[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: Rachel Talalay
Writers: Maria Maggenti & Gabriel Llanas
Starring: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, April Parker Jones & David Harewood
Summary
Colonel Haley is upset after Supergirl responds to a distress call from a Navy ship that turned out to be a deadly alien attack. Colonel Haley reclaims the site as DEO territory and demands that Supergirl step aside. After Supergirl refuses to be told what to do, Haley refocuses her energy on finding out Supergirl’s true identity and begins to interrogate all DEO agents, including Alex. Meanwhile, Brainiac-5 tries to persuade Nia to embrace her superpowers but she misinterprets his motives.
Positives
This episode is ultimately about whether or not the ends justify the means. The main plot reveals a horrible truth from Colonel Haley’s past. She did something terrible in the name of protecting the country and does not regret it. This is paralleled with James trying to mend fences with Lena. After his experience with Agent Liberty, he concedes that sometimes tough choices have to be made which makes Lena feel comfortable enough to tell him about her experiments. James clearly feels uncomfortable about what she’s doing but chooses to lie and have her back despite his doubts. Lena and James are playing a dangerous game and I love that the show doesn’t feel like it is going to have easy answers for them.
Continuing with that theme, Supergirl is forced to make a drastic choice at the end of the episode. Martian Manhunter has to erase the memory of everyone who knows Supergirl’s secret identity at the DEO including Alex in order to prevent Colonel Haley from discovering the truth. It is a hard and brutal decision that will have drastic consequences. There was not an easy solution to Colonel Haley’s investigation and it forces the story into a really interesting place.
J’onn gets an office for his P.I. business and it is a gorgeous set. I sincerely hope that this season will transition everyone out of the DEO and they can all be private investigators together.
Negatives
Great episode. There are no negatives worth mentioning.
Verdict
This is a fantastic episode. It was refreshing to see an episode that stepped away from the season’s theme of intolerance even though I have immensely enjoyed this season throughout. This episode shook things up a bit and I loved it.
