Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 5 - Damage

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

When multiple children in National City begin to suffer the symptoms of lead poisoning, Morgan Edge is quick to point the finger at Lena Luthor and the lead bomb she used to save the world during The Daxamite invasion. As Kara and Samantha work to prove Lena's innocence, Alex and Maggie make a fateful decision regarding their relationship.


Influences

The film Erin Brokovich (plot involving an investigation into poisoned water hurting children).


Goofs

The whole dance sequence. Just... no.

Lena says that being evil is in her DNA. That would be a rather neat trick since she was adopted into The Luthor family.

Why didn't Morgan Edge just call the cops after Lena was knocked-out in his office, with a gun in her hand, threatening his life? Sure, it lacks the drama of locking her in a plane full of chemicals as he's trying to poison the whole city, but it would accomplish his twin aims of humiliating her and seeing her punished for standing against him with a lot less effort.


Artistry

This episode features a lot of scenes of two people talking to each other and Kevin Smith, whatever else may be said about him as a creator, does have a knack for directing dialogues.

The effects-work on the scene where Supergirl saves Lena from the cargo plane is fantastic.


Super Trivia

This episode was directed by famed geek filmmaker Kevin Smith, who has directed several episode of The Flash and Supergirl.

Lena makes reference to The Flint Water Crisis - a disaster that seems to have served as the basis for this episode. While an investigation is still pending into precisely who is responsible for the decision to have Flint, Michigan's water supply be switched to a toxic source (the state blames the city for not financing adequate purification of the water, the city blames the state for slashing the budget for infrastructure resulting in old pipes not being replaced), the end result - tons of sick children - is not in dispute.

The crowd of pro-Edge protesters at at Lena's press conference chant "Lock Her Up". This is the same chant started at Donald Trump rallies when he accused Hillary Clinton of illegal activities during the 2016 US Presidential campaigns.


Technobabble

When Lena and Winn ran the original numbers for the lead-bomb, they predicted that 99.96% of the lead molecules bonded to Daxamite genes and that if it hit a human, it would disperse harmlessly. When Winn tests the bomb again in the lab, the actual rate is 89.79%. This means there is a 10.21% chance that the sick kids are a side-effect of Lena's bomb.

The pool water is filled with an advanced hydro-morphic carbon-nitrate compound - a synthetic compound that, when combined with water, exhibits the exact same properties as lead. According to Winn, anyone exposed to it would experience the same symptoms as lead poisoning.

The plane Morgan Edge uses to try and poison the National City Reservoir is a C-130 cargo plane.


Dialogue Triumphs

Lena: So this is what your revenge looks like?
Edge: Have you ever heard of The Cobra Effect, Lena? Colonial India. The British government realized there were snakes all over Delhi. They wanted them gone, so they offered a bounty for dead snakes. And then they realized that people were breeding snakes for income. They thought everything was going really well. They realized they got slithering snakes all over Delhi. The whole thing backfired. Turns out they made the problem worse. Do you understand?
Lena: You're a toxic predator.
Edge: Unintended consequences. You wanted to be a hero so bad, you didn't care who you hurt. Now people are going to die.
Kara: Even if all of this were true, Supergirl would be just as much to blame. She made the call to use that device.
Edge: Supergirl may have pushed the button, sure. But that tech was all Luthor.
Lena: You're a bottom feeder.
Edge: But I didn't poison children. That was you.

Lena: What news from the front?
Kara: (quickly) Nothing yet.
Lena: You know... you're terrible at hiding things from me.
Kara: (laughs nervously) I wouldn't be so sure of that.


Continuity

Melissa apparently told Ruby about her vision from 304. She thinks it was a dream but Ruby says she was awake.

70% is the deep discount rate on the print subscription of Catco Magazine.

Maggie and Alex break up.

James is shot by the assassin trying to kill Lena.

Eliza Danvers took Kara to play at a public pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Acre Lee Chemical is owned by Morgan Edge. Established in 1982, it manufactures hydrogen gas, sodium hydroxide and swimming-pool chlorine. He sold it in 2015, however.

Maggie moves out of the apartment she and Alex shared.

Alex refers to her conversation with Kara in 301 about what would happen if she lost Maggie.

Kara and Alex take a few days off work to visit their mother.

At the end of the episode, Samantha realizes that she was shot during the assassination attempt on Lena but that the bullet crumpled against her without her feeling it.


The Bottom Line

Artistically well-executed in terms of direction and cinematography, but the writing is lackluster and doesn't even bother to hide its sources in trying to be topical. I have no objection to political stories being tackled with superheroes (hell, I love the old Green Arrow comics from the 1970s) but this episode seems to suffer from a serious lack of Supergirl and the only reason we have Kara in costume at all is due to Morgan Edge randomly indulging in cartoonish super-villany. The only reason it works as well as it does is due to the cast but even they can only do so much. Hopefully the pace will improve now that the Maggie/Alex subplot is finally resolved.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 4 - The Faithful

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Kara investigates a mysterious new religion which worships Supergirl and believes those saved by her to be a chosen elite. At the same time, Samantha begins to feel that she has failed as a mother putting her job before her daughter.


Influences

Superman: The Power Within by Roger Stern.


Goofs

Again, Ruby is written as acting far younger than her character apparently is.

Just how DID that follower of The Cult of Rao know Ruby's name?

Granting it is in a auditorium full of people clapping, Alex is awfully cavalier about telling Kara that the girls in Supergirl costumes performing a dance routine are inspired by her, not worshiping her.

The re-orchestration of the song Pure Imagination is painfully bad.

The closing montage, while artfully shot, should be Exhibit A in the case against using Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah in any montage ever again.


Performances

Melissa Benoist does a good job of capturing Kara's horror to being worshiped.

Chad Lowe does a good job playing Thomas Coville with just the right amount of sincerity and a creepy edge.


Super Trivia

While cults involving Kryptonians are not uncommon in the DC Comics Universe, the main inspiration for this episode seems to be the Roger Stern story The Power Within which focused on Superman dealing with a cult that started worshiping him and a counter-cult that was focused on destroying his worshipers!

Superman once had to deal with a cult that worshiped him in the Superman/Batman storyline Worship. Superman had to act to stop the cult when they began to practice human sacrifice to win his favor.

Following The Death of Superman, cultists praying for Superman's resurrection began to congregate at Superman's memorial. When four heroes emerged - each apparently continuing Superman's legacy - a religious schism was formed between the cultists who argued over which of the four was the true Superman reborn.

The death of Conner Kent - the clone of Superman created following his death, who became known as Superboy - prompted the creation of a Cult of Conner which combined Kryptonian theology with a resurrection myth that sought to bring the dead back to life. This occurred in the mini-series 52.

The symbol on the pamphlet handed out by the cult is the Kryptonian symbol for Rao. Depending upon which comics one goes by, Rao is the primary god of the Kryptonian pantheon or the sole God of Krypton. Rao may also be the Kryptonian word for God. In either case, Rao is the god of life and light and the red star Krypton orbits is named Rao as well.

When asked if Supergirl remembers saving a certain girl, she responds that she remembers every person that she saved. In the comics, Supergirl having total recall or an eidetic memory, is one of the classic powers Kryptonians have when under a yellow sun.


Technobabble

A betahedron is like the omegahedron that powered Fort Rozz, only smaller.

On Krypton, betahedrons were used to power probes that were sent into space by Kryptonian scientists that contained Kryptonian artifacts. These artifacts were embedded with information on the history and religion of Krypton, so that other worlds could learn of Krypton and their culture. Winn compares this to The Voyager Probes launched by NASA.

Betahedrons have unique energy signatures that can be tracked.


Dialogue Triumphs

(As a young woman named Olivia tells her story of how Supergirl saved her life.)
James: Do you remember saving her?
Kara: (clearly broken up) I... I remember all of them.

(Samantha is crying about blowing off Ruby to focus on a merger.)
Samantha: I just feel like the worst mother.
(Lena smiles softly.)
Samantha:Why are you smiling?
Lena: Because I actually had the worst mother. Objectively speaking. And I find your self-appraisal a little funny.


Dialogue Disasters

Alex: (looking at a canister in the Kryptonian probe) They put Kryptonian soil samples on the probe. It - it's laced with Kryptonite!
J'onn: (yelling) Get it away from her!


Continuity

The opening scene depicts the plane crash in 101 which spurred Kara into using her powers to save people for the first time, from the perspective of a man named Thomas Coville.

Ruby plays soccer.

L-Corp is merging with a business called JQB.

Sam is the new CFO of L-Corp.

Kara remembers every person she saved.

Thomas Coville is 44 years old and a native of National City. He was a lawyer, but was disbarred after a number of misdemeanor convictions for public drinking and disorderly conduct following his discovery that his wife was cheating on him with her physical trainer and had filed for divorce.

The flight which Kara saved in 101 was Flight #237.

Lena was once propositioned by a world leader who asked if she was baptized, saying he only slept with good Catholic girls.

Ruby's father is no longer in the picture.

Ruby is taking French.

Thomas Coville recognized Kara as Supergirl based on how her eyes looked shortly after saving the plane he was on.

Coville somehow acquired a Kryptonian artifact that had the holy books of Rao stored in them.

Kara refers to the Fort Rozz omegahedron from 120.

Alex decides she really wants a daughter and can't stay with Maggie if she can't be a mother.

M'yrnn J'onzz has a cameo, praying with his son.

The episode ends with Samantha having a vision of herself covered with odd symbols and a woman in a black cloak telling her she will reign. This happens 22 hours after Alex buries the betahedron, which lands close to some underground craft and begins powering it, causing some thing in a tube in the pod to awaken.


The Fridge Factor

Alex, of all people, should not need to be told that she should get Kryptonite as far away as possible from Kara.


The Bottom Line

There's a great story to be told about the dangers of hero worship and organized religion. The Faithful is not it. The Faithful is not even in the same ballpark as it. The only thing that makes this episode work as well as it does is the performances of the cast. Even then, the script seems preachy regarding its points on the danger of faith being corrupted then tries to pay lip-service to religion with a final scene that shows most of the cast praying.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 3 - Far From The Tree

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Eliza throws Alex and Maggie a wedding shower and Alex encourages Maggie to reach out to her estranged father. Meanwhile, Kara joins J'onn on a journey to Mars where M'gann reveals a shocking discovery.


Influences

The 1998 Martian Manhunter series (presence of M'yrnn J'onzz) and 2006 Martian Manhunter series (presence of Till'all). Kara's speech about how the Green Martians can save the White Martians who wish to atone for their race's sins is reminiscent of a similar speech from the Babylon 5 episode Dust To Dust - "If we are a dying people, then let us die with honor, by helping the others as no one else can..."


Goofs

It's a hell of a coincidence that the Martian mythology and ancient Greek mythology both feature two characters named Deimos and Phobos, though the characters seem completely different!

Kara is incredibly non-nonchalant about using the Staff of Kolar to vaporize White Martians. What happened to that whole "not-killing" code of ethics?

Does anyone else find it disturbing that the White Martian resistance all take the form of black humans and that they are only saved by the blonde-haired, pale-skinned Aryan idea that is Supergirl?


Performances

Carl Lumbly gives a powerful performance as M'yrnn J'onzz.


Artistry

The effects work as J'onn's memory projects over the ruined Martian temple is well executed.


Super Trivia

This episode was the first to open with a new introduction for Season Three. It's largely the same as the Season Two intro, save that it starts with a line where Supergirl introduces herself as Kara Zor-El rather than Kara Danvers and emphasizes her status as an alien. Melissa Benoist also delivers the lines in a more serious tone.

Till'All first appeared in Martian Manunter #2 (Volume 3) (November 2006). One of ten White Martian refugees to come to Earth who had been brainwashed to believe they were Green Martians, Till'All was the least effected by their various trials and tribulations. He was saved by J'onn J'onzz but left in the care of the Justice League while J'onn investigated who was responsible for the death of Till'All's father.

The DCTVU version of Till'All is one of the greatest fighters among the White Martians who are fighting to curb the more violent and racist aspects of their society.

M'yrnn J'onzz was created by John Ostrander and Eduardo Barreto and first appeared in Martian Manhunter #33 (Volume 2) (August 2001). A singer by trade, his first appearance was largely a cameo in a flashback detailing the destruction of the Green Martian race.

Carl Lumbly plays the part of M'yrnn J'onzz, father of J'onn J'onzz. Carl Lumbly previously voiced J'onn J'onzz in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. He also starred in the cult-hit superhero series M.A.N.T.I.S. where he played the role of a paralyzed scientist who used an mechanized exoskeleton of his own design to fight crime.

The DCTVU vesion of M'yrnn is the highest ranking religious leader of The Green Martians. He was spared because, according to M'gann, not even the most vicious of The White Martians would kill the prime servant of H'ronmeer.

H'ronmeer is one of the more powerful gods of the Martian pantheon in the DC Universe. Opinion seems divided, however as to H'ronmeer's true nature. He has been referred to as both the god of fire, art and death as well as the god of light and life. H'ronmeer is not malevolent, despite his dark nature. There are some theories that H'ronmeer may be a masculine aspect of Death of The Endless, much as her brother Dream is identified by the Martians as L'Zoril - lord of Dreams. H'ronmeer is also worshiped by the Red Saturnians, though they call him Hiromeer.

M'yrnn recalls a Martian fable regarding H'ronmeer and his two sons, Phobos and Deimos. In classical Greek Mythology, Phobos and Deimos were the twin sons of Ares (god of war) and Aphrodite (goddess of love). Phobos became the god of fear and Deimos the god of terror. In astrology, the two moons of the planet Mars are named Phobos and Deimos.


Technobabble

While it is possible to use a single transmat gate to travel if you have the exact coordinates of the point you are trying to reach (like when Winn sent Kara to the Daxamite mothership in 217), transmats can only be used to travel between planets if there is a second gate for the first gate to home in on. This is why Kara and J'onn must travel to Mars by ship.

Martian techonology is capable of shape-shifting. J'onn has a space-ship that he keeps disguised as a vintage convertible on Earth.

The Rite Of Tyagar is a Martian technique that allows one telepath to force their way through another telepath's mental blocks. This can allow them to read their mind unimpeded but it can cause great damage to the one whose blocks are broken.

It is a Green Martian custom to assume the forms of other species when making peaceful contact, in order to insure the comfort of their guests. This is why The White Martians assume human forms when greeting J'onn J'onzz, know his distaste for White Martians. It is also why M'yrnn assumes a human form when addressing J'onn when he appears in his human form. (It also helps to keep the SFX budget low!)


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara: My name is Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin, but my pod was knocked off-course and by the time I got here my cousin had already grown up and become Superman. I hid who I really was, until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media, but in secret, I work with my adopted sister for the DEO to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl.

(J'onn opens the garage where he keeps his spaceship. It holds an old convertible.)
Kara: Cool car. So, is this like an elevator to a secret hanger that will-
J'onn: No, it isn't.
(J'onn goes to the driver's seat and gets into the car.)
Kara: This is your ship?
J'onn: Yep.
Kara: We're taking this to Mars?
J'onn: Yes, we are.
Kara: Okay.
(J'onn adjusts the radio as Kara opens the passenger front door and flounces into the chair, shaking the car. J'onn looks up at her, slightly annoyed.)
J'onn: Careful with the leather there, Supergirl.
(Kara winces and raises her hands.)
Kara: Sorry.
(Rock music begins to play on the radio as Kara looks around.)
Kara: There's no seat belt.
J'onn: It's from a different era.
Kara: And a different planet!
J'onn: I come from a race of shapeshifters, Kara. Why shouldn't our technology shape-shift too?
Kara: Fair enough.
(J'onn pulls out of the garage as the car changes into a space-ship and flies upward into the sky.)

(J'onn enters the cell where his father is being kept.)
M'yrnn: I'm praying! Leave me be!
J'onn: I think, at this time, H'ronmeer will allow you a moment of personal indulgence.
(J'onn walks around to stand before his father.)
J'onn: It's me, Father! It's J'onn!
(M'yrnn does not respond.)
J'onn: You are angry with me. For abandoning you. As you should be. I know how you must have felt. Alone all these years... thinking you'd never see another Green Martian. Thinking our entire family had been destroyed...
(There is a long silence. Suddenly, M'yrnn speaks as J'onn looks at his father.)
M'yrnn: You really thought such a trick would work on me?!
J'onn: Father?!
M'yrnn: (angrily) I survived two centuries of imprisonment and torture.. alone! So if you think exploiting the form of my dead son will break me, you are a fool! I will never tell you where The Staff of Kolar is!
J'onn: Father, it's me! J'onn! I fled to Earth! I survived!
M'yrnn: (laughs) You give yourself away, White! My son would never have fled!
(Despondent, J'onn turns and leaves the room at a hurried pace.)

J'onn: You ever wonder, Kara, what your parents would say to you if they could see you now? After all this time? What they'd think of the person you've become?
Kara: Every day. (pauses) They'd be proud of me.
J'onn: Yeah. I thought that too. Then I actually got the chance to ask. My father thinks I'm a coward.
Kara: Then he doesn't know you. Because the man I know dedicated his entire life to making sure that what happened on Mars never happens anywhere else. You go in there, J'onn... and show your father who his son really is.


Dialogue Disasters

Kara: J'onn, if Krypton still existed and I had to go back to where my parents were buried, under rubble, I know you wouldn't let me do it alone.

Maggie's Father: Do you know I was the only Mexicano working alongside a bunch of white boys? Do you know that they would wait for me at night, by the road, and laugh at me and call me wetback and kick me until my ribs were broken?!
Maggie: Dad, what does this have to do-
Maggie's Father: -with you being a lesbian?! I worked! To win respect! Those same boys when they grew up elected me their sheriff. I endured, for my children, so that you would never have to face that kind of hatred! So that you would belong!
Maggie: I'm respected for who I am. The world is different now.
Maggie's Father: Ha! They're building a wall to keep us out because in their minds we're nothing but rapists and murderers! The only thing they hate more than a Mexicano is a homosexual!


Continuity

J'onn refers to the events of 217 in explaining why he and Kara can't just use a transmat to teleport to Mars.

Martian spaceships are capable of shape-shifting.

Eliza Danvers' lasagna is her daughter's favorite food.

Maggie hasn't spoken to her parents since she was 14. Her father's last words to her before he dropped her off at an aunt's house were "You shamed me." Her aunt later told her that her parents removed all the photos of Maggie from the family photo album.

The Staff of Kolar is an ancient Martian weapon which is said to have been forged by H'ronmeer. It's a psychic weapon that could potentially be used to track down every member of the White Martian resistance and kill them instantly.

M'yrnn was tortured by the White Martians for over 200 years.

Maggie's full name is Margarita Sawyer

Maggie's father is a sheriff who read up on his daughter's case histories after she called him. He taught her everything he knew about being a detective.

In the myths of Mars, H'ronmeer had two sons - Phobos and Deimos. In order to test his sons, H'ronmeer created two artifacts - a book of sacred symbols, which taught the morals that govern Martian life and a weapon - The Staff of Kolar. The symbols could be shared but only one could wield the staff. To H'ronmeer's disappointment, Phobos chose the staff while Deimos chose the book. Phobos became the first White Martian and was banished to the underworld. His descendants clawed their way back to the surface and eventually overtook the Green Martian race sired by Deimos. H'ronmeer then buried the staff to keep it hidden.

Alex's favorite color is blue. Her favorite animal is dogs. Her favorite ice cream is Rocky Road.

Maggie loves Merlot.

Maggie's father gives her a picture of herself as a child that he's kept in his wallet for years.

M'yrnn had previous exposure to a Kryptonian at some point in his past.

J'onn's happiest memory is of a birthday where his father left worship early to surprise him and his daughters spoiled the surprise because they were so happy to be in on the secret that they couldn't stop dancing.

Maggie again tells Alex that she does not want kids.

J'onn brings The Staff of Kolar and his father to Earth.


Location

Mars.


The Bottom Line

Quite probably the weakest episode of the series to date. The script tries to mirror its subplots, with both J'onn and Maggie seeking the approval of their fathers, though J'onn feels he abandoned his father in his lowest moment and Maggie was abandoned by her father in hers. The problem is that Maggie has been such a non-entity on the show that she can't support her own subplot and her father is written as a melodramatic gay-hating cliche who seems far too articulate for a small-town sheriff.

The subplot with J'onn and his father fares somewhat better, though some of David Harewood's exclamations come off as more comical than was intended. Still, Carl Lumbly gives the whole thing a sense of gravitas that it doesn't deserve and the whole Resistance battle is problematic with Kara killing a mob of White Martians without reservations. And that's ignoring the problems with a blonde-haired, white-skinned woman being the savior of a bunch of aliens who all take on the forms of African American humans.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 2 - Triggers

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

A psychic bank robber menaces National City, using her powers to trap people within their own worst fears. As Kara figures out a way to fight this new villain, James rankles under Lena's sudden ownership of CatCo Worldwide Media and the mysterious super-strong single-mother named Samantha starts a new job.


Influences

The 1982 The Daring Adventures Of Supergirl series (presence of Psi) and the 2000 film Unbreakable (a parent with superpowers denies this while dealing with a child who thinks they are a superhero)


Goofs

Kara's refusal to tell Alex and J'onn that Psi is attacking her fears seems horribly out of character for the usually honest Kara.

On that note, it beggars belief, brilliant as Lena is, that she hasn't put two and two together regarding Kara's secret identity yet.

Why does Kara open up her shirt in the elevator? Shouldn't there be security cameras that could catch her doing this, even if she does change at super-speed?

The slow-motion effects when Psi starts controlling the construction worker manning the wrecking ball seem forced.

As a character, Ruby seems to be written as far younger than a middle-school age student.


Performances

Melissa Benoist does a fantastic job conveying Kara's panic attacks.

Chyler Leigh's wordless reactions to Jeremy Jordan's reassurances that everything is fine when she finds Winn and Kara in the lab together.


Artistry

The opening montage showing Kara, Sam, Maggie and Alex getting ready for work in the morning is well-shot and set to an interesting song.

The music and camera distortion used when Kara starts to freak out after being attacked by Psi are quite disturbing and efficiently used.

The elevator sequence, which ends with a desperate Kara breaking through the roof of the Catco Worldwide Media building in order to get out into the open air, is particularly well-realized.

The script does a fantastic job of establishing Kara's reactions as typical of an anxiety attack and Winn's telling her that it's nothing to be ashamed of is a beautiful moment.



Super Trivia

The episode does not open with the usual opening with Kara explaining how she came to Earth as a teenager.

As Samantha says, there have been reports of people displaying temporary super-strength in order to lift heavy objects to save lives. Sadly, there's little verifiable evidence for these stories and even less success at replicating these effects in a controlled environment. While it is possible for a "flight-or-fight" response to temporarily increase a person's physical attributes thanks to deadened pain responses and an adrenaline rush, the factor of the increase is relatively minute. So as much as we'd like to believe the urban legend of the 120 lbs. mother dead-lifting a flipped SUV off of her baby, there's no basis in reality for it.

The character of Psi was created by Paul Kupperberg and Carmine Infantino and first appeared in The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 (November 1982). Originally a girl named Gayle Marsh, Psi developed psychic powers at the age of 12. Following the death of her parents, she was raised by a scientist who warned her of the approach of an enemy called The Decay. She fought Supergirl several times, thinking Kara Zor-El was The Decay in disguise. Eventually, Psi realized that the man who raised her was an illusion created by her powers - an extension of her own fears. She later joined The Suicide Squad in an effort to gain control of her powers but died on a mission.

In The New 52 reality, Psi made a brief appearance in the Forever Evil storyline. Her background was not specified beyond her being a prisoner in a secret ARGUS facility in Detroit known as The Circus.

A character called Psi appeared in the seventh issue of the New Adventures of Supergirl comic based on the CW show. This Psi was a prison guard at Fort Rozz, tasked with using her psychic powers to keep the most violent inmates subdued. Left as a being of pure spirit following the destruction of Fort Rozz, she turned upon Supergirl, whom she mistakenly blamed for hurting her friend Rampage - an innocent unjustly imprisoned in Fort Rozz, whom Psi had come to view as a friend.

The DCTVU version of Psi has the name Gayle March, like her original comic book incarnation. Rather than being an aspiring superhero, however, she's a thief. Like her comics incarnation, she is a powerful telepath and a telekinetic.

The bank where Supergirl first confronts Psi is located on 25th and Cedar Street.  The number 25 is a reversed 52 - a number frequently included in various DC Comics properties.  Cedar Street could be a nod to Michael Cedar, who was a producer on the first season of Supergirl.


Technobabble


J'onn can't read Kryptonian minds but he can detect signs of residual psychic activity.

Martian telepathy differs from human psionic powers in some technical way that J'onn does not describe beyond psychic metahumans producing a certain kind of psionic interference.

Winn creates a device (a.k.a. Psionic Inhibitor Red) he thinks will be capable of blocking Psi's powers so Supergirl can get close to her. It isn't.

Rubies are the strongest gemstones after diamonds. On Mohs 1-10 Scale Of Hardness, diamonds are ranked 10 and rubies are ranked 9.


Dialogue Triumphs


(Supergirl enters the bank vault, finding Psi standing there, slowly filling a bag with money)
Supergirl: I got you cornered.
Psi: (not looking up or turning around) Do you?
Supergirl: What did you do them up there?
Psi: (slowly turning around) I only wanted to play. But they didn't want to play with me.
Supergirl: Well, you're not getting away with it.
Psi: Oh! (smiles softly) You think you're the cat and I'm the bird. (she turns and zips her bag shut, shouldering it as she looks to Supergirl) You got it backwards. You could join me. Maybe then you'd be happy. You see, money equals happiness. More money? More happiness.
Supergirl: Your priorities are seriously out of whack.
Psi: I know, right? (starts laughing) 
Supergirl: Put the bag down.
(Psi sighs and just fixes Supergirl with a stare. She slowly approaches Supergirl, who suddenly stumbles and nearly falls over. Supergirl backs toward the wall and holds it to steady herself as we get a quick POV shot suggesting that Supergirl is suffering from vertigo. Psi walk past her as the perspective shifts again and we see a POV target of the room going black except for the distant glow of a red sun. We see Supergirl, her breath quickening, as she sinks to the floor, clearly terrified.)

(Kara tells Alex about Psi attacking her with the fear she felt watching Krypton die.)
Kara: How am I supposed to deal with that?
Alex: Well... by remembering that your fears don't define you. You know, who you are as Supergirl? Who you are as Kara? That's what defines you and she'd got nothing on that.
Kara: No... who I am as Kara feels broken. (sighs) I lost Mon-El. Lena keeps asking me where I'm going, which is new and horrible. Alex, I'm trying to be myself again but everything that used to make me feel good like... like a relief? It's - it's disappeared!
Alex: It's not always going to feel like that. I promise.
Kara: My life as Supergirl is the one thing I can count on. I can go out there and help people. I can make a difference in the world. I can... feel strong even though a huge part of me feels so weak and she's taking that away from me. (pauses) And if I don't have Supergirl, what do I have?
Alex: You have me.

Lena: This is new for me too.
Kara: Working with friends?
Lena: No. Having friends. We Luthors don't have friends. We have minions.


Dialogue Disasters

Ruby: Do you know how many people in this world want to have superpowers? Do you know how special it is?
Sam: I'm not special!
Ruby: Yes, you are!
Sam: No, I'm not! I'm just an average mother trying to take care of her kid!


Continuity

Eve Teschmacher is a Lena Luthor fangirl.

Lena takes her coffee black and hates salmon.

Despite Cat Grant having been absent from the CatCo building for the better part of a year, Eve still does not use her private "boss only" elevator.

It was a Danvers' family tradition to get a new planner on the first day of school.

Lena says it was a Luthor family tradition to start the school year by hiring a private investigator to check that their teacher's credentials were up to date. There's a chance she might be joking about this.

Winn and Maggie favor live bands for wedding entertainment. J'onn and Alex favor DJs.

Kara is on the general alert "distro" list at the DEO. Normally only analysts get general alerts, but Kara wanted to know about everything that was going on as it came in.

Kara had episodes stemming from claustrophobia after first arriving on Earth. This stemmed from her feeling trapped in her rocket while witnessing Krypton's destruction. It is these fears that Psi tapped into in order to paralyze Kara, as well as her worry that she sent Mon-El to his death by shooting him into space.

J'onn attempts to create a psychic shield to protect Kara from Psi's influence. Psi proves to be too powerful for him. He later says that Psi is the most powerful psychic he's ever encountered.

Ruby gets into a fight with another girl at her school after claiming her mother has superpowers.

Kara makes use of a Kryptonian meditation technique to calm her mind. She has not done this since coming to Earth since she never felt the need to before now.

It is revealed that Psi does not read her subject's minds - she merely triggers the fear response. We discover this when she asks what it was that made Supergirl so afraid.

Alex recognizes Ruby from 301.

Alex and Maggie never discussed having children. Alex wants to have kids someday. Maggie says she never saw herself being a mom.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Sam's new job is as the new CFO of L-Corp who is running things while Lena is learning how things work at CatCo.

Sam attempts to bend a crowbar once she is home. She fails to do it.

J'onn receives a psychic message from M'Gann, telling him he has to return to Mars.


The Kryptonite Factor

One of the most powerful psychics in the DC Comics Universe, J'onn has his powers severely curtailed here in order to make Psi more of a threat. Protecting another person with a psychic shield would hardly tax the Martian Manhunter of the comics. Here, J'onn is knocked out by Psi in less than a minute as he tries to shield Kara.


The Bottom Line

Oddly uneven, but largely enjoyable. The performances are great, the effects-work wonderful and Psi is well-realized as a menace but it seems shameful for a character like Psi who has a lengthy history with Supergirl in the comics being reduced to a villain-of-the-week as she is here.

The larger problem, however, is the Ruby and Sam subplot. Ruby seems to be written far younger than her actress would indicate and there's very little that is engaging about Sam as a character at the moment. You know it's a bad sign when you wish more of the episode had focused on James dealing with Lena taking over his role as Grand Poobah at CatCo than on watching Ruby put herself in danger in an effort to prove her mom has powers.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 1 - Girl Of Steel

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

In the wake of Mon-El's exile from Earth, Kara has thrown herself into the role of Supergirl, all but abandoning her friends and her job as a reporter. Alex and Maggie are in the middle of planning their wedding, but Alex seems reluctant to move forward for some reason. Meanwhile, a ruthless land developer named Morgan Edge moves in directions to buy CatCo Worldwide Media and turn it to his own ends while also taking actions that will bring him into conflict with Supergirl and Lena Luthor.


Influences

The New 52 Supergirl series (presence of Reign, a Supergirl who is removed from humanity) and the 1987 Superman Series (presence of Morgan Edge and Bloodsport)


Goofs

Kara takes the time to change into her civilian clothes when answering James' distress-signal watch. Granting that she can change very quickly, why bother if she honestly thought James was in trouble?


Performances

The three confrontation scenes where Kara's friends and family approach her about her behavior are high-water marks for all the actors involved. It's good to see Mehcad Brooks being given some meaty material at James Olsen again and to see David Harewood show the softer side of J'onn J'onnz. The best scene however, is when Chyler Leigh and Melissa Benoist let six months of repressed outrage out, as Kara and Alex unload on each other.


Artistry

The opening sequence, depicting Kara's daydream and the moment where she wakes up and listens to everything going on around her with her super-hearing is well-shot and well-directed.

The effects work of Bloodsport attacking Kara at the military base is good.


Super Trivia

The episode title comes from Supergirl's most famous nickname - The Girl Of Steel.

The episode opened with a special opening sequence, featuring Kara walking through a grassy field, where she sees and hugs both Mon-El and her mother, Alura Zor-El. The scene was set to the song Daydreaming by Rosa Pullman.

With this episode, the part of Kara's mother, Alura Zor-El, is taken over by actress Erica Durance. The part was previously played by Laura Benanti in the first two seasons of Supergirl. Erica Durance is probably best known for her previous portrayal of Lois Lane in The CW series Smallville.

As the episode opens, Supergirl has removed herself from humanity and forgotten her life as Kara Danvers. Her personality here is reminiscent of the Supergirl we first see in the New 52 Supergirl series. This version of Kara Zor-El had a less-than-warm welcome upon first arriving on Earth and, upon being discovered by Superman, was less than thrilled at his suggestion of her adopting a secret identity and sacrificing her life to save an ungrateful populace. While hailed by some critics as being a more realistic attitude for a teenage girl forcibly removed from everything she knew, it was also a far cry from the traditional Supergirl personality, who is cheerful and out-going.

Created by the legendary Jack Kirby and first appearing in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133, (October 1970), the only constant to Morgan Edge's background over the years has been his nature as a ruthless businessman. Originally Edge was President of the Galaxy Broadcast System - the media conglomerate that bought The Daily Planet. It was Edge who was responsible for Clark Kent being transferred from a job as a print journalist to traveling broadcast correspondent and eventually a position as the WGBS News anchorman.

Kirby's original intent with the Morgan Edge character was to play off reports of organized crime infiltrating corporate America and the media, eventually revealing Morgan Edge to be the leader of Intergang and a minion of Darkseid. Kirby was eventually persuaded, however, to limit Edge to a supporting role and the "evil Edge" was revealed to be a clone. Following that revelation, Edge was portrayed as a ruthless capitalist who challenged Perry White's "old-fashioned" sense of journalistic integrity but was shown on several occasions to be a decent man who did try to be fair to his employees.

In the Post-Crisis DC Comics Universe of 1986, Morgan Edge was revised into a character closer to Kirby's original intent. While still serving as President of WGBS News, his ties to The Daily Planet and friendship with Superman no longer existed. This version of Edge honestly did have connections to Intergang, which were exposed by Clark Kent and Cat Grant, the latter of whom went undercover as an employee at WGBS.  Edge had his revenge, however, writing a biography while in-prison which revealed that Cat Grant had slept with people for scoops while in his employ. Upon being released from prison, Edge sponsored one incarnation of the Superman Revenge Squad. He later found work as a Bill O'Reilly-esque political pundit during the New Krypton storyline, helping General Sam Lane to build anti-alien sentiment with the public.

The New 52 version of Morgan Edge was reimagined as an African-American man. In this reality, he was depicted as the CEO of Galaxy Communications - a media empire which bought The Daily Planet. He was also the financial sponsor of the Challengers of the Unknown.

The DCTVU version of Morgan Edge is played by Adrian Pasdar, who is no stranger to playing roles based on comic-book properties. He played the role of Major Glenn Talbot on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and played the roles of Captain America, Hawkeye and Iron Man in various animated series based on the original Marvel Comics. He also famously played the role of "flying man" Nathan Petrelli in the first three seasons of the series HEROES.

The DCTVU version of Morgan Edge is very much in the vein of Jack Kirby's original vision. Though his background is in land-development, he threatens to buy CatCo for his own ends in much the same way the Morgan Edge of the comics attempted to manipulate The Daily Planet and WGBS. He also deals with criminals such as Bloodsport to further his own agenda.

Robert DuBois a.k.a. Bloodsport is based on a character created by John Byrne and Karl Kessel, who first appeared in Superman #4 (April 1987). Drafted into the Vietnam War, DuBois fled to Canada rather than fight. His brother, Mickey, took Robert's place and suffered severed injuries on the field of battled, becoming a quadriplegic. The guilt drove Robert crazy and he spent the next few years of his life bouncing from mental hospital to mental hospital. Robert was chosen by Lex Luthor to be the recipient of a technology that would allow Robert to summon any weapon he could think of to his hand. Luthor's intent was to use DuBois as the perfect weapon to fight Superman. Unfortunately, DuBois turned out to be far too unstable to be reliable and killed many innocent civilians trying to draw Superman out.    

The DCTVU version of Bloodsport is an ex-military man turned mercenary. He was responsible for a series of bombings at National City Hall before going AWOL. He formerly served on the security detail at Fort Harrison, outside National City.

One of Cat Grant's press conference has her mocking the Speaker Of The House's claims that The President is spying on him with secret cameras in his microwave. This is a reference to similar claims made in the real world by Donald Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway that President Barack Obama had been spying on The Trump Campaign using secret microwave cameras.

This episode marks the first appearance of Emma Tremblay as Ruby Arias - a tween girl who is a huge Supergirl fan.

This episode marks the first appearance of Odette Annable as Samantha Arias a.k.a. Reign.

Reign was a super-villain from the 2011 New 52 Supergirl series. Resembling a white-skinned human female with red hair, Reign was a genetically engineered creature created on Krypton for some undefined purpose. Reign was one of five such "Worldkillers" who were created to be living biological weapons that would continually evolve, becoming more and more capable of causing untold death and destruction. It was never confirmed but strongly suggested that Doomsday - the monster that killed Superman - was the fifth missing Worldkiller.

There is no sign in this episode of Samantha's origin as Reign, apart from a closing sequence where Kara's vision of her mother suddenly changes with the land around Alura going dark and Alura turning into a rotten corpse. We then cut to Samantha waking up in shock, apparently having had the same horrific dream as Kara.

Kara is able to use her super-hearing to track Bloodsport's submarine when he is able to cloak himself from all visual perception and electronic surveillance. This is a common trick used by Kryptonians when tracking invisible enemies. Perhaps the most famous example of this occurred in the Superman: The Animated Series episode My Girl, where Superman cheerfully noted to the Lex Luthor minion who was counting on using lead-lined buildings to hide himself and his hostage that while he couldn't see the minion and hostage, "My hearing is pretty good."

Kara's dealing with Morgan Edge is reminiscent of the Golden Age Superman comics, where Superman was more of a social justice warrior than his modern "Boy Scout" characterization, directly threatening corrupt businessmen with violence rather than working to uncover their crimes.


Technobabble

Aluminium tubing can be used to build a nuclear centrifuge.

A high-pressure regulator could be used in combination with the cloaking device from a Daxamite ship to retrofit an aircraft into a perfect stealth vehicle, undetectable by even the DEO's radar and Supergirl's X-Ray Vision. The regulator would stabilize the internal pressure of a F-18 or B-52 to withstand the force emitted by the cloaking device.

The pressure regulator was meant to low-altitude rather than high-altitude. This leads Supergirl to conclude that Bloodsport is masking a submarine rather than a bomber.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Kara has just blown off Alex's invitation to taste-test hors d’oeuvres for her wedding. J'onn and Winn walk up.)
Winn: Okay, I thought it was bad when she skipped pizza night. But skipping free apps? I mean, come on! These are like... the beginning of the dark days...
J'onn: Hey, come on. Grief doesn't have a deadline.
Winn: Look, I know. But I mean, she goes from being "Little Miss Sunshine" to... well, Alex, basically.
Alex: (incredulous) What?! I'm not like that!
J'onn: Oh, come on, Alex. Your unrelenting seriousness is one of your best qualities.
(J'onn walks off. Alex looks at Winn, who makes a face and quickly follows after J'onn.)
Alex: I'm not like that. I'm not!

(Kara flies into James' office at CatCo, having heard his signal watch.)
Kara: What's wrong? Why did you use the signal watch?
James: You didn't get that article in.
Kara: (stunned and stammering) You - you beepered me for a deadline? That watch is for emergencies only!
James:  I know what the watch is for but this - this feels like an emergency. I'm worried about you, Kara. And at a certain point in time, I have to be your boss.
Kara: (angrily) No. Don't ever, -ever- do that again.
James: What? Ask you to do your job?
Kara: I am doing my job!
James: No. Supergirl is doing her job. Kara Danvers has been completely off the radar.
Kara: (sarcastically) Oh, I'm sorry, James. I've been a little busy, you know? The world's not going to save itself!
James: But you still have a life, okay? You still have a job as a reporter. And that life makes you you.
Kara: No, what makes me me is Supergirl. That's who I am at my core. And you're one to talk. Guardian.
James: (sighs) Okay. Guardian means a lot to me. But so does James Olsen. And he runs CatCo. And that job is important.
(Kara seems to struggle for a moment to speak but finally does so.)
Kara: You know something? If I'm expected to put Supergirl on hold just to write this article for you? Then maybe being a reporter isn't a good idea.
James: What- what are you saying?
Kara: I'm saying I have important things to do, but not here at CatCo. Not as a reporter. Not as Kara Danvers.
James: Kara, don't do this...
Kara: I quit!
James: Kara...
(Kara exits.)

Alex: Okay. This is done. I am done walking on egg shells. We all are. I've kept my distance. I have given you time to grieve without prodding. Without making you talk about Mon-El-
Kara: There's nothing to talk about..
Alex: Without forcing you to go to game nights or come to the bar.
Kara: There was a burglary...
Alex: There's ALWAYS a burglary! (pauses) But I've let it slide. Your pity party has gone uninterrupted.
Kara: (incredulous) My pity party?
Alex:  Who are you right now?! Kara Danvers doesn't quit.
Kara: She quits the things that aren't important.
Alex: CatCo is important! You help people there!
Kara:  Not like Supergirl does.
Alex: Kara Danvers-
Kara: Kara Danvers sucks right now! (pauses) Supergirl is great! Supergirl saved the world! So, if I could choose to be her, why would I ever choose to be the sad girl who's boyfriend is gone?! I don't like that girl, Alex.
Alex: I know it hurts-
Kara:  No, you don't know anything! You've never had to make a decision like this!
Alex: Okay, then. Tell me what it feels like! Please! Just let... let me help. Let me help you get over him!
Kara:  Get over him?!
(Alex stutters a bit.)
Kara: He didn't dump me. I sent him away! And for all I know, he...
(Kara's voice trails off)
Alex:What?!
Kara:  It doesn't matter.
Alex: You're not letting yourself feel anything! You're just bottling it up inside and you are making bad decisions. And I am worried-
Kara:  If it were Maggie, what would you be doing?! If the woman you were about to marry was gone forever, what would you be doing?
Alex: (pausing and stammering) I- I-
Kara:  You'd be at the bar every night. You'd be a wreck at work. You'd be broken.
Alex: (nodding) I would. I would be. But it's okay if you are...
Kara:  I'm not. (shrugging) That's what humans do. And I'm better than that. Clark said it himself. The decision I made? He couldn't have made that sacrifice. But me? I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't. I will always make the decision I made. I am not a human. I tried to be. But I'm not. Kara Danvers was a mistake. So... if you have an update about work, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise...
Alex: Bloodsport has the capability to cloak a nuke. We're thinking that he's going to hit the statue unveiling at the waterfront. J'onn wants everyone there.
Kara: I'll be there.
(Alex moves to the front door then turns around.)
Alex: Kara Danvers... is my favorite person. She saved me more times than Supergirl ever could, so just think about that while you're trying to get rid of her!
(Alex exits the apartment and slams the door as Kara stares at her computer, looking up at the door looking uncertain once Alex leaves.) 

(Kara is watching the crowd at the statue unveiling. J'onn lands beside her, shifting into his Hank Henshaw appearance as he does so.)
Kara: No sign of Bloodsport.
J'onn: It's quiet up here. (pauses) You know, I rarely flew on Mars?  It was for battle, not for pleasure. When I first came to Earth, I spent hours up in the sky. It was the only place I could feel empty.
Kara: Well, that's now what I'm doing up here.
J'onn: Forgive me for saying, but you seem to be courting emptiness of late. And that's not you.
Kara: I tried to be Kara Danvers for 15 years. But I'm not supposed to be her. I'm not supposed to be human.
J'onn: But you have a human heart now. It aches. It scars. But it keeps on beating. If you try to cut it out, you will lose something essential.
Kara: I can't help people if I'm broken...
J'onn: You are not broken! You are the strongest person I know. (pauses) You saved me, remember? You taught me that my loss made me stronger. That was Kara Danvers, not Supergirl.
Kara: Do you still dream about them? Your family?
J'onn: Sometimes.
Kara: (sounding sadder yet more like Kara than she has earlier in the conversation) Past couple of months when I dream, I see... I see Mon-El. With my mom.
(There is a long pause. Kara shakes her head and resumes her neutral tone.)
Kara: We should keep our eyes on the sky right now.

(Alex and Maggie make their peace over their wedding plans over the DEO comms.)
Maggie: I love you.
Alex: You too. Forever.
Winn: (wistfully) You two are my favorite couple.
(Alex and Maggie both speak at the same time.)
Maggie: Winn, shut up!
Alex: Winn, get off the comm!

Morgan Edge: You are going to regret - SO regret - the day you screwed me. I sure hope you enjoyed yourself. Because now... you have all of my attention.
Lena Luthor: Oh, Edge. Like every woman who's ever had all of your attention, I couldn't care less.

(Supergirl drops Morgan Edge on top of a shipping container. She walks away from him.)
Kara: The attack on the waterfront? I know it was you. To clear the way for your development. You're the only person who had anything to gain from it.
Morgan Edge: Yeah, well... you can't prove anything.
Kara: Not yet. But I see you, Edge. National City is my town. (smiling) And now you've got all of my attention.
(Supergirl flies away. The camera pulls back to reveal that the shipping container is one of many.. on the deck of a freighter at sea.)
Morgan Edge: (distantly getting quieter as Kara flies away) Hey You can't just leave me here!

(As J'onn begins to tear up at being asked to give Alex away at her wedding.)
Alex: Stop. Don't cry. If you cry, I'm going to cry. And everybody here is going to know that we actually can cry.


Continuity

It is officially confirmed that Maggie Sawyer and Alex Danvers have become engaged.

Morgan Edge's company has spearhead much of the rebuilding of National City following The Daxamite invasion. Lena Luthor and James Olsen are both quick to point out that Supergirl did most of the literal heavy lifting and that Lena's company also donated millions to the rebuilding effort.

Morgan Edge has a plan to revitalize the National City waterfront, where a statue of Supergirl is being built. Lena Luthor accuses him of planning to force people out of their homes to build high-rise apartments for the wealthy.

Cat Grant is now the Press Secretary for US President Marsdin.

Snapper Carr is reportedly on a sabbatical from his job as Kara's editor.

Crime in National City has gone down 65% over the past six months, entirely due to Supergirl.

Fort Harrison is a military base about 20 minutes outside of National City.

Kara quits her job as a reporter at CatCo following an argument with James about her missing deadlines to fight crime.

General Sam Lane has apparently gotten his hands on a fully-functional Daxamite warship. This is in defiance of The President's orders that all alien technology be handed over to the DEO.

Bloodsport is in Morgan Edge's employ.

Martians rarely use their flight powers outside of battle. J'onn never used his purely for pleasure before coming to Earth.

Alex's reluctance to move forward with the wedding plans are due to her father not being able to be there due to being on the run from Cadmus. Maggie stays she understands but asks her to consider all the people who will be there to make the day special. Alex agrees to try.

KPJT is the Channel 3 news station in National City.

Supergirl cannot breathe underwater.

Samantha Arias is shown to acquire great strength in moments of stress. She uses this to lift a heavy scaffold off of her daughter without help.

Lena Luthor considers Kara Danvers her best friend.

Lena Luthor buys CatCo, thwarting Morgan Edge's effort to do so. He swears revenge.

Below the waterfront of National City, a rocket is seen among the area unearthed by Bloodsport's missiles. It appears to be Kryptonian in design.

Winn never buys the first round of drinks.

Alex tells J'onn that she considers him family, that he's always acted like a father to her and asks him to give her away at her wedding. J'onn tearfully accepts.

Kara gets her job back from James and meets with the rest of her friends at the alien bar as the episode ends.

Reign was first referred to in the final scene of 222, where it was revealed that a third child was sent away from Krypton on the day of its destruction. Described as an "it" and being tended to by sinister women in black robes, they say that the child will "reign" on Earth.


Untelevised Adventures

Cat Grant took a position as The White House Press Secretary at some point during the past six months.


The Bottom Line

A solid enough opening. Curiously, the weakest point is the introduction of the season's new villain, which comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the main plot. Adrian Pasdar is a delightfully smarmy Morgan Edge and the established cast do wonders with the material they are given, particularly Chyler Leigh and Melissa Benoist. If it hadn't been for the forced bits attempting to introduce Reign (which are just confusing if you don't know that's what the show runners are doing), this would have been a perfect start to the season. As it is, it's merely good.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 21 - Resist

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

The Daxamites are invading Earth and Kara is chomping at the bit to fight back, as Queen Rhea has captured both Lena Luthor and Mon-El. Yet The President has ordered the DEO to shoot down the Daxamite Mothership without making any rescue efforts. Will Kara form an unlikely alliance with Lilian Luthor and CADMUS, who have been preparing for just such an event for years, just to save her best friend and boyfriend?


Influences

The comic storyline Superman: New Krypton. The film Independence Day. (alien invasion plot, mentioned by Winn when describing the Daxamite ships hovering over National City.). The movie Man of Steel (the Daxamite technology used to create children.)


Goofs

The idea that Air Force One would be allowed to fly into the middle of a war zone while carrying the President is one of Trumpian stupidity.

The pattern of debris from the downed Air Force One should be spread across a greater radius.

Ironically, given that, Cat Grant's speech rallying the people of Earth to fight the Daxamites makes mention of a promise they made to "make Earth great again". Queen Rhea made no such promises in her earlier speeches.

On that note, you know what information might have been incredibly useful to broadcast along with Cat Grant's speech? The fact that ordinary lead bullets can be used to incapacitate a Daxamite. (Then again, if regulations in National City are like anything in real-world California, lead bullets are outlawed due to concerns about the lead being toxic.)

When it comes to enclosing the resisters who dared to fight the Daxamite invaders, one would think the Daxamites might have more advanced technology than simple chain-link fencing.

Where did Lena get the gun that she used to shoot the guard?

How the heck are Henshaw and Lillian going to get out of the Fortress of Solitude and not freeze to death if Kara isn't carrying them out?

Kara's speech about not understanding how the Daxamites could be so evil when they had families like hers doesn't ring true given all of the anti-Daxamite bigotry she showed earlier in the season.


Artistry

The pre-title sequence with the DEO being invaded is perhaps the strongest action sequence in the show's history in terms of overall direction.


Super Trivia

The basic plot of this episode - and indeed the major story arc of the second season - borrows a lot from the Superman: New Krypton storyline. In brief, Superman is able to rescue a lost group of Kryptonians who are unwilling to adapt to life on Earth and ultimately seek to establish a new world. Their attacks on Earth wind up empowering various xenophobic Superman enemies, including General Sam Lane and Lex Luthor, who is given a full pardon in exchange for devising weapons capable of halting the Kryptonian invasion of Earth.

President Olivia Marsdin - who we have known is an alien since her first appearance - is identified in this episode as having been born on the planet of Durla. In the DC Comics Universe, Durla is home to a race of shape-shifters who are almost universally distrusted because of their powers. The Legion of Super Heroes member Chameleon Boy is a Durlan.

The Daxamite technology for creating children from the merging of DNA without the need for sexual contact seems similar to the Kryptonian Birthing Matrix from the original Superman comics. It is a matter of record that Kryptonians considered themselves evolved past such "barbaric" means of continuing their race and that they used the genetic material of two predetermined subjects to create the next generation of Kryptonians.

Similar technology was used to create children on Krypton in the DC Cinematic Universe, according to the movie Man of Steel.

The Daxamites of the DCTVU seem to possess similar technology though - based on Mon-El's behavior in earlier episodes - they do not have the same prudishness regarding sex as the Kryptonians in the DC Comics Universe.

The Phantom Zone Projector is a piece of Kryptonian technology used to transport matter to or from The Phantom Zone - an extra dimensional realm used by The Kryptonians as a prison for their worst criminals.

In the DCTVU, The Phantom Zone Projector was used to transport convicted criminals to Fort Rozz.

As in the comics, Daxamites are allergic to lead in the same way that Kryptonians are weakened by Kryptonite. A single well-placed bullet is enough to incapacitate one, according to Lillian Luthor.

Alex tells Kara to be "faster than a speeding bullet" when it comes to rescuing Mon-El and Lena. This is a nod to the introduction of the 1950s Adventures of Superman live-action TV show, where Superman was described as being "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive (and) able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."


Technobabble

The White Martian device Rhea used to attack J'onn causes his vitals to become erratic. According to Alex, his neurons are "working overtime" but he is otherwise comatose.

Lillian Luthor says that the Daxamite ships are armed with Kryponite cannons and have upgraded their shields since the last time Supergirl fought them.

The DEO base in National City has a positron cannon mounted on the roof. This cannon is apparently powerful enough that not even Supergirl could survive being hit by it.

Daxamites have the technology to produce children between two beings without the need for sexual intercourse. All that is required is DNA samples from the respective subjects.

Hank Henshaw claims to be capable of repurposing a Phantom Zone Projector into a teleporter capable of penetrating the shields around the Daxamite Mothership.

Henshaw also claims that his enhanced cybernetic core will allow him to interface with the computers on the Daxamite mothership, allowing them to move undetected once on-board..

Winn designs a spray-nozzle for Guardian's gauntlet that sprays a lead-dust aerosol, effectively giving any Daxamite caught in the cloud "space asthma".


Dialogue Triumphs

(Maggie and Alex kiss.)
Alex: I'm so glad you're okay!
Maggie: And I'm so glad that when things look their worst, we both thought to run straight to a bar.

(Mon-El spins around and faces the guard escorting him and Lena back to their cell.)
Mon-El: As your Prince, I order you to lay down your weapons and let us go.
(The guard draws a gun.)
Mon-El: (smiling) Yeeeeeah.  I didn't think that was going to work either.

(Lillian has just left Kara and Mon-El for dead on the Daxamite ship.)
Mon-El: Well, now what are we going to do?
Supergirl: (sighs as she pulls out a small device) Lillian betraying us wasn't the biggest shock ever. So Winn bugged Henshaw and rigged a remote so I could beam us back if she double-crossed us. Hope for the best -
Mon-El: Have Winn Schott prepare for the worst.


Dialogue Disasters

Every cursed line Cat Grant says.


Continuity

Daxam's architecture involved great pyramids.

Supergirl and Cat Grant learn that President Olivia Marsdin is an alien.

President Olivia Marsdin was Cat Grant's resident assistant in the dorms at Radcliff University.

Olivia Marsdin is identified as a Durlan. Mon-El mentioned the Durlan race in 217.

President Marsdin says that Durlan was invaded by another planet and her people enslaved within the course of one year. She claims to be one of the few who escaped that fate.

There is a Luthor Family Children's Hospital.

A Phantom Zone Projector is among the Kyptonian artifacts Superman stores in The Fortress of Solitude.

Reference is made to Hank Henshaw breaking into The Fortress of Solitude in 207.

Lillian Luthor confirms that she knows Kara Danvers is Supergirl. She says that she didn't tell Lena because she trusts that Lena will figure out the truth on her own eventually and that she will hate Kara for lying to her and prove everything Lillian ever said about Supergirl correct.

Maggie refers to the events of 203 and how she and Alex met during an attack on The President.

Cat Grant recognizes James as The Guardian immediately.

At the end of the episode, it appears that Queen Rhea has taken control of Superman, somehow, and used him to destroy the DEO's positron cannon.


Location

The Fortress of Solitude.


The Bottom Line

I'd forgotten how much better this show got once Cat Grant left it. I enjoy a good slam of Bill O'Reilly as much as the next smartass woke social liberal but 90% of Cat's dialogue seems really out of place here and distracts away from what should be Kara's finest moment as a hero.

It's telling that all of the developments that have made Season Two different than Season One - Kara's relationships with Lena and Mon-El, J'onn's more active role in the field, the presence of Maggie Sawyer and James as The Guardian - are all minimized or negated so that Cat Grant can save the day by giving a speech. Because this is much more interesting than watching a hero cop, a masked vigilante or the combined forces of the DEO fighting aliens in the streets of National City. Presumably this episode was meant to save the budget for the big finale next week?

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 19 - Alex

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Alex is abducted by an unknown villain, who has somehow figured out that Kara Danvers is Supergirl! Unless Supergirl releases a notorious criminal from prison, Alex will die! In order to save her, Kara and Maggie will have to put aside their differences on how to handle crime-fighting. Meanwhile, Queen Rhea - in the guise of a business woman - approaches Lena Luthor with an interesting offer.


Influences

Various Superman and Supergirl stories where a terrorist takes one of their loved one's hostage to try and force them to do their bidding. Kara's speech to J'onn about feeling powerless mirrors a Clark Kent speech from Superman The Movie after Pa Kent dies of a heart attack.


Goofs

While Kara presumably is acknowledged as a DEO agent, the DEO is a covert organization whose agents disguise themselves as the agents of other organizations when in the field. Granting that acting against Supergirl would be a logistical public relations nightmare, why doesn't the NCPD act to deputize Supergirl in an official capacity if her interference is causing so many cases to be thrown out that it's spawned "The Supergirl Defense"?

The amount of wine in Mon-El's glass and whether or not he is holding the glass changes between shots as he is giving his "As a superhero myself..." defense of Kara.

Rick talks about growing up poor and abused and his father having to scrimp and save to send him to college. How then does he have the resources to construct the underground cell where he keeps Alex?

On that note, while it is possible that a childhood friend might be able to make the connection between Kara Danvers and Supergirl, it strains all credibility that this same person could find out about the head of the DEO being a telepathic Martian shapeshifter and finding ways to plan against that on one-year's notice without any resources?

The message about Maggie and Kara both being right but different is sort of undercut when it is Winn's unorthodox digital detective work that leads them to Alex's kidnapper, Kara's idealism wins the day and Maggie is ready to throw everything she said about the law and procedures out the window to save Alex.


Artistry

The underwater scenes of Alex trying to escape from the tank are well-shot and all the more effective for being without music.


Super Trivia

When Supergirl arrives on the scene of the hostage situation, someone in the crowd says "Look! Up in the sky!" This exclamation was also said in the introduction to the 1950's Adventures of Superman TV series.

"The Supergirl Defense" - as Maggie calls it in this episode - is a frequent concern for law enforcement in fictional realities with superheroes.The excellent blog Law and the Multiverse examines these issues in depth.

Generally, in the DC Universe comic books, most superheroes do not have official police powers and they are only empowered to make citizens' arrests until a police officer can step in. Most major city police departments have a metahuman liaison who works with local superheroes to make sure that they operate in a lawful manner. In some cases - such as Batman in Gotham City - a hero may work directly with the police department in an unofficial capacity. In rarer cases, such as Superman in post-Crisis Metropolis, a superhero may be officially deputized by a local government with the full authority that office grants.

Rick Malverne is based on the DC Comics character of Richard "Dick" Malverne a.k.a. Dick Wilson.

In the Pre-Crisis Supergirl comics, Dick Wilson was raised in the same orphanage as Kara Zor-El (then using the alias Linda Lee). He harassed her in a manner similar to how Lana Lang teased Clark Kent in the classic Superboy comics, continually insisting that Linda was Supergirl, prompting Kara to have to humiliate him to cover her secret identity.

The two eventually got adopted - he by The Malvernes and her by The Danvers - but the two met again in college and dated for a time. They drifted out of touch, however, meeting once more as adults when Kara learned that Richard was dying of cancer. Before he died, he admitted to knowing her secret identity and having always loved her.

In the Post-Crisis Supergirl comics, Richard Malverne was an appliance store owner who dated Linda Danvers. Their relationship ended tragically when she found out he had been demonically possessed. The demon was the only thing holding Richard's cancer in check and he died once it left his body.


Technobabble

Rhea's proposal to Lena involves a device for matter transformation and reconfiguration. Lena says the technology could revolutionize virtually everything including travel, energy and security.

Lena gave a TED talk on quantum technology.

L-Corp has done work in zero-size intelligence.

All DEO agents have sub-dermal trackers. Alex's kidnapper found a way of depowering her's so she couldn't be found.

According to Winn, he can't triangulate the signal of the kidnapper's phone call due to his using four different arrays to scramble the signal.

Rhea complements Lena's Black Body Field Generator from 205.

Rick Malverne has some means of blocking J'onn's telepathy.

Lena confirms Rhea is an alien using her skin-testing device from 203.

Earth's Periodic Table of Elements stops at 118 elements.  The element Rhea's device requires would be classified as Element 260.

Alex removes her own tracker implant with a broken credit card and then hooks it up to the camera in her cell. This causes it to send out a signal asking for a software update, which is picked up at the DEO when it is coming in from outside their network. From there, Winn just has to track the IP address of the camera to a physical location to find her.

L-Corp has a large-scale generator ring which Rhea wants to adapt to create a transmatter portal.

Maggie has access to some kind of holographic and digital lockpick technology (presumably borrowed from the DEO along with Alex's gun) that allows her to spring Peter Thompson from his cell unnoticed.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Alex, Maggie, Kara and Mon-El are sitting down to dinner.)
Mon-El: So - how's my girlfriend, guys? Huh?
Kara: (embaraased) What?
Mon-El: Bank Robbers: Zero. Supergirl: Two. What do you even need cops for in this city?!
(Mon-El laughs as Maggie's eyes narrow.)
Alex: He's from a different planet. He doesn't even know what he's saying.
Maggie: (mock cheerful) No! He's right! Why bother trying to talk a guy down when Supergirl can just swoop right in and force him down? 17 hours of "what do you want?", "how can I help you?" good old-fashioned hostage negotiation wasted.
Kara: You're not upset that I caught the bad guys and got everyone out safely, are you?
Maggie: I would have gotten them to free the hostages.
Kara: Maybe. But they're in jail now where they can't hurt anyone.
Maggie: As long as they don't use The Supergirl Defense.
Kara: The what?
Maggie: It's a thing some criminals use to get their charges dropped. It's a perfect storm for a defense attorney. Excessive force. Evidence contaminated by debris. Vigilante justice....
Kara: Vigilante justice? I stand for Hope and Help and Compassion! I did what I had to do to get those people out of there!
Alex: I think that what Maggie is trying to say is what you do is... amazing when we're up against -
Maggie: - a giant purple monster or a half-cyborg murderer? Sure. But most of the time? Police work  requires a more... delicate touch.
Kara: Delicate?
Maggie: Yeah! You broke a guy's arm and gave another one a concussion. And that was - after- you knocked in the roof of a National City landmark. And... (chuckles) And -now- it just has a big Supergirl-sized hole in it!
Kara: A thousand things could have happened from the time of your call to the hostages walking out! Maybe... yeah, sure... I broke some walls. But... I got everyone out of there safely and that is a win!
Maggie: Well you should have asked! But you never look before you leap.
Kara: (smugly) Because I can fly.

Rhea: I wish I had a daughter like you. Your mother must be proud.
Lena: Well, that's not how I'd describe her.
Rhea: Mothers and daughters - not always the easiest relationship.
Lena: It's more like apocalyptic, but - you know.
Rhea: We don't have to talk about it...
Lena: No, no. It's fine. She never really cared about me and only came back in to my life to steal from me and frame me for a felony. So, you know - usual mother/daughter stuff.

J'onn: A life sentence can't be all that easy. Being in here all by yourself... you ever keep in contact with anyone on the outside?
Peter Thompson: Just last week. A Mr. J.C. Penny sent me a letter. He said there was a sale on galoshes. It's just that I don't have anywhere to wear them.

Lena: I was looking through your designs and there's a small problem. It requires an element that doesn't exist on Earth. You see, we have 118 and this would be categorized as 260.
Rhea: I don't know what you mean.
Lena: I think you do.
Rhea: (rolling her eyes) It was when I thanked the gods at dinner, wasn't it?

(J'onn walks out onto the DEO balcony to find Kara standing there with her eyes closed.)
J'onn: What are you doing?
Kara: Listening for her. but I can't hear anything. I can do all these incredible things but I can't...punch my way out of this. Or fly fast enough and turn back time. And now I'm afraid I'm going to lose the person that is the most important to me.
J'onn: To us, Kara.
Kara: Maggie was right. I shouldn't have rushed in! I made things worse!
J'onn: Maggie was upset and frustrated and she lashed out at you. You only did what you thought was best to protect your sister. No one can blame you for that.
Kara: I'm scared.
J'onn: Hey, come on
(J'onn pulls Kara into a tight hug.)
J'onn: So am I.


Dialogue Disasters

Rick Malverne's whole Narm-ridden speech that ends in his screaming "FREE MY DAD!"

Maggie's suddenly tearful refusal to have Alex say her goodbyes just in case.


Continuity

Kara and Mon-El both like Hawaiian pizza.

Maggie refers to both the battles the NCPD had with Parasite (206) and Cyborg Superman (208).

Alex's kidnapper refers to a convict named Peter Thompson who is serving a life sentence in Albatross Bay Supermax.

Alex recognizes her kidnapper.

Peter Thompson was convicted on three charges of home invasion, two counts of driving under the influence and two counts of felony murder.

Using facial recognition sofrware, Winn is able to identify Peter Thompson's one visitor as Rick Malverne, who used to live in Midvale... Kara and Alex's hometown.

Rick Malverne says that he spent a year planning to abduct Alex.

Rick Malverne claims that he figured there was something strange about Kara after she saved a baby from a fiery car crash without being hurt shortly after her arrival in Midvale. Years later, knowing Kara was in National City at the same time as Supergirl's first appearance, he put two and two together.

Rick Malverne was abused by his mother, who hid is father's existence from him. Sometime after he was 14, Rick was saved from her by his father who took care of him and was reportedly a good father who worked hard to get the money to send him to college.

Maggie refers to the events of 213 and her and Alex celebrating Valentine's Day together.

J'onn mindwipes Rick Malverne, removing all his knowledge of Kara Danvers being Supergirl and the DEO.

Kara does not like kale.

Lena decides to help Rhea after all.


Location

Rick Malverne's house an hour outside of National City.

The flashbacks take place in Midvale.


The Kryptonite Factor

The DEO agents all have their collective IQ's lowered 40 points so that Maggie can show Kara the value of old-fashioned police-work. Granting that J'onn has a different background in the DCTVU than he does in the comics, I can't believe that the Martian Freaking MANHUNTER is having to be told to check the people around the convict the kidnapper asked to be released! Or that he'd bring Kara, in her secret identity as a reporter, to interview the convict in question when he's sidelined her over far less in the past.


The Bottom Line

A phenomenally stupid episode whose unimaginative name tells you everything about just how much effort they put into it. It seems they worked backwards from the concept of needing something to distract Kara away from Lena so that Rhea could manipulate her and that resulted in this Very Special Episode where Maggie and Kara suddenly have issues with each other and learn that both of them have valid views on how to go about protecting people.

Well, except that Maggie is a total hypocrite, Winn does all the detective work and Kara's idealism is what wins in the end. Throw in a villain who has magically thought of everything the heroes might try to do to stop him - even things he shouldn't have been able to have known through simple stalking - and you have the weakest episode of Supergirl's second season.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 17 - Distant Sun

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

Alien bounty hunters swarm National City when a price is placed on Supergirl's head. Meanwhile, Alex deals with awkwardness when Maggie's ex comes into town for a few days and J'onn receives an interesting order from President Olivia Marsdin.


Influences

Romeo And Juliet (name-dropped by Mon-El, the theme of noble families and forbidden love)


Goofs

Odd that the most powerful telepath in the Alcorian system doesn't read the mind of the guy who threatens him to see if the weapon he's being threatened with is real and, oh, not a stapler.

Where did Queen Rhea learn that Kryptonite could be used to hurt Kryptonians? (It's possible she got the information from some source on Earth, but it seems unlikely given her high-and-mighty attitude toward the Earthlings having anything to benefit her people.)

For that matter, given how much The Daxamite royalty hate Krypton and anything associated with it, what are the odds they'd be hauling Kyrponite around with them to be fashioned into knives when they call the rocks of Krypton "litter" and had no idea their son had fallen in love with a Kryptonian woman until a week ago?

The Daxamites have been orbiting Earth for a little over two weeks now - give or take. Why then, can the king be stabbed to death with a simple knife? Shouldn't he have the same invulnerability that Mon-El developed almost instantly?


Performances

As usual, Chris Wood and Melissa Benoist's flirting is the high point of the episode. But Wood gets some good moments here to show off his dramatic chops.

Chyler Leigh damn near steals the show with her scenes as Alex in this episode, however, and her subplot has definitely been the strongest one of the season to date.


Artistry

The effects work during the first fight between Supergirl and the Amalak is good.

Kevin Smith's direction of the comedic scenes is well-done.


Super Trivia

Despite Kara having been fired from CatCo in 215, the opening narration still describes her as a reporter working for CatCo.

This episode was directed by filmmaker Kevin Smith - famed for his View Askewniverse and his work writing various Marvel and DC Comics books, including a critically acclaimed run on Green Arrow.

The alien bounty hunter with the laser-shooting eye-patch whom Kara first fights is identified as being part of a race of alien bounty hunters called Amalaks.

In the comics, Amalak was the name of an alien enemy of Superman and Supergirl. Amalak's planet of origin was never identified, but according to him it was destroyed by a Kryptonian and he was the last survivor of his people. To that end, he armed himself with a variety of energy weapons based around mimicking the energy of a red sun and devoted himself to destroying what little remained of Krypton and its people.

The telepathic bounty hunter claims to be the most power telepath in the Alcorian System.

In the comics, Alcoria is the home-world of Tal-Dar of the Intergalactic Space Police. First appearing in Detective Comics #282 (August 1960), Tal-Dar has the distinct honor of being the only alien (other than Superman, of course) who made multiple appearances in Batman's Silver Age adventures.

Mon-El makes mention of a planet that a Durlan emissary told him about when he was a kid.

In the original comics, Durla was the home-world to a race of shape-shifting aliens. Chameleon Boy of the Legion of Superheroes was a Durlan and the race was almost universally mistrusted due to their powers.


Technobabble

The first alien bounty hunter had a interplanetary messaging device, which can access an alien-run "dark Net".

The bounty on Kara's head is 300 quartz crowns. According to Mon-El, this is an insanely high amount of money - enough to buy a good planet.

Winn reconfigures the messaging device to act like a pager whenever another messaging device (and, presumably, another bounty hunter) is close.

The exact technology used by the Daxamite ship to travel through space is not described but it is said that it will take four of their years for it to return to Daxam from Earth.

The transmat portals used by the Slaver's Moon slavers do not require a second gateway to establish a portal. The second portal acts as more of a beacon to the first but so long as you have the exact coordinates of where you want to teleport, you only need one gate.

The DEO satellites are able to detect ion thruster activity.


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara: Any word from your parents?
Mon-El: No, they're just... up there, hovering around in orbit. (gasps in realization) Is that what they mean by "helicopter parenting"?

Alex: How much is 300 quartz-crowns?
Mon-El: It's a lot. Like, enough to buy a planet.
Winn: Woah! Like, we're talking like a planet in a good neighborhood? Or like a hipster, up-and-coming kinda vibe?
Mon-El: Exactly.

(J'onn asks Alex to search the DEO databases for alien species that access the bounty hunter dark Net)
Alex: Absolutely. Well, I had plans, but I will cancel.
Kara: No! No, don't cancel your plans just to search databases. That's ridiculous!
J'onn: Ah - these databases won't search themselves.
Winn: Oh, actually, they will. I just have to write a program for it. (wincing) And I just signed up for more work, didn't I?

(Mon-El's parents have just discovered that he works in a bar on Earth.)
Lar-Gand: You... you -work- here? As a a servant?
Mon-El: (haughtily) I'm a mixologist. It is an artistic profession in the medium of preparing alcoholic beverages. And it is very honorable.

(Kara and Mon-El are cleaning up the glass of the broken window in Kara's apartment.)
Mon-El: Hey, so, I've been thinking of a solution to our problem.
Kara: Yeah. Me too.
Mon-El: Yeah?
Kara: There's only one thing we can do.
(The two start to speak at the same time.)
Kara: Talk to your mother. Wait - what?
Mon-El: Run for our lives. What?
Mon-El: (stammering) So, there's this planet that a Durlan emissary told me about when I was a kid. It's got water and a yellow sun . It's got everything we need to survive. My parents wouldn't find us there! We'd be together. We'd be safe... I think of this because I'm reading this play right now - Ro-May-O and Juliet?
Kara: Yes.. I've... heard of it.
Mon-El: Right and... there's this moment at the end, where I am right now, where they're about to - to run away together and live happily ever after and I can't... help but think that that could be us. You know?
Kara: Yeah, but... Juliet and Romeo both die at the end.
Mon-El: ... I... did not see that coming.
Kara: And, no. We're not going to your secret planet. I'm Supergirl. I don't run from anything!
Mon-El: (burying his face in his arms on the table) Yeah, I know. It's one of the more annoying things about you.
Kara: Well, thank you.
Mon-El: You're welcome.

(Queen Rhea has just stabbed Kara with a dagger made of Kryptonite.)
Kara: Where did you get Kryptonite?!
Queen Rhea: (coldly) Our planet is littered with the corpse of yours.

Alex: I think... that when your parents didn't accept you, you stopped trusting the people that are closest to you. And I totally get that. But Maggie? You don't have to be guarded with me. Okay? I am not here to judge you for things that happened in the past. I am here to help you heal.

(Winn explains how he can use one of the gates used by the Slaver's moon slavers to teleport Kara onto the Daxamite ship.)
Alex: So as long as you have the exact coordinates of where you want to transmat, you only need one gate?
Winn: Mmm-hmm. Yes. One gate and one, you know, flawless calculation of the ship's location as it hurtles through space, relative to us, as we spin around the Earth's axis at 1,000 mph.
Kara: And if the calculation's wrong?
J'onn: You'll transmat directly into the cold vacuum of space.
Kara: Let's hope it's not wrong.

(Mon-El is in a cell on the Daxamite ship. Suddenly, there is a flash of light and Winn lands in the area outside the cell with a grunt.)
Mon-El: Winn?
Winn: (looking around) Okay... thank God I am not in space.
Mon-El: You -are- in space.
Winn: Oh! Yeah, I know. I mean, like floating around in space, dying. (collecting himself) Uh - I am here to rescue you! Hi!
Mon-El: Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?
Winn: You finally saw Star Wars!

President: Director - did you engage the Daxamite ship?
J'onn: Yes. How did you find out?
President: I have my sources! And you had your orders. I am disappointed.
J'onn: I understand. But an alien who was under our protection - who had been given amnesty - was taken against his will and we were his only hope.
President: And what if things hadn't turned out your way?
J'onn: It's my job to ensure that they do.


Continuity

Mon-El taught himself how to cook by reading a cookbook.

President Marsdin was last seen in 203.

The President orders J'onn not to engage with the Daxamite ship for fear of starting an intergalactic war.

Maggie practices yoga. Alex has just started it.

Maggie was with Emily for five years. The relationship ended badly, with Emily breaking it off and telling Maggie she did not deserve to be happy.

The most powerful telepath in the Alcorian System is not as powerful as J'onn.

Alex confronts Emily and discovers that Maggie had cheated on Emily, spurring the comments about her not deserving happiness.

It is revealed that Queen Rhea issued the bounty on Supergirl without her husband's knowledge.

Winn recovered one of the transmat portals from 209.

Mon-El finally saw Star Wars.

Maggie is able to find closure with Emily.

President Marsdin has some source that informed her of J'onn taking action against The Daxamite ship.

Again, we are reminded - as we saw in 203 - that President Marsdin is some manner of shape-shifting alien.

Queen Rhea stabs her husband to death, saying she is not done with Earth yet.


Location

The Fortress of Solitude.

The Daxamite ship in low Earth orbit.


The Bottom Line

A decent episode, if one ignores the plot holes in the script, but it's not one that's likely to be remembered fondly or at all. Kevin Smith is a fine comedic director and the romantic scenes here aren't bad but the man can't block an action scene to save his life. The basic plot isn't pushed forward much until the final segment and while the cast turn in some fantastic performances, the whole thing still feels like filler.