Title: “Supergirl Season 2 Episode 21: Resist”
Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Drama, Science fiction
Platform: TV – The CW
Director: Millicent Shelton
Writer: Jessica Queller & Derek Simon
Rating: TV PG
Release: May 15, 2017
Cast: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh
Feature image: Source
[SPOILERS]
Lena (Katie McGrath) is lying in bed in a black dress; Rhea (Teri Hatcher) is standing over her, stroking her hair. Lena wakes up and immediately remembers what is happening. Rhea apologizes for her deceptions, even though telling Lena she was a marvel wasn’t one of those. She invites Lena to rule over a new world they will create together. Outside the ship, the Daxam fleet is firing upon National City. A giant hologram of Rhea tells the human population below, she is their new queen. The Daxamite invaders are attacking National City police headquarters. Maggie (Floriana Lima) and her fellow officers are fighting back. She calls Alex (Chyler Leigh) to let her know the Daxamites are on the ground attacking. While Alex is talking to Maggie, the Daxamite troops attack the DEO. The only thing the DEO agents can do is retreat and surrender their headquarters. Alex calls Kara (Melissa Benoist) to inform her what is happening at the DEO. Kara tells her she is on her way. Alex fires at some more Daxamites and jumps off the building, her sister catches her midair.
Rhea has Mon-El (Chris Wood) brought to her. She tells him her plans for Earth. She will use human labor to build pyramids to honor them, just like the pyramids on Daxam. Rhea will reestablish Daxam on Earth with the assistance of their planet’s best and brightest. Mon-El calls them, “robbers, liars, killers.” She also wants him to marry Lena Luthor, to unify Daxam and Earth. The DEO has established temporary headquarters at the alien bar. (What is the name of this bar?) Maggie walks in; she is safe. Hank (David Harewood) is in a corner, he is still in a comatose state from the thing Rhea did to him in the last episode. To everyone’s surprise, Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong) strolls in. The agents draw their weapons. She is there to make an alliance with the DEO to defeat the aliens. She has a plan. No one trusts her or wants her help. She leaves Kara her phone in case they change their minds.
“Ladies, if I wanted to listen to this adolescent macho-posturing, I would have stayed in D.C. Is this really who you want to be? Testosterone-driven windbags boasting about your big guns? Surely, we don’t need to measure anything. We’re women.” Cat Grant —Supergirl
President Olivia Marsdin (Lynda Carter) is heading towards National City in Air Force One. Winn (Jeremy Jordan): “Uh guys, I just picked up on some sort of live transmission from Air Force One.” Kara: “Air Force One?” Alex: “Wait; don’t tell me the President is heading towards the conflict and not away.” Kara: “Every time I think I can’t get happier I voted for that woman…” The President in a live transmission to Rhea tells her to stop her invasion. Rhea tells her she should be glad she’s in National City instead of Washington DC. They both exchange threats. From the back of the plane emerges Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) and she weighs in on the two leaders conduct. “Ladies, if I wanted to listen to this adolescent macho-posturing, I would have stayed in D.C. Is this really who you want to be? Testosterone-driven windbags boasting about your big guns? Surely, we don’t need to measure anything. We’re women.” Cat offers to mediate peace between the two worlds, but Rhea isn’t interested. Cat makes fun of Rhea’s ostentatious tiara, “Real royals, they don’t need to try that hard.” Rhea responds by having Air Force One shot down. Luckily, the DEO was watching all of this on their monitors so Supergirl is on her way to rescue Cat and the President. She catches Cat midair but the President crashes with the plane. No worries though, the President throws a piece of the plane that was on top of her off. Supergirl and Cat are surprised to find out the President is an alien. President Marsdin: “I suppose I owe you an explanation.” Cat: “Well at least tell me you’re still a Democrat.”
The President is from the planet Durla. Her peaceful planet was invaded by a hostile race. They did not resist at first, hoping for the best. That was a mistake, after a year, she was able to escape and come to Earth. Cat tells everyone that she and the President went to college together. She knows she is a good person. Because of her experiences in Durla, she won’t make the same mistake here. Since Hank is out of commission, Alex is the acting head of the DEO. The DEO has a positron cannon on its roof. She wants Alex to get to the cannon and shoot the mothership down. Kara tells her two civilians are on the ship, but the President wants the mothership shot down, no matter the cost. Back on Rhea’s ship, Mon-El and Lena form a united front against Rhea’s marriage plans for them. She changes their minds when she shows them a picture of the Luthor Children’s Hospital, and promises to destroy it and other hospitals if they don’t marry.
Kara reminds Alex that Mon-El and Lena are aboard that ship. She asks could she blow up the ship if Maggie was aboard. Alex is sympathetic but she will follow the President’s orders, even if Maggie was aboard. Kara goes out to the alley to think and finds Cat out there also. She tells Cat it would break her heart not to save the two people she loves. Cat understands; she explains that when she left National City she was looking for the secret to happiness. She discovered it wasn’t what you do, but whom you love. The secret is human connection. Wanting to rescue them isn’t selfish. Kara: “I really missed your advice Miss Grant.” Cat: “And I missed giving it. Now Up Up and Away, Shoo!” Kara flies over to Lillian to hear her plan to get aboard the mothership.
Kara and Alex argue about Kara working with Cadmus to rescue Lena and Mon-El. Lillian’s plan, go to the Fortress of Solitude and get a projector that was used to send prisoners to the Phantom Zone. They will use it to get aboard the mothership. Winn points out Rhea will have Lena and Mon-El watched closely, they would need a distraction. Cat volunteers to provide one. Kara asks Lillian why she never told Lena she was Supergirl. Lillian wants Lena to find out for herself, so she’ll hate Kara for lying to her. Kara will be glad when this is over so they can go back to being enemies. Alex admits to Kara that she would do anything to save Maggie; she begs Kara to be off that ship before she fires upon it. Alex: “Please be faster than me.” Kara: “Faster than a speeding bullet.”
“But believe me, you have a power. And right now, you have a job to do. Resist. Resist these invaders with everything you’ve got. They come with empty promises and closed fists. They promise to make our world great again, and yet they know nothing about the people who make this world great.” Cat Grant —Supergirl
The Wedding is about to start, Rhea is officiating it. Cat along with Winn goes back to CatCo. She asks where James (Mehcad Brooks) and Kara are. Winn lies and says they are hiding like cowards. Maggie and Alex are sneaking back into DEO headquarters. Supergirl, Henshaw (Cyborg Superman), and Lillian use the projector and materialize aboard Rhea’s ship. Cat is at CatCo to broadcast a message to National City. “Good evening, National City, it’s Cat Grant. Yes, I’ve been away for a while, but I’m back. Now I can imagine that you’re feeling afraid and feeling like your world is spinning out of control. But believe me, you have a power. And right now, you have a job to do. Resist. Resist these invaders with everything you’ve got. They come with empty promises and closed fists. They promise to make our world great again, and yet they know nothing about the people who make this world great.” The people of National City fight back against the Daxamite invaders.
Maggie and Alex are able to overpower the Daxamite troops who had taken over the DEO and they now have control of the cannon. Cat’s broadcast had delayed the wedding; it enables Lena and Mon-El to overpower their guard. Lena uses her tiara to unlock a lock. Mon-El: “I can see why Kara loves you.” Lena: “Likewise.” When they get the door opened, more guards appear but Supergirl comes from behind and knocks them out. Lena is happy and surprised Lillian came to get her. Lillian uses the projector to transport Lena, Henshaw, and herself off the ship, leaving Kara and Mon-El on the ship. Lena asks Lillian what she is doing, her response, “Only humans dear.” Lillian calls Alex and tells her they are off the ship and she can fire upon it. Lena pleas with Lillian, Supergirl saved them. Lillian doesn’t care. Supergirl and Mon-El are aliens; let them die.
Kara is not surprised by Lillian’s double-cross; she had Winn rig it so she and Mon-El can use the projector to get off the ship too. She tells Mon-El she is going to stay to give Rhea a chance to surrender. Rhea’s troops enter CatCo to kill Cat. Guardian shows up to rescue Cat and Winn. Winn had created a lead powder for James to blow in the Daxamite soldiers’ faces. It weakens them and it allows James to defeat them. Cat: “Thanks, James.” James: “I’m Guardian.” Cat: “Oh honey, I can see your eyes right through the slits.” Kara talks to Rhea. She tries to appeal to Rhea’s conscience. Rhea finds that amusing, she proudly states she killed her husband. Kara won’t be able to get through to her. She has a few surprises for Supergirl. The positron cannon at the DEO explodes, and Superman hits Kara. Things aren’t looking good for the girl of steel.
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Rhea’s invasion is going well for her. She easily takes over National City. Instead of sending the full force of the American military to fight the Daxamites, the President flies to National City aboard Air Force One, with her college buddy, Cat Grant to issue threats against an invading army. I would have to think President Marsdin would have a hard time being reelected. It was good seeing Linda Carter, but it made no sense for her to fly to National City, I’m sure she could have called Alex and told her to use the positron cannon from some hidden location. Due to a TV budget, the invasion on the ground didn’t look that impressive. The Daxamite spaceships in the air still looked good though. The action scenes also looked good. The three that stood out: Alex jumping off the building and being caught by Supergirl; Air Force One being shot down and Supergirl saving Cat; and the fight scene between Guardian and the Daxamite troops. Guardian looked badass for once.
The strength of the episode came from its female cast. Usually on an action driven drama, the men do most of the action, and there is a lone woman in the cast who is part of the team. She might have one big action scene to prove she can hang with the boys. On this show, the action spreads amongst a multitude of women. Because of the number, it means the women can be both the heroes and villains, and no one woman has to stand in for womankind. The women on this show are fierce and intelligent. It makes their conflicts more riveting. Their lives aren’t centered just on the men in their lives. Having all the important female characters from this season on the episode made it especially strong. Seeing people like Cat and Rhea confront each other was fun. Having Cat back in general was fun. I still can’t believe she doesn’t know Kara is Supergirl.
The politics of the episode were out front. It wasn’t didactic but they got their point across. Cat’s broadcast would not have been out of place during the Women’s Marches in January. Supergirl is a political show and isn’t afraid to touch on important issues. What is great is they do it in a fun and entertaining way.
Grade: A-
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