In this week’s Episode of Supergirl , the titular character gets exposed to red kryptonite. Which doesn’t kill her, it just brings out Kara’s bad side. And in this case, bad is very fun to watch. This season we’ve seen Melissa Benoist play Supergirl as fierce and sweet. We’ve also seen her act like a flustered geek that brings back memories of Christopher Reeve’s Superman. We’ve even gotten to see Benoist play Martian Manhunter posing as Supergirl. Benoist has rocked them all. I was anxious to see how she handled a bad girl.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The episode started with Supergirl being her strong and sweet self. First she stands up for a girl who is being picked on. Then she saves a couple of fireman who are trapped up on a roof. This is where things get interesting though as Supergirl gets exposed to red kryptonite. We still don’t know who planted it, but a good guess is Indigo. (JZ: Update apparently it was Max Lord — I somehow missed that scene…) Supergirl pretty much instantly becomes bad girl Supergirl, saying thoughts that she has been suppressing. She also lets her “inner goddess” out. In one of the best fight scenes of the series, Supergirl easily beats up a powerful alien but then lets him go because she’s bored. Next, she pretty much calls out Hank Henshaw because he could be as strong as she is but hides behind his human disguise. Kara gets underhanded Siobhan fired, paving the way for Siobhan’s next move on the show. Kara hits on Jimmy, big time. She ignores Winn. Then she shows Cat who the most powerful person in National City really is by tossing her off of a building. Alex faces Kara and gives her the old “this isn’t you spiel.” Alex also lets Kara know that she’s been exposed to red kryptonite. Which is one of the glitches in tonight’s episode as we have no idea how the DOA figured this out. Kara then goes on to give Alex a verbal whipping pointing out they aren’t really sisters and she is pretty much nothing without Kara who she is jealous of. All in all, a great moment for the show. One, because it is kind of true. Two, because Benoist and Chyler Leigh really let the emotion out.
Things turn nasty for Supergirl and National City when Cat delivers an on air warning that Supergirl can’t be trusted. Supergirl starts doing what Batman is afraid Superman might do in their upcoming movie. She starts knocking things down and blowing things up with heat ray vision. Lucky for the DOA they now have Maxwell Lord, on their side, this also is never really explained, which is a another flaw. Max has whipped up a weapon that should remove the red kryptonite from Supergirl. He even wishes Alex luck, guess he kind of likes her. But still mirky motivation for him. The DOA goes after Supergirl, yet she proves too much for them, easily knocking them around. Luckily, Hank takes Supergirl’s advice and converts to Martian Manhunter. Manhunter and Supergirl take to the sky. They come crashing down, Manhunter seems to have the advantage but Supergirl still has a lot of fight in her. Plus she can always light him up with heat ray vision since he does not like fire. But Alex gets the drop on Supergirl with Max’s weapon. The bad news is Hank stays in Martain Manhunter form and is captured by the DOA. Another flaw in the episode as Hank had saved the day and could have easily gotten away. It also doesn’t make sense that the DOA would now hold him in a cell.
Supergirl wakes up in the DOA extremely sad at what she did. How she turned on her sister and the city she loves. The only good news is she didn’t kill anybody. Apparently Red Kryptonite brings out the worst in you but you are still you and won’t go against your basic core values. Supergirl and Cat have a heart to heart talk in Cat’s office. Supergirl apologizes for tossing her off a building. Cat tells Supergirl yeah she lost the city’s trust but all is not lost because she can win it back with work. And if there’s one thing Supergirl is good at it’s putting in the work.
This was fun episode with a lot to like. It was fantastic seeing Benoist play Supergirl letting all her pent up frustrations out. There was much truth in the verbal beating she gave Alex. You could feel Kara’s anger about being encouraged to hold back her super-self for a good portion of her life on Earth. She has pent up issues about this that she must deal with now. As much as the Alex and Supergirl scenes clicked the Supergirl and Kat scenes are some of the highlights of the series. Kat grant is a character who could be very unlikeable but Calista Flockhart does an excellent job making her likeable. Not just likeable but also noble as she holds herself and those around her to higher standards. She is an outstanding and surprising character. The other nice thing about this episode was the characters all have to actually live with consequences and work to fix them. Alex and Kara have to deal with the facts that Alex not only killed Astra but she is somewhat jealous of Kara. Kara not only has to win back the confidence of National City back she but also scared Jimmy Olsen off. She must work at gaining his trust again.
Fast Conclusion: Probably the best episode of Supergirl yet with great action, tension and some character growth. We get to see a darker side of Supergirl. Yes this was a red kryptonite induced darker side, but this is still a part of her that she has been dealing with since arriving on Earth.
The next few episodes are going to be interesting!
