Heroes 3.17 “Cold Wars” – recap

Heroes episode 3.17  Cold Wars
Airdate: February 23, 2009

So, what did you think of episode 17? Did “Cold Wars” meet your expectations of the man behind the horn-rimmed-glasses?

Monday’s episode focused on unraveling the plans of Nathan Petrelli and making sense of the enigmatic Noah Bennet. Matt Parkman forced his way into Bennet’s memories to find out why people with abilities were being hunted, and how the fugitives can fight back. But there was more to the episode than just answering questions, and we found out that HRG was behind the scenes all along.

It all started five weeks ago (read: flashback) , when Angela Petrelli gave Noah Bennet his “separation pay and pension”, and a Rolex watch for being a faithful Primatech employee for 20 years. The Company Man never looked so lost as in that scene. What’s he going to do with his life, now that he’s unemployed out of his life’s work? “There is only so much cross-word puzzle I can do” was Bennet’s woeful response.

And then Nathan Petrelli comes in and asks for Noah’s help to do what he was so good at – bagging and tagging people. Nathan has set certain things in motion, and he needs Bennet’s expertise. I think in Bennet’s mind, this was too good to pass up, this chance to be useful again. Besides Bennet is leading the operation this time around, or at least that’s what he was made to think.

Noah Bennet found out too late that Nathan changed gears, and brought in The Hunter, a single-minded government agent bent on winning the “war” against the new breed of domestic terrorists. Bennet tried to explain that most of those people are harmless and innocent, but he learned the hard way never to trust a politician, even if he’s your boss’ son. Bennet also had to earn The Hunter’s trust, who thinks HRG has become soft and “split” in his vision. As the Hunter told Nathan, HRG’s (and Nathan’s) decisions are tarnished because of their relationship with Claire.

Matt found out that Bennet has a storage facility in Costa Verde where he kept Primatech information and weapons. Peter went to the facility to get supplies for themselves, but did not see a hidden camera that fed into Building 26. Nathan explicitly told the agents to catch Peter alive and unhurt, and of course the Hunter grudgingly obliged. Peter barely escaped capture by dropping a gas bomb and flying out of there as fast as he can!

As Matt continues to get into Bennet’s mind, Mohinder expressed reservations about the mind-reader’s abilities. But when Matt found out that Mohinder knew ahead of everyone that the government had been planning something big and dangerous, Matt snapped and attacked Mohinder, blaming the doctor for Daphne’s death. Bennet untied himself while the two men were fighting, and he almost would have escaped had not Peter caught him again. And I love how Peter jumped (or flew down) on top of Bennet’s escape car! Classic superman!

Matt also learned from Bennet that someone else is running the show – the Hunter. He supplied Peter the address of the Hunter’s apartment. And as always thinking with his heart rather than his head, Peter went to the apartment even when Bennet warned them not to. Bennet’s warning – “You’re making a big mistake. You’re unraveling things you don’t understand!” was so cryptic you immediately ask what HRG really knows.

Peter goes to the apartment and holds The Hunter at gunpoint. Older brother Nathan comes flies to the rescue. He warns Peter that killing Danko would just feed into their fear of posthumans, and convince the world that these are very dangerous fugitives. That wasn’t about to get Peter to stop until Nathan told him Matt and Mohinder were in danger.

SWAT teams were closing in on Mohinder and Matt, and Bennet tells them to escape. Mohinder holds the agents back as Matt probes Bennet’s memories again. Daphne is alive! Peter comes just in time to fly away with Matt!

When the dust settled, HRG tells the Hunter that he’s learned his lesson, about how dangerous the fugitives really are, and he is fully on board. Unknown to the Hunter, HRG meets with Angela. “All things considered, everything is working according to plan.”

At Isaac’s abandoned loft, Matt is in frantically painting in a trace. A distraught Matt pictures of himself strapped with explosives around his body, and a gigantic painting on the floor shows Washington DC exploding! That’s certainly more than he bargained for!

Next week, Heroes continues with episode 3.18 “Exposed”. Matt and Peter will attempt to rescue Daphne and find more information about Nathan’s plans. Also, Claire gets kissed underwater!

Images: NBC / Trae Patton