Supergirl S1E5 - "How Does She Do It?" Review

                                                

In a turn of events, Supergirl is airing the episode originally slated for last week, this week. “How Does She Do It?” is title of this week’s episode and it focuses on Kara’s need to have it all. A spy drone stop’s Kara’s flight around the city and at first, she thinks it’s the DEO, but I suspect it could be Maxwell Lord, because, “previously on”. Kara and Alex are suspicious of Henshaw, but Alex believes he’s trustworthy.

Cat won a prestigious award (beating out Lois Lane for the first time apparently) and needs someone to watch her son, to which Kara volunteers. Meanwhile, James and Lucy are becoming reacquainted and it’s obvious that things didn’t end smoothly between the two. Lucy is still invested in the relationship, but I’m getting the feeling that James has moved on (and considering last week’s episode takes place AFTER this one, the feeling won’t change much). He’s totally into Kara and Kara is totally into him. And, it’s totally adorable. (I like Lucy, however, so I really don’t want this to be a love triangle thing).

While James and Kara are having a conversation, something interrupts them. Kara uses her X-Ray vision to see that it was a bomb. She uses her abilities to diffuse the situation. Back at the DEO, the team is trying to figure out who planted the bomb. Alex discovers that both the bomb and the spy drone from earlier came from the same place: Lord Technologies. And who’s the head of Lord Technologies? Maxwell Lord, of course! See, I was right! Henshaw and Alex pay Lord a visit (posing as the FBI) and he insists he had nothing to do with the bombing…of his own lab (it was a subsidiary or something).

Alex and Kara have an awesome sister moment where they talk about James and Friendzoning, but Cat calls Kara reminding her about her son, Carter. Kara rushes to the school just in time to pick up Carter. Carter is terribly shy, but lights up at news of Supergirl. It’s very endearing to see a young boy take an interest in a female superhero, without sexualizing her. He truly seems to idolize her. Kara and James have a “moment”; seems she’s trying to take her sister’s advice.

Lord and Alex are sort of having a moment? I thought he and Cat had some history, but I’m feeling something between these two as they feel each other out. Lord is not a trusting man, and Alex is a damn good liar. There’s another bomb in Lord Technologies and Lord tries to disarm it, but fails. Alex calls in Supergirl and she manages to get the bomb away from the city. Kara wakes up at the DEO and it looks like Henshaw’s red eyes glow again (what does it all mean Basil?!), but when she’s fully awake, he seems normal. It looks like they find the perpetrator, Ethan Knox, a former Lord Technologies employee. Kara wants to take care of everything, but Alex believes she’s spreading herself too thin.

While getting Carter something to eat, Kara runs into Lucy. They have a very good conversation. It’s not claws or anything. Lucy thinks James might be into Supergirl because he prioritized Superman over her. In her mind, he left the relationship well before she ever did. Lucy might be beautiful and seemingly has it all but she’s incredibly insecure when it comes to Supergirl. This was the interaction I was anticipating and I really loved how they handled it. Lucy seems to like Kara and Kara has no ill-will towards Lucy. Anyway, Kara relays all this to James who insists he’s moved on and doesn’t want to go back. Lucy comes back and says her goodbyes, but not before kissing James. Um, so while I think James and Kara have made chemistry, I’m also kind of liking the dynamic between Lucy and James. And I like that Lucy said she liked Kara.

Carter left his mother’s office to go to Lord’s unveiling of his super train. There was supposed to be a bomb at this event, but the DEO discovered a bomb at the airport. Who’s at the airport? Lucy. James rushes there. Ethan Knox IS the bomb, literally. Carter is now on the train, along with Maxwell Lord. Apparently there are two bombs. Kara decides to stick with the train, leaving the DEO to deal with the airport.

James manages to find Lucy and the two have a cute moment at the airport. (ASIDE: Lord has an airport named after him. END ASIDE) Henshaw and Alex find the bomb and when Alex realizes she can’t disarm it, Henshaw orders her to leave. He uses his red laser eyes to stop it and that’s the real reason he wants her not to be there. Shifty, but as long as it gets the job done, right? The real bomb is still on the train.

Knox and Kara have a talk, but in the end, Knox decides to go ahead and activate the bomb, forcing Kara to save the rest of the passengers. Knox blows himself up (though he seems sad...more on that later). The day is saved, Kara learns some things about “having it all” that should help her when it comes to being Supergirl and just being Kara. Lucy and James seem to have made up.

Kara realizes that it was in fact Lord who set up the entire turn of events, to test Supergirl. He forced Knox to plant the bombs in exchange for taking care of his daughter. His endgame seems to be to find out who she really is. Once she decided to save a few hundred people on the train versus thousands at the airport, it was obvious that there was someone (Carter) on that train who meant something to her. I’m really liking this turn of events, I have to admit.

Both Lord and Henshaw are kind of shifty, and I really have no idea where the show is going with both characters. Even though she’s only appeared in a few episodes, the Lucy Lane character has grown on me. I’m sincerely hoping they just make her a series regular for “reasons”.

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8pm Eastern Standard Time.