SUPERGIRL S1E11 - "STRANGE VISITOR FROM ANOTHER PLANET" REVIEW

                                               


The eleventh episode of Supergirl is titled, “Strange Visitor from Another Planet”. Kara is flying over the city when she sees a forest fire. She’s still dealing with the fallout from Wynn kissing her. Things are, needless to say, awkward between them. In the meantime, Miranda Crane, an anti-alien senator, is in town, making a big splash with a rally.

At Catgo, Lucy, James, and Kara are all adjusting to their new situation. James, desperate to get back in the field, convinces Cat to let him speak to Miranda Crane. While walking back to her office, she notices a stranger. She recognizes him instantly as her son, the one she gave up custody for ages ago. I like seeing Cat a little off balance, as she clearly wasn’t expecting to see him and obviously didn’t write the letter he’s referring to, wanting to reach out.

This puts Cat in a weird situation, and she lashes out at Kara who really shouldn’t have meddled, even if she meant well. After a pep talk from Kara, who mentions her own family situation, Cat calms down and allows Kara to make a dinner reservation with Adam.

While speaking at the anti-alien rally, an alien interrupts Miranda Crane’s speech. After cornering the alien, Henshaw has flashbacks. This was the alien that killed his people. Kara rushes to the scene, but she’s too late; the alien has fled. The DEO has Miranda Crane at their HQ and she is none too pleased. She sounds worse than Maxwell Lord and is none too grateful at being saved. Henshaw finally opens up about the alien and refers to it as a White Martian. We learn about Henshaw’s past, his J’onn Jonnz past where he goes into detail about what happened. He asks Kara to try and take care of the White Martian because he doesn’t want to give up his identity as Henshaw.

Cat is at her dinner with Adam and things are a tad awkward. She spends a lot of time talking about herself. In the end, it’s enough to force him to leave disappointed. James and Kara are trying to sift through the pictures he took at the rally earlier in the day to see if they can find out anything else about the White Martian. They do find out that Miranda Crane’s eyes were glowing, similar to the White Martian, and sense it can shape-shift like Henshaw, it’s obvious that the Crane at the DEO isn’t the real Crane.

Alex and Henshaw both figure out that Crane is the White Martian and a fight at the DEO ensues. Kara arrives just in time, as once again, Henshaw is unable to take on the White Martian and had another flashback. He eventually tells Alex the whole sad, story of what happened to his people. I really like the relationship Alex and Henshaw have and I’m so glad that he is willing to open up to her and Kara.

Cat is emotional over how things ended with Adam and Kara takes it upon herself to try and fix it. So she tracks him down and talks to him, saying all the things she had told Cat to say in the first place. Adam agrees to talk to Cat again as long as she tags along. Things are a little testy at first, but after Kara gets them both to open up, the dinner goes a lot smoother.

Henshaw is hellbent on killing the White Martian, by any means necessary. That goes against everything he has fought for. Using his ability to track, he finds a location for where the White Martian and Senator might be. While he thinks he’s hunting the White Martian, he finds the Senator. Alex finds the White Martian. Henshaw/J’onn wants to die; he’s tired of being the last of his kind and is ready to give up to the White Martian.

Together with Kara, Henshaw takes on the White Martian. After finally getting the upper-hand, he wants to kill it, but Kara tries to talk him out of it. He does the right thing, but the White Martian vows revenge. In a more important scene, Henshaw thinks of Kara and Alex as daughters, much like the ones he lost long ago. I didn’t know I needed this until I needed it. 

The real Crane decides to soften her position after her own encounter with an alien, as well as Supergirl saving her life and that of countless others. Adam is into Kara. Cat knows this. He eventually asks her out on a date and she agrees. I like where this is going. 

Anyway, the episode ends with Alex and Kara bonding. It’s cut short with footage of Supergirl saving a falling truck. The only problem is Kara is still at home with Alex. We’re left wondering who this impostor is. Me thinks it’s whatever Maxwell Lord has been working on.

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8pm Eastern Standard Time on CBS.