Heroes Reborn Series Finale Review – ‘Project Reborn’

Tai Freligh reviews the thirteenth and final episode of Heroes Reborn, ‘Project Reborn’…

So this week’s episode was the finale and to say it completely jumped the shark would be an understatement.  I can’t help but feel like the writers didn’t plan out the entire thirteen episode arc because there were a few dragging episodes and then the last two were overpacked and introduced some ideas that had never been brought up all season long.  Honestly, this finale made me feel like I did way back when Heroes abruptly went off the air- extremely unsatisfied.  But enough prognosticating, let’s get to the very last recap and review!

We pick up with Carlos, Micah and Jose taking Farah to the hospital to treat her gunshot wounds.  They are about to leave when a bunch of injured people from the highway pileup come in and need help.  Carlos decides to stay and help, saying he finally feels like he’s found his place- helping people.  The message being that you don’t need powers to help people and since Carlos never had powers anyways (and really didn’t have much of a storyline either), he’s given meaning in the end.  Sadly, I can’t help but feel like Micah was wasted in this show, basically helping to broadcast a few messages and turn the power on.

We also see that Tommy is still trapped in Evernow and Erica is launching her big plan to teleport everybody wearing a Not Apple Watch to the future using Tommy.  A cord appears out of nowhere and plugs into Tommy’s neck inside the fortress.  He teleports everybody to the future where Erica and her minions all walk outside and gaze upon the desert around Gateway like it’s the first time (even though we’ve seen it several times in the show and Erica has been back and forth multiple times).

Ren and Emily get inside the facility and find and free the sedated EVOs, including Miko and Hachiro Otomo.  Unfortunately, this Miko is the real one and has no memory of Ren, much to his disappointment.  So much for true love!  Otomo gives Ren the big speech about how he is the chosen one and knows Evernow better than anyone and that he needs to go into the game and free the master of time and space.  Otomo sends him inside the game where we see his animated animal head character meet up with virtual Miko AKA Katana Girl, who apparently after glitching out of the real world after killing Harris is back inside Evernow and still fading in and out of existence.  They battle to the door and then Ren pulls out the sword and frees Tommy.

Luke, Malina and Quentin are heading to the clock tower when all hell starts to break loose.  Fireballs are falling from the sky, destroying things and setting things on fire.  It’s not safe to be outside right now and Luke wants to protect Malina and Quentin, so he shuts them in a random metal containment area that just happens to protect them from the massive fireball in the sky.  But, surprise!  Luke is not going with them.  He’s done his job and knows now that he needs to help save the world by flying up in the sky and imploding, thereby taking the first wave of fire out of commission.  The first major sacrifice of the episode, which will turn into a recurring theme in the finale as we see heroes and villains perishing as the stakes are raised.

Phoebe is waiting at the clock tower for Malina to show up because she still has some allegiance to Erica and/or is too far gone to care anymore.  Quentin and Malina head to the tower to try and save the world.  Malina goes ahead and unbeknownst to them, Phoebe is waiting at the top and sends her smoke tentacles downstairs and traps Malina.  She pulls her up and starts squeezing the life out of her.  Quentin runs up the stairs and pleads with her to stop, that it’s not worth it, that Erica doesn’t care about her…that she left them here to die while she went to the future.  It doesn’t seem to matter, so Quentin finally has to shoot her to save Malina.  Three or four gunshot wounds later, Phoebe staggers backwards and conveniently falls out a window to her death below.  Malina heads outside in front of the clock tower because Angela’s prophecy said that she would be united with Tommy in front of the clock tower to save the world.

Now is where the finale really jumps the shark and decides to introduce a few concepts to Tommy’s powers that will enable him to save the world.  He meets Tommy #2 who tells him that time is meaningless here, but memories are timeless and he will need to remember everything he’s been taught to help save the world.  Tommy #2 also tells him that he can be in two places at once (what??).  Once again, we are treated to several “memories’ where Tommy learns things critical to saving the world, including a memory of Angela Petrelli testing what happens when Tommy and Malina touch hands.  He sees a giant blue column of power shoot up and he thinks he knows what he needs to do.

Erica knows that Tommy has been freed from Evernow and she brings Emily and Tommy’s mom to the control room to confront him.  She gloats that he is out of luck because if he goes back to modern day to unite with Malina and stop the H.E.L.E., then everybody in the room (who are in the future) will die, including his girlfriend and mother.  If he stays in the future they will all live, so he has no choice but to give up.  So, remember that shark jumping previously? Tommy can be in two places at once (who knew?) and freezes time.  He makes Tommy #2 appear in the future to take care of Erica while he goes back to the present to meet up with Malina at the clock tower and save the world.  Future Tommy pulls a Quicksilver, much like in X-Men: Days of Future Past and walks around moving things while everyone is frozen, teleporting everybody in the room back to the present, except for Erica Kravid, who he cuts the Not Apple Watch off of, preventing her from escaping the future and pretty much guaranteeing her death.

Tommy #1 goes back to the present where he meets up with Malina at the clock tower and after trying to engage their Wonder Twin powers by holding her hand, realizes it’s not working, so he goes back to Evernow and watches more of the scene between him and his sister as children.  The column of power doesn’t work until a lab technician pulls them apart and acts as a conduit between the two of them.  Their power shoots a giant column of power into the ceiling for a few seconds before the technician falls to the ground dead and breaks the contact.  How he remembers this when Angela has the Haitian there and tells him to wipe the children’s memory, I do not know.  Tommy also has a “memory” of seeing Claire Bennett on TV surviving the ferris wheel fall and then his “Mother” tells him that she is his mother.  He also doesn’t remember this from his childhood later on?  Anyways, I digress.  Tommy now knows that he needs a person willing to sacrifice themselves to save the world and he knows exactly who that is.  Boom.  We’re back at the highway pileup and we finally see who teleported Noah Bennett.  Tommy brings him back to the clock tower where he explains that he needs somebody to sacrifice themselves to save the world and since HRG is the only one there and time is running out, does he really have a choice?  He holds both of their hands and in a scene that seems to take forever, a blue column goes out to the sky and eventually around the whole world, making a force-field against the fireball and saving the world.  They break the connection and he falls to his knee and then has an extended farewell speech before dying (that lab technician died right away, bro!).  Yet another person sacrificed to save the world.

We now have a montage of scenes showing what happened after.  Quentin is in jail and has been brought into a room to be interrogated by two agents about what happened at Odessa.  This gives him the opportunity to wax eloquent and wrap the whole show up with the show’s in your face message of everybody is a hero and EVOs are just like you and me, they just got a chance to do something extraordinary.  While he talks we see scenes of Ren and Miko being trained by Otomo, Nathan (that’s what Tommy wants to be called now) and Emily working together at the ice cream shop, Farah, Carlos and Jose are now a crime fighting family and Malina is having her first day at high school, being integrated into the real world after being kept in isolation in the arctic for so long.  Finally, at the very end, we see mysterious tarot cards being given to Nathan and Malina, which when Angela Petrelli sees them, explains that they are from their father and he’s coming for them and nobody can stop them.  This would have been an awesome lead in to a second season, but unfortunately, we already know that NBC has said it won’t happen.  We will never know who their father is, unless Tim Kring and company decide to do another web-series or comic book or graphic novel to continue the adventures.

Conclusion.  The finale gets a 5 out of 10.

Official Episode Synopsis: In the finale, the heroes unite to save mankind – and try to stop Erica Kravid from realizing her twisted vision for the future.

‘Project Reborn’ was the Heroes Reborn finale.  There will be no new episodes as NBC has passed on a season 2.

Tai Freligh

(Article originally appeared on Flickering Myth)