HEROES REBORN Rises From the Dead

Article originally published as HEROES REBORN Review on Seat42F.

More than five years ago, NBC’s Heroes ended their four-season run with a barely-begun Volume 6, “Brave New World,” and the words To Be Continued… Now, HEROES REBORN finally gives us that “Brave New World,” the title of its first episode back, as it begins a new Volume 1.

Because a number of years have passed since the events of Heroes, the new show can’t just jump right in. We get a series of flashbacks to introduce a number of the new players, as well as a huge, traumatic event that shakes the world. Then, the action picks up one year later, with the world living in fear of the Evos (what those with powers are called), and a fresh batch of heroes in hiding. The one man who may be able to usher them into a new era is the one who resisted attempts to change the world in the first place, and a familiar face.

Yes, Noah Bennet, a.k.a. HRG (for Horn-Rimmed Glasses), is the bridge between Heroes and HEROES REBORN. Having lost his estranged daughter, Claire, in the big attack, Noah (Jack Coleman) is trying to build a new life for himself. But HRG was never one able to sit on the sidelines, and as soon as Quentin Frady (Henry Zebrowski, A to Z) enters his life, it takes little prodding to get him back on track.

HRG is the perfect character to continue the story. He is involved with many of the heroes, but isn’t a hero himself. He also has history with The Company, which is very much a part of the new conspiracy and story. He is the relatable everyman, while also being the mysterious guy in the know. And his presence, a strong one in the new miniseries, is part of the reason that HEROES REBORN feels just like another season of Heroes.

Now, Heroes itself was a mixed bag, but in the early days, it was very good, and HEROES REBORN gets us back to those early days. There’s a lot going on that the audience doesn’t realize and must figure out. There is a high school student just learning how his abilities work. There are a pair of adorable Japanese geeks. There is a man who resists stepping up, but must in order to protect those he cares about. The Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis) may hold the answers. Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is on the run from the law, presumably framed for something he didn’t do. So yep, pretty much the same stuff.

I mention Mohinder and The Haitian, and both are part of the two-hour premiere, sort of. They are not the only people who get shout-outs from the past, and I’m sure there will be others. One former player, in particular, has a surprising role in the second hour. But like Heroes, which introduced new players each season, HEROES REBORN keeps the world alive and growing, while bringing in fresh elements, with a bit more overhaul than previous new seasons.

There are a bunch of faces we’re seeing for the first time that are quite welcome. Tommy (Robbie Kay, Once Upon a Time) is the aforementioned high schooler who, like Claire, is hunted and must stay in the shadows. Kaye is a very talented young actor, and the perfect choice to continue this tradition. We also meet Luke (Zachary Levi, Chuck) and Joanne Collins (Judith Shekoni, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2), who have lost a son and seek revenge, as well as a mysterious man (Pruitt Taylor Vince, Deadwood), whose intentions are unknown. This grouping is the second big story, aside from HRG’s, that plays into the main mythology.

HEROES REBORN also needs a bit of humor, as Heroes had, and that’s where Miko (Kiki Sukezane, The Yokai King) and Ren (Toru Uchikado) come into play, serving much the same purpose as Hiro and Ando did in the first go-round. They’ll get involved with everyone else, eventually, but first they have their own quest.

Basically, HEROES REBORN re-creates what was great about Heroes, makes good use of its forbearer, and still manages to seem fresh and interesting. I hope this miniseries ends up being the start of another multi-season run, as the initial installments prove that the franchise has plenty of life left in it. As long as this time quality is maintained, perhaps partially by keeping the seasons shortened to thirteen episodes, as this one is, it would be great to get another four years.

HEROES REBORN premieres Thursday, September 24^th at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

A TO Z Tells Complete Story

Article first published as A TO Z Review on Seat42F.

2014 is shaping up to be the fall of rom-com sitcoms. NBC joins the party with A TO Z, which I mistakenly hoped to be the long-awaited original Star Trek spin-off following librarian Mr. Atoz, but is instead a charming tale of two people destined to be together, saddled with a slightly clunky premise.

In the pilot, we meet Andrew (Ben Feldman, Mad Men), a hopeless romantic who works for an online dating website because he actually believes in helping people find love. Unfortunately, his choice of companies may be misguided because his boss, Big Bird (Christina Kirk, Along Came Polly), would prefer her employees help people hook up, not find a spouse, since the latter costs them customers. Before Andrew’s spirit is killed, though, he meets the one he’s been searching for, Zelda (Cristin Milioti, How I Met Your Mother), a lawyer who works in the next building over who doesn’t exactly believe in dating.

A TO Z is the most obvious heir-apparent to the recently ended, popular How I Met Your Mother. It features a narrator, Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy, Futurama), telling a finite tale (she says in the pilot that Andrew and Zelda date for a little over eight months and this series is the story of that relationship) about a guy’s search for “the one” and some kooky friends.

But there are differences. I mean, could A TO Z really make nine seasons our of an eight-month timeframe? Well, admittedly, HIMYM stretched one weekend into an entire year. More likely, though, the narration refers only to the first season of the show, and then the couple will go from there in one of several different directions. Those could be a break up and restart in a seconding dating run or an engagement. Probably the former, knowing how network television likes to stretch things out.

I’m glad to see Milioti back on the small screen so soon. She really made an impression in HIMYM, and is pretty much the perfect girl for a sitcom such as this. Feldman is equally well-cast, not being as creepily obsessive as his Mad Men character, but still exhibiting some of the same traits that seem natural to the actor. Their parts are the more modern version of a couple, the emotional guy and the trust-troubled girl, the type I find relatable, even if the fact that they are together is a tad unrealistic.

So far, the other cast members are more punchlines than complex individuals. There is little impression made by Andrew’s co-workers, Dinesh (Parvesh Cheena, Outsourced) and Lora (Hong Chau, Treme), hopefully not in place just to make the group diverse, though that is certainly a benefit of their casting. Zelda’s friend, Stephie (Lenora Crichlow, the UK’s Being Human), and Andrew’s pal, Stu (Henry Zebrowski, Your Prety Face Is Going to Hell), have an unlikely history that is mined for laughs and forced drama. But presumably they will have to become full-fledged personalities if the show goes on for long.

Yes, destiny and coincidence are linchpins of A TO Z, which is what stretches believability more than anything else. In episode one, Andrew claims to have once seen Zelda across the room at a bad concert and fell head over heels at first glance, picturing a future together including children. It only temporarily sends Zelda scrambling for the hills, but it should do more than that. It’s a nice story if true, but whether or not it is, the fact that Andrew fixates on it so immediately and strongly seems more warning sign that sweet gesture.

Perhaps that’s the cynic in me, having once been like Andrew, but finding the world a little less idealistic. Ridiculous as some twists are, they don’t totally ruin my enjoyment of a show that is sure to be entertaining and heartwarming, if nothing else, and will probably get a season pass on my TiVo.

A TO Z premieres Thursday, October 2^nd at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC.