredith, heroes reborn review, s01.04 2 comments
"The Needs of Many"
Original Airdate: October 8, 2015
Oh yay! It's time to review the latest episode of Heroes Reborn. Can you sense my excitement? I'm pretty sure this miniseries should just be titled "Zachary Levi Deserves Better" because, well, it's fairly self-explanatory, isn't it?
Here's the thing with Heroes Reborn: I'm not sure what the goal of this show really is. Save for Noah Bennett –– who really was not anybody's favorite character –– most of the original series' characters are not involved. So, it's not like this miniseries/sequel is a follow-up to the show; a "where are they now?" if you will. It is just a whole new set of stories set in a somewhat dystopic future after the original series ended. And so the question lingers: why? Why am I invested in these people and their stories?
The answer is... I'm not, and that's the problem. Sure, the writing isn't great. either With a couple of exceptions, the acting is mediocre. And the show has still not yet managed to balance the multiple storylines effectively. But the main issue that I am having with this show is that I just don't care. I'm not worried about what's going to happen next or concerned about resolving conflicts. I'm just totally, completely, ambivalent.
Let's take a brief look and what transpired this week, then, shall we?
Tommy's mom is severely injured in the crash. He uses his power to send her to the hospital, and he follows shortly after her. She needs blood, and he isn't a match, so he teleports with his girlfriend to get it for her. But his blood test has revealed that he is an Evo, and a nurse tells him to run. Unfortunately, before he can escape, he is surrounded by... I don't know, FBI? Some law enforcement-type people.
Zac and his wife are still killing Evos. Or, really, Zac's wife is gleefully killing Evos while Zac tries to battle his own internal conflict. There's a scene with a dog lying next to its dead owner after Gleeful!Killer Wife murders aforementioned owner, and that manages to finally inject some legitimate emotion into this show. Zac's powers then overtake him while he's in the car and wife pulls a gun on him. In the single most powerful performance on this show (so far), he tells her to go ahead and do it. But she doesn't. She just leaves.
Malina and her guardian decide it's time to leave the Arctic and start their trek elsewhere. She is apparently the key to saving the world, and she wins best line of the episode when her guardian says something about this responsibility making grown men shake in their boots and she replies, "Good thing I'm not a grown man, then." High five, lady!
The Tokyo duo are heading to America. I'm not sure why. Nor do I care. I'm still put off by them calling her Katana.
Carlos makes himself a new, fancy, vigilante suit. This seems familiar. Carlos is in the dark, but we, the viewers, find out that the nephew has powers. At some point, Hot Paul shows up and the priest tells the kid to run. But Hot Paul shoots thy heavenly father. Come on, Hot Paul.
At the place where Molly is being held by bad guys and Head Bad Lady, Noah recruits Head Bad Lady's daughter –– Taylor –– by appealing to her love for her Evo boyfriend. They find the room where Evos are hooked up and being used for their powers. Molly doesn't want to be a pawn in this anymore, so she kills herself, which should be way more dramatic than how it played on-screen. Meanwhile, Head Bad Lady is not happy that they lost track of Malina in the arctic. She seems somewhat less displeased –– but still slightly bothered –– that her daughter is now helping the enemy.
The episode ends with some ominous shot of a kid with glowing eyes? I think? I kinda wasn't paying so much attention by this point.
Guys. I really, really wish I could care more about this show. But I just can't. Or don't. The action on screen is not compelling, and it just doesn't grab or hold my attention. I think the writers are starting to bring storylines together, though. At the very least, the Japanese duo is heading to America, and it seems Malina is too. Having these characters all in the same country should help with the cohesiveness, but I still don't see the point. I have no concept of where they're going with this show, or why I should care. Of course, suspense and mystery are important, but when watching a show, the viewer should have some semblance of what the endgame is. What is the trajectory? We may not know the how or when or where of it all, but at the very least, we should know that there is a point and with this show... I simply don't see the point.
MVPs of this episode are definitely (as usual) Zachary Levi, Robbie Kay (Tommy), and Danika Yarosh (Malina). These three play their characters without being over-the-top or campy. Zac's level of acting seems a bit too advanced for the show and Robbie Kay is undeniably a talented young actor. Kudos to Danika Yarosh for slowly building a strong character, about whom we still don't know much, but if there's one thing on this show I'm interested in learning about, it is Malina.
Is anyone still with me, or am I the only one still snarking my way through this show? If you watched, hit the comments and tell me your thoughts!
WTF Lines/Moments:
Carlos is building a vigilante-mobile. I don't think I need to say more about this.
I'm still mad at the show for that doggy lying next to his dead owner and whimpering. Not cool, show. Not cool.
What's with the kaleidoscope of butterflies in the arctic?
I mean, on the one hand, suicide should maybe be given a bit more respect? But on the other hand, what does it say about me that I didn't really care so much about Molly killing herself so casually?
For the love of all things holy, can we come up with another name for Japanese women with powers? Katana is getting a bit overused.
Between Katana, the new vigilante suit/cave/car, and all these Evos (metahumans, anyone?) I feel like I'm just watching a show that's trying to fit into the current landscape of comic book television, and is failing.
Jess October 9, 2015 at 3:49 PM
Not alone. But probably I'm going to stop watching. Keep reading your recaps and if you find them interesting enough I'll be back... ugh it's so sad, they tried with good heart to bring back a great show, but they've failed. I remember being so invested in Peter Petrelli by the end of first episode and now...
Anyway, thanks for keep on writing about it!
Personally, I hated the pilot. I did not understand anything. I turned in for Zachary Levi and I was desappointed to see him play a bad guy. I stuck to the second episode and liked it better. Last week episode was better than the pilot which was awful but I have a hard time getting involved with the characters. I couldn,t care less about the Kanata girl. I space out during their scenes. I like Robbie Kay and I still love Zachary Levi and thank god he's character is startting to show some humanity or I would have given up on the show. I'll give it another week or two but overall, I'm really desappointed.
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