Forget the past, save the future.
Spoilers for Heroes Reborn episode 4, “The Needs of the Many,” are contained in this article.
Move over, “save the cheerleader, save the world,” because there’s a new Heroes catchphrase in town. In the fourth episode of Heroes Reborn, Molly Walker (Francesca Eastwood) delivered a new call to action: “Forget the past, save the future.”
Reborn continues to dole out small bits of insight into the world-ending situation that only several key characters (and none of the ones the story is following) know anything about. It seems that Erica (Rya Kihlstedt) is planning a massacre of the entire planet in order to save the human race from being overtaken by Evos. Now HRG (Jack Coleman), Quentin (Henry Zebrowski) and her daughter Taylor (Eve Harlow) are in on her plan, and surely they are going to try to stop it.
The trio learn about Erica’s plan from Molly, who they find in a massive containment room that feels straight out of The Matrix. There Erica seems to be draining the Evos she’s captured of their power, or at least controlling them in some way. (There’s a nice nod back to the original Heroes when Noah compares Erica to Sylar.) Molly warns Noah to stop trying to dig into the past; she was there when his daughter Claire died on June 13, she says, but cautions it’s the future that should be his main concern. Then she kills herself.
We want to hear it.
The one positive outcome of her suicide is that her powers cut off before Erica and Harris Prime (Cle Bennett) were able to use them to locate the young world-saver Malina (Danika Yarosh). They did find likely lead for her in Canada, which does seem to be where she is. Before sending Harris off to investigate, Erica tells him to bring the “shadow,” thus revealing a big twist for fans who have been watching the Heroes Reborn Dark Matters webseries. The “shadow” is actually Quentin’s missing sister Phoebe (Aislinn Paul), who apparently is in league with Renaustas.
The episode caught up with Reborn’s other main characters as well: Tommy (Robbie Kay) puts himself on the government’s radar after submitting himself for blood work to try to help save his injured mother; Carlos (Ryan Guzman) revamps his El Vengador and his nephew and the priest get captured by Captain Dearing (Dylan Bruce); Miko (Kiki Sukezane) and Ren (Toru Uchikado) head to the United States to try to rescue her father Hachiro Otomo; and Luke (Zachary Levi) finally reveals to his wife/my arch-nemesis Joanne (Judith Shekoni) that he is an Evo. (Aside: Joanne remains the worst.)
It’s highlighted that, even though these characters don’t know it yet, they’re going to be the ones who come together to save the world; specifically Malina, Tommy, Luke, Miko and Carlos. That’s about as subtly as Heroes Reborn has been handling its storytelling so far, as it constantly reminds viewers that Big Things Are Happening, but keeps them out of the loop as long as possible. At least it’s nice to have confirmation four episodes in that the characters we assumed are central to the story actually are.
We want to hear it.
There was no big moment in “The Needs of the Many” that packed as strong an emotional punch as last week’s in “Under the Mask” where the extreme lengths Erica will go for the sake of what she thinks is the greater good were revealed. The Renautas mystery is still the strongest storyline on the show, and the one that holds the most promise. I’ll miss Molly Walker, who was a great character and one Reborn was smart to pull away quickly. Her death and her dramatic plea for Noah to not investigate June 13 and the mysteries of past have done the most to heighten the stakes of this series to date.
Character motivations started to yo-yo a bit in this episode, as Taylor quickly switched sides to work against her mother after learning of her dark intentions/plans to never return her Evo boyfriend. Fortunately she’s not as poorly drawn as Joanne, who remains the lowest point of the show. The awful character we’ve come to know over three weeks totally would have shot her husband point-blank if she found out he was an Evo. Still, I’m happy she didn’t because at least it keeps Levi around longer and hopefully gets him on a better storyline.
Heroes Reborn has settled into its groove a third of the way through its run, but it still feels like a shadow of the former series. At least the characters are coming into their own and the pieces of its puzzle are starting to come together, and Reborn is stronger for it. It’s welcome that the show has begun to narrow its focus, which is what it’s going to continue to do to tie together a story that keeps viewers engaged.
