It was another grand slam episode of Supergirl tonight as we were delighted to see the infamous "How Does She Do It" episode! Made more famous by being delayed from air last week in honor of the Paris attacks, audiences were delighted to finally see the missing episode between Lucy Lane's arrival and Supergirl's battle with Livewire. Here is our recap and review:
We join Supergirl flying around National City in one of the most beautiful flying scenes in the show so far. She is almost instantly targeted by an unknown drone that shoots a three point targeting laser on her. Supergirl chases down and captures the drone. She takes it to the D.E.O. for analysis where they discover it's a technology from Maxwell Lord.
Our Reactions: The Flying scene in this opening was amazing. Arguably the best flying we've seen Supergirl do. So carefree and fun. It just looks like she is enjoying herself! And why not, she is having success at being a Superhero and at being herself, it's a great time to be Kara. Then of course the drone appears but this isn't too big of a challenge. We are reminded of when Kal-El squished the droid in the Kryptonian birthing ship from Man of Steel.
Cat Grant is the winner of the prestigious Siegel (Siegel being one of the creators of Superman!) award for her story on Supergirl, narrowly beating out Lois Lane. Cat cancels her trip to Metropolis to receive the award until Kara volunteers to babysit her son, Carter Grant. Cat jumps on the opportunity to shove it in "that button nose reporter's face" and agrees.
Our Reactions: There are Easter eggs all over this show for the big DC comics fans. They are sprinkled in such a perfect way that if you don't catch it, it doesn't matter, but if you do, you get the added satisfaction of being on the inside.
Kara catches a heated exchange between Lucy and James at the local watering hole, and the two part ways. James and Kara share a brief moment talking relationships before a bomb goes off in an unknown office. Supergirl is on the scene and in arguably the strongest display of her powers, she lifts the damaged building up and uses her heat vision to seal the building's structure before it collapses. Supergirl takes off to reconnect with the D.E.O.
Our Reactions: We are dying to know the name of this restaurant. It's clearly going to be used in many different ways as the series goes on. Just like Central Perk or Jitters, this place is going to stand out! Also, we are always impressed by the special effects of this show. When Kara is holding up the building and heat blasts the supports closed, AMAZING!
Alex and Henshaw visit Maxwell Lord's office to discuss the bomb only to discover that the bombing happened in a subsidiary of Lord Enterprises. Due to the newly found out information, Hank and Alex don't think Lord to be a suspect. Alex stays behind to further gather information from Maxwell. Meanwhile Kara realizes she is late to pick up Carter from school and flies like a bat out of hell from the D.E.O. offices to the school. In route, Kara assures Cat that all is ok and dismisses the "windy" noise as having her car's windows down. Kara arrives to get Carter and Kara quickly learns how awkward Carter can be.
Our Reactions: The D.E.O.'s technology to change their badges into FBI badges might seem like a bit much but we did enjoy it.
Back at the Catco offices, we learn Carter has a little crush on Supergirl. Winn is delighted to step in and share he knows Supergirl personally but is shot down by Kara immediately. The two are interrupted by James seemingly destroying a stapler that is out of staples. With Cat gone, James is in charge of the office and he isn't dealing with the pressure all that well, specifically now that Lucy is in town to win him back. James seeks a friend to talk his troubles over with but is denied by Kara quickly, adhering to Alex's advice on how to stay out of the friendzone.
Our Reactions: This scene had several good story-advancing scenes. James' stress level is elevated by Lucy being there but also by the amount of work that Cat does. This gives us something to look back to when Cat says you can have it all just not all at once. Kara's dismissal of James' feelings did seem like the right move to get out of friendzone territory but didn't feel like the right move for Kara as we see later on when she does hear James out.
Back at Maxwell Lord's offices, Alex and Max discover another bomb in the building. The two work feverishly to disarm the bomb. Alex is able to secretly call Kara and alert her to the bomb. As Maxwell's efforts aren't enough, Supergirl shows up in the nick of time to whisk away the bomb and take it over the ocean to detonate. The resulting force is so powerful, Kara is knocked out and the D.E.O. recovery team rescues Supergirl and brings her back to the cave. Kara sees hazy images of Henshaw and perhaps his glowing eyes but doesn't fully wake up until an intense sun radiation bed brings back her Kryptonian powers. Before taking off to deal with the next thing, Alex stops her sister for a moment to mention she might be spreading herself thin with all the intense work as Cat's assistant, being a superhero, D.E.O. agent, and trying to babysit.
Our Reactions: At first we felt like there could be some sparks between Alex and Lord but that certainly was not the case. While we are loving this story, it could be fun to see if Alex ever gets a romantic interest in someone. Again this section ends in another high action scene that could not look better. Supergirl speeding at mach 2 across the ocean then veering straight up to gain more distance from the city looked like it was out of a blockbuster movie!
A suspect of who the bomber might be is discovered by Alex and the D.E.O. team goes into action with team Supergirl. At this point Winn loses Carter from Cat's office because Carter's curiosity in Supergirl has led him to the debut of Maxwell Lord's new super train. This being the obvious target for the bomber to hit next, Winn panics and takes off after Carter. He alerts Supergirl to what is going on just as the D.E.O. is informed of a bomb threat at the National City Airport! Supergirl puts her faith in her friends at the D.E.O. to stop the stationary bomb at the airport so she can catch up with the moving train and try to derail Ethan Knox's plans to bomb the train.
Our Reactions: We really liked this section. Unlike Superman The Movie, Supergirl doesn't have to do it all! She can rely on her friends to help. El Ma Arah! No more is that true than trusting your partners at the D.E.O. to deal with a bomb at the airport! No need for Superman, no need to try and do both, Supergirl is a team player.
With little to no hope of stopping the bomb in the airport, Henshaw dismisses Alex from the scene to save herself and allow him to deal with the situation. When alone, Henshaw reveals more of his powers and is able to rip open the bomb's steel casing and disarm it. He steps outside to show the gathering crowd that the situation is under control by lying that the bomb was a decoy to the real threat on the train. Meanwhile back on the train, Kara is unable to convince Knox not to bomb the train but he does give her time to save the people on it. With a quick peek using her X-Ray vision and a blast of her Heat vision, she separates the train engine from the other compartments. Digging her feet into the track, Supergirl brings the train to a stop just before the engine and Knox explode.
Our Reactions: More good old fashion action in this section! Supergirl made a convincing argument why Knox didn't need to blow up the train but she didn't know what Lord had on him. In the end, seeing Supergirl stop a train was iconic and symbolic of the house of El. Stronger than a locomotive, literally!
Finally, Kara asks Winn to do a little digging on the medical records of Ethan Knox. Kara feels that the whole story isn't being told. After a quick glance of James and Lucy making out in the Catco office, Kara returns to her Supergirl duties and flies over to Maxwell Lord's office. The medical records revealed that Knox had a daughter that was sick and Lord had paid the medical bills. Kara accuses Lord of being behind the bombings all along. In true supervillain fashion, Lord reveals it was him who was testing Supergirl. The drone to categorize her agility, the building to record her strength, the bomb in his office to record her speed. All of which was "hypothetical" as he never really reveals he did these things. Kara, not having the evidence to move forward puts Lord on notice, she'll be watching him!
Final Reactions: The final scene where Kara declares that she'll be watching over Lord reminded us of the iconic scene from Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of Superman. Superman arrives at Lex Luthor's office and stands above him, he let's him know that he plans on bringing down Luthor but through the laws of the world. It ends with him flying off, letting Lex know that even being in the highest skyscraper, he'll need to look up to find Superman. Its this kick to the jaw that felt so much like Kara's interaction with Maxwell Lord! All in all another A+ episode!
Now for the most important part, please let us hear what you thought of the episode! Did you like it? Was it the best one yet? Was it lacking that villain of the week feel? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and in the forum! Thanks Karanites!
