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Stranger Beside Me Recap

We know we aren't the first to say this, but we have been saying this for a while now! With the incoming Crisis on Infinite Earths looming overhead, we really are in the Golden Age of comic book television shows. Batwoman is picking up steam and for our Girl of Steel, she was in fine form yet again tonight! Ma'alefa'ak's presence was felt in a big way as for whatever reason, J'onn and he can't seem to touch without causing a huge power rift. Just what is the Monitor's purpose in releasing him on Earth-38? Of course it wasn't just J'onn who struggled tonight, here's what also stood out to us:

  1. Breakfast in Bed: Both Alex, Kelly and Brainy, Nia were treated to breakfast in bed. They both had a few hiccups but ultimately the couples seem to be going strong! Additionally, James and Kara take a stroll through the city where James reveals he has the opportunity to run the Smithsonian and run for Senator. The two laugh and bring coffee to J'onn where they find him in pain on the floor.
  2. A Martian Curse: J'onn and his Brother seem to be afflicted by an ancient Martian curse. It's a pain that is caused when you go brother against brother. Brainy notes that there is a cure in the future using "Q-Waves" but it hasn't been discovered yet. To his shock, Kelly is actually using them at Obsidian North to cure her patients. The team preps to get J'onn the care he needs.
  3. Miss Tessmacher: Lena is on a mission to fix humanity. Her goals are about improving the nature of humans and reprogramming them. Of course for her to do so, she'll need a test subject. Turns out it was Lena who kidnapped Miss Tessmacher from last episode and she is going to be Lena's test subject. Talk about revenge!
  4. Leviathan Whispered: Lena has Tessmacher in her lab but this isn't the Tessmacher we are used to seeing. She is scared, scared to even say the name of the organization she was recruited by. Turns out Tess has been working with Leviathan since she was 16. Being a genius, she was already in college, but also already in debt. Leviathan offered her a way out and thus bought her service for life!
  5. J'onn's Memories & NSA Surveillance: Some of what the new Obsidian Tech can do is map memories. J'onn, who now has M'yrnn's memories, has many memories to contend with. However, some of the memories are missing. They seem to have been removed purposely. Kelly and J'onn are working to discover why and rebuild them. Just then, the DEO locates Ma'alefa'ak. Kara leaves to join them but for some reason, after seeing Kara looking at his screen, William makes a call to an NSA contact and asks that they track where Kara Danvers is going in National City.
  6. Traitor: It turns out that Ma'alefa'ak is a traitor. While we don't have the full story yet, we do see that Ma'alefa'ak was working with the White Martians during the Martian civil war. As punishment, he was sent to the Phantom Zone for his crimes. The more J'onn is able to repair his memories the better he seems to be doing health wise. Kara, Brainy and Alex face Ma'alefa'ak and a White Martian in the sewers of National City. William heads down into the sewer to see Supergirl in the fight. Ultimately, William retreats as well as Ma'alefa'ak and the White Martian.
  7. Lena is Stealing Obsidian Tech: Andrea walks right into Lena's lab where she accuses Lena of breaking her tech in an effort to steal it. Lena seemed genuinely shocked by the move. The only thing that seemed to go her way was that Tessmacher didn't reach out for help and Lena's machine was able to prove her loyalty.
  8. Ma'alefa'ak vs. Supergirl: Ma'alefa'ak is looking for information on how team Supergirl is able to track him. He takes the form of Kelly to see if he can get info from Alex. Alex, however, is able to see through the disguise rather quickly. She calls for help and Supergirl arrives in time to face off against J'onn's brother. It seems that Supergirl has the upper-hand in the fight and she seems stronger but Ma'alefa'ak is quick.  His shape-shifting is fast and he uses it to his advantage. He is only able to get away by throwing Kelly off the roof and Kara catches her.

Final wrap up moments. Alex and Kelly's appartment is saved. Kara saw to it. Kara heads to Catco at night to catch up on her extra work. She has it out with William who she promptly puts in his place. Kelly and Alex share a moment at the apartment and talk about how they want to know more about each other. Brainy takes another stab at being cool and actually showers Nia with poetry. He doesn't always get it, but he is always trying. Lena frees Eve only to tell her that she is going to be working with Hope and Hope materializes in Eve's brain. Kara sticks it to Andrea as well by getting all her work done. William heads to a volunteer at a soup kitchen. Hope takes the body of Eve! DANG!

Let us know what you thought of tonight's episode in the comments below and in the forum! Keep us advertisement free and visit the support page!

Eric Johnston
Author: Eric JohnstonWebsite: https://supergirl.tvEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Executive Editor/Owner
About the Author
Eric is the primary author for Supergirl.tv. He has been covering the Supergirl show since 2014, but been a fan for decades. "Hope, Help, and Compassion for All, El May Arah!"

Comments

+1 #34 RE: Stranger Beside Me RecapLibertyPrime 2019-10-17 04:38
Quoting starlord:
What has Kara done that is gray and not moral ?
Also never seen any signs at all that Kara has a god complex. Not once on the show did she have a moment like that.

Off the top of my head, letting Livewire go free on a whim instead of returning her to prison was pretty gray, IMO.

Kara's "god complex" isn't nearly as pronounced as Lena's, but she has a history of assuming she knows better than the squishy humans around her. Back in season two, when she argued with James about Guardian, one of her objections was that he could be killed because of "one human mistake." Her first instinct was to shut him down and not allow him to continue.

She also shows some shades of this in the conflict with Lena in season 3 about kryptonite. Lena had a point about humans living in a dangerous world, surrounded by things that can potentially kill them, while Supergirl objects to someone else controlling one thing that can harm her.

So yeah, I think it's fair to say she carries a bit of an authoritarian streak. Not hard to see why, really. She came from a more technologically advanced culture and possesses "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men."
+1 #33 RE: Stranger Beside Me Recapstarlord 2019-10-16 18:40
What has Kara done that is gray and not moral ?
Also never seen any signs at all that Kara has a god complex. Not once on the show did she have a moment like that.


Quoting SuprgrlFn:
Quoting Argo:

1. The young man who died from the Harun-El, was dying and also accepted the possibility of death. Lena was totally frank with him. I leave the question of using Human subjects for discussion.

2. Eve is a wanted criminal because of her associations with Lex. Rather than turn her over to the authorities, Lena chose to exact a form of justice. Can this be justified? Another point for discussion.

IMHO, nothing is pure black & white and considering Lena’s background and being a scientist, how do her actions reflect this?


Yes to all of this. I would add that Supergirl herself has been said to have a “god complex” on the show. She has also done some pretty morally grey stuff in the name of “justice” and has, naturally, caused an untold amount of damage just by being a superhero. (We were shown some of that last season)

There’s no proof that Lena plans to keep Eve as Hope’s body indefinitely. I would also argue that if she’d turned Eve in to the authorities, there is a 100% chance that Leviathan would have killed her.

Ultimately this is one of (if not the most) lighthearted DC show. It is much more likely to have a redemption storyline than a foray into darkness and depression storyline.
#32 RE: Stranger Beside Me RecapLittlegoldfish666 2019-10-16 12:32
It's great to Andrea Brooks back on the screen. I love seeing Andrea and Katie on screen together.

As for the sway Lena is acting. It doesn't make sense that she has done a 180. This doesn't feel like the real Lena, doesn't look like the real Lena. I think there is something else at play here. Something that may be controlling her somewhat, manipulating her. How did Lena get hold of Eve? I think Leviathan whoever or whatever they are, have set up a play but to what end. Who knows
+2 #31 RE: Stranger Beside Me RecapSuprgrlFn 2019-10-16 08:56
Quoting Argo:

1. The young man who died from the Harun-El, was dying and also accepted the possibility of death. Lena was totally frank with him. I leave the question of using Human subjects for discussion.

2. Eve is a wanted criminal because of her associations with Lex. Rather than turn her over to the authorities, Lena chose to exact a form of justice. Can this be justified? Another point for discussion.

IMHO, nothing is pure black & white and considering Lena’s background and being a scientist, how do her actions reflect this?


Yes to all of this. I would add that Supergirl herself has been said to have a “god complex” on the show. She has also done some pretty morally grey stuff in the name of “justice” and has, naturally, caused an untold amount of damage just by being a superhero. (We were shown some of that last season)

There’s no proof that Lena plans to keep Eve as Hope’s body indefinitely. I would also argue that if she’d turned Eve in to the authorities, there is a 100% chance that Leviathan would have killed her.

Ultimately this is one of (if not the most) lighthearted DC show. It is much more likely to have a redemption storyline than a foray into darkness and depression storyline.
+1 #30 LenaArgo 2019-10-16 07:39
I just wanted to throw out two thoughts for your consideration . These are not absolutes, rather points for possible discussion.

1. The young man who died from the Harun-El, was dying and also accepted the possibility of death. Lena was totally frank with him. I leave the question of using Human subjects for discussion.

2. Eve is a wanted criminal because of her associations with Lex. Rather than turn her over to the authorities, Lena chose to exact a form of justice. Can this be justified? Another point for discussion.

IMHO, nothing is pure black & white and considering Lena’s background and being a scientist, how do her actions reflect this?
+1 #29 RE: Stranger Beside Me Recapstarlord 2019-10-15 23:29
But isn’t it a villain thing to kidnap a person and then wipe that persons mind and put some AI in her brain to become a puppet. In my book its also only villains that have a god complex which Lena definitely shown she has now too. How am i wrong in that These things is something only a villain/bad person would do. And if caught there should be punishment for it like jailtime. I know its a superhero show. But laws on the show and what is Breaking the law is very much the same as our world here.

Quoting daryl772003:
Quoting Supergirl.tv Admin:
So just to highlight something I am seeing. There are no absolutes in a fictional environment. I see we are all trying to view these behaviors in a realistic lens and that makes sense to me, but if you are putting statements out there that are "there is no coming back from that" or "friendship is dead forever", that is just going to lead to resentment from people who don't subscribe to that thinking. When possible, lets try and use more "I think, I feel" language rather than absolute statements


I must agree. I know I always resent it when I see a commenter who just wants lena to be evil because of her last name and can't see past their tunnel vision of the luthor name or a commenter who is more than happy to crucify her. I'm of the opinion that supergirl should give us something new in the luthor/super dynamic so we don't get just another smallvillle but some people just want more of the same, I guess
+3 #28 RE: Stranger Beside Me Recapdaryl772003 2019-10-15 14:10
Quoting Supergirl.tv Admin:
So just to highlight something I am seeing. There are no absolutes in a fictional environment. I see we are all trying to view these behaviors in a realistic lens and that makes sense to me, but if you are putting statements out there that are "there is no coming back from that" or "friendship is dead forever", that is just going to lead to resentment from people who don't subscribe to that thinking. When possible, lets try and use more "I think, I feel" language rather than absolute statements


I must agree. I know I always resent it when I see a commenter who just wants lena to be evil because of her last name and can't see past their tunnel vision of the luthor name or a commenter who is more than happy to crucify her. I'm of the opinion that supergirl should give us something new in the luthor/super dynamic so we don't get just another smallvillle but some people just want more of the same, I guess
+1 #27 RE: Stranger Beside Me Recapmakasi_K 2019-10-15 01:17
Quoting SuprgrlFn:

Yeah, Regina was full on crazy and crushing hearts on Once Upon a Time and she ended up redeemed and basically the hero of the show.

Lena is going off the deep end with her need to “fix” humanity - which she sees as broken due to all the trauma and betrayal she has endured in her short life. Her goal is still for a better world for all, not for world domination, money, or any other standard villain trope.


OUAT doing one thing doesn't mean SG has to do the same. That show was also all about fairytales and about how anyone can become good, and while SG is a fantasy show it's a little more grounded in reality (tech, politics, humanity, etc). Besides, Regina's arc was always about being redeemed, it took almost the entire series to do it. Lena's arc has been about her fall to darkness imo, and the show's been on this path for 3 seasons so to build up to this for that long to just finish it in half a season seems unlikely. And, I think Regina went through much more traumatizing things than Lena has and was constantly called out for her wrongdoings.

"the road to hell is paved with good intentions"
+1 #26 RE: Stranger Beside Me Recapkdickerson87 2019-10-14 19:07
This episode=wack

Over it with the extra relationships
+3 #25 RE: Stranger Beside Me RecapArgo 2019-10-14 11:34
I did not believe this episode was up to par. This does not reflect on the actors’ abilities, rather on the script writers. This especially was disappointing after a very good season opener.

Two scenes that I thought were well done were: the woman “dead walking” across the street and Kara’s fight scenes with J’onn’s brother. (I still can’t remember how to spell his name!)

The “dead walker” I frequently see where I live . So that is very true to life and illustrates this season’s theme.

Otherwise, last night was a disappointment.


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