SUPERGIRL S1E16 - "FALLING" REVIEW

                                                   

After a week off, Supergirl returns with the 16^th episode, called, “Falling”. Unfortunately, I missed the first eight minutes and came in on the middle of Kara rescuing firemen. While that is happening, it looks like Kara is exposed to some sort of red substance. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it’s Red Kryptonite. We already know this is going to have an effect on her.

Unfortunately (for me), it looks like Lucy has actually quit Catgo. I’m really disappointed that the show did this. I thought she would have been an excellent addition to Team Supergirl. Kara seems to have a new attitude at work, as her style of dress and mannerisms have changed. It seems to have melted into her Supergirl persona too, as she’s incredibly indifferent to the DEO in general.

She takes on one of the Fort Razz escapees but lets him go, much to the befuddlement of Alex. Hank chastises Kara for letting the prisoner go, but she calls him out on his own cowardliness. The Red Kryptonite is really having a negative effect on Kara. At work, she overhears Siobhan and Cat talking about a new story that Supergirl let one of the prisoners go. Siobhan wants to go run the story but Cat tells her to hold off on it. Undeterred, she goes to Perry White of the Daily Planet, but Kara distracts her long enough before she can send that email and prints a copy, giving it to Cat. Needless to say, Cat is not too thrilled, Siobhan is fired, and Kara is seemingly pleased with herself. Can’t say I’m sad to see Siobhan go, really.

Kara, James, and Winn end up at a club and Kara is dressed to impress (but, the glasses…really?). She’s hitting on James pretty hard and brings up Lucy (poor man’s Lois Lane) in a negative way and that sets James off. He knows something isn’t right. Cat wants to talk to Supergirl, to try and get to the bottom of her new behavior. The meeting doesn’t go good, for Cat. The two trade verbal barbs and when discussing who is really powerful, Supergirl throws Cat off her own building and tells her that true power is deciding who will live and who dies. Somehow, this ties really nicely into Batman v Superman, about what happens when someone like Superman (or Supergirl) goes unchecked. I see what you did DC/WB.

Winn and James are both concerned and head to the DEO to talk to Hank and Alex. There, they discover the appearance of Red Kryptonite and Maxwell Lord appears to tell them that he’s the one that made it. Go figure. So the things that I missed (the fire, etc.) was all set up by Lord. He wants to try and help come up with an antidote, but the damage has been done. Cat publicly denounces Supergirl and a menace, even though she doesn’t really want to. Supergirl did, after all, threaten her life.

When Alex goes to confront Kara, she has a gun at the ready. Kara is dressed more like Austra, with a very nice one piece. I like it, dare I say. Kara is not interested in anything Alex has to say. In fact, she does most of the talking. And let’s be honest: it’s not pretty. The senator thinks Supergirl has to be put down. Hank is reluctant but agrees. Lord finishes the antidote and hands it to Alex. And they are off to try and find Supergirl.

As Cat’s message plays on a loop around the city, Supergirl starts causing trouble. The police, as incompetent as ever, actually think bullets can stop her. In response, she shoots her fire beams at their cars. The DEO arrive in time, but Alex is unable to hit her with Lord’s tech. as Kara is closing in on Alex, Hank finally decides it’s time to be J’onn and the two duke it out, destroying some of Catco in the process. While distracted, Alex finally is able to hit Kara with the antidote.

Unfortunately, everyone saw Hank turn into J’onn and now the DEO is forced to arrest him. Kara wakes up and realizes what she did. Okay, I really like her break down here with Alex. Their relationship is so important. I’m not here for Hank’s self-sacrifice though. I don’t like him being locked up. I also like the fatherly relationship he has to both Kara, but more importantly, to Alex.

Kara admits that she was jealous of Lucy; I’m not entirely sure if the damage has been done on that front. Supergirl goes to apologize to Cat. The two of them come to an agreement, somewhat about what the future holds of Supergirl. She has a long road ahead to try and win back the people of National City.

This might have been the strongest episode of the series thus far. There wasn’t really a meta-of-the-week plot here, as Supergirl herself was the main adversary. I am curious to see where her relationship with Cat goes from here, as well as what happens to Hank. I’m going to assume that Alex will be the de facto leader of the DEO. I’m also interested in Lord’s arc, as he did help Supergirl when it would have benefited him not to.

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