Way back when the details of Heroes: Reborn were first announced, we were told right off the bat that the new miniseries would follow the lives of new heroes. Heroes we’ve never met before.
It took a bit of time, but we all eventually adjusted to the news and even became excited about the prospect of meeting new heroes with new and never-before-seen powers. Plus, we were told we’d see cameos by a few of our favorite characters and, well, we were ready to take what we could get.
However, now we’re not so sure about those cameos and special guest appearances anymore. They’re not all that satisfying or fun. In fact, they’re downright frustrating and depressing mainly because of how the characters are being treated.
At this point in the season, it’s honestly a much simpler question to ask who of the original cast they haven’t gravely hurt, put in mortal peril, or killed off (and in a very visible manner).
(Now would be a good time to mention that if you’re not caught up with Heroes: Reborn, you might not want to read any further.)
Related: Heroes: Reborn cast tease shifting allegiances, new characters
The first “Heroes OG” disservice/murder happened to everyone’s favorite Haitian. Given Noah Bennett’s relationship with Caspar Abraham (the guy with all the pennies), what was the purpose of bringing back the Haitian? We had originally assumed that he wiped Bennett’s memories on June 13, but then later see Abraham doing so. Given the penny spinner’s importance to the rest of the plot, Rene seems superfluous. As a result, his death just feels wholly unnecessary (even if it was nice to see him again).
Speaking of avoidable deaths, we’re just going to come right out and say it: Hiro Nakamura should not have been left alone to fend off the invaders in his home. There was no reason for him to stay behind. None. Nathan could have teleported all of them out of the house.
What’s truly strange was Hiro’s motivation to stay behind. He didn’t do it to delay or distract Erica Kravid’s forces. He remained in the house to “finish what he started.” To fight the bad guys to the death. That doesn’t really sound like the Hiro we know. Sure, it’s been years since we’ve seen Hiro and he’s obviously matured from being the excitable comic book geek, but for him to recklessly run into a fight that he knows he can’t win? That’s not smart. That’s not Hiro.
Also on the list of the potentially deceased is Mohinder Suresh. Not only was he roped into the plot as the fall guy for the terrorist attack, but he was also unfortunately at ground zero with all the bombs. Talk about an unlucky break. It’s like he’s always caught in a never-ending cycle of “accidentally/unfortunately working for the bad guys,” only Heroes: Reborn saw fit to up the stakes on his life.
You’d think the show would use their most intelligent and seasoned scientist character in a capacity other than “easy fall guy” and “blast victim.” We would’ve loved to have seen more of Suresh’s work preventing the flare or even having him around to explain how Nathan inadvertently killed Claire (because we all know his explanation would have been better than Angela’s). But no. Instead, he’s lying under the rubble of a parking garage.
But, hey, at least Mohinder is still at “Schrödinger’s Cat” status. Unless the alternate reality Bennett created by shooting Erica Kravid somehow brings her back, there’s no doubt Molly Walker is 100% dead. Yes, killing herself in order to protect the location of the twins is heroic, but we can’t help but think her suicide was preventable.
She was so upset with Bennett when she could have taken advantage of his offer for rescue and helped the anti-Renautas with their mission. While her suicide seems nobler now that we know who she was protecting, her death was still tough (especially since she’s one of those Heroes characters that disappeared completely after her arc, leaving us yearning to get to know her better).
(Here’s the part where we’d mention Matt Parkman and Angela Petrelli, but, honestly, their characters’ appearances weren’t of much consequence. At all. We saw Matt Parkman get guilted into going to the dark side due to his circumstances (again) and we saw Angela Petrelli play nothing more than a concerned grandmother.)
Out of all of the characters the show has done a disservice to, however, Claire Bennett is at the top of our list. While Claire was one of the main characters in the original Heroes, it seems almost out of place for her to be so central to the Heroes: Reborn plot given her glaring absence. Aside from the impending deadly solar flare, Claire is really the figure on which the entire miniseries is built.
Now, that wouldn’t be so awful if she was revealed to still be alive. But no. The show not only insisted on killing this beloved character off, but also pretty much reduced her to being a vessel for the miniseries’ two main heroes. For her to be considered more than just a vessel, the show should have not only given a better explanation of her death, but also of her life.
“What was her life like after jumping off of the Ferris wheel?” “Was she excited for motherhood?” “Was she going to be a single mother?” “Who did she care enough for (even if just for a short period of time) to have children with and why is nobody talking about him?” Even with Hayden Panettiere’s absence, the answers to these kinds of questions would have given Claire’s character some sort of depth. Adult Claire Bennett was more than just a daughter and an expectant mother. But, instead of giving her any agency or character, she was simply reduced to an object without ever having a say in the matter.
Instead of going on this weird campaign against characters we’ve loved for years, we wish Heroes: Reborn would spend more energy on fleshing out the new characters. We want to get to know them and care about them but cannot bring ourselves to do so when so many horrible things are happening to the characters we’ve known since 2006.
We always have and always will hold a special place in our hearts for Heroes, but we just wish they’d focus on what makes the show great and what potential they have rather than relying on our love for original characters and using them for tension.