This week we had our first direct follow-up to the events of a Supergirl episode. Supergirl burned out her powers destroying Red Tornado and is powerless this week. And what better time for Supergirl to be powerless than during an earthquake in National City?
“Human for a Day” powered things down for a bit to take a look at heroism on multiple fronts. Supergirl got to stop a robbery without powers and Kara got to truly feel powerless when a man died in front of her. Jimmy also got to play the hero when he saved people on a higher floor of their building when it was on fire.
Over at the DEO, the earthquake knocked out power systems causing the villain Jemm to escape. This telepathic villain went on a rampage in the darkened base, taking out many in the process. Alex tried to take matters into her own hands and turned on Henshaw. But in the end she couldn’t handle Jemm without the help of Henshaw, who revealed himself as Martian Manhunter.
Positives
“Human for a Day” was all about showcasing character. If you aren’t sold on Melissa Benoist as Supergirl after this week, I don’t think you ever will be. Seeing her nailing the powerlessness and then moving over to the oh-so-hopeful robbery-foiling was wonderful. She truly can support the weight of being a lead here.
If we’re talking characters that have become more nuanced, it would be a shame not to mention Cat. Her interactions with Winn were fun, but the big moment was her broadcast. Cutting back and forth between that and Supergirl stopping the robbery solely with words while Jimmy gets “the picture” was excellent. Probably my favorite scene of the show. In a show about a character who is a symbol of hope, we need more scenes like this.
The final DEO reveal of Henshaw’s identity was well done. Also, he looks really good. After a questionable design on Red Tornado, it was great seeing such a good design on J’onn J’onzz. Plus, the foreshadowing of the reveal itself was quite cool and surprisingly quite present in the episode.
Negatives
Jemm himself was a little boring as the monster-in-the dark. The atmosphere really provided more intimidation than he did. In addition, it felt weird to see Martian Manhunter having struggled so much against a telepathic villain. Hopefully they address that some. Perhaps this J’onn isn’t a telepath?
Winn’s snide comments to Kara at the end were quite off and left a very sour impression of him. While he was fun earlier on in interactions with Cat, the final few moments with Kara really left him coming out as the biggest one missing out on growth and change this episode. Most stepped forward, but poor, friend-zoned Winn did some definite backpedaling.
The Verdict
Supergirl is finally hitting its stride. “Human for a Day” was easily the most successful episode yet.
