“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.”
Kara (Melissa Benoist) is flying around National City enjoying being Supergirl. Who can blame her? When she lands at the DEO, she announces to Alex (Chyler Leigh), Winn (Jeremy Jordan), and Hank (David Harewood), “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.” (What a mission statement!) Hank informs her there is nothing to do today. Crime has taken a holiday. He is going to go over the budget. Winn is going to decipher something and Alex is going to knife practice. (Say goodbye to Alex and Hank, we won’t see them again this episode.)
Back at home with nothing to do, Kara gets her Betty Crocker on with little success. Luckily, for her Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) stops by. Her ex-boyfriend, a brilliant scientist and entrepreneur, Jack Spheer (Rahul Kohli), invited her to his press conference. She doesn’t think she can handle this alone; Jack is her kryptonite. Kara volunteers to escort Lena to the press conference. As they leave, she asks Kara, “So what’s your kryptonite?”
As Kara and Lena take their seats, who shows up but Kara’s ex-boss, Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez). He pretends like he isn’t happy to see her and wonders why they are letting ‘bloggers’ get press credentials. Jack appears on stage with his company’s CFO Beth Breen (Claudia Doumit). In his presentation, he cuts his hand and Beth releases tiny nanobots, which heal Jack’s hand. The press is astonished. Lena is excited; she and Jack worked on this project in Metropolis. His spiel to the press is that this is a major medical breakthrough. He is creating a new program called Biomax National Nanobots Program. Jack opens the floor for questions; Kara raises her hand and he calls her. She isn’t quite prepared so Snapper tries to jump in, but Kara rebounds and asks a good question. After the press conference, Lena congratulates Jack on his breakthrough. He invites her to dinner but she declines the offer. From a distance, a man is watching them. When Kara is alone this man, Joe Watkins (Andrew McNee) asks to meet with her later. He has information on Biomax.
They meet by the dock in Joe’s car. He worked for Jack’s company and he noticed that the results of the field test for Biomax were not recorded. He was fired for mentioning it. He thinks the released results are fake. Meanwhile a swarm of nanobots head toward his car. They go through the tailpipe and the car explodes in a ball of fire. Supergirl slowly emerges out of the car, her clothes on fire.
Kara goes to CatCo to ask James (Mehcad Brooks) to file a FOIA to get the records of the Biomax research. The government will respond quicker if a major media company files it. Snapper walks in and immediately insults Kara. He tells her she can’t use CatCo resources. James reminds Snapper he is in charge of CatCo and Kara is his friend so she can use CatCo resources if he wants her to. Kara tells him it is okay; she’ll file it herself. With her super hearing, she hears Snapper tell James he has an informant who knows about the Biomax trial tests.
Jack visits Lena’s office to ask her out to dinner again. Lena is hesitant because of the way their relationship ended. Jack is sincerely sorry for how it ended. He misses her. Lena softens and agrees to go to dinner with him.
Supergirl is listening in on Snapper’s meeting with his informant, Derrick Simmons (Johnny Ghorbani). He is listed as participating in the test trials. He never participated in the test trials. There were no test trials. The nanobots show up at Derrick’s apartment. Supergirl flies in and freezes the nanobots momentarily. She is able to save Snapper, but the nanobots had gotten to Derrick before she flew in. She gets Snapper out of there quickly.
Kara is back at home with Mon-El (Chris Wood), upset that she didn’t save Joe and Derrick. While she was out, Lena called to ask Kara to talk her out of going to dinner with Jack. Kara sees this as an opportunity to question Jack so she drags Mon-El along to crash the dinner. Lena is surprised to see them but invites Kara and ‘Mike’ to join them. Kara asks Jack about the Biomax program and he tells a romantic story about seeing some migrating birds and it gave him the breakthrough on the nanobots. He uses this story to tell Lena how he wished he had migrated with her and had not let her go. Lena’s eyes get misty and dreamy and ‘Mike’ knows this is he and Kara’s clue to leave. Over Kara’s objections, he gives Jack a hug and they leave. Kara is still objecting because she wasn’t through questioning him but Mon-El has a surprise, when he hugged Jack he lifted his security badge. (What were they teaching at the Daxam royal court?)
Mon-El and Kara break into Spheerical Industries. They find Jack’s computer and get into his files. The trial test folder is empty but there is another folder. It shows Jack injecting the nanobots into himself and turning into a swarm of nanobots. Meanwhile Jack is back at Lena’s office. He repeats how sorry he is and they kiss. Before things can go further, he knows his computer has been broken into. He apologizes to Lena and leaves. Lena is completely flabbergasted. Jack arrives as a swarm of nanobots to his office. With their evidence in tow, Kara and Mon-El flee. The next day Kara drops by Lena’s office to warn her about Jack. Lena doesn’t believe her at first but Kara shows the video of Jack injecting the nanobots and becoming the swarm. Lena wants to talk to him but Kara begs her not to. She is afraid he might kill her.
Kara drops off her evidence to Snapper. It is an important story and as many people as possible need to see it. She apologizes for printing the Cadmus story and breaking the rules. She now realizes she was wrong. Snapper accepts her apology. He has some information to give her; Beth Breen has a big financial interest in Spheerical Industries and is involved in the cover-up.
Beth: “Did I mention I was a Black belt.” Lena: “Did I mention I was a Luthor?”
Lena goes to Spheerical Industries to talk to Jack. She confronts him with his crimes. He is confused; he hasn’t killed anyone. Lena reminds him they knew in their research that the Biomax altered the test rats’ brains. Beth emerges from the shadows with a device. It helps her control Jack. One of the side effects of Biomax is mind control. Lena thinks Beth is going to kill her, but Beth says on the contrary, she will inject Lena so she can control her too. She orders Jack to inject her. Before Jack can follow his orders, Supergirl flies in. She fights the swarm while Lena fights Beth. Beth: “Did I mention I was a Black belt.” Lena: “Did I mention I was a Luthor?” Luthor > Black belt. Supergirl isn’t doing as well in her fight. The swarm of nanobots have her pinned down. Lena goes to the mainframe to override the nanobots. However, to save Supergirl, the override will kill Jack. With the last of his humanity, he tells her to do it. She does and Jack dies.
Bringing a nice bouquet of flowers, Kara visits a grieving Lena. Lena feels cold inside. She only feels a tinge of happiness thinking of making Beth suffer. She is afraid she could become like her mother. She is afraid that when she feels again, she does not know whom she will be. Kara promises her she will always protect her and never leave her.
Kara stops by CatCo to bring Snapper some pastry she baked. He advises her not to open a food truck. She looks at the paper and sees that Snapper gave her a byline. He also rehired her. He liked that she didn’t give up on the story and was willing to risk her life to find the truth. She is the type of reporter we need.
Winn asks her what he smells like. “You smell like honey.”
While all of the exciting stuff was happening, the Guardian is beating up a street thug. As he approaches his van, it is rocking. James knows the rule, if the van is rockin’; don’t come knockin’. He violates this common rule and opens the door. Winn and Lyra (Tamzin Merchant) are making out. James and I are both surprised. Even though he still has his mask on, she says hi to James. He accuses Winn of telling Lyra his secret identity but Lyra knew who he was because humans smell different. Winn asks her what he smells like. “You smell like honey.” Winn asks James to let Lyra work with them. James reminds him that Lyra was just recently a criminal. Winn states she was only doing those crimes to free her brother, and it is there duty to help in her rehabilitation. Against his better judgement, he agrees to let her join their gang.
“Do you really want to help people?” Lyra: “Most days.”
He quickly regrets his decision when on one of their patrols; the Guardian stops a criminal robbing a store. The criminal is a kid so James tells him to beat it. Lyra isn’t so forgiving. She jumps the young criminal and gives him a beating. James has to get her off the kid and he lets him go again. He orders Lyra back to the van. Later at the alien bar, Winn informs Lyra she is out of the gang. She doesn’t take it well and smashes several glasses. She insists James never liked her and warns Winn not to be there when she comes back from powdering her nose. Winn is in the van and James apologizes for Lyra. He tells Winn that he is his best friend and he enjoys working with him. Winn feels likewise. Behind him is Lyra who he has invited back to the team. He asks her, “Do you really want to help people?” Lyra: “Most days.”
The episode ends when a mysterious woman appears outside Lena’s office door. Rhea (Terri Hatcher) has a proposal for Lena.
***
I think I have said it before, but I love any episode that has a Luthor in it, especially Lena. The stakes are higher when they appear. Lena is a good person but it is a struggle for her to remain one. It is the old question, nature vs. nurture. In Lena’s case, her biological father was Lionel Luthor and Lillian Luthor raised her, so she might have no choice but become evil. She is trying hard not to become evil, and that makes her story compelling. She might be doomed, but she won’t give in without a fight. The death of her ex, Jack, might be another nail in the coffin of goodness. She has one person to help her stay in the light, Kara. With Rhea showing up in the end, will she convince Lena to go after Supergirl? We have to wonder if she is going to blame Supergirl for forcing her to kill Jack to save her. If, or should I say, when Lena finds out Kara is Supergirl, will Kara’s secret be the final piece to plunge Lena into darkness?
Since Kara’s firing in “Exodus”, we haven’t heard anything about her journalistic ambitions. I wasn’t sure they were even going to bring it back up. As far as I knew, the writers might have made her a full time DEO agent, a teacher, a 1940’s lounge singer. She is back to being a journalist. She did the type of investigative work Snapper was trying to get her to do and she realized her mistake in self-publishing the Cadmus story. This time I was actually convinced Snapper sees something in her. This brings CatCo back in the picture; we haven’t been there for a while. Kara Danvers has a separate life from Supergirl again.
I know many people don’t like the Guardian storyline; I’m one of them. When you have a Supergirl, a Martian Manhunter, and even a Mon-El, some regular human fighting street thugs isn’t interesting. It feels like the writers didn’t know what to do with Mehcad Brooks after they decided not to have James be Kara’s love interest, so they gave him the Guardian as a consolation prize. It doesn’t add anything to the show. If they really want to integrate him back into the show, he needs to be part of the DEO— that is where all the action happens. Still this was the best Guardian story they have done. Having Lyra join James and Winn made it goofier and funnier. She is such a wildcard; she made the storyline interesting. It was nice to have James tell Winn he is his best friend. When this series started last year, Winn was jealous of James and James treated Winn like the varsity quarterback treats the head of the AV club. It is nice seeing a story progress in a natural manner. It makes James more likeable.
It is nice to have Supergirl back after a three-week hiatus. I’m not sure where the story leads. I think there is a big showdown between Kara and Rhea coming, but I don’t know how Cadmus and Lena will figure into it. I know that Katie McGrath will be a regular on Season 3, so the end of the season might see Lena commit to the dark side of being a Luthor. The VFX of the nanobots swarm was well done. The scene where Supergirl emerged from the car with her clothes on fire was striking. Katie McGrath and guest star Rahul Kohli gave great performances. Even with their limited time together, their love for each other in the past felt believable. Melissa and Katie’s scenes together were wonderful. If those two characters become enemies, it will be heartbreaking. That will be great for the show.
Grade: A-
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