Review: Heroes Reborn (Season 1, Episode 13)

The finale opens with a concerned Tommy trapped inside Evernow. As the Hele gets even closer, he seems unable to stop it from occurring. While Tommy is trapped in his virtual world, Erica successfully uses him to transport her chosen group across to the future, suggesting that despite everything that has happened, the heroes might not win this time.

Throughout the show, Luke has proven himself to be a good man, who made some terrible decisions after the loss of his son. While he gained the audience’s forgiveness a while ago, it seems that he is still struggling to live with the blood on his hands. This becomes apparent in a heartbreaking scene, when he makes the ultimate sacrifice to atone for his sins and save Malina’s life. He is not the only character to die in this episode, however not all of them will be mourned by viewers. Phoebe dies at the hands of her own brother, who finally chooses the right side over familial loyalty. Phoebe took such pleasure in hurting people and killing evos, that her death seems like a positive thing, as at least now there is one less person to hurt the minority group.

Special effects are used brilliantly in this episode to create a striking and terrifying apocalypse, yet the VFX employed to create Evernow are not as convincing, making the show feel a little confused in its efforts. While the Armageddon occurring in the present day gives a sense of reality and suspense to the show, the gaming world still feels false, grating against the otherwise grounded aesthetic.

In perhaps one of the most satisfactory scenes of the entire show, Tommy escapes Evernow and stands up to Erica. Despite the latter’s confidence that she knew everything she needed to, Tommy proves her wrong by exhibiting fantastic new powers, which allow him to be in two places at once. Using these abilities, he is able to save those he loves, fight against Erica and help Malina save the world. However, when he finally makes it back to the present day to help his sister, things get complicated, as it becomes apparent that Tommy and Malina can’t save the world on their own, despite what the prophecy claimed. This leads to what is undoubtedly the most heart-wrenching scene of the entire show, as a fan favourite character makes the ultimate sacrifice to help the twins.

One of the most exciting moments of this finale was at the very end, after the world had been saved, as it was implied that a new character would be joining our heroes to make things even more chaotic. It seemed that one of the audience’s biggest questions would soon be answered, as Angela Petrelli suggested that Malina and Tommy’s father would finally be revealed next season, when he came to claim his children. This is very frustrating, given the show’s subsequent cancellation, which means that fans will be robbed of the answers to their questions. All they can do now is hope that this show will one day be picked up by another network and that closure might finally be provided.

While Heroes Reborn was not always the most exciting or brilliant show on television, it was enjoyable and it certainly showed improvement as the weeks went on. It needed the first few episodes to set the ground work, so that it could start unleashing the exciting stuff, like the heartbreaking deaths, the tense encounters and the adorable relationships. Audience members have to know the characters before they can really root for them, and while this show spent a while getting you to care (perhaps too long) it did eventually become very engaging.

Heroes Reborn aired on 5Star.