Heroes - Cold Snap

It looks like anonymous--and others in the blogosphere--were spot on: Rebel was indeed Micah. Unfortunately, his rescue of Tracy did not end so well even though her release also helped to free Matt, Mohinder and Daphne.

Casualties: Tracy and a number of Danko's agents frozen to death. Danko puts a bullet in the icicle remains of Tracy--which seemed like the very definition of "overkill" to me--shattering her to pieces. The teardrop rolling down the piece of her face was a cool touch....

And Daphne finally succumbed despite Matt's best efforts to get her medical attention.

Note to writers: Why do you keep killing off the WOMEN?!!!

It's hard to believe that all the king's horse and all the king's men could put Ali Larter back together again, but she's metamorphesed from Niki/Jessica to Tracy and allegedly there were a bunch of embryos in the test tube batch she was developed in, so I'm expecting to see the latest version pop up any episode now.

How Danko survived when Sylar was slinking in the shadows of his apartment at the end of last week's episode is beyond me, but apparently Sylar is going to toy with him a bit--like a cat batting around a mouse. He gives him a gift: Doyle the puppetmaster wrapped up in a big red bow. When Danko shows off the catch to Noah, he takes credit for the capture telling Bennet, "I'm smarter than the average bear."

That was one of numerous pop culture references throughout the show (that one recalling Yogi Bear). The others:

Opening scene of Danko shaving reminded me of the opening credits of Dexter

The writers must be No Doubt fans with the humorous reference to Gwen Stefani

The Tracy teardrop seemed a bit Terminator, didn't it?

And finally Hiro and Ando trying to hide from Matt Parkman's ex-wife was a definite shout-out to E.T.

Did anyone notice any others?

Speaking of Hiro and Ando, I'm thinking Ando is pretty smart for a sidekick. While Hiro pouts saying, "Heroes change the world, not diapers!," Ando points out that maybe the baby isn't a regressed Matt Parkman, but Matt Parkman's baby. Matty Jr. doesn't have brain mojo thingy as his ability, but can turn things on--like the TV, toys and Hiro's ability to stop time.

This comes in handy at a crucial moment when agents are just about to capture the trio, but unfortunately the baby's power is limited to returning Hiro's time-freezing ability and not his teleportation ability.

Lastly, Angela ends up on the run. She's tipped off by Noah who tells her, "I wouldn't go home if I were you." Although her driver is snatched by agents, she manages to slip out of the crowd and disappear into the crowd. She meets up with old friend Millie (Swoosie Kurtz popping up yet again. I knew Pushing Daisies getting cancelled wouldn't slow her down...), who gives her some money to help her disappear. Before she can make her escape, agents close in on her trapping her in an elevator.

But Peter swoops in at the last moment to rescue her and fly her away. Mother and son are reunited and plotting their next move as they hide out in the Statue of Liberty.