S01.E01: Awakening / S01.E02: Odessa

[MarkHB]

After a terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas, left the city decimated and lives in shambles, those with extraordinary abilities are in hiding after being blamed for the catastrophic event. A new world order has them being hunted by those with nefarious motives, such as Luke and Joanne Collins, who are out to avenge a tragic loss of their son. Meanwhile, Noah Bennet has taken measures to put his old life behind him and start over, until he comes face to face with Quentin Frady, a conspiracy theorist out to uncover the truth behind the Odessa tragedy. Elsewhere, some are discovering their newfound skills. Awkward teen Tommy just wants to be normal and win the girl of his dreams, Emily, but normalcy is virtually impossible after learning of a new ability that terrifies him. Coming from a very sheltered upbringing, a bold and ethereal teenager, Malina, has been told she is destined for greatness. In Tokyo, a quiet and unique young woman, Miko, is trying to track down her missing father while hiding an extraordinary secret that will make her a force to be reckoned with. In Los Angeles, a different type of hero is emerging through former soldier Carlos. For better or for worse, some are fated to cross paths with assorted heroes of the past and together their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world and mankind.

[Hanged Man]

First?

*Licks forum* Claimed

 

Interesting, liked the double episode. I think it is unfortuitous that the anti-evo hunter couple got in the car with the records of where the Evos are though I am wondering if that was a functioning base why would they not clean the records up?

Edited September 25, 2015 by Hanged Man

[Primetimer]

And more not-quite-burning questions sparked by the series premiere of NBC's Heroes reboot.

Read the story

[mustbekarma]

I liked it well enough. It wasn't as awesome as the first episode of the parent ship, but this was a pleasant two hours. I'm in.

[mtlchick]

Well it's a short term commitment so I'm ok with it.  Glad to see HRG back.  Though I had to chuckle that the show used to peddle Nissan Versa any way it can.  Now they're selling Cadillacs.  At least they're staying classy!

[Lantern7]

Let me get this out of the way . . . "Evo" is not a good term for powered people. Seriously, it's like waving a banner saying "We can't say 'mutant' or 'inhuman'."

 

The magic isn't in the show. There are good moments, but I accept that we'll never hit the highs of Peter and Nathan flying, or Hiro teleporting to New York. Now those were two kickass hours.

 

I can't pick out a favorite of the new blood. "Katana Girl" is a silly name, but it comes the nifty power of going into World Of War-  .. . Evernow. Also . . . there is no way D'ohinder Suresh could've caused a terrorist act. He was such a goober, and not an entertaining one like Hiro. Next up: accepting Chuck as a hero-hunter. One step at a time.

 

ETA: Man, that was a disappointing use of the Haitian. I get how he could lay a mind whammy on Noah, but shot in a struggle? What's next . . . an errant bullet felling Claude and nobody knows about it?

[caprice]

*Scrubs forum* Really, HM, of everything you could lick! you have to start with the forum?

I'm hoping we'll find that Quentin (and was it me, or is he a wee, tiny man?) still had his hands on the files before the anti-evo couple took the car.

This is on my DVR, so I'll watch in more depth tomorrow. I can't wait to see what they do with Michael Therriault.

And yes, I'm still bitter about having left Toronto before I had a chance as an extra on the show.

[mustbekarma]

 Next up: accepting Chuck as a hero-hunter. One step at a time.

 

Wait, WHAT! That was Chuck. Chuck is murdering innocent people. That not nice. I seriously didn't recognize Zachary Levi. Not fair. I wanted him to be a hero.

[HunterHunted]

That was very Nissan Versa.

It figures that the company would still be around, but somehow less competent than ever. They've figured out how to "monetize" people with powers, but haven't figured out to protect them from a psychopathic couple who have been systematically murdering innocent people in a very unsubtle fashion.

[Monty9]

I. am. in. I stayed until the bitter (and annoying) end last time and they got me again.

 

Random thoughts:

HRG! I missed you! (stands for horned rimmed glasses, car salesman dude)

 

We got a minute or two of hot Haitian (dude HRG killed) and he's gone already?! WTF? Not cool show.

 

Zachary Levi (shootin' dude) scary/evil is not really your thing. You sing really well and hit cute/dorky outta the park but yeah. Huh.

 

Penny guy- Seemingly cool powers and maybe an uncle to Tommy? Maybe?

 

Tommy can wish people out to the cornfield! (old people will get this).

 

Looking forward to this and hanging out with you fine people.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Monty9

[ottoDbusdriver]

Ren is the new Ando to Miko as the new Hiro -- I guess.  Not sure if I wanted to spend most of the 2nd hour watching a video game -- what is this, NBC's version of Twitch ?  If Miko's father has been trapped in the video game how long has he been there ? And has Miko been living home alone -- and for how long ?

 

Not sure what was up with the invisible guy running in his underwear in Quebec, or the flying man in China, or the woman in the Arctic manipulating the auroras -- or the butterfly that was in Odessa the day of the bombing touching an apple and also showed up in the Arctic.  If that's a monarch butterfly that snuck over from 'Under the Dome', things are going to get weird.

 

What a waste of Jimmy Jean-Louis.  And what the hell was he really doing in the backroom in his 'opthamology' office ?

 

I did enjoy seeing HRG again.

 

So Zachary Levi and his wife (I think) are intent on killing all the Evos because they killed his son in Odessa -- wait until he finds out that Evos didn't do it, and he has been killing innocent people.  How did he know that the coach's blood would catch fire in that church basement ?  Did he really need to shoot out the lights in that room to discover that one wall was a pane of glass ?  And killing all those people at Primatech seemed a little out there -- were any of them Evos ?

 

This event Renautus is causing is codenamed 'Epic' -- which just leaves the door wide open for failure, you know, Epic Fail.

 

How did Molly Walker apparently age 10-12 years in about 3-4 years of showtime (and turn into a hottie) -- wasn't she a pre-teen in the original series ?

 

What's the Carnival of Crime been up to all this time ?

 

Tommy had 9th Wonders comics in his backpack -- who is still writing these or are they just old issues ?

[TVSpectator]

I watched the first Heroes, or at least I sticked around till the latter half of Season 3, but I am not really feeling this pilot. I mean seeing HRM is amazing and he is still my favorite character (and Ando was my second favorite), but I am not excited to really watch this show. Which is sad because I remember seeing Season 1 of Heroes and being blown away by it, but I am not blown away by this episode. Another aspect that I am a bit disappointed in was seeing a similar "save the world" motif that was hinted in the episode. I get that these people have to save something (or else they are just random people with powers), but can't the writers just think of something else? Like maybe instead of starting your first season off with "save the world" maybe just have these people come together to save a city? Then after a season or two they can then band together to save the world. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Free]

Ren is the new Ando to Miko as the new Hiro -- I guess.

 

Same here, I just see the new characters as a deja vu replacement with new powers of the old characters that couldn't return.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Free

[ParadoxLost]

Same here, I just see the new characters as a deja vu replacement with new powers of the old characters that couldn't return.

 

But with less charisma.  And that did not help overcome that the pilot was dragging.

 

Its really bizarre that they didn't come up with a Sylar stand in.  When the X Men are being rounded up, there is always a Magneto running around to make it seem like maybe if you squint at it sideways the evil government/corporation might have a point.  Its a trope for a reason.  Maybe next episode.

Edited September 25, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[ottoDbusdriver]

I did like Quentin's crossover from the webisodes.

[Free]

But with less charisma.  And that did not help overcome that the pilot was dragging.

 

Even some of the lines were lifted straight from the previous series.

 

Its really bizarre that they didn't come up with a Sylar stand in.  When the X Men are being rounded up, there is always a Magneto running around to make it seem like maybe if you squint at it sideways the evil government/corporation might have a point.  Its a trope for a reason.  Maybe next episode.

 

Based on the trailers, I assumed it would be Zachary Levi, but I guess it's just the X-Men plot with the Evo descrimination storyline.

[TVSpectator]

But with less charisma.  And that did not help overcome that the pilot was dragging.

 

Its really bizarre that they didn't come up with a Sylar stand in.  When the X Men are being rounded up, there is always a Magneto running around to make it seem like maybe if you squint at it sideways the evil government/corporation might have a point.  Its a trope for a reason.  Maybe next episode.

 

IMO, I prefer Ando over Hiro and I thought that Hiro was more like the spoiled rich brat that learned about the real world and that Ando was hired by Hiro's father to be his best friend. 

 

As with the characters being just stand-ins. yes, I got that vibe too. Especially with the teenager who can teleport. For some reason, I was thinking that he was supposed to be a male version of Claire. Also, as with who could've been a Sylar stand-in, I first thought about maybe that it was the man who could control things and almost killed Zoe, but it turns out that he was part of a long con with that other woman. Then again if the writers are writing in an underground railroad to Canada, then I doubt that they will write in a villain with superpowers. Although, any villains who are not that couple (the one with Zachary Levi) ,for now, would be better.

 

I am hoping that the next few episodes would be better than this pilot.  

Edited September 25, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Free]

IMO, I prefer Ando over Hiro and I thought that Hiro was more like the spoiled rich brat that learned about the real world and that Ando was hired by Hiro's father to be his best friend.

 

I preferred future Hiro, the regular one got worse as the series declined unfortunately.

[Senna]

I never got around to watching the original Heroes (still on my list ... the first season, at least), but this was all right. 

 

Noah Bennet's storyline was easily the most interesting.  I could take or leave the rest, though none stood out as terrible (maybe the video game world, but I do have a soft spot for Japanese things).  Didn't care for the force-of-wanton-destruction couple, but mostly because it was a little too convenient to kill off everybody in the facility who might be able to impart some information.

 

I loved Robbie Kay as Peter Pan in Once Upon a Time, so I hope they give him some more interesting things to do than be a dorky high schooler.  The penny dude following him around is promising.  I'm also here for Dylan Bruce, whenever and however he shows up.

[ParadoxLost]

 Although, any villains who are not that couple (the one with Zachary Levi) ,for now, would be better. 

 

I doubt Zachary Levi will be a villain for long.  He's already got an angsty dead child backstory and a angry wife who pushed him into the wanting to kill all the Evos to avenge their son.  He'll eventually team up with HRG who also has an angsty dead child backstory to save the world and redeem himself.

[MarkHB]

I stuck through to the very end last time, and I'm here for this one as well (and I'm glad to see my old friends here, too!)

 

Easter Egg collection:

• 9th Wonders comics
• "cockroach" being the code for the Evos Anonymous meeting (Mohinder used to talk about the survival ability of the "lowly cockroach")
• The Union Wells High Wildcats cheerleader uniform running by at the Summit before the explosion
• Miko finds herself at Yamagato Industries, the company run by Hiro's father and sister.

 

Molly Walker apparently got SORASed.  The original actress, Adair Tishler, is a college sophomore and presumably too young to play the character the way she is in this show.  I have no idea if she's going to continue with acting or not.  Meanwhile, Francesca Eastwood was fine (in a couple senses of the word).

 

Yes, there was definitely an echo vibe of Claire/Zach and Hiro/Ando in Tommy/Ice Cream Girl and Miko/Ren.  It's a new story, though, so I don't mind.

[TVSpectator]

I preferred future Hiro, the regular one got worse as the series declined unfortunately.

Future Hiro was a decent guy although, IMO, our HIro never grew up into him. Instead, we were stuck with his face expression every time he traveled through time (which always gave me the impression he was constipated):

 

 

 

I doubt Zachary Levi will be a villain for long.  He's already got an angsty dead child backstory and a angry wife who pushed him into the wanting to kill all the Evos to avenge their son.  He'll eventually team up with HRG who also has an angsty dead child backstory to save the world and redeem himself.

 

I still think that he will probably be one of the main villains for this show. Although, his wife doesn't seem too bright nor focused and also seemed to be the gun happy one in the relationship, but still he will probably does want to get revenge and/or justice for his son's death (what parent won't thought?). 

Edited September 25, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Free]

Future Hiro was a decent guy although, IMO, our HIro never grew up into him. Instead, we were stuck with his face expression every time he traveled through time (which always gave me the impression he was constipated):

 

That's my biggest problem with the character, they present a cooler future version of him and then have him constantly get worse in the subsequent seasons.

[Jenniferbug]

Noah!!! I'm so glad he is back. I loved him going to see Rene, and I'm super pissed they brought him back just to kill him off one scene later. I always liked the Haitian, and his power was unique and interesting. I'm still wondering how they'll explain Claire being dead. So HRG was with Primatech until the incident...why did I think he was doing something else at the end of the first series?

Tommy didn't annoy me, like I was expecting. I liked Emily too, though she has the potential to annoy. I think if Robbie Kay wasn't so likeable, I'd find the character uninteresting.

Molly's life has turned out not so good :-( I loved when they had her living with Matt and Mohinder as a child, and was sad they broke that up. It makes me wonder what happened to her since then, poor girl.

My least favorite is Miko and her weird video game sword plot. When she first entered the game, I was thinking "what the ever loving fuck is this?" And that reaction really didn't change. So is she an Evo or is the sword what allows her to enter the game? That really didn't seem like an ability to me.

Did we only see Malina at the end of the first episode? They're being awfully quiet about her plot.

Carlos was an interesting twist- kind of the Mohinder of the group in that he's not powered but is connected to those who are. Is he supposed to develop an ability later?

I'll have to rewatch this tomorrow, as I missed some parts while dealing with my child's bedtime.

ETA: add Pinehearst High School to the Easter egg list. Pinehearst was where Arthur Petrelli was kept, yes? It was the name of Tommy's high school.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Jenniferbug

[Free]

Molly's life has turned out not so good :-( I loved when they had her living with Matt and Mohinder as a child, and was sad they broke that up. It makes me wonder what happened to her since then, poor girl.

 

Her life always seemed to suck even when she was a little girl.  :(.

[JasmineFlower]

Just going to be shallow to start. Not sure about the casting, feel like it's seriously lacking in looks. We've got Zachary looking pretty darn great, the attractive gambler, and not much else (the drunk vet is just okay to me, probably very appealing to others). But either way, this is no Milo, Adrian, Hayden, Ali, Sendhil, etc an attractive cast almost top to bottom, this is instead a rather underwhelming cast in terms of looks.  And also, pretty darn unknown. While not full of superstars at the time, most of the main cast of Heroes had experienced at least some success, even if they hadn't hit it seriously big. And what's more, it seems like the sort of plain cast isn't even ultra talented outside of the awkward teen (I've seen him before).

 

That being said, I don't dislike this cast as a whole, but I agree that the magic isn't here like it was in the original. You could feel that from the first episode. This felt just a bit eh too often. And also, a lot of huh, what? Thought the timeline they went with was a bit odd. Didn't get a ton of why they decided to start some things where they did. I really am not sure what they are doing with Zachary. Not just that he's a bad guy, which I could be okay with, but why was he barely used in this super long premiere? I don't get that at all, nor can I even begin to understand the casting and characterization of his wife (not cute, super strange, and the lumbering walk feels like a version of overacting). I also am not getting Molly getting into trouble with the guy. She was in over her head to start, which was a bit much, but why was she lead away. Does the gambler's girlfriend not have abilities? Because I thought Molly was able to identify those that had powers (this is Greg Grunberg's Molly, right? Can't think of his character's name).

 

I hope they aren't going with a version of "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" but it kind of feels like it. That's just lazy. Yes, this is "reborn" but doing that feels like we can drop the Reborn and call it Heroes since that is hardly re-imagined to go that route.

 

The video game girl storyline felt weird and unnecessarily out of place. Maybe I'm missing what they were going for, but can't say that's a good thing no matter you slice it. I hope they think this part was worth it, because this more than anything else made me wonder what the heck they were doing and if they thought this all through and planned it well. Definitely has me thinking I may bail on this a lot quicker than I was thinking I would. I'm in doubt about this one and it may get the hook sooner than later if things don't seem more cohesive going forward.

[Free]

I hope they aren't going with a version of "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" but it kind of feels like it. That's just lazy. Yes, this is "reborn" but doing that feels like we can drop the Reborn and call it Heroes since that is hardly re-imagined to go that route.

 

It may as well be S5 but with replacements for characters that couldn't return, which is what this essentially is.

[TVSpectator]

That's my biggest problem with the character, they present a cooler future version of him and then have him constantly get worse in the subsequent seasons.

 

YMMV, but I thought there were other issues with Hiro, but the fact that we were promised that he would be this cool, calm, wise/smart  guy that didn't  sucked was a let down for me. 

 

I hope they aren't going with a version of "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" but it kind of feels like it. That's just lazy. Yes, this is "reborn" but doing that feels like we can drop the Reborn and call it Heroes since that is hardly re-imagined to go that route.

 

This, ^^^ was one of the main reasons why I stopped watching Heroes back in the day. They just kept on repeating the same storyline about saving the world and they kept on introducing new characters, each half of a season, that I could care less about. 

 

 

It may as well be S5 but with replacements for characters that couldn't return, which is what this essentially is.

 

I think that this time there is a decent chance we might see a storyline about this underground railroad to Canada for the 'evolved' humans (and not all humans with powers are actually evolved. Some took that gene treatment to gain superpowers, like Ando). 

 

As with this series does anyone know how long after the show Heroes is this series supposed to take place? Is this 10 years after the events of season 4 or 5 years or how long has it been, in the show's time?

Edited September 25, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Actionmage]

Noah/ HRG's thread-- I liked it. It's intriguing and the 'of course they're probably still using the facilities' nonchalance was fun. I felt so badly for Noah due to all the people he knew and trusted, outside his new fiancé, was killed and he has no idea why.  Learning that you are purposely keeping knowledge away from yourself ( 'shoot me if I come here') has got to be surreal.  Still don't trust his new tag-a-long buddy. He's a whiner and not a funny one, so he's testing my patience.

 

Tommy/ Maple Ice Cream Girl/ Abused Now-Best Bud-- If I hadn't seen "Tommy" on Once Upon a Time, I might have an easier time with him. I enjoy his scenes and the slow-building trust between his crush and her bf/Tommy's new best friend. It started out as a typical triangle, but we may have a Musketeers situation. Teens who are obviously having unfair oppression ( government hunting for Evos,  abusive step-dad) and are willing to protect one another could be interesting.

 

El Vengador-- I love it! It's Batman and Spider-Man and we have a Robin expy to boot! Plus? An Evo priest and an underground railroad and dirty, dirty, LAPD cops/ at least one captain? And a Lucha Lair?! How can you not look forward to this story. It's going to be the one that might break my heart. (Noah's story is going to chug things along just fine and I get a twinge in my chest because I watched the OG show until the third book started. HRG and his Clairbear were the best thing. Okay, Molly and her Two Not-Dads were pretty fun too. And Matt and the damn turtle!) 

 

Zoe/Molly-- Her eyes are so freaking expressive! She is a living anime character and I dig her. Here's hoping she gets to be more Molly-ish next episode.

 

Natural Born Evo-Hunters-- Hey? Didja ever think that you two might be Evos, too, if your son was one? ::rolls eyes::  Also, what makes you think all of that information you lucked into was even up-to-date? Because it was printed out all nice and had a reasonably recent date? Corporations are huge and slow for a reason.  I hope Noah catches up to you two.  I get the anger and the pain, but to shoot any person you don't know isn't an Evo ( the PrimaTech drones)? That's on you alone, not your grief. You chose to murder. How would your son like that, Mom and Dad?

 

"Penny For Your Thoughts"-- Love the idea, love Mr. Taylor, and I want to know more about him! He could be deeply gray, which would be interesting.

 

Miko and Ren-- Yeah, there is a feel of Hiro/Ando, but I get more of a sense of equals. She may be Katana Girl and he may yell "Leroy Jenkins!" as he goes into battle, but they watch out for each other and seem to trust one another. In the first season, Ando started as not only the more practical one, but he read to me as feeling more than Hiro because Ando was higher up the social pecking order, despite Hiro being a scion of the company Ando worked for and Hiro considering him Hiro's best friend. I warmed to Ando, but I just didn't like him much in the beginning.

 

Yeah, the graphics for Evernow were kinda...art institute ad-ish. I'm not sure what the purpose is, just yet. When we could have used a couple of more rules about is Miko actually, physically, in the game? Gotta move the building blocks for the series into place instead. So, despite Ren asking Miko if she dies in the game, we didn't get an answer. Granted, how is Miko to know, if it isn't spelled out in the manga Ren gave her, but surely her dad gave her some kind of caution? I know, I know-- it's the first two episodes and it's all set-up.

 

I may stick around. There's enough to intrigue me if the writing keeps up the suspense, action and characterization. I'm wanting to love this again.

[thuganomics85]

So, despite bailing on the original series after the second season, I decided to give this a go.  For the most part, it was easy jumping in and while there were a few things I had no clue about (I'm guessing Molly appeared in the later season, and I have no idea what Mohinder apparently did to piss everyone off.  Well, besides those over-long voiceovers), it wasn't too hard to figure it out. Overall, I'll probably watch a few more at least, because I don't think there really is anything else I watch at 8 p.m., but there was a lot going on, and I don't know if I'll grow to like all of it.

 

Favorite stuff was easily anything involving Noah.  He was one of my favorites from the original, and Jack Coleman is always awesome (one of my favorite things about the last season of Burn Notice.)  I'm curious to see what exactly happened that caused him to wipe his memory and what really happened to Claire.  Liked the return of Rene/The Haitian, but I'm bummed that he is already dead.  But Noah apparently asking him to kill him before wiping his memory, is definitely a big twist.

 

I enjoyed the Tommy plot just because of Robbie Kay.  He was awesome on Once Upon A Time, so it was great seeing him again.  Weird though, seeing him being much nicer.  I kept thinking "Pan wouldn't put up with this shit!" during all the bullying and danger.

 

But that wasn't anywhere near as jarring as seeing Zachary Levi in this.  I was completely unspoiled about what his character would be, so when he totally shot those Evos, I was pretty much yelling "Nooo!  How could you, Chuck?!"  Of course, it sounds like the death of his son has effected his judgement and he already seems to be rethinking things (his wife though is probably too far gone with revenge), but that was still tough.  You're breaking my heart, Chuck!

 

The stuff with Molly amused me because that it's when I knew that it was obvious it was shot in Canada due to the actors.  Not familiar with Molly herself, but everyone else was "Hey, mysterious girl at bar is Maya from The 100!" and "Oh, look, it's Nick from Rookie Blue as the sleazy Evo!"

 

Was bored with the war veteran and Miko plots.  The former was just a typical superhero plot (the preacher scenes totally remind me of Daredevil) but without compelling characters, and the latter started out weird, and then just made me laugh with the horrible video game effects.  I get that there are budget limits to these things, but that was PS2 quality at best, and that might be generous.

 

Looking forward to seeing the return of a few other former original guys like Hiro, Parkman, and even Mohinder.  And, thankfully, there will be no Petrellis or Sylar to hog the screen time.  Especially the last one.  Sorry, Zachary Quinto: love you, but Sylar was the poster child of a good villain, that was run into the ground due to the show's over-the-top love for the character.

Edited September 25, 2015 by thuganomics85

[Rick Kitchen]

Leeroy Jenkins!!!

 

It's good to see Robbie Kay as something other than Peter Pan.  And he has a good American accent,

 

Pruitt Taylor Vince isn't Eddie Doyle, is he?

 

When Tommy teleported Joanne and her husband (what is his name?), didn't he also transport their car?  Where did it go?

 

I read that the actress who plays Miko really does know how to use a sword.  She has trained for years.

 

I don't like Joanne.

[Free]

YMMV, but I thought there were other issues with Hiro, but the fact that we were promised that he would be this cool, calm, wise/smart  guy that didn't  sucked was a let down for me.

 

It made it worse, because it was acol character and an interesting future only to snatch it all away.

 

Was bored with the war veteran and Japan plots.  The former was just a typical superhero plot (the preacher scenes totally remind me of Daredevil) but without compelling characters, and the latter started out weird, and then just made me laugh with the horrible video game effects.  I get that there are budget limits to these things, but that was PS2 quality at best, and that might be generous.

 

It felt out a place in a series that's once again juggling too many characters and subplots around.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

the drunk vet is just okay to me, probably very appealing to others

 

Ryan Guzman, he was the love interest/stalker in the last Jennifer Lopez movie, where he played a high school student.

 

I thought the in-show Cadillac ad was sleazy.

[JasmineFlower]

Ryan Guzman, he was the love interest/stalker in the last Jennifer Lopez movie, where he played a high school student.

 

I haven't seen a J.Lo movie in years, so definitely didn't recognize him from that. I know him from Pretty Little Liars (another age inappropriate side flirtation with Aria). I've seen him look a lot better than he did on Heroes Reborn. Similar to when I've seen him before, he can look fine, he can look pretty good, and he can look amazing. Didn't approach the latter on here at all to me, but given how uneven he's looked to me in the past, maybe it'll happen soon.

[kili]

I'm betting that Zachary Levi's character is Tommy's dad. He and his wife took Tommy to the Evo day and his memory got wiped. 

 

Then, for some reason, Zachary Levi's character hooked up and married Tamara (I don't know what her name is, but she's totally in the same vein as that chick from OUAT that was engaged to Neal and was all about killing magical creatures for no reason we ever learn). She and Owen (Zach) probably met at some anti-Evo meeting.

 

Miko needs to buy a lock for her apartment and Ren needs to learn some boundaries. And the writers need to figure out how to integrate them with the rest of the story because they are so far removed from the story and the bad CGI makes it feel like somebody put in a reel from another show. 

 

I wonder if the War Hero has a power too. Curious about penny guy and conspiracy guy.  Tommy/Ice Cream Girl/Her BF can stay. I hope Owen and Tamara die soon. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by kili

[jellysalmon]

I was going to take issue with Tara's Tekken 2 comparison because in my mind Tekken 2 looked way worse since it came out 20 years ago but this actually looks pretty similar.

 

[futurechemist]

Tommy/Ice Cream Girl/Her BF can stay.

The jock guy was ice cream girl's boyfriend?  I honestly thought that of the 3 of them, the most chemistry was between the jock and Tommy.

 

It's a bold move for the show to come back pretending that several seasons took place but just weren't aired.  I'm willing to see where the show goes with it.

[BooBear]

I watched the first Heroes, or at least I sticked around till the latter half of Season 3, but I am not really feeling this pilot. I mean seeing HRM is amazing and he is still my favorite character (and Ando was my second favorite), but I am not excited to really watch this show. Which is sad because I remember seeing Season 1 of Heroes and being blown away by it, but I am not blown away by this episode. Another aspect that I am a bit disappointed in was seeing a similar "save the world" motif that was hinted in the episode.

 

I am sorry but this is a complete retread of the old series.  Except worse.  They literally just filled in the slots from the old show. Is Japan the only other country on earth?   I was totally uninterested in that plot. Even the teenager plot is almost exactly the same, but, this time it is the guy with powers. Also, was it me or for a limited commerical break show were there a ton of commericals.

[Miles]

This was rather meh.

I really liked the storyline of the teleporting kid and it was nice to see HRG again, but that's about it.

Hasn't anybody learned anything? Really HRG, you let somebody mind wipe you? Because it's "too dangerous for anybody to have that information" or some bullshit like that. You should really kknow better than that. That stuff always backfires. I call bad writing.

It seemed also really out of character that he believed that Claire was killed by an explosion even he survived. Even if she had been in the center of it, I doubt she would have died. You'd have to drop a nuke on that girl to kill her.

The Japanese (game)-teleporter and sidekick: I have to agree with everybody here, pale immitations of Hiro and Ando.

Also her powers seemed weird. When she got knocked out she got transported back into her fathers office, despite the fact that she was miles away from where she logged in (in the game), yet when she logged out the second time she ended up in a completele different place.

My least favorite is Miko and her weird video game sword plot. When she first entered the game, I was thinking "what the ever loving fuck is this?" And that reaction really didn't change. So is she an Evo or is the sword what allows her to enter the game? That really didn't seem like an ability to me.

I was thinking "Man, that's some shit graphics. Is NBC really that broke?".

I never got around to watching the original Heroes (still on my list ... the first season, at least), but this was all right.

You should really watch it before watching any more of this. The preview showed a lot of familiar faces. But yeah, stick to season one, the rest isn't worth it. The show went off a cliff in the finale of the first season and then a few more cliffs after. It was amazing where they found all those clifs to drive off.

That was very Nissan Versa.

*rofl*

I thought the in-show Cadillac ad was sleazy.

It's tradition!

[Chicago Redshirt]

So, despite bailing on the original series after the second season, I decided to give this a go.  For the most part, it was easy jumping in and while there were a few things I had no clue about (I'm guessing Molly appeared in the later season, and I have no idea what Mohinder apparently did to piss everyone off.  Well, besides those over-long voiceovers), it wasn't too hard to figure it out. Overall, I'll probably watch a few more at least, because I don't think there really is anything else I watch at 8 p.m., but there was a lot going on, and I don't know if I'll grow to like all of it.

Molly was actually in the first season. IIRC there was a subplot about protecting her from Sylar.

[SoothingDave]

Definitely a lot of commercials for a "limited commercial interruption" billing.

 

Liked HRG and Zach GalifaNOTkis.  Like that Claire might be alive.  Liked seeing Deep Cleaner, even if they killed him off immediately. 

 

Liked the kid with the teleporting powers.  

 

Liked "penny for your thoughts" guy.  A very John Goodman in "O Brother Where Art Thou" vibe.

 

I'll give it some time to see how it comes together.  

 

I think the video game has to look a little cheesy to make it easy to tell when she switches worlds.  

[Mrs OldManBalls]

ETA: Man, that was a disappointing use of the Haitian. I get how he could lay a mind whammy on Noah, but shot in a struggle? What's next . . . an errant bullet felling Claude and nobody knows about it?

 

I didn't even have time to tell my daughter that "The Haitian" was on screen before he died. That happened pretty fast.

 

 

I'll give it some time to see how it comes together.  

 

Me too. It takes time to set things up. 

 

 

I'm having trouble believing that Luke and his wife had a nine-year old son together. It seems like they hate each other's guts.  (too much for hate sex even) 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm still trying to figure out how: A) HRG survived that explosion at Primatech when he was essentially at Ground Zero, while all the Evos attending the celebration were killed, Zachary Levi/wife survived and the entire town of Odessa was supposedly wiped off the map, B) why they just assume it was Evos that caused the explosion -- what kind of explosion was it ?  Was it an Evo specific bomb ?And just because Mohinder "supposedly" publicly claimed the explosion as his doing, per Quentin he's just a patsy, did the Feds ever, you know, investigate the explosion, and C) how HRG managed to re-invent himself as Ted Barnes with a car sales job and a fiance in less than a year ?

[shrewd.buddha]

Tim Kring is pretty good at getting a lot of plates spinning up in the air ... but, unfortunately, stories require a middle and an end -- and I've never seen him do well with those : Heroes, Touch, Dig .. ugh...

 

I also like how Kring goes for the international flair, and the use of subtitles instead of making everyone speak English  .. but, again, it only feels refreshing in the beginning. I wish this guy had been working on his end game so I could have hope for this series, but I fear that if the ratings are good, NBC will milk it dry with another season (despite claims of a limited series). ...and popular characters will just show up to do nonsense, because they are popular and have to show up every week. 

 

The other Kring writing quirk is that the characters start off seeming to be grounded in life-like situations:  with spouses, jobs, school, etc. But suddenly Noah (HRG guy) is off shooting, fighting, driving to other cities in the middle of the night -- as if he has no job, fiance, or other responsibilities in life. Kring basically ignores questions of how the characters can just exist to be on the run with no means of support. 

 

Nevertheless, it is an interesting start. We'll see how long, or quickly, it takes before things start going off the rails. 

 

I do have a bit of quibble with Katana Girl, whose power is to enter into a video game. Is that in any way useful? Is the video game supposed be magical? Do the PTB understand that video games are created and maintained by programmers?  Anyways.... carry on.. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[caprice]

Here's another to add to the Easter Egg list: War Hero was speaking at Linderman High School.

[marketdoctor]

 

That was very Nissan Versa.

 

That was the greatest five-word review I've seen--of anything.

 

I wonder if Noah Bennett/HRG guy survived the explosion because just before it happened, Claire hugged him to protect him, and he was mind-wiped to think she was dead and not living in Nashville under an assumed name.

 

More generally, I thought the story was more "Wild Cards" (Series of books, started in the 80's, edited by George R. R. Martin).  Powers are everywhere; people are distrustful but used to them, even the parallel to the gay rights movement (upside down rainbows for badges), and some people have powers that are more or less useless and are resentful about that (the floating kid, the guy with super speed but no apparent ability to control direction, etc.)  Even the teleport kid has a power nearly identical to PopinJay from the books (he could teleport anything up to about the size of a sofa just by pointing at it, but couldn't teleport himself).  That said, if you're going to borrow, borrow from good material.  That's why the promotional line about "ONLY…THEIR…FRIENDSHIP…CAN…SAVE…US" was too off (it was like an X-Men/My LIttle Pony crossover…which, no thank you.)

 

Did the teleport guy's new female friend remind anyone else of a young Willow Rosenberg?  

[MarkHB]

Everyone: Since she's turned out to be slightly confusing, possibly due to the change in actresses, I have created a new Molly Walker character thread.

 

I noticed Luke and Joanne together in the Odessa Summit scenes, but I didn't notice their son.  I'll have to look in On-Demand since I deleted the ep from my DVR already to see if he's there.

 

If we have to have blatant auto product placement, I'm happier to look at Caddys than "not a scratch on" the Versa.

[Gregg247]

I really enjoyed S1 of the original "Heroes", and then saw the show get worse and worse from there.  I gave up midway through S3, after the producers promised us for the umpteenth time that they were listening to the fans, realized they'd gone in the wrong direction, and were determined to fix the show.

 

Having said that, I didn't like last night's episode at all.  Is this "Heroes Reborn" or "Heroes Remade"?  The show had the same story beats, similar characters, similar situations, and similar writing.  "Save the cheerleader, save the world" vs. "Save the ice cream scooper kid, save the world".  

 

Last time, I was willing to sit there for 22 episodes to see these different people from all around the world come together to do something amazing (and then kind of just drift away again).  Now, I'm really not willing to go through that again.

 

They set up a lot of characters and a lot of situations (that we've basically seen before).  I don't have the patience to see where they're all heading (again).  I don't care about any surprise appearances by former cast members.  I wanted "Chuck" to go back to the Buy-More and stop killing people.  I want HRG guy to find a better show.

 

TL;DR version- I was burned by this show before.  The same people are behind the new one.  The new one looks exactly the same as the old one.  Bye.

[Stardancer Supreme]

I'm in.  I can only hope that the writers have learned to tell a cohesive story that makes sense from beginning to end.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I do have a bit of quibble with Katana Girl, whose power is to enter into a video game. Is that in any way useful? Is the video game supposed be magical? Do the PTB understand that video games are created and maintained by programmers?  Anyways.... carry on.. 

 

This.  And what with the 'World of War...... err, Evernow' layout mimicking downtown Tokyo, how did Ren never notice that before if he's a top-notch player ?  Has Miko ever played Evernow before ?  Or did she just sit at home all day looking forlornly down that hallway to that secret room ?  Where's her mother -- since she says she will be all alone without her father ?  How long has her father been missing ? And where did that computer come from in Miko's room that appeared AFTER she entered the video game -- all primed to play Evernow ?  A computer that was sitting on a desk with an accompanying chair that also wasn't in that room previously ?  How were there already a group of security guards surrounding Miko BEFORE she appeared in the Yamagato tower from the Evernow realm ?  Seriously, how did they know she would be appearing there ?  And how did she get real world fighting skills if she has never really held a sword before -- or fought anyone ?  This really makes no sense.

 

Is it the sword that digitizes her into and out of the video game ?  Does there have to be Wi-fi available for her to do this ?  If she kills other people's avatars, do they die, much like Ren asked Miko if she dies IRL if she's killed in the game ?  She did kill an awful lot of enemies, are there any other human players in Evernow with the exception of her father and Ren .... because there don't seem to be ?  Because that would be a pretty boring game.  

 

How come in the first segment, the news reporters were talking about how Primatech was one of the leaders in Evo research, but wasn't Primatech supposed to be "just" a paper company ?  Because that makes HRG sticking with the paper story when talking with Quentin seem pretty absurd.

 

I'm still convinced that the butterfly blew up Odessa -- to quote Bart Simpson, "Nobody ever suspects the butterfly".

 

What was that dark shadow covering the Primatech facility ? Because everyone seemed kind of freaked by it BEFORE the explosion.  I doubt it was a solar eclipse -- it looked more like the spaceships from ID4 approaching, with that clearly circular shadow.

 

There was way too much Mitch McConnell in the voiceovers after the explosion ?  Plus there was Clinton, Obama, Harry Reid, Giuliani, Bush 43 -- I'd say all of it was inappropriate to use for this show since those are all public recordings of real world events that have nothing to do with this show.

 

How did cloth banners survive the explosion, seen as HRG gets up, but everything else was destroyed/incinerated ?

 

Ummm, Zachary Levi/wife were trapped in that room for a while, at least a couple of days -- with no water supplies or bathroom facilities.  How does that work ?

 

Seriously, Miko needs to lock the damn door, or at least close it completely.  What's the deal with leaving the door ajar -- is she pulling a Crazy Joe Davola (from Seinfeld) and attempting to lure strangers into her apartment ?

 

Curious question about that sheet of Evos that Quentin found -- it's dated June 13, 2014 -- the day of the explosion.  So someone printed out this list and stashed it in this bankers box BEFORE the explosion -- WTF ?  The day wasn't over BEFORE the explosion, so how did they know all these people never showed ? Why was Claire Bennet's 'Last Seen On' entry listed as 'NA' when she was clearly on TV at the end of the S4 of the original series broadcasting to the world who she was and what her powers were ?   The even weirder thing about that list is that most of the people on it were last seen BEFORE the original series even aired.  Oscar Gutierrez is listed as having last been seen in LA in 2002, but he was operating a very public car repair garage in LA -- did no one at Primatech even bother check in on him in 12 years ?

 

Per that 'Midian Assets' display in Level 5 at Primatech, what does it mean to be "18% contained" like Mike Sheldern (the guy at the top of the list).  Molly is the only entry listed in red (indicating 'Data Lost'), but Micah is also on that list.

 

I noticed Luke and Joanne together in the Odessa Summit scenes, but I didn't notice their son.  I'll have to look in On-Demand since I deleted the ep from my DVR already to see if he's there.

 

I'm pretty sure Luke/Joanne's son was the kid in the dark blue hat with a neck cover -- he was highlighted twice before the explosion.  Once while watching that Evo doing a sort of magic trick standing directly in front of Luke/Joanne and Luke videorecorded him, and then again looking up right before the explosion.  He was wearing two layers of gloves for some reason.

 

Here's the stupid thing about that circular shadow before the exploision -- it's coming from the wrong direction.  The sun is low in the sky casting long shadows from the opposite direction that the circular shadow is coming from.  How does that work ?  Is that shadow related to Phoebe Frady ?

Edited September 25, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver