Christmas and the holidays are around the corner, and Static is hoping for some quiet time since he’s made sure all known Metahumans are put away and accounted for. He later encounters Permafrost, a homeless girl who is also a Bang Baby with ice powers. Virgil has to balance between spending the holidays with his loved ones and dealing with this latest threat, but she may not be an actual threat at all.
Tropes for this episode:
- Aborted Arc: Daisy and her Kwanzaa party. It seems like Virgil (and Richie) never get there, but the ramifications are never addressed in-universe.
- Anti-Villain: There's nothing at all malicious or evil about Permafrost. She's just a scared little girl who can't fully control her powers, and whose mental problems means she causes a lot of destruction without really meaning to. "Beating" her is largely a matter of connecting to her and getting her the help she needs.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Permafrost only wavers during the climax when Static uses her real name.Static: C'mon, Maureen, chill out!
- Static is ultimately able to convince her that he just wants to help:Static: I know what you've gone through!
Permafrost: How could you know?
Static: Because... I lost my mom, too.
- Static is ultimately able to convince her that he just wants to help:
- Artistic License – Religion: One of the religious holiday events Virgil is struggling to fit in is "Omar’s Ramadan feast". While part of this is accurate (see Shown Their Work), Ramadan generally involves not eating, unless Virgil is specifically referring to the breaking of the fast that ends the holiday.
- Berserk Button: Permafrost only goes on the attack against Static after he takes the photo of her mother. He calms her down by returning it and comforting her.
- Character Development: Richie's dad is driving him to a Kwanzaa party when Permafrost slows down traffic. Later, at the interfaith ceremony that ends the episode, the Foleys sit right next to the Hawkins family. Sean Foley's determination to overcome his racism from "Sons of the Fathers" seems to have stuck.
- Character Witness: Maureen recognizes the priest from her former church. When he says that he wants to help her, Maureen agrees readily; then he goes to get her some blankets since she must be freezing in her sweatshirt.
- Christmas Episode: Virgil just wants to have a quiet Christmas, but his duties as a superhero pretty much ruin that.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Virgil tries to make it to Frieda's Hanukkah party, but he gets held back by some emergencies he couldn't ignore.Static: Three apartment fires, two train wrecks, and a cat stuck up in a tree! Some holiday! Oh man, I'm so late, Frieda will never talk to me again! [stops when he hears a siren in the distance] Oh no! [turns around to deal with it]
- Comforting Comforter: Invoked. The priest goes to get some blankets and clothes for Maureen. She follows him, saying that blankets would be nice.
- Cooldown Hug: When Static talks with Maureen that he knows what it's like to lose a mother, she powers down. Maureen starts crying and says that she wishes she didn't have her powers because it made her more alone than before. Static offers his arms, and she gives him a large hug.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Long ago, Maureen went through so much in one Christmas. Her cold, abusive father never stuck around for the holiday, her poor ailing mother passed away, and when she ran away from her social worker, Maureen's only memento of her mother was damaged in the process. As a result, she developed stress-induced trauma and mental illness.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: For both Maureen and Virgil. Maureen goes with a warm and caring social worker who will hopefully get the girl some help and find her a suitable home. Virgil, who has gone through so much hassle of being a superhero during the holidays, gets to feel the spirit of Christmas and understand the holiday's true purpose.
- Foreshadowing: Early on, when Static is initially dealing with the power station Permafrost encased in ice, massive icicles start raining around him, but it doesn't look like they're aiming at him and are instead just coming down indiscriminately. And when he first meets Permafrost, the latter doesn't actually attack or even antagonize him, instead asking for spare change and mumbling to herself. This telegraphs the reveal that Permafrost isn't a malicious villain, just a traumatized girl with no control of her own powers.
- Heel Realization: The priest at the church remarks that homeless people are often ignored or written off as charity cases by the majority of the population; Permafrost echoes his comments when she remarks "When you're homeless, it's like you're not even there." Static realizes that he's guilty of what they're accusing him of, given that he blew off Maureen when she asked him for spare change and generally treated her like a burden, not a person.
- An Ice Person: Maureen happened to be near the Big Bang when it happened, and became a powerful cryokinetic as a result.
- Invincible Villain: Permafrost's cryokinetic powers are on another level compared to even Static's own, to the point where she's able to freeze over an entire freeway just by walking around. When she actually goes after Virgil directly due to him stealing her photo of her mother, she's able to easily overpower him and counter most of his attacks. Only Virgil actually reaching out to her and giving her a Cooldown Hug is able to make her stop.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Virgil reveals that he can switch his electricity to "microwave mode" and create localized heat to melt ice. Later, Richie remarks that he can use the "magnetic" part of "electromagnetic" to gain a form of Super-Strength.
- Manly Tears: Virgil, in the last scene, upon realizing what the holidays are really about.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Static is able to finally reach out to Maureen by telling her he lost his mother, just like she did.
- Personality Powers: Zig-Zagged. Permafrost has control over ice and snow, but she doesn't have the chilly and stoic demeanor typically associated with cryokinetics. However, Permafrost can also create enormous blizzards, which do match her personality: she's emotionally unstable, prone to mood swings, and ultimately doesn't want to hurt anyone, reflecting how snowstorms vary greatly and cause damage without intention.
- Power Incontinence: Permafrost/Maureen has virtually no control over her cryokinetic abilities. They're tied to her emotional state, which is extremely volatile given both her mental illness and living situation. As such, she's prone to causing blizzards and freezing random objects without meaning to.
- Shout-Out: When Static rescues Daisy, he calls her "Lois" before she quickly corrects him.
- Shown Their Work: One of the holiday activities Virgil tries to attend is "Omar's Ramadan feast." Ramadan is a moving holiday in the Islamic calendar, and in 2001 and 2002 (presumably when this episode takes place, given that it aired in February of 2002), it actually was in mid-December.
- Trauma Button: Permafrost seeing a mother at the mall shielding her daughter gets her thinking about when her own mother died. Ditto when Static says she has to come with him, which is word-for-word what a social worker said to her that day.
- Very Special Episode: The issue of the day is homelessness, with Robert Hawkins and the local reverend giving a long spiel midway through the episode about homelessness, how many people it affects, and some reasons for it.
- You Are Not Alone: Years of being abused by a cruel father and ignored both by social services and the people of Dakota at large have left Maureen convinced that she's unloved. During her confrontation with Static, he tries to tell her that he's spoken to people who care about her, and she screams "NOBODY CARES ABOUT ME!" Virgil is able to get through by telling her about his own grief at losing his mother, which convinces her that she has people supporting her.
- You Wanna Get Sued?: Virgil says "This is a job for..." but Richie interrupts him out of the fear that Superman will sue if Virgil finishes the sentence.
