'Heroes': A 'Cold Snap' fells two

We've seen this before on "Heroes," but has a major character really and truly been killed off in this "Cold Snap" episode?  Looks like it, and one more was thrown in for good measure.

We'll see if it's really beneficial for the show, but the suspense and anticipation has built up among fans.  It's  also finally time to go full-fledged after Rebel, Hiro gets back in the game (yes!) and Angela Petrelli and Noah Bennet continue to be great characters without having flashy powers.

But it starts with Danko.  In a semi-spooky opening, I really thought something huge was about to be revealed.  Does Danko have a power too?  Is that why he hates the heroes so much?  But no, he just gets a gift-wrapped puppeteer in the form of Eric Doyle dropped unconscious in his living room by a (most likely) Sylar-shaped benefactor.  Noah later asks Danko how he got him.  Danko's answer? "I'm smarter than the average bear."  Points to Bryan Fuller for writing in a Yogi Bear reference!

It's kind of amazing how Angela and Noah can have these full-on conversations in limos, parks etc. right in front of us (the viewers), yet we still have no idea what their overall plan/agenda is (at least, I don't).

Rebel strikes, helping free Tracy Strauss by shutting down Building 26. I'm not liking Miss Selfish Tracy, though she does at least free Mohinder and Matt before fleeing.  She and they should have definitely realized that they were being watched/tracked.  Noah's "Rebel, rebel" line when the lights go out is classic too.  Don't tell me it didn't remind you of the Hamburglar.

So, Tracy is stalked, and HRG gets to deliver another doozy when cornering her in a clothing store, saying, "It'll be a big, fat cut to black" if Tracy doesn't help them get Rebel.  She should be too smart to always let this tactic, appealing to her selfish tendencies, work on her.  But it does every time.  She leaves with a deal, and right behind her is ...

A growth spurt, a voice change and presto! -- a now teenage Micah.  A teenage Rebel, actually.  Angela's and HRG's conversations allude to the fact that they, or at least she, knows who Rebel was.  I knew too, as did many of you.  Wasn't the hardest thing to figure out.

Swoosie Kurtz gets a quick cameo and a great line when meeting up with the on-the-run Angela Petrelli.  "You look like you've been mugged, and the first thing they stole was your dignity." Awesome, and she even helps the dignified Angela out with a little cash.  By this time, though, Angela is being tracked and needs saving.

Matt Parkman's baby also seems to have a Micah-like power with electronics, but it turns out to be much more than that.  We're still not sure if Matt even knows about his kid, but Rebel does, and sent Hiro and Ando to protect him.  Of course, the government knocks on the door, messing things up.  As they're about to be captured after Ando's lame attempt at heroism, the baby touches Hiro. Powers back! Yatta! Kind of.  Hiro is able to stop time but not teleport.  One out of two ain't bad, though, and he grabs lil Matt and shoves a time-frozen Ando out of harm's way.  As the most "heroic" of the heroes, he needs to be in play, and it's been a comedy of errors -- so to speak -- that he hasn't been in action.

Micah knows they will follow Tracy, but not that she will lead them.  As she says, she's not his mom.  Tracy is berated by Micah for being selfish (good for him), so Tracy, being Tracy, has to prove him wrong -- in a fatal way. But what a way for Ali Larter to exit the series, if that is indeed what happened. Creating a cold zone, flash freezing the soldiers, their guns, cars, the walls and floor, then ultimately herself to let Micah escape.  Danko's gunshot shatters her body, but she took her own life.  Rumors of Larter's departure have been swirling for a while, and I just saw the trailer for "Obsessed," her film with Beyoncé, so if she is indeed done, she'll be fine.

Back to the show ... Angela Petrelli is surrounded and about to be captured when the prodigal son returns to save her.  Not the one she thought would come, as Peter flies to the rescue.  Did HRG really sell her out, as she mockingly advised him to do?  Probably.

In a great turn, Matt Parkman sits at the bedside of his love, Daphne the speedster.  She wakes up but decides to run away to Paris.  Matt finds her quickly on top of a building.  He flies there and proceeds to fly her around the Eiffel Tower, but she knows it's not real.  As he flies her to the moon, we go back bedside to hear the flat-line buzz.  Very nice moment of telepathy as Parkman gives her a last, lasting memory.

You had to enjoy this episode.  Things happened, moves were made and secrets were revealed.  Larter's Tracy Strauss was always supposed to be a wild card, but she followed self-preservation so closely that it made her a bit less interesting.  With Micah back, will Monica follow -- both of them much better at using their powers?  How will Matt deal with Daphne's death and the discovery of his own child?

It's good that there are meaty questions and anticipation again.  Hopefully, the show can sustain this momentum.  And we haven't even talked full-on Sylar, yet.

-- Jevon Phillips

Photos: NBC / Getty Images

Comments

[stella]

Yea Tracy is ALIVE! Did you not see her blink!

[Grace]

This episode was soooo good! I had guessed that it was Micah, but my sister was thinking he would be too young and something of that magnitude would need to be someone more sophisticated. Clearly, I was RIGHT! lol. I LOVE that Micah is back on the scene because I loved his character and that he was such an adorable little boy.

I'm not really sure if Tracy is dead because I could've sworn that after Danko shot her ice statue, an eye of hers was blinking on the ground...so, I don't know. I guess we'll have to see. But yea, this was a FANTASTIC episode! I was mesmerized from start to finish.

[SJ]

Wow! This is one good recap! Is it just me or does anyone remember when tracy struess first got her powers, she went to the doctor/scientist guy who tested on her. And he told her she was a triplet? I wonder if that's how there going to bring her back into the show. I still like her character, both her and Niki you never knew if they were going to be bad or good! although she does always take the easy road, or so she thinks!

Poor Micah, he's great! And I'm glad he's back. I just don't want him to be alone though, I feel bad he lost his mother and maybe his potential aunt!

[Bill N.]

And don't count Ali Larter completely out yet either... remember when Tracy went searching about her past, the doctor told her she was one of TRIPLETS...

[darleene]

I've never seen Peter as the prodigal son. Peter always tried to do right by his family.

[Chris]

Tracey has to be alive. It looked like Noah knew she was alive too the way he looked down. It was probably all planned so that Danko would think she was dead.

[RockZillaX]

No way is Tracey alive! If Ali Larter comes back to the show it will be as the third sister. You dont freeze yourself solid get smashed to a million pieces and live, hero or not.

[lornaxoxox]

Yes Tracy is one of three but they have all died now!! there was Jessica and Nicki but Jessica was killed by her father at nine years old (Nicki visited her grave in season one(i think))!! And Nicki died in the last season (she was Micah mom) and then Tracy dies so there is no other sister to come into the show, they are all dead!! sorry! but i did love them!! I LOVE PETER!!

[adie]

the third triplet is actually Barbara; although I'm not sure what happened to her, Ali Larter could maybe come back as her
Peter coming back at the end was unexpected and, in my opinion, kind of a cop out, but I hope he has more of a part to play in future episodes!

[Preston]

In the X-men comics, Iceman can survive being shattered because he can become wator or vapor as well and reform in his original state, even after being shattered.

If Tracy has the same level of control over her atomic structure as Iceman does then it is possible that she's still alive.

[melondonkey]

This blog needs to be update every week. That's kinda what a show tracker is for.