Non’s Plan Unfolds…
This week is the penultimate episode of Supergirl season 1. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) has her hands full as Non (Chris Vance), and Indigo (Laura Vandervoort) have unleashed Myriad on National City, turning the good people into a slave army. The super powered Maxima (WWE’s Eve Torres) is also on hand for a cameo.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
The action starts from the first scene with Non ordering the DEO to release all their prisoners. Leading to one of the show’s best opening moments with Supergirl battling Maxima (no push over) while also handling the mind controlled agents. Supergirl literally punches Maxima back into her cell then smashes the DEO’s control panel, assuring that the prisoners will stay locked up.
Supergirl heads to the Fortress of Solitude looking for Superman. Sadly her cousin is off Earth after all this isn’t his show. Kara learns from her holographic mother how dangerous Myriad really is. Kara heads to Catco, not sure why, but probably to check on her friends. She is dismayed to discover they too are all under Non’s control, except for Cat (Calista Flockhart). The situation gets a bit brighter as Superman informs them, he’s on his way to help. Kara and Cat hearts rise as they see the Man of Steel streaking towards them. Their hearts drop through their stomachs as Superman falls from the sky. Apparently, Superman has spent so much time around humans his brain has become “more human” making him vulnerable to Myriad. Kind of a “far-fetched” excuse but this still isn’t his show. They could have just left Superman off world, but you can’t blame the writers for wanting to put some more distance between Kara and Clark’s Earth experience.
Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) arrives at CatCo. Max has figured out what Non and Indigo were up to and invented ion blockers to protect his mind. It turns out, Max made a pair of diamond encrusted blockers for Cat, hence the reason she is okay. He correctly reasons the world needs Cat’s mind. This begs the question if Max could make ion blockers, why couldn’t he make more for some of his guards? Also, why didn’t he bring a few anti-kyrptonian weapons with him? For a smart guy, we expect better.
The good news is Max has a plan to stop Non and the rest. The scary news is Max’s plan is to set off a kryptonite dirty bomb that will kill all the bad guys along with about 300K innocent humans. Even scarier, Supergirl is considering the idea. Her mom failed to save one planet; Kara doesn’t want the same fate to befall Earth. Kara’s mental state isn’t helped by Non showing up to brag and taunt. For a display of power, he orders three of Kara’s friends: Jimmy, Winn and a random woman to jump to their death. Kara is only able to save Winn and Jimmy making her even more desperate to stop Non. Kind of silly as if you can move almost as fast as the Flash saving three falling people should be child’s play. Apparently the writers wanted to build the stakes, but they could have done better than killing a random friend we’ve never seen before. The more I see the wishy-washy Non, the more I believe Indigo is the one pulling all the strings.
An on the lam Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Hank (David Harewood) show up at Alex’s mom, Eliza’s Danver’s (Helen Slater) house. The two heroes are somehow unaware of everything going on in National City. After Eliza first freaks out then geeks out about Hank being an alien she fills them in on the chaos. A call from Supergirl (what Network does she use?) and Hank knows he must to go back. Hank being an alien will be immune to Myriad. Alex convinces Hank to bring her along too and to shield her mind. You can tell that’s a bad plan for so many reason, but Hank agrees. Soon as Hank and Alex touchdown in National City the terminator like Indigo confronts them. This creates another great action piece that seems to culminate with Hank tossing Indigo into an exploding fuel depot. We learn this version of Martian Manhunter isn’t deathly afraid of fire and it takes a lot more than that to stop Indigo. Indigo reforms, stabs Hank and nabs Alex.
Cat and a distraught Supergirl have a chat on the balcony were they like to hang out. Kara is desperate to stop Non and Indigo. Cat is as always, the voice of strength and reason, insisting they can’t be motivated by fear. There has to be a better way. This is a touching scene that cuts to the heart of the show, which is all about hope. Flockhart and Benoist knock it out of the park. Both of these actresses need to be nominated for Emmys. The flaw here is that no way the extremely sharp Kat can’t figure out Supergirl is her AWOL assistant Kara. (Also Kat really should have known something was up on her way into the office as the entire town is acting like Zombies…but let’s just say she drives herself and was in the zone.) Supergirl is inspired. Cat, Supergirl and Max come up with a plan to use old broadcast signals to piggyback a message of hope onto Myriad. As far as science fantasy, superhero shows go, not the worst plan.
Back in the bad guy cave, Indigo tells Non she has a way he can make Kara suffer. Non in his own demented mind believes he is making Earth better but seeks revenge for his beloved Astra. Indigo seems to crave total destruction. The two big baddies send a mind controlled, armored, kryptonite sword wielding Alex to confront Supergirl to a death match. On one hand it makes an interesting dilemma for Supergirl kill her sister or be killed. On the more practical hand, Supergirl can move way faster than Alex. Still the stage is set for what promises to be an action packed last episode.
Best line of the night: Cat: “Tell Harrison Ford I’m flattered but I don’t date older or married men…” Ha!
Notes: We had three actresses who have played Supergirl in this episode. General Lane made an appearance and wasn’t a total jerk. They also made mention of “madam president” who looks like she will be played by Linda Carter next season. We better see more Maxima!
Summary: As always Benoist and Flockhart did amazing jobs with their roles. They make the show a joy to watch. The action scenes were fantastic on a TV show budget. Yes there were a couple of questionable character choices that were mainly used as plot devices. This being the next to last episode suffered from the cliffhanger syndrome, as the writers needed to ramp up the drama without giving any closure. All in all, good episode that left us anxiously awaiting next Monday!
