Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 18 - Ace Reporter

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



Plot

When Lena Luthor's ex-boyfriend - a scientist named Jack Spheer - comes to National City to unveil his development of disease-destroying nanotechnology, Lena asks Kara to attend his news conference with her for mortal support. When Snapper Carr's presence inspires Kara to questions Jack's claims, she attracts the attention of a whistle-blower who prompts a bigger investigation that places Kara and everyone around her in danger!

Menwhile, Winn talks James into taking on Lyra as a partner in crime-fighting but Lyra proves over-zealous in making up for her criminal past.


Influences

The Power Company (character of Jack Spheer and Biomax) and the movie Big Hero 6 (the villain being an executive controlling an army of nano-bots.)


Goofs

The CGI for the nano-swarm changing back into Jack Spheer is a bit dodgy.

Lyra's sudden violent reaction to being told she can't help Guardian out doesn't jibe with her previous characterization.


Performances

Rahul Kohli is an engaging presence as Jack Spheer and does have good chemistry with Katie McGrath.

Between the scenes with Kohli and her bonding moments with Melissa Benoist as Kara, Katie McGrath does more in this episode to develop Lena's character into a sympathetic person than in any previous episode.


Super Trivia

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

The character of Jack Spheer (a.k.a. Biomax) first appeared in the comics in Power Company #6 (September 2002). Jack Spheer was CEO of the Biospheer Technologies - a company which developed Biomax - a plasma that could control organic tissue. The original intent was to use Biomax to alter food production, creating cows that grew to maturity in days and vegetables that did not require refrigeration. Unfortunately, several people became sick after eating the altered foods but Spheer refused to stop production despite this. A confrontation with Green Arrow and Black Canary - who had started investigating the company after two of their friends got sick - resulted in Spheer falling into a vat of Biomax and becoming a non-physical being who could take control of other people.

The DCTVU version of Jack Spheer is quite a different character. The original one had no connection to Lena Luthor and was old enough to have an adult son. The DCTVU version of Jack Spheer runs a company called Spheerical Industries rather than Biospheer Technologies. The DCTVU version of Biomax is also promoted as a medical breakthrough rather than a genetic-engineering mechanism.

The biggest changes, however, are that Jack Spheer is now a living swarm of nanobots rather than a psychic projection and that rather than being a villain in his own right he is being controlled by his corrupt CFO.

An establishing shot shows that The L-Corp building is located on Cordova Street in National City. Cordova, Alaska was the name of the town where Clark Kent spent some time working on a crab boat in the movie Man of Steel.


Technobabble

Winn says he's going to spend the downtime working on a Lebeckian code breaker.

The Biomax Medical Nanobot Program is capable of healing a cut hand in seconds. Spheer claims that his nanobots can eliminate the need for vaccinations, anesthetics and antibiotics.

Kara asks about an FDA regulation regarding distributing drugs across state line and whether or not Spheer is following that law by having started developing Biomax in Metropolis but launching it in National City.

Lena asks Spheer about how he finally cracked the nano swarm.

Spheer says that he took inspiration from watching a flock of migrating starlings and how they all moved in perfect synchronicity. After musing on how he should have followed Lena to National City, he decided that they'd been modeling the nanobots on the wrong animal. Until that point, he'd been trying to create a "queen" as a base for the bee-like drones to revolve around by programming a protective algorithm.

The Buomax nanobots are based on murmuratiom - the technical term for a flock of starlings.

The nano-swarm's artificial nitelligence is a linked sentience, controlled through the Spheerical lab mainframe computer.

Valerians' sense of smell is so powerful that they can distinguish the scents of individual humans.

Three years earlier, Lena and Jack knew that the nanoforms had a side-effect. The brains of the rats they treated were forever altered so that "we could make them do whatever we wanted.".

Beth Breen - the CFO of Jack's company - plans to use the Biomax technology to take control of the world, one person at a time.

Sea salt incorporates better with the dough when making danishes.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Kara flies into the DEO office and walks into the War Room.)
Kara: Woo! It is another beautiful day in National City and the Girl of Steel is ready to take on the world!  I am here to kick some ass, take some names, and do it all with an endearing smile on my face! So - bring it on! What have you got for me?
J'onn: There is literally nothing for you to do.
Kara: Nothing?!
Winn: I challenge you to find an eight-year-old stealing candy!
Alex: It's like somebody slipped law-abiding serum into the reservoir.
Kara: Did somebody do that? Is that illegal? I could stop them.

(The Guardian walks to Winn's van which is rocking rhythmically. He opens up the back of the van to discover Winn and Lyra making out.)
The Guardian: Oh my God... are you serious?
Winn: Woah... ohhhhh.
The Guardian: What are you doing?! You're supposed to be watching out for me!
Winn: (laughing) Guardian! Hey, man! Uh.. you had those guys! I mean, you didn't need me!
Lyra: Yeah!
Winn: Great job!
Lyra: Relax, James. You had him.
(The Guardian pulls off his helmet to reveal himself as a furious James Olsen.)
James: What - I...you told her?!
Winn: I did NOT tell her!
James; (pointing at Lyra) Well, then how do you know?!
Lyra: Humans all smell different.
Winn: Oh, hey, uh... what do I smell like?
(Lyra spins around getting right in Winn's face, slowly inhaling.)
Lyra: You smell like honey.
Winn: Oh-ho!
(The two start cuddling again, momentarily oblivious to the incredulous James.)

(As Kara is dragging him out to crash Lena and Spheer's dinner date.)
Mon-El: This just feels like stalking.
Kara: No! It's journalism!
Mon-El: Okay. (quietly, to himself) It's very creepy journalism.

Kara; I heard Supergirl saved you.
Snapper: Yeah. She was there.
Kara; Did you say thank you?
Snapper: Once. To a divorce lawyer. It was uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Beth Breen: You know, it's true what they say? Behind every great man is a strong woman.
Lena: Oh, I wouldn't know. I've never stood behind a man.

Kara: How are you holding up?
Lena: When Lex was arrested, my mother was there. My mother saw her son, dragged bleeding and raving from her house. And when I got there, Lillian was tidynig his room. Like he'd been away on a business trip. (pauses) That's how I feel. Cold and clam. Until I think about Beth dying in jail, and then I feel warm for a minute.
Kara: You're in shock, Lena...
Lena: Loss does strange things to my family and I have lost a lot of people...
Kara: Well, you're not going to lose me.
Lena: I think when I feel things again I... I'm gonna be very, very afraid. Of the person I might be.
(Kara puts an arm around Lena and hugs her close.)
Kara: You don't have to be afraid. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere.
Lena: Promise?
Kara: I will always be your friend. And I will always protect you. I promise.


Continuity

When not otherwise occupied on Thursday mornings, Alex practices knife-fighting.

Lena Luthor and Jack Spheer dated for two years. They spend five years working together on a start-up out of a garage, trying to find a cure for cancer. They broke up when she left Metropolis to run L-Corp from National City and he refused to go with her.

It is confirmed that Metropolis and National City are in different states.

Lyra Strayd was apparently freed from DEO custody and is still dating Winn, following the events of 216.

Valerians are able to identify humans based on their unique scent. Because of this, Lyra knows that James is The Guardian.

According to Lyra, Winn smells like honey.

Winn brings Lyra in to help James with fighting crime.

The L-Corp building is located on Cordova Street.

Lena's executive assistant is named Hector.

Mon-El is still using Mike as an alias.

Mon-El is a good enough pick-pocket that he steal's Spheer's security badge while hugging him.

Lena Luthor is capable enough a fighter to go up against a black-belt.

Jack Spheer dies when Lena deactivates the robots.

Beth Breen is arrested although on what charges isn't precisely clear. Presumably the two murders she caused using Jack.as a weapon.

James tells Winn that he considers him a brother.

James invites Lyra to rejoin the team with the understanding that she follow his orders exactly.

Snapper Carr enjoys baking.

Kara gets her job as a reporter at CatCo back.

At the end of the episode, Lena is approached by Queen Rhea, who is dressed as an ordinary Earth woman. She says she has a business proposition for her.


The Fridge Factor

Lyra is suddenly portrayed as having a violent temper in order to set up a crazy girlfriend joke.


The Bottom Line

A sadly flat episode that proves how essential the DEO setting has become to the series in Season 2. The biggest problem is that most of the episode is devoted to Lena's romance with Jack Spheer, which its hard to become emotionally invested in since Lena hasn't been developed much as a character so far. It's a credit to Rahul Kohli and Katie McGrath that the subplot works as well as it does.

The rest of the episode isn't any better, focusing on Kara's efforts to prove herself as a reporter and James' continuing misadventures as The Guardian. I think the Kara subplot might have been stronger had she depended more on her reporting skills and less on her powers, ala The Late Mr. Kent episode of Superman: The Animated Series. And while I seem to be one of the few critics who don't mind the Guardian scenes, even I think this week's subplot was total filler.

Worse yet, The Guardian scenes undermined one of the better subplots introduced this season - Winn's relationship with Lyra - by having her become a violent berserker when she hasn't shown any tendencies towards violence before. Where were those fighting skills when she was being abducted by Lillian Luthor's thugs or her brother was being threatened a few episodes ago?

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 15 - Exodus

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




Plot

As Kara investigates a series of Cadmus-backed alien kidnappings, Alex continues the hunt for Jeremiah Danvers and Lillian Luthor. When Kara's editor refuses to run a story on the abductions based only on Supergirl's word and Alex is suspended due to J'onn questioning her ability to remain impartial, it becomes apparent that the two sisters will have to break some rules to stop Cadmus' latest plot.


Influences

The Superman: New Krypton storyline (general idea of clandestine military group backed by a Luthor fighting aliens on Earth.) Iron Man 2 (some of the sequences of the redhead Alex running in her DEO back uniform and leather jacket can't help but inspire thoughts of Black Widow.) and Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan (the scene of Kara and Alex placing their hands on one another's over the glass separating them.)


Goofs

Granting that it is topical, Alex's "you are forcibly deporting these people" line comes off as a little forced.

Not a goof on the show but a goof on the social media team - danvers.com appears to be available. How could they not have snatched that up to start making some AR content for the show by showing us Kara's "real" blog?


Performances

This episode is a triumph for Chyler Leigh on every level.


Artistry

The opening sequence with the family being abducted is well-directed and jarringly different enough from the usual tone of Supergirl that it effectively grips the viewer right away.

The fight sequence when Cadmus attacks the alien bar features some fantastic choreography and wonderful cinematography.

The entire scene of Supergirl stopping the frigate from launching is well-shot and has some great music underscoring the mostly dialogue-free scene.


Super Trivia

The episode title comes from the technical term for a mass departure of immigrants. It is also the name of the second book of The Hebrew Torah and The Christian Bible.

Mon-El makes a reference to Zakkarian Ale.  In the Green Lantern comics, Zakkaria was a planet in Space Sector 2814 (the same one as Earth) which was the home world of a criminal known as Izar The Zakkarian. Izar led an intergalactic criminal gang known as The Crimson Star Mob, with whom the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner came into conflict.

Zakarian (with one K) also appears to be the name of a now defunct brand of beers and ales.

Lillian Luthor quotes from Thus Spoke Zarathrusta by Friedrich Nietzsche - the novel in which Nietzsche outlined his concept of a over-man (or super-man) who represents the eternal struggle for self-mastery. Nietzsche also spoke against idealization in any form and urged people to improve this world rather than waiting for some perfect afterlife.

At one point, Lilian says to Jeremiah "This time you are the only Superman we need." This is a nod to the fact that Jeremiah's actor - Dean Cain - played Clark Kent and Superman in the TV series Lois And Clark.

IMDB names the Cadmus agent who is disguised as a cop as Shuster. This is a nod to Joe Shuster - the artist who co-created Superman.

The actor who plays Shuster - Dean Redman - is also the voice of Nick Fury in various Marvel Comics animated films.

Jeremiah Danvers describes the ship being used for Project Exodus as a Hoshin Frigate. Hoshin is a Japanese word meaning "setting a direction" or "setting an objective."

It is revealed that the goal of Project Exodus to deliver the aliens to a world called Takron-Galtos. First appearing in a Legion of Super-Heroes story in Adventure Comics #359 (August 1967), Takron-Galtos is the chief prison planet utilized by The United Planets and The Legion Of Super-Heroes in the 30th Century. The world is also a prison planet some 1000 years earlier, having been utilized by both The Green Lantern Corps and the bounty hunter Lobo.

In the final scene, the hooded alien woman is played by Teri Hatcher. In addition to appearing on Desperate Housewives with Lillian Luthor actor Brenda Strong, she played Lois Lane on the TV Series Lois and Clark.

In the final scene, the hooded alien man is played by Kevin Sorbo. A veteran actor famous for his appearances in various science-fiction and Christian-themed productions, he is still best known to a generation of fantasy fans as Hercules in the 1995 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys television series.


Technobabble

The captured Cadmus agent has some means of negating Martian telepathy. He claims he also has something in his head that will alert Cadmus if he gives the DEO any information and kill him instantly.

There is a magnetic field disruptor in the DEO armory which J'onn (disguised as Jeremiah Danvers) says he can use to disable the death-trap cages Lillian Luthor has set-up in Cadmus.

We're told that the ship being used for Project Exodus is a Hoshin Frigate - the best in the Kazark fleet. It can travel at light-speed and it is set to travel to Takron-Galtos.

Alex planted 10 Haldorr particle mines all over the Cadmus base before she was caught. Half of them are set on a dead-man switch to rigged to explode once released.


Dialogue Triumphs

J'onn: Are we any closer to finding out where Cadmus is taking them?
Mon-El: Or what they want? 'Cause hat's the trillion-dollar question.
Winn: It's million-dollar question, buddy.
Mon-El: Really? That low?!
Winn: Yes.

Mon-El: Hey, uh (clears throat) Winn, you know what you need right now?
Winn: (barely holding back his anger) If you say a drink, I swear I will-
Mon-El: Oh! I was going to say a deep breath! But that is a much better idea!

(Jeremiah is begging Alex to help him steal a piece of equipment from the DEO to stop Cadmus.)
Jeremiah: Will you help me or not?
(Alex turns away, clearly conflicted and hesitant. After several seconds, she speaks.)
Alex: Yes. I will help -
(Alex turns around to see "Jeremiah" molding into J'onn.)
Alex: J'onn... you were testing me?
J'onn: I had no choice. You're a federal agent, Alex. You took an oath. We're facing a crisis situation here. Thousands of lives are at stake. I feared your judgement might be compromised. Sadly, I was right.

Lillian: Project Exodus?
Jeremiah: It's almost ready.
Lillian: "The over-man shall be the meaning of the earth. Remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes."
Jeremiah: (nodding) Nietzsche.
Lillian: Who better? His Super-Man was about we humans believing in ourselves instead of looking up to gods. This time... you're the only Superman we need.

Alex: Turn it off! Now!
Lillian: You don't threaten me.
Alex: Lillian, do you really think I'd walk into the lion's den without a whip? I planted 10 Haldoor Particle Mines all over this facility. (holds up a trigger) Stop the launch!
Lillian: (coolly) You're lying.
Alex: Wanna bet?
(Alex presses the buttons as explosions rock the building around them. Guards move in on Alex, guns raises but she brandishes the trigger defiantly.)
Alex: The rest of the bombs are on a dead-man switch! I let this go and the entire place lights up!
Lillian: I won't stop this.
Alex: I don't need you to. (looking to Jeremiah) Dad? It's time for you to do what you told your daughters to do. Are you with me?
Lillian: Tamper with my launch, Jeremiah, and I declare war on your whole family.
Alex: If you let her... We're going to protect each other. Always.
(Jeremiah stands stock still, looking at Alex.)
Lillian: Jeremiah?  (prompting) Jeremiah!
Alex: Dad... make this right.
(Jeremiah looks between Alex and Lillian... before giving Alex a soft nod and attacking the guard standing behind him.)

(J'onn admits that he made a mistake testing Alex the way he did, disguised as her father.)
J'onn: Please know... I only did it to protect you. I didn't mean to hurt you.
Alex: You sound just like him.
(Alex hugs J'onn. He slowly hugs her back.)
Alex: Can we just agree to stop doing the wrong things for the right reasons?
J'onn: Yeah. That sounds like a plan.


Dialogue Disasters

(Jeremiah explains Project Exodus.)
Alex: I don't understand.
Jeremiah: Lilian was going to kill them all!
Alex: You're forcibly deporting them! I mean some of them have escaped famine, and poverty and genocide -
Jeremiah: At least this way they have a chance.


Continuity

Winn and Lyra both enjoy the film version of Dune, despite how the sandworms were handled.

Lyra has been living on Earth for several years, but she learned English off-world.

Cadmus has devised some means of protecting all their agents from Martian telepathy - not just Jeremiah Danvers.

Lena suggests that Kara consider becoming a blogger rather than working for CatCo. She also volunteers to check L-Corp's records for any business dealings that might lead to Cadmus or any technology that might help locate the missing aliens.

Lena discovers that a LuthorCorp naval research facility was closed in 2007 yet L-Corp was billed for a metal shipment to that facility in 2017.

Lillian has a spy in L-Corp reporting to her on her daughter's activities.

Jeremiah explains that his plan was to forcibly deport all the abducted aliens off-planet. He considered this preferable to Lillian Luthor's plans to just kill them all. He also says the only reason he worked for Cadmus was because they threatened his daughters.

Jeremiah is shot by Cyborg Superman's eye laser. It is unclear if he survived the blast.

Kara is fired from CatCo for publishing an article utilizing CatCo resources on a rival platform and for working for another media outlet in violation of her contract.

In the final scene of the episode, the hooded aliens last seen in 209 are revealed as a man and woman, who are addressed as Your Highnesses. The man comments, upon standing in a yellow sunbeam, that there is something different about "this place" and the woman comments that she feels different.

(The popular theory among fans at the time the episode aired is that these are Mon-El's parents and that rather than being the bodyguard of the prince of Daxam, he IS the Prince of Daxam)


Location

An unnamed freeway, presumably somewhere outside of National City.


Untelevised Adventures

There were 19 abductions of aliens on Earth before the scene that opens the episode.


The Fridge Factor

Granting that Kara is naive, she should not be stupid enough to anonymously publish an article on danvers.com


The Kryptonite Factor

After two episode of being completely absent, it's somehow even more jarring for James Olsen to show up just to comment on Winn's new girlfriend and briefly appear as The Guardian to help the DEO catch a Cadmus agent. As much as I love Mehcad Brooks, I almost wish the show would just let his character go at this point or that he'd be brought on as a full-time DEO agent because it's clear that the writers have no idea what to do with the character at this point.

By the same token, I'm glad that we seem to be rid of the CatCo sequences - at least for a time. The scenes there only served to slow the episodes down and Snapper Carr (aka Don't Call Me Perry White) has never taken off as a character


The Bottom Line

A solid episode that is most notable for what it lacks rather than what it contains and how much of Kara's subplot is devoted to streamlining the show as Alex takes center stage. It's not a great ensemble piece (I think Winn's girlfriend has more lines than James Olsen at this point.) but it does a great job of advancing darn near every subplot in the series that was in need of some momentum.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 9 - Supergirl Lives

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





Plot

The search for a missing teenager sends Kara and Mon-El through a portal to an alien world where Roulette has set-up shop as a slave-trader. Unfortunately the red sun of the alien world leaves both of them totally powerless! Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alex blames herself for Kara's disappearance, feeling she's been slacking off on her big-sister duties since falling in love with Maggie Sawyer and Winn suffers from PTSD after his near-death experience while aiding The Guardian.

Influences

Doctor Who (rock quarry and the same two hallway sets used to replicate alien world/alien foretress, mention of transmats), Stargate (the appearance of the portal used by the alien slavers, Winn specifically calls it this), Star Trek (the quarry set for an alien planet, Winn tries to psyche himself up by saying he is not a Red Shirt, Winn's take-down of a Maaldorian soldier with a thrown rock is vintage Shatner Fighting 101)


Goofs

Kara using her heat-vision to create an explosion that flips a van carrying ordinary jewel thieves seems horribly out of character.

How the heck did the two jewel thieves in the back of the van survive the van flipping and remain in good enough condition to run away when the driver, who had a seat-belt on, appeared to be injured from the impact and barely conscious?

For that matter, how did they get out of the van without Supergirl seeing it when she was flying right behind them?

Granting that Roulette in the comics was a consummate capitalist who would do anything to make a profit, it seems odd that the DCTVU version - who was previously established as an anti-alien racist - would be involved in any operation that involved her exploiting fellow humans to benefit alien slavers.

Throwing Winn - a DEO tech support agent with no field training or weapons training that we're aware of - into a hostile alien landscape seems incredibly stupid, even if he WEREN'T showing signs of suffering from PTSD.

It gets worse when Alex leaves Winn behind to guard the star-gate without a partner.


Artistry

The effects used to create Slaver Moon are nice, from the subtle filtering of the light to create the red sun effect to the digital effects to create "the murder castle".


Super Trivia

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

The actress playing the missing girl Izzy is Harley Quinn Smith - Kevin Smith's daughter.

The title of the episode - Supergirl Lives - is a reference to a canceled Superman film titled Superman Lives, which would have been based on The Death of Superman comic story line. Kevin Smith was famously hired to write one draft of Superman Lives.

In the comics, Kryptonians and Daxamites gain super powers under the light of a yellow sun and become like ordinary humans under the light of a red sun. Different stories, however, have depicted the loss of power after moving from a yellow-sun environment to a red-sun environment differently. In some stories, they change back to normal instantly. In other stories, the change is more gradual.

In the DCTVU, Kryptonians and Daxamites lose their powers almost immediately under the light of a red sun.

Reference is made to the creature that Jo is eating as a Thanagarian Snare Beast. This was a term used by Kevin Smith in his Superman Lives script to describe the giant spider-like monster that Superman would have fought at one point. This was due to producer Jon Peters' demand that Superman fight a giant spider at some point in the movie and DC Comics' demand that - if this happened - that the giant spider be called something other than a giant spider.

The alien slavers are referred to as Maaldorians. While there is no alien race known as the Maaldorians in the DC Universe, there is a cosmic villain known as Maaldor The Dark Lord.

We are told Maaldoria is in the Arcturus system.  In the real world, Arcturus is a red giant star, located some 36.7 light years from our sun.

In the Superman novel Last Sun of Krypton by Elliot S! Maggin, Arcturus was revealed to be the Earth name for Rao - the red star which Krypton orbited.


Technobabble

The cover story used by the slavers at the clinic is that they are testing a new-to-market supplement and examining the effect of the supplement on base metabolic rates.

James refers to hearing about a 10-37 code on the police scanner. This is the police code for a suspicious vehicle.

Kara refers to the Bismuth Mountains on the planet Sedenach, where one could have a crystal staircase grow under your feet and lift you up.  Bismuth is Atomic Element 83 on the periodic table. It is a non-toxic heavy metal, weakly radioactive with a half-life more than one billion years times the age of the universe and it is the heaviest element with a stable nucleus. Though rarely occurring in nature, pure bismuth can form a variety of colorful crystals.

J'onn identifies the "star gate" the slavers use as a transmater portal - a way to travel instantaneously between worlds.

Winn is able to track the Transmat's terminus by following the ionization trail.

The air on Maaldoria is toxic to Martians due to some kind of silicate in the atmosphere.

J'onn develops a "yellow sun grenade" - a flash-bang capable of giving a Kryptonian's powers a jump-start in a red-sun environment.


Dialogue Triumphs

Alex: Oh! Hey, what happened to you?!
(Winn forces a smile to his face.)
Winn: I got mugged. And I'm fine...
(Winn winces a bit.)
Winn: And it hurts to smile.

(Kara and Mon-El hear a noise like a plane taking off in the distance.)
Kara: What's that?
Mon-El: Sounds like a short-range shuttle. (tilts his head a bit) That's a troop transport... but where is it going?
Kara: It's probably heading there .
(Kara points to a rather intimidating looking building/ship in the distance.)
Mon-El: Oh. Um... yeah, so we're going...?
Kara: After it.
(Kara starts walking away, resolutely.)
Mon-El: No!  No. No. No.  We are going away from Murder Castle because we don't have our powers anymore!
Kara: And?
Mon-El: ...right.

(Kara and Mon-El watch as their captor prepares a meal.)
Mon-El: That's Thanigarian Snare Beast. And we're the next course.
Jo Gunraf: (shuddering in disgust) Jo Gunraf does not eat bipeds!
(Kara's jaw drops in shock. Mon-El looks surprised as well.)
Mon-El: ... so you speak English?
Jo Gunraf: Oh yes. Jo dissected a human once.
Mon-El: Of course you did.
Jo Gunraf: Learned your tongue. (shudders in disgust again) Hideous pink thing!


Dialogue Disasters

Kara:What's more important than a mother finding her daughter?
Snapper Carr: My coffee, my danish and the five minutes of peace and quiet you stole from me.


Continuity

Mon-El starts working as a bartender at the alien bar.  He refers to the 208 and notes there was a job opening following Lillian Luthor's attack there.

Roulette was last seen in 204.

The planet Barvex has two-headed cannibals.

Kara and her family spent solstices on the planet Sedenach, which hiad Bismuth mountains that would grow under your feet into a crystal staircase that lifted you up. Mon-El also went there once with a girlfriend.

Maaldoria is also known as The Slaver's Moon and Planet 51-Arc-B.

We are are told that carbon-based life forms are sold like animals on Maaldoria. This suggests that the Maaldorians are not carbon-based life-forms.

Some kind of silicate in the air renders its atmosphere toxic to Martians.

The Daxamite royal family bought slaves on Maaldoria, according to Mon-El.

Slavery was legal on Daxam, though Mon-El claims to have been personally against it.

Maaldoria is in the Arcturus system.

Diamonds are incredibly common on Maaldoria.

The alien who buys Kara's party is a Dominator, last seen in the Invasion! crossover.

For some reason, The Dominator gives the order for Mon-El not to be harmed. Indeed, he even bows to him as Mon-El tries to hold off the Maaldorian soldier who is trying to shoot the escaping slaves.

Maggie Sawyer figures out that Kara is Supergirl. Partly because of Alex's reaction when Supergirl went missing and partly because "the glasses don't help."

Mon-El decides he wants to be a superhero.

The hooded aliens from 208 make an appearance, learn Mon-El is on Earth after questioning the slaver posing as a doctor and then kill him.



Location

Maaldoria a.k.a. Slaver's Moon


Untelevised Adventures

Supergirl stopped a bank robbery one week before the events of this episode.


The Fridge Factor

Alex fears she is off her game because she is in love.

Supergirl is kind of an idiot through this episode


The Bottom Line

Cheap, stupid and not in a fun way. You know it's going to be a rough episode when the best aspects of the episode are the comic-relief guest alien and Winn making knowing references to all the other franchises the writers ripped-off. One suspects they got Kevin Smith to direct this episode because whatever else you may say about him, The Smith does know how to work on a budget and all of this episode's money clearly went into the CGI for the aliens and alien ships.

With the same three hallways being used to simulate an alien fortress and a rock quarry simulating the surface of an alien planet, this feels like a classic Doctor Who episode with modern CGI added in. The script has everyone acting out of character, with Alex and Kara being uncharacteristically stupid. The subplots involving Alex and Winn's respective losses of confidence don't ring true and not even Melissa Benoist can't make Kara's speeches here sound inspiring.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 2 - The Last Children Of Krypton

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




Plot

Kara's first day as a reporter doesn't go nearly as smoothly as she'd hoped, when her new boss, Snapper Carr, refuses to acknowledge her hiring. And when mercenary John Corben returns with a Kryptonite heart and nearly kills Supergirl, Superman is quick to blame J'onn and the DEO. It turns out the true culprits are Cadmus - the group that abducted Kara's foster-father - which has now publicly threatened every alien on Earth and anyone who would help them!


Influences

John Bryne's run on Superman (the design and origin for Metallo, the presence of Kelex - the Fotress of Solitude robot), the Adventures of Superman show (the sequence of the robbers shooting Superman and then trying to punch him), Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 (the shot of Superman holding a fatally injured Kara mirrors the cover art) and the Superman comics of Jack Kirby (Project Cadmus).


Goofs

Alex says she hasn't been on a date in two years.  Apparently her date with Maxwell Lord last year didn't count.

With all due respect to Winn's technical genius in reverse-engineering Kryptonian technology on a day's notice, you'd think he might have come up with a design that didn't obscure the S-shield on Superman and Supergirl's chests with a rather obvious panel.


Performances

Credit where credit is due - Calista Flockhart does turn in a fantastic performance her as Cat Grant lets her mask slide away and proves there is a heart under all the bluster in both her farewells to both Kara and Supergirl.

That performance, however, is edged out by Jeremy Jordan as Winn. Thrown into his element as a techie for the DEO, Winn's wit and wisdom is given a chance to shine throughout the episode. Too often, Winn is reduced to being simple comic relief. Here, we see the hidden depths of his character in a way rarely seen since the episodes based around his infamous father from Season One from his pointing out Alex's pettiness in being upset over Clark and Kara bonding to his sheer fanboyish joy at Superman praising his work.


Artistry

The direction and special effects work in the open sequence of Kara and Clark fighting crime together are impressive.

Kelex is brought to life wonderfully through the CGI.

The chase scene in which Alex flees from the Cadmus soldiers is one of the better action sequences in the show's history.

J'onn's disguise of a little girl in a home-made Supergirl costume as he's watching Clark's back is a nice comedic touch.


Super Trivia

This episode opened with another new voice-over, reflecting Kara's new job as a reporter.

The posters advertising this episode featured an injured Supergirl being held up by an anguished Superman. This was a direct visual tribute to the cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 and the death of Supergirl. We later see Superman holding this pose as he picks up the injured Kara.

In the opening sequence, two robbers empty their guns trying to shoot Superman and Supergirl before one of them tries to punch Superman and breaks his hand. Criminals unloading their guns into Superman and then either throwing the guns at him or punching him used to be a staple of the 1950's Adventures of Superman show. The impracticality of this action has been a joke in fandom circles for years and long-time Superman fan Jerry Seinfeld had a routine based around it.

J'onn sends Superman and Supergirl after a rogue Kigori.  In the DC Comics Universe, The Kigori are a race of Martian spider-men, who first appeared in Flash Comics #23 (November 1941).  The Kigori had large black spider bodies with hairless faces, green skin, large fangs and prehensile green-skinned hands on their forelegs. Any relationship to the Green Martian race that J'onn J'onzz is part of is unknown.

Lucas "Snapper" Carr first appeared in the comics in Brave And The Bold #28 (February 1960) - the same issue which introduced The Justice League of America. An ordinary teenager, Snapper was nevertheless inducted into the Justice League as an honorary member after providing the critical clue that allowed the superheroes who formed the Justice League to resist the mental powers of the alien conqueror Starro.

Snapper's nickname came from his habit of snapping his fingers when excited or emphasizing a point. This trait - as well as much of his personality - was taken from the character of "Kookie" Kookson from the then-popular show 77 Sunset Strip.

Since then, Snapper Carr has shown up around the DC Universe and in various media adaptations. He gained his own super-powers for a time and was brainwashed into becoming a super-villain. He's been shown as a STAR Labs worker, a member of Checkmate and acted as a mentor to the teen superheroes in Young Justice. A teacher named Lucas Carr served a similar function in the Young Justice animated series. And he appeared working as a television reporter in the DC Animated Universe.

The DCTVU version of Snapper Carr has nothing in common with any of his counterparts from the comics or cartoons, apart from the one version who was a reporter. Even then, he was a broadcast journalist rather than a magazine writer. Personality wise, he's basically Perry White with the serial numbers filed off.

As noted last week, The DCTVU version of John Corben is an assassin for hire apparently employed by Lex Luthor to do various dirty deeds "off the books". This is similar to the version of John Corben seen in the DC Animated Universe, who was a mercenary working for Lex Luthor before he had the surgery that transformed him into Metallo. The only real difference here is that Corben is changed by scientists working for Cadmus rather than Lex Corp. He has his comic book counterpart's abilities of enhanced durability, super-strength and the ability to shoot focused blasts of Kryptonite-laced energy from his chest.

Cadmus or Project Cadmus is the name of several independent scientific organizations in the DC Comics Universe. It is named for Cadmus - the first king of Thebes in Greek Legend, who was said to have created warriors by sowing the teeth of a dragon. In keeping with this idea, the various versions of Cadmus have created warriors through genetic engineering and advanced science. The first version of Project Cadmus was created by the legendary Jack Kirby in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (October 1970).

The version of Cadmus we see in the DCTVU greatly resembles the version of Cadmus seen in the DC Animated Universe. That version of Cadmus was described as a collection of "power brokers, politicians, criminals and mercenaries with one thing in common - they're humanity's best hope against metahumans." The DCTVU version is focused on aliens rather than metahumans but otherwise the xenophobia and methods used are precisely the same.

Winn identifies Promethium as having Atomic Number 61. While there is a real-world element called Promethium with that atomic number, it is far from the strongest metal known to man. Indeed, Promethium is notable for its instability. All of its isotopes are radioactive and it is quite rare in the natural world.

The DC Comics version of Promethium is regarded as the strongest metal known to Earthlings. There are two forms of Promethium - Depleted and Volatile.

Depleted Promethium is made through a combination of titanium and vanadium. The bionic portions of Cyborg are made of Depleted Promethium.

Volatile Promethium is capable of generating and absorbing near limitless amounts of energy and has been used as a mutagene to trigger super-powers. Deathstroke wears armor made of Volatile Promethium and his sword and staff are made of the same substance. It is believed that Deathstroke's healing powers protect him from the effects of the metal.


Technobabble

The strange visitor in the Kryptonian pod repairs himself at a cellular level in a process not unlike photosynthesis. His body absorbs the electrical energy of the DEO building and transforms it into chemical energy.

Cadmus gave Metallo a metal endoskeleton made of an alloy capable of resisting the blunt force trauma of a Kryptonian's punch.

The metal of Metallo's endoskeelton has a film of radiation commonly associated with contact to Promethium.


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara (voice-over): When I was a child, my planet Krypton was dying. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got 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 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.

(Having just put out a fire together.)
Supergirl: Does this ever get old?
Superman: If it does, I'll let you know.

(After a robber tries punching him and hurts his hand after emptying a gun.)
Superman: See, now... if the bullets don't work, right... why the punching? I've never understood that.

Alex: You promised Kara that you'd be nicer when her cousin was around.
J'onn: I said I would try.
Winn: (Yoda voice) Do or do not, there is no try.
J'onn: Exactly how badly do you want this job, Mr. Schott?

J'onn: Agent Schott? Get Non and Astra's anti-Kryptonite technology out of storage. See if you can improve upon it for our two friends here.
Winn: I- I get to make Superman's new suit?
Superman: No pressure.

(Entering into the Fortress of Solitude, J'onn sees the large statues of Superman's parents.)
J'onn: Your parents?
Superman: Yes.
J'onn: (speaking Kryptonian) They have not left you, even in the face of death.
Superman: You speak Kryptonian?
J'onn: We're both men without a home, Kal. If we don't preserve each others' history, who will?
Superman: (smiling softly) You can't have it both ways, J'onn. You can't offer friendship with one hand and Kryponite with the other.
J'onn: I have to.
Superman: Why?
J'onn: Because Mars is a crypt! Because angry gods burned our young and we were helpless to stop them. Because I will not be caught unprepared again. Hate me if you want. It is what it is.
Superman: I don't hate you, J'onn. I just don't trust you. Because you don't trust me. We should have been allies. Is Kryptonite really worth us being alone in this fight?


Continuity

Veep is Clark Kent and Alex Danvers' favorite show.

Snapper Carr is in charge of the investigative reporting team m for CatCo Magazine. Cat Grant says he's one of the best journalists she's ever known and he won a Pulitzer for investigating corruption in the National City mayor's office.

Clark does not drink alcohol, despite it not affecting Kryptonians.

A shipment of Kryptonite was stolen from the DEO four months before the events of this episode.

J'onn refers to Non and Astra's plot to launch Myriad, from the first Season of Supergirl. He then suggests that Winn try and take the anti-Kryptonite armor they used and modify it so that Superman and Supergirl can use it.

Promethium is the strongest metal known to man.

James Olsen takes over running CatCo when Cat takes an extended lave of absence.

J'onn encases all of the Kryptonite the DEO has in lead and gives it to Superman to dispose of.

Khao-Shuh is a Kryptonian phrase with no direct English translation, meaning roughly "to be continued."

The episode ends with the strange visitor from the Kryptonian pod trying to strangle Kara.


Location

The Fortress of Solitude, somewhere in the Arctic circle.

Krypton Park in Metropolis



The Fridge Factor

The usually excitable Kara suddenly develops a fear of the unknown and abandonment issues regarding the cousin she hardly ever saw. This is nearly as vexing as Alex's sudden resentment of Kara's bonding with Clark.


The Bottom Line

A major step-down from last week's premiere. This episode is badly paced and tries to do far too much. Cat Grant is given a fair send-off and Winn proves a far better fit with the DEO team than he ever was at CatCo. But James' presence in the story is almost an afterthought and Snapper Carr barely makes an impression. Alex's sudden jealousy is incredibly forced and the twin Metallos barely register as threats.

What sells this episode - apart from Jeremy Jordan and Calisa Flockhart stealing every scene they're in - is the interaction between Kara and Clark and the subplot involving the animosity between Clark and J'onn. Melissa Benoist does a lot to sell her scenes on pure charisma but even she struggles to make her interactions with Snapper Carr work on the most basic level. It's not a bad episode but it sure seems like it after the great episode we got last week.