TV Review: Heroes – Cold Snap

Posted by Adam Sweeney (adam@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 24, 2009

Heroes, NBC, Airs Mondays 9/8c

Episode: “Cold Snap” (Season 3, Episode 20)

Synopsis: HRG (Jack Coleman) convinces Emile Danko (Zeljko Ivanek), a.k.a. The Hunter, to release Tracy (Ali Larter) from Building 26, in hopes that she will lead them to Rebel. As Angela (Cristine Rose) evades capture, she turns to an old friend (Swoosie Kurtz) for help. In Los Angeles, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) continue on their latest mission from Rebel to protect the newest hero.

Review: So this is what happens when the show actually tries. Cold Snap gave us answers to questions, asked questions that were worth pondering and also offered a few twists along the way. If only all the episodes of this season had been on this level.

We appear to be on a path that will lead Sylar (Zachary Quinto) to joining The Hunter, which would provide for an deadly duo that would require all of the heroes to team up to face. We’re also going to come out and say it; The Hunter is much more interesting when he argues with HRG than with Nathan (Adrian Pasdar).

The stories of baby Matt Parkman (Quin and Reed Baron) and daddy Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) were both interesting and actually moved the story along. Hiro got his powers back in a funny and unique way and we finally weren’t the only ones questioning the strength of Daphne (Brea Grant) and Matt’s relationship. It figures that Daphne, who seemed to be the most interesting and brightest character on the show in a while, would call Matt out on his fantasy. It also was a sweet little turn how Matt was able to show her that sometimes fantasies are better than reality. It’s a shame that Daphne is gone, well we think she is gone. As we have said a million times, nobody on Heroes really dies. If she did actually perish, the show found a very tender and surprisingly romantic way to send her off. She will be missed.

Speaking of nobody really dying, we felt that an incredibly chilling scene (Yeah we went for the pun) with Tracy was squandered by having her give a wink to the camera Freddy vs. Jason style. The entire weight of her sacrifice to save Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey), who we now know is Rebel (Another cool twist), was a bit flattened by showing that she is still alive. The scene still was one of the best we had seen out of the show this season.

Is it us or is Noah Gray-Cabey one of the best actors on the show? Just checking.

We even felt a hint of sympathy for Angela Pertrelli as she confessed her guilt over hurting her sons, something we never thought would happen. Apparently Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) did too. He did come to her rescue, after all. Maybe there is more to these characters than we thought.

If Heroes can pump out episodes like this, they have our interest. What might surprise some, not us, is that the episode didn’t feature Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Nathan or Peter really and it still held up. Hmm, should that tell us something?

Before we go, we have to ask what the hell NBC was thinking with their promo after the episode. It starts off, “He’s America’s favorite psycho serial killer …” Umm, what? How many serial killers do Americans really like? Hannibal Lecter, maybe? I guess they couldn’t say, “He’s America’s favorite villain,” because there is no way Sylar can compete with the likes of Darth Vader, Heath Ledger’s The Joker or other baddies. Hell, we aren’t sure he can match up with Martha Stewart. NBC, try harder with the promos. Love ya.

Up Next Week: As the game of cat and mouse escalates, Danko finds himself a surprising new ally. Angela and Peter try to mend their relationship.

Read More: Heroes Recaps

Did you watch this week’s episode? If so, what did you think?

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