Plot
When President Olivia Marsdin is attacked following her offer of amnesty to aliens living in hiding in the United States, the DEO is put in charge of her personal security. As Alex and a NCPD Detective named Maggie Sawyer butt heads while investigating the attack, Kara goes chasing after the mysterious young man in the rocket from Krypton who is their prime suspect.
Influences
The Max Fleischer Superman cartoons (Supergirl shielding The President mirrors a similar scene of Superman protecting Lois Lane with his cape), The Adventures of Superman TV series (the line about "strange visitor from another world" is mentioned), the 1977 Wonder Woman TV series (Kara does the famous Wonder Woman spin at one point) and the Supergirl comics of Sterling Gates.
Goofs
How is Mon-El able to speak English?
Given how frequently J'onn calls Kara to task for less, it's surprising that he doesn't call Kara out on jumping to conclusions regarding Mon-El clearly being their assassin because he's a Daxamite.
The Alien Amnesty Act waiting to be signed bursts into flame before a fireball gets close to the President's podium.
You'd think Kara or Mon-El would comment upon their having similar (if not exact) last names?
Unlike previous episodes, which made use of established races and planets from the rich history of the DC Universe, this episode throws out a number of references to apparently original places and peoples, such as Roltikkons, Inferians and Delvarians. While there's noting wrong with this, it is a shocking departure from form.
Performances
Lynda Carter may not be playing Wonder Woman in this episode but damned if President Marsdin doesn't have the same grace and poise. Nearly forty years later, she's still a wonder.
Floriana Lima immediately establishes Maggie Sawyer as the same sort of no-nonsense cop with a troubled romantic life that she is in the comics.
Chyler Leigh is often stuck with the thankless role of being the back-up or the deliverer of exposition. Left to her own devices for most of the episode, she proves more than capable of carrying the load as Alex investigates the assassination attempt without Kara.
Finally, Melissa Benoist manages a neat trick with this episode, revealing an ugly side of Kara we haven't seen and managing to make it jarring but not instantly off-putting. Seeing Kara spouting bigoted attitudes (albeit it towards an alien race) is just so shockingly out of character that it puts another spin on the episode's key themes.
Artistry
The sequence in which Kara swoops in and shields The President from a fireball.
The script does a surprisingly good job of drawing parallels between the real-world issues of amnesty for immigrants and amnesty for aliens from outer-space as well as the comparisons between how aliens are treated in the world of Supergirl and how immigrants and LGBT citizens are treated as second-class in American society.
It's also worth noting that Maggie Sawyer - in defiance of the usual lesbian cliches in popular entertainment - does not immediately begin hitting on Alex Danvers, despite taking her to a bar and buying her a drink.
Super Trivia
The episode's title - Welcome To Earth - may be a sly reference to a line of dialogue said in the movie Independence Day, by an American fighter pilot (played by Will Smith) before he starts beating up an alien invader.
Lynda Carter - the actress playing The President - was the star of the 1977 Wonder Woman TV series.
According to some of the press materials for this episode, The President's full name is Olivia Diana Marsdin. Diana, of course, is Wonder Woman's first name.
The scene of Kara protecting The President from a fire with her cape mirrors a scene from one of the 1940s Max Flesicher Superman cartoons.
Maggie Sawyer first appeared in Superman #4 (April 1987). One of the first openly gay characters in comic-book history, Sawyer was in charge of the Metropolis Police Department's Special Crimes Unit - the team charged with dealing with rogue metahumans and other tasks ordinary patrolmen and detectives weren't equipped to handle. She later became part of the Gotham Police Department and became romantically involved with Kate Kane (a.k.a. Batwoman)
The DCTVU version of Maggie Sawyer is a Detective in the National City Police Department Science Division, which serves a similar function to the MPD SCU. She is also a lesbian and apparently has no problem with dating aliens. Unlike her comic-book counterpart, who is a blonde Caucasian, this Maggie Sawyer is Hispanic.
The password to the alien-friendly bar is "Dollywood" and Dolly Parton music is heard every time we cut to the bar. This is a nod to Dolly Parton's status as a gay icon and her work as an advocate for LGBT causes, which parallel the aliens as immigrants and outsiders themes that fill this episode.
Maggie makes reference to being from Blue Springs, Nebraska. This is a real-world town with a population of 331 people.
The young man in the rocket that Kara and J'onn found is identified in this episode as Mon-El. Also known as Valor, M'Onel and Lar Gand, he first appeared in Superboy #89 (June 1961).
A native of the alien world Daxam, Lar was an explorer who landed on Krypton shortly before it was due to explode. Luckily, Lar was found by Jor-El, who gave him directions to Earth. However, his ship was delayed in arriving and he arrived after Kal-El and developed amnesia during the long voyage. This - coupled with his developing powers under Earth's Yellow Sun - led a young Superboy concluding Lar must be his younger brother and calling him Mon-El.
The truth was tragically uncovered when Mon-El proved immune to Kryptonite. Believing he was part of some treacherous scheme, Superboy tried to trick Mon-El with a fake piece of Kryptonite made out of lead. It turned out that lead had an effect on Daxamites similar to Kryptonite, removing their superpowers permanently as well as lethally poisoning them. In guilt, Superboy sent Mon-El into The Phantom Zone until such time as a cure could be found. Later, in the 30th Century, Mon-El was cured of his condition by Brainiac Five and became a full member of The Legion of Superheroes.
In the DCTVU, Daxam is a sister-world of Krypton, orbiting the same red star. Kara claims that Krypton and Daxam fought a bloody war to a stalemate hundreds of years earlier. The reason for the war (which Kara says Daxam started) was that Daxam was a monarchy of hoodlums and hedonists and Krypton was a democracy made up of philosophers, scientists and explorers.
In the original DC Comics Universe, the world of Daxam orbited a red star but it was different than the star Rao, which Krypton orbited. The world was colonized by a group of Kryptonian explorers, led by an explorer named Dax-Am. The colonists interbred with the original humanoid race that inhabited Daxam, abandoning their Kryptonian roots and naming themselves Daxamites. The Daxamite culture that developed was intensely xenophobic.
The President's speech regarding the Alien Amnesty Act has a line about how "No longer will our alien visitors be strangers."This is likely a reference to the opening narration of the classic The Adventures of Superman TV series, which described Superman as a "strange visitor from another world."
While not identified by name or alien species in the episode, IMDB.com and pre-production materials identify the alien assassin played by actress Nadine Crocker by the name Scorcher.
There are several DC Comics villains who have used the name Scorcher, but none of them were aliens and only one of them resembled the character we see on the show physically. This Scorcher - the second one - was a red-haired metahuman named Cynthia Brand, who was an enemy of the monster-themed superhero team/rock-band Scare Tactics.
In terms of personality and powers, Scorcher is reminiscent of Volcana - an original villain created for Superman: The Animated Series. While not an alien, she maintained the same cynical attitude and fire creation/manipulation powers as the DCTVU version of Scorcher and was ultimately defeated in the same way - by depriving her of the oxygen that she needed to breathe and to power her flames.
Supergirl does a deliberate super-fast spin to beat out the flames that have engulfed her body. This may be a nod to the classic Wonder Woman TV series, where Diana Prince would transform into Wonder Woman by doing a super-fast turn that ended with her wearing her costume.
When Supergirl talks about how cool it was to see Air Force One, The President says that Supergirl should see her other jet. This is a wink and nod joke to Wonder Woman's famous Invisible Jet.
Miss Martian first appeared in Teen Titans #37 (August 2006). Born to the Martian name M'gann M'orzz, Miss Martian claimed to have been sent to the Vega system in a rocket by her parents during the war between the White Martian and Green Martian species in order to save her. This story was true with one fine detail omitted - M'gann was a White Martian posing as a Green Martian, due to the White Martian's war-like nature and negative attitudes towards them on Earth. M'gann, however, rejected her racial heritage and worked to protect her adopted home.
The DCTVU version of M'gann M'orzz works as a bartender at the alien-friendly bar in National City. It is unknown at this point if she is truly a Green Martian or a masquerading White Martian.
Technobabble
The burn pattern on the bodies of the dead Secret Service agents is consistent with the signature of a heat-vision blast.
Maggie Sawyer deduces that the blasts that killed the Secret Service agents either came from a Kryptonian or a Inferian. Both species have heat-vision.
Alex makes use of the special DEO ID card that can camouflage itself as other forms of Federal ID - in this case, The Secret Service.
L-Corp has developed and is planning to mass-market a hand-held device that can determine whether or not a person is human through a simple touch-pad skin-test.
Winn is able to track Mon-El by reactivating the tracker on his DEO-issued medical bracelet.
Roltikkons are a humanoid alien species capable of making telepathic connections by making physical contact with the dorsum of the tongue. This can allow them to learn new languages.
Winn catalogs the Seven Lost Tomes of the Delvarian homeworld.
Dialogue Triumphs
J'onn: People in this world don't have much tolerance for others who look different. I say that as an alien and someone who has worn the face of a Black man for 15 years.
(Supergirl lands next to a girl in the crowd waiting for The President. The girl is awestruck.)
Supergirl: (pointing to Air Force One) It's pretty awesome, right?
Girl: Do you know her?
Supergirl: (flustered) Uh, no. No. Not yet. I'm pretty sure we'll be cool. You know?
President: I'm surprised now that your true identity is known to the world you don't live openly as your Martian self.
J'onn: I find looking human makes people feel more comfortable.
President: Hopefully my Alien Amnesty Act will change that, for you and everyone else from beyond the stars that have made Earth their home. I know the DEO's mission is to hunt renegade aliens but that mission is going to have to adapt. You disagree, Director?
J'onn: I do, Madam President. There are aliens out there - killers who wouldn't understand the concept of the very rights you're offering them. Evil creatures who could take advantage of your good will.
President: I imagine the very same thing was once said about you, J'onn J'onzz. But someone gave you the benefit of the doubt. Isn't it time we payed that forward? I can think of no better time than the present to extend our hand in friendship.
J'onn: Even if that hand might get bitten off?
President: One has to have hope.
J'onn: What if it's false hope?
President: False hope? It's hope, J'onn. How can it be false?
(A waitress brings Alex and Maggie two beers. The waitress takes a long look and Alex and then turns to Maggie.)
Waitress: You moved on quick.
(The waitress walks away as Alex turns to stare at her.)
Alex: That waitress? Is she Roltikkon?
Maggie: Yes. She is.
Alex: I've read Roltikkon can form telepathic connections by making physical contact with the dorsum of the tongue.
Maggie: How do you think she learned English? She's my ex.
(Alex's jaw drops as she finally gets the waitress's remark from earlier.)
Alex: Ohhhh.
Maggie: I don't strictly date aliens for the record. Though I do like them more than most humans.
Alex: Why?
Maggie: I can relate to them, I guess. Growing up a non-white, non-straight girl in Blue Springs, Nebraska? I might as well have been from Mars. I was an outcast and I felt like it. Our alien neighbors? They're no different. Most of them are hard-working immigrants or refugees just trying to get by. They have to hide who they are in order to survive. I can sympathize with that.
Kara: We had a saying on Krypton for Daxamites - "May tex kolar Daxam."
Alex: And that means?
Kara: ... nothing i can repeat in English.
President: My fellow Americans. Over a century ago, this nation erected a monument in New York Harbor - a Statue of Liberty. That statue looked down on Ellis Island, where thousands of immigrants came to seek refuge from a home country that didn't want them and wouldn't have them. But America took them in. That is our story. The American people today stand as one with history. No longer will our alien visitors be strangers, committed to the shadows, forced to the fringes of a hostile and unwelcoming world. They will be granted the full rights and privileges of American Citizens. The Statue of Liberty will stand for aliens too!
Dialogue Disasters
Kara: Why did you send a broadcast to Daxam?
Mon-El: It was a distress call.
Kara: Why were you sending a distress call?
Mon-El: Because I'm in distress!
(Supergirl talks about how cool it was to see Air Force One.)
President: If you think that's cool, you ought see my other jet.
Continuity
Mon-El likes Zakkarian ale.
Daxam was destroyed when Krypton blew up.
As she walks away from the DEO, The President's face turns red and her eyes glow slightly blue, indicating that she is an alien of some kind.
J'onn discovers that he is apparently not the last Green Martian after all.
Untelevised Adventures
Kara talks to Alex about talking to The President after saving her life, but we don't get to see it happen. (A scene cut for time?)
The Kryptonite Factor
Given J'onn's frequent paranoia, it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have investigated other avenues of inquiry despite their bringing a Daxamite into custody.
The Bottom Line
Certainly the most ambitious episode of Supergirl to date in terms of politics and story structure, with numerous parallels between the story and real world event. It's a shame then that the villain is so under-developed and undefined and Kara's bigotry - despite being well-played by Melissa Benoist - still seems hastily forced into the story. The episode also overdoes it on the Wonder Woman gags in the end but the cast manages to keep things from getting too cheesy or preachy. Now if only they could find something for James Olsen to do besides look like an idiot at work...
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