Supergirl S1E9 - "Blood Bonds" Review

                                           

After the winter hiatus, Supergirl returns. Titled, “Blood Bonds”, it picks up right where the last episode left off, with Non and Supergirl fighting. It’s a very intense battle. Instead of finishing off Supergirl, Non abducts Henshaw. Maxwell Lord is none too pleased about the events and orders Alex and her people to leave. With Henshaw gone, Alex is the emergency director. Instead of telling Kara the truth about Hank, she allows her to interrogate Astra.

Kara learns little from Astra and although Astra speaks of blood bonding, the two couldn’t be further apart. We cut to a flashback on Krypton, a year before it’s destroyed. Alura is confronting Astra and Non before they head to Fort Rozz. The indifference is plain to see in Krypton; no one seems to care about it’s impending doom.

Cat is still convinced that Kara is Supergirl. Naturally, Kara is not doing a good job of hiding the truth. Meanwhile, at the DEO, Non contacts Alex and demands a trade. He wants Astra, and in return, she gets Henshaw back. In the interim, the President has ordered the military to take over the DEO, so that means General Lane is back. Alex gives in without a fight.

James and Maxwell Lord have some words. Lord is not impressed with James’ association with aliens. He implies that he is going to do what needs to be done, whatever that means. Cat interrogates Kara about her past and is more convinced than ever that she is Supergirl. General Lane and Astra have a meeting, and it ends with Lane using Kryptonite and ambushing her.

Turns out, James and Lord weren’t just “talking”. James installed some high tech surveillance of his own and wants Wynn to help him break into Lord’s facility before he can inflict damage on Kara. Cat is finished playing games with Kara; she gives her the ultimate ultimatum: either prove without a doubt that she’s not Supergirl or she’s fired.

James and Wynn have broken in to Lord Technologies. Unfortunately for James, Maxwell Lord was waiting for him. Alex and Supergirl are there to retrieve Henshaw. Just like James, things didn’t turn out so well for the DEO/army, as the place exploded quickly after Supergirl and Alex find a hologram of Henshaw. Turns out, Astra was lying and the Kryptonite attack that Lane used had no effect.

Lord has James locked away in some weird, black room. His true colors are starting to show as he beats James. He threatens him. Kara also has to deal with a threat. Instead of revealing the truth to Cat, she decides to quit, though not without mentioning how much she’s learned from Cat. I continue to enjoy their scenes together, by the way.

Kara finally learns the truth about what James and Wynn were up to and she’s angry, naturally. After the day (or two) that she’s had it’s not hard to see why. She feels like she’s lost everything and even the threat of being like Astra doesn’t seem to faze her. I love when we see Kara’s emotions explode; it’s good stuff! She’s feeling powerless even though she hasn’t been able to defeat her enemies. James and Wynn help her calm down. Teamwork!

Astra and Kara have a heart to heart. She finally tells Kara the truth about her mother: that she was always a good person. Kara and Alex agree to make the trade with Non to get Henshaw back. They go up against Lane, but in the end, his men back down quickly.

The trade goes off without a hitch---almost. Non has his men surround the DEO, but it’s Astra who convinces him to stand down, which he does with great reluctance. I was surprised by that. In the end, Kara finds out Henshaw’s secret, after Alex lets it slip. She takes it with great stride.

In order to keep Cat off the scent, both Kara and Henshaw (you know, he’s got shapeshifting powers and all) pretend to be Supergirl and Kara at the same time. The two then have a heart to heart, something I’ve been waiting for. After chatting briefly with her cousin, Kara is determined to expose Lord.

At the end of the episode we find that Lord has been up to some shady things. All we know is that a girl with no family ties is involved. This was a really good episode to start the second half of the season with!

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