It would be an understatement to say last week’s Supergirl was the most anticipated episode of the season. Not only did it follow what was arguably the series’ best ep to date, episode 14 — titled “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” — was directed by the NOC’s favorite director Lexi Alexander.
Needless to say, the internet was quite excited about her take on Supergirl.
If you want to hear more about the behind-the-scenes on Supergirl, check out the most recent Hard N.O.C. Life with Lexi!
The episode kicks off with Kara and Alex doing some sisterly bonding when Non shows up out of nowhere. Instead of seeking to avenge the death of his beloved Astra, Non requests Kara’s presence at her funeral. In the sky. Because Krypton was a matriarchal society(!), it is Kara’s duty to lead the rites.
Non and Kara agree to a two-week ceasefire out of respect for Astra’s passing. But after that, it will be all out war between the Kryptonians and Earth (you’d think this would be a good time for Clark to get involved, no?)
At the DEO, Kara tips Hank off about the mourning period, but is clear she’s still pissed at him for killing her aunt. Alex wants to tell the truth, but Hank prevents her. He’s fine with Kara hating him but knows it would destroy her to learn Alex was really the one responsible.
Kara heads to Maxwell Lord’s cell to blow off some steam by talking trash to her favorite billionaire bad guy. Lord was hoping he’d get early release for saving her life last week, but no dice. Pay attention, this notion of illegally detaining people will be important later.
At CatCo, they finally start addressing the thing I’ve been talking about for weeks: Maxwell Lord’s disappearance! Jimmy is in an awkward spot because he knows exactly where the billionaire is being held but can’t tell Cat without outing Kara (and the government’s top secret alien hunting op). So he takes Kara aside and they have a pretty substantive conversation about the ethics of holding people without due process in secret prisons like Lian Yu S.T.A.R. Labs the DEO.
Kara doesn’t have time for any of it, though. She’s too busy tracking down a serial killer who’s taking out Fort Rozz escapees executioner style. Hank and Alex think they may be dealing with an intergalactic bounty hunter and THEY’RE TOTALLY REFERENCING FRAGGIN’ LOBO!
Though this guy they’re tracking isn’t actually the Main Man. He’s a dude in a Boba Fett costume who calls himself Master Jailer and is executing his prisoners with a space guillotine. When Hank and Alex figure out how he’s identifying his victims, Supergirl shows up to stop him. The fight scene that ensues is the reason why you hire Lexi Alexander to come direct your superhero show.
Unfortunately, Jailer gets away with his victim. Fuming, Kara returns to the DEO and bites J’onn/Hank’s head off before she’s confronted again by Jimmy. Earlier, he had a heart to heart with Cat about journalism ethics and he realized that it was his duty to shine a light on what was happening underground. (Not to mention the fact that he let his DEO-association slip with Lucy, which only made her more paranoid about his closeness to Supergirl. You’d think James would be a better liar than this).
By the way, Lexi’s framing of the whole scene between James and Kara was amazing.
Before their argument can be settled, Supergirl joins Alex in confronting the Master Jailer, who they’ve identified as a National City police detective in disguise. In the process, Alex gets shot (though she had a vest on) and Kara gets kidnapped.’
Hank and Alex finally figure out that their serial killer was not a Rozz escapee but a prison guard who has decided to dole out his own kind of justice. In his lair, Jailer has Supergirl in a Red Sunlight-enfused cage and is about to execute his latest when Alex shows up to save the day.
When they return to base, Kara and the DEO agree to let Maxwell free. Apparently, James’ ethics lectures resonated with her (and by extension Hank and Alex). And for what it’s worth, the DEO isn’t the only branch of government that was inspired by James Olsen. The very next day (after Supergirl aired), President Obama announced his intention to finally close Guantanimo Bay.
Kara ends the episode visiting her mother’s hologram and passingly mentions the Myriad program that Non and company were setting up. The hologram proceeds to start freaking the fuck out.
Wonder if this has anything to do with Brainiac 8? (Who will be coming to Smallville Supergirl next week in the form of a previous Earth’s Kara Zor-El, Laura Vandervoort!
