Spoilers. Writer-producer Bryan Fuller returns to Heroes with "Cold Snap", having left after season 1 to create the now defunct Pushing Daisies. As a creative lynchpin of the series' "glory days" (whose departure coincided with Heroes' drop in quality), expectations are high that his return will trigger a renaissance...To be fair, this fourth Volume hasn't been too bad in comparison to the two that preceded it, but Fuller's first script since his venerated "Company Man" is noticeably slicker and more emotionally satisfying than most. He treats the characters like real people, and that's just what Heroes needs if it's to win back lost audiences. If it isn't already too late.
Angela & Mr. Bennet: Danko (Zeljko Ivanek) is now in charge at Building 26, having exposed Nathan as a hypocritical "super" and turned him into a fugitive. Mr. Bennet's (Jack Coleman) cover is still intact, but things are getting dicey with Nathan out of the picture, and Angela (Cristine Rose) is now being hunted by Danko's armed teams, although her power of short-term clairvoyance is allowing her to evade capture for now.
Unarguably two of the better actors on Heroes, "Cold Snap" gives Coleman and Rose better material than usual. The latter is particularly well-served, and Danko's armed teams actually feel like a well-trained threat for the first time since Volume IV started. It was also fun to see Pushing Daisies co-star Swoosie Kurtz in a small role as Angela's old friend Millie.Tracy & Micah: Bennet tells Danko that he has evidence the enigmatic "Rebel" is trying to free Tracy (Ali Larter) from her cell, and they should allow her to escape so he can engineer a trap. Accordingly, Rebel targets Building 26 and manages to release Tracy by shutting off the power and opening exits, and she escapes with Matt (Greg Grunberg), Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and the injured Daphne (Brea Grant).
Later, having parted company from her fellow escapees, Tracy is recaptured by Bennet who gives her a chance of freedom if she'll help him catch Rebel. Tracy is therefore used as bait to draw Rebel out into the open, but she gets a surprise when Rebel's identity is revealed to be Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey), her dead twin sister's son.
The reveal that Micah is the mysterious Rebel has to rank as one of the least surprising surprises in years, given the fact his ability to control machines was Rebel's m.o. Regardless, this subplot was quite good, particularly when duplicitous Tracy realizes she can't go through with handing Micah over to Bennet in return for her freedom, so together they engineer the titular "cold snap" by instantly-freezing a multi-storey car park full of Danko's goons using its sprinkler system.
Quite unexpectedly, this act doubles as a suicide, with Tracy herself turned into an sub-zero statue, unable to defend herself when Danko arrives and shatters her with a single gunshot. So, does that signal the end of Ali Larter's role on this show, as rumoured for many months? Possibly. But there's still another cloned twin called Barbara the actress could very easily become if her post-Heroes career hits the skids, or she has a few months to spare.
Hiro & Ando: Acting on the advice of Rebel, the bumbling friends find themselves babysitting Matt Parkman, who turns out to be the "real" Parkman's son; a baby with the power to fix or activate things by touch. "Toddler Touch & Go", as Hiro puts it. What could have dissolved into a cutesy, distracting mess actually becomes quite entertaining in Fuller's hands, as Matt's ex-wife Janis (Lisa Lackey) returns to the show, and they have to protect Baby Parkman from another of Danko's squads. Along the way, the baby restores Hiro's ability to stop time, enabling him to halt the squad's attack on Janis' home and cart the time-frozen Ando to safety in a wheelbarrow.
Matt & Daphne: Matt takes Daphne to hospital to treat her gunshot wound, using his mind-skills to convince the doctors to help, not ask too many questions, and amusingly believe Daphne needs preferential treatment because she's popstar Gwen Stefani. This subplot was also the scene of a rather neat twist, as Daphne makes a full recovery and leaves for France, only to be followed by Matt -- who has very strangely gained the ability to fly, so suggests they go for a Superman Returns style spin around the Eiffel Tower.
The script even has Daphne finally mention how bizarre Matt's infatuation with her is (indeed, it's been one of season 3's least convincing character developments, despite both actors giving it their best.) Then, just as the schmaltziness and French perfume ad overtones were becoming unbearable, the script pulls the rug by having Daphne figure out everything's been a hallucination fed into her dying mind. Flipping back to the real hospital, Matt holds Daphne's hand as she dies.
Overall, "Cold Snap" is certainly the best episode of Volume IV so far, and perhaps of season 2 and 3 in their entirety. Fuller's skill lies in engineering fantastic sequences with a sense of momentum and imagination, while never forgetting that the characters need to be relatable and treated like three-dimensional people, not as plot-devices or mechanisms for cool CGI. Sure, there's plenty of eye-candy sprinkled on this episode (and some geeky references to Star Trek), but it never overwhelms things, or feels like the sole reason to even consider watching. The bullet-time sequence of Tracy turning Danko's soldiers into icicles was technically excellent, but it's the simple and touching death of Daphne that lingers in the memory.23 March 2009
NBC, 9/8c
Writer: Bryan Fuller
Director: Greg Yaitanes
Cast: Masi Oka (Hiro), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), Greg Grunberg (Matt), Ali Larter (Tracy), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Cristine Rose (Angela), Zeljko Ivanek (Danko), David H. Lawrence XVII (Eric), Brea Grant (Daphne), Elizabeth Lackey (Janice Parkman), Cory Tucker (First Agent), Meeghan Holaway (Saleswoman), Steve Seagren (Doorman), Jason E. Kelley (Agent), Michael Carven (Handsome Older Gentleman), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah), Cazimar Miloston (Limo Driver), William Duffy (ER Doctor), Japheth Gordon (Agent #3), Quin Baron (Baby Matt Parkman), Robert Mammana (Agent #2), Swoosie Kurtz (Millie) & Reed Baron (Baby Matt Parkman)
