Heroes: Not quite Fuller-filling

I’m starting to worry that I may have put a little too much stock in Brian Fuller’s return to the Heroes writers’ room. He certainly knows how to bring the funny, the poignancy, and even the action, but this episode was just a little too unfocused for its own good. On the bright side, it did add a few new wrinkles to some of our favorite characters and tied off a large handful of annoying plotlines and loose ends, so much in the fashion that it’ll probably take a while for the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to really start working, this episode may one day be viewed as the show’s own private stimulus package.

With Nathan’s gift of flight forced into the open, Danko’s vendetta becomes even stronger as he sets his sights on everyone from Angela, to Mohinder (who hilariously falls into the most transparent trap ever), to Matt’s superbaby. Angela gives his agents the slip thanks to her rarely seen gift of prescient dreams and tries to seek out some kindness from an old friend (Swoozie Kurtz, happily finding work on the rebound from Pushing Daisies). She eventually finds herself cornered, but with some high flying help from the otherwise unseen Peter, Angela remains safe for at least one more week.

Over in LA, Hiro and Ando’s two men and a baby act is surprisingly enjoyable thanks to the best subtitled jokes in months (“what are we here to save the baby from? Lead based toys?”) and the reveal that volume 3’s mega annoying eclipse had at least one positive outcome: the activation of baby Matt’s power to bring things to life with his touch, including Hiro’s long latent knack for stopping time. But much in the way that Peter’s powers aren’t what they used to be, it’s only freezing, no teleporting or time travel. Fine by me. Also, Ando stumbles upon a handy secondary use for his sparkly charging skill: energy blasts. And where there’s a baby, it’s mother can’t be far behind. Enter Janice Parkman, Matt’s estranged wife and secret babymama. It’s nice to see her again, and I’m quite glad the stage is being set for a happy family reunion. “But what about Matt’s current squeeze Daphne?” you might say. Well, after a bold escape from Building 26 thanks to Rebel and a large dose of Matt’s thought mojo, the lovelorn ex-cop finally gets his speedy dame the proper medical care she deserves. But it’s too little too late so Matt lets Daphne spend her final moments in a touching romantic fantasy. God love ya, Daphne, you tried hard but I’m just not going to miss you that much.

During the Matt induced jailbreak, Tracy sets out in hopes of starting over, but Noah tracks her down and makes a deal: expose Rebel, gain freedom. Easy as that. But when, as I’d been suspecting for a while, Rebel is revealed to be none other than Micah Sanders, Tracy feels more than a little guilty. But the pint sized pubescent tech wiz always has a plan. They have a nice heart to heart about loyalty, motivations, trustworthiness, and the nasty effect a career in politics can have on them before finding themselves pinned down in a parking garage. In what is likely her first truly selfless act in years, Tracy tells Micah to set off the fire sprinklers and run like hell. Cue a self sacrificial CG extravaganza that leaves Tracy and her pursuers in a serious state of deep freeze. Danko shatters her just to be sure, but in an enigmatic twist that may indicate a future return for the frigid Ms. Strauss, we see an icy chunk of her face blink and shed a tear. And if there’s one thing I know about Heroes, it’s that Ali Larter never quite stays dead.

Season 3, Episode 20: Cold Snap (originally aired March 23, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Sappy, Mushy by Inisia Lewis.

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Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal