Broken Frontier

Penned by series veteran Bryan Fuller, “Cold Snap” is an excellent installment of Heroes. Not only does it feature some startling revelations—including the identity of Rebel—but it also manages to tie several different storylines together without making the narrative seem disjointed, as is often the case with this series these days. And, surprisingly, this episode added some much-needed depth to characters that have unfortunately become more two-dimensional as we’ve gotten to know them.

A few episodes back, Rebel told Hiro and Ando via fax that they need to protect Matt Parkman. However, once the due arrives at the specified address, they find an infant: Matt’s son. Like his father, this Matt Parkman has an ability, and can grant power to people or objects through touch. Essentially, as Hiro explains, “Baby Matt Parkman” is a Genesis Device—a nice nod to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. As expected, the baby gives Hiro his time-stopping powers back, allowing him to freeze time and evade Danko (the Hunter) and his men.

While Hiro can freeze time once again, it seems as though his time-traveling and teleporting ability is gone for now. This actually works for the series in general, as having a character that is basically a reset button has made it incredibly difficult for Heroes writers to create plausible tension. If it really came down to it, there was really nothing stopping Hiro from traveling back in time to reverse any crisis that these characters might face. Now, the creative forces behind this series shouldn’t have to write around Hiro’s ability quite as much.

As for the adult Matt Parkman, he faces some serious heartbreak this week with the passing of Daphne. After going to great lengths breaking her out of Building 26—where Danko and his goons are holding super-powered people prisoner—she finally succumbs to her gunshot wounds. Using his powers, Matt enters her mind and creates a romantic final goodbye. It’s an incredibly touching scene, and it’s unfortunate that this character must depart from this series so soon after her introduction earlier this season.

Another character to bite the proverbial dust this week (apparently) is Tracy Strauss, who ices—literally—a group of Danko’s men in a parking lot, sacrificing herself in the process. However, since she gives the camera a wink as her entire body ices over and eventually shatters when Danko shoots her point-blank, one expects that she may return in some form.

But why did Tracy put her own life on the line? To protect Rebel, who we learn has been Micah Sanders all along. Since he can talk to machines, it makes a lot of sense that he’s the seemingly omniscient entity secretly uniting people with abilities against government oppression.

“Cold Snap” is a strong indication that the “Fugitives” storyline is headed somewhere great, and with next week promising a possible team-up between Sylar and Danko and some major shake-ups among the Petrelli clan, Heroes fans have plenty to look forward to.