Category Archives: June 13th

Heroes, Heroes Reborn, June 13th, Part Two, recap, review

Heroes Reborn #1.8 Review: “June 13th, Part Two”

Remember the classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “Cause and Effect?”

In it the Enterprise and her crew are caught in an endless causality loop, where it repeats the same day over and over. The day always ends with the ship being destroyed in an accident with the U.S.S. Bozeman, which had come from decades in the past via a time portal.

Long story short, the crew eventually realizes what was happening and finds a way to break out of the loop.

(It’s such a good episode.)

For the story in Heroes Reborn, “June 13th, Part 2” was the closing of such a loop.

There’s no telling how many times the loop of Noah going back in time, attempting to stop the bombs, failing, sending Hiro/Angela/Nathan/Malina to 1999 and returning to 2015 had taken place without any significant changes.

But in the loop we witness, Noah gets it in his head to shoot Erica Kravid. Then he has Casper wipe 2014 Noah’s memory instead of The Haitian.

When it comes to Heroes Reborn and time travel we’re literally in uncharted territory.

In years past, time travel as a plot device was used either as a gateway to passive flashback episodes or to give a peek at a devastating future our ensemble cast had to prevent.

With the “June 13th” two-parter, it’s been used to create a very active flashback episode that potentially makes the “present” of the show even worse.

I say potentially because we have no idea what all Noah changed on his visit to 2014. Anything’s on the table. Let your minds go crazy thinking about the possibilities!

OK, maybe not too crazy.

The only thing that slowed the natural flow of both episodes is what slowed a majority of the season prior: Carlos and Miko.

As I said last week, we don’t need to see how Miko came to exist. That was made clear to us in “Game Over” through dialogue. The only new angle added is Erica lied to Hachiro Otomo, something she does to everyone.

Even though Carlos’ storyline is finally connect to the main body of the story, albeit minimally through Farah, a character that’s more than likely dead in 2015, his presence in “Part 2” just reinforces how insignificant – or at least underwhelming – he’s been to this point.

But that wasn’t enough to take away from the thrill of seeing Hiro Nakamura, family man. Seeing a much older and wise Hiro in a father role with a confident Nathan ready to embrace his destiny and then having to forget it will have an even bigger impact once you rewatch the season from the beginning.

And that’s really the biggest accomplishment of “June 13th,” time travel loops and all.

Grade: A-

Other judgements

  • This might have been Jack Coleman’s best outing at Noah in a long time. His performance as 2014 Noah reacting to the news of Claire’s death is by far his most gut wrenching. His downplayed reaction when Molly says she’d rather die than give up Nathan and Malina hurts even more.
  • When Hiro gives Nathan the first issue of 9th Wonders from the first season, I about lost it.
  • Good thing we’re getting Matt Parkman for another episode. It would have been awkward to get less than 3 minutes of screentime from him.
  • The last two episodes make Angela’s absence in the first six episodes even more glaring. She ups the show’s game and gives it much needed gravitas.
  • “I’m Hiro Nakamura. Former master of time and space.”
  • Anyone else geek out over “11:53 to Odessa” being a direct reference to “Seven minute to Midnight” from season 1?
Heroes Reborn, June 13th, Part 1, Part One, recap, review

Heroes Reborn “June 13th, Part 1″ Recap & Review

Some episodes of television tip you off to how good they’re going to be from the very first shot.

Others, like “June 13th, Part 1,” tell you to sit back, buckle up and pay attention with its music, whether it’s a needle drop of a Top 40 hit or a special piece composed score.

The opening shots of the Odessa festival stick in your head because we’re hearing something that’s been noticeably absent through Heroes Reborn up until now.

This really felt like the first time since at least “Odessa” that the talents of Lisa and Wendy have been on full display.

It was jarring to hear the “Peter Petrelli” theme at first. But by a certain point it was jarring not to hear music in the few scenes it wasn’t present, as when Luke is talking to Joanne in the medical tent.

But the return of the music that defined the first season of Heroes is more than appropriate for “June 13th” which gave us our first significant dose of show’s roots.

We get Angela Petrelli talking about visions. We once again get the sweet, soothing sounds of Mohinder complaining about his research.

With the direction of series veteran Allan Akrush, who helmed “Six Months Ago,” “Company Man” and “How to Stop an Exploding Man,” the episode feels like it could easily have been a part of the original run. Akrush brings a lot of personal touches to it that the last three to four episodes felt pedestrian without.

This episode just felt right. Except where when the Evermore storyline had to make an appearance. The scene with Hiro and Miko’s dad/creator slowed down the pace of the episode even though it’s necessary to explain…well, actually it isn’t necessary at all, is it? We were basically told what happened in “Game Over.” We didn’t need to see it.

Other than that, this was the most streamlined Chapter yet of the season. Kring and Co. put a lot of effort into it and it showed.

We’re being fed so many answers and good material that I didn’t even recognize Nathan’s stepmom was the nurse that brought Noah and Angela the babies until the closing scene at the house.

It culminates in an incredibly natural conclusion to an episode of Heroes. A cut to black that made us want next week’s episode to get here as soon as possible.

Other Judgements

  • Is Mohinder dead? We never see him die.
  • For some reason I assumed Mohinder had lost his abilities. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who experienced flashbacks to the Bug saga.
  • I bet I’m the only one that picked up on the “San Francisco” bit being a reference to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
  • The scenes with Phoebe in the compound under the house are odd if you take into account the Dark Matters digital series, which showed a news report with her clearly present with Erica and Harris AT the festival.
  • I really like the visual of Noah and Casper “Penny Man” Abraham as partners. They both look like they should be in a 50s noir film.
  • Maybe Hiro shouldn’t yell when he’s about to attack someone. Seems like a bad tactic all the way around.
Heroes, Heroes Reborn episode 7, Heroes Reborn spoilers, June 13th, Mohinder Suresh, Part One, Sendhil Ramamurthy

Heroes Reborn Spoilers: June 13th – Part One

NBC has released an official description for the November 29 episode of Heroes Reborn, which brings back more favorites from the original show.

The title of the episode is “June 13th – Part One.”

HEROES FROM THE PAST COME TOGETHER TO SAVE THE FUTURE – MASI OKA, SENDHIL RAMAMURTHY AND CRISTINE ROSE REPRISE THEIR ROLES – FRANCESCA EASTWOOD, CLE BENNETT, AISLINN PAUL AND PRUITT TAYLOR VINCE ALSO GUEST STAR – In an effort to get answers, Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) joins forces with Hiro Nakamura (guest star Masi Oka) to return to the day of the tragic events of June 13, 2014 that set everything in motion. On the verge of delivering a speech to commemorate the event, Mohinder Suresh (guest star Sendhill Ramamurthy) receives a dire message from Angela Petrelli (guest star Cristine Rose) about Erica Kravid’s (Rya Khilstedt) true motives. In Japan, Hachiro Otomo (guest star Hiro Kanagawa) makes a calculated move against Hiro Nakamura. Meanwhile, a much happier Luke (Zachary Levi) and Joanne (Judi Shekoni) come to Odessa in hopes of finding a cure to their son’s ailment. Robbie Kay also stars.