TV Show Review: Heroes Reborn

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Some entertaining storytelling, great characters/effects

Cons: Some pointless stories and characters

The Bottom Line:

More hero drama

With same disjoined plotting

Most can just skip it

Just Like You Remembered It – For Good and For Bad

I was one of the loyal few who stuck with Heroes until the bitter end – mainly because I knew it was going to be the bitter end.  As a result, I was going to skip Heroes Reborn – that is until they cast Zachary Levi in the show.  I had to give it a chance to see him in another role since I was such a huge fan of Chuck.  This show reminded me exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of the original series could be.

Our series opens several years after the events of the Heroes series finale.  Evos, as those with abilities have become to be known, were living among us normal people until a horrible disaster strikes and Suresh (guest star Sendhil Ramamurthy) takes responsibility in the name of all evos.  Suddenly, they are now enemy number one, and must go into hiding to avoid being tracked down as part of a government program.

Our story opens a year after this horrible attack and follows Tommy (Robbie Kay) and his mother (Krista Bridges), who have spent the last year moving from place to place to hide his ability.  Then there’s Luke Collins (Zachary Levi) and his wife Joanne (Judith Shekoni) who are hunting down all the evos they can to kill them.  Over in Japan, Ren (Toru Uchikado) and Miko (Kiki Sukezane) have made a startling discovery about who she really is.  Then there’s the young girl in the far north with a strange ability (Danika Yarosh).  In the familiar faces department, we have Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman), who doesn’t remember anything from the past.

What no one realizes is that our world is facing annihilation, and these evos are our only hope.  Will they be able to work together to save the world?

As you can see, the old formula of having a variety of characters eventually coming together for one mission is still in place.  At times this was entertaining since the stories were so scattered it was hard to see how everything would come together.  And other times, it was just as frustrating because it seemed like the stories were distracting more than anything else.  Usually, this frustration came when I felt we’d begun to get some traction on our story the previous week only to have very little forward progress the next.  Heck, there was one story that still felt like it was just filling time on the show when everything ended.

A few of the old characters did pop up for a few episodes, which was fun at first.  I actually began to dread that since I didn’t like what they did with many of these old friends.

I already mentioned being a fan of Zachary Levi thanks to his days on Chuck.  It was interesting watching him play a very different character.  I thought he was great.  Likewise, I enjoyed seeing Robbie Kay outside of Once Upon a Time, where he made an awesome Peter Pan.  The returning cast slipped into their characters perfectly, and the rest of the new cast were just as great.

It continues to amaze me when I see how far TV special effects have come.  I bought everything I saw on the screen week after week, and since this is a fantasy/sci-fi show there are plenty of effects.

When the show was on point, it was still fun.  The fantasy filled with some very creative powers works.  Unfortunately, the plot still wanders with sub-plots and characters that could have been trimmed or cut altogether.  One week I’d love the show, and the next I’d be bored.  In other words, it was just like the old Heroes.

Oh, and can we mentioned that they left us with a bit of a teaser cliffhanger even though this was supposed to be a 13 episode event series?  Yeah, not impressed.

The 13 episode event series is captured on four DVD’s or three Blu-rays.  Extras include two featurettes and some deleted scenes.

Die hard fans of the franchise will want to watch Heroes Reborn.  The rest of us can skip this in favor of something that is consistently entertaining.

End of volume

Episodes:

1. Brave New World

2. Odessa

3. Under the Mask

4. The Needs of the Many

5. The Lion’s Den

6. Game Over

7. June 13^th – Part One

8. June 13^th – Part Two

9. Sundae, Bloody Sundae

10. 11:53 to Odessa

11. Send in the Clones

12. Company Woman

13. Project Reborn