By: Dave Clark
The winter hiatus ended quickly for at least one show that we love to watch. Supergirl was back tonight with an all new episode titled 'Blood Bonds.' The story picked up directly where it left off from the mid-season finale. The showdown between Supergirl and Non with the DEO fighting off the other escapees from Fort Rozz. We get a little more of the fighting while flying...I think we should just call this Flighting, eventually Non gets the upper-hand, securing Hank Henshaw as his hostage.
Alex is made acting Director of the DEO while Hank is captured but not soon after her promotion General Lane steps in and takes over control which means he's also going to interrogate their prisoner in his own way. He injects Kryptonite into Astra to get the location of Non and Hank but she gives them a false location which results in the death of several military men except for one who was saved by Kara when the truck explodes...cool scene where she uses her cape as a shield to save Alex and the soldier. Kara attempts to get the information from Astra, pleading with her that she has faith in her Aunt and that she believes there's still good inside of her yet.
There are some fantastic scenes, yet again, between Cat and Kara. The plot between them revolves around Cat not believing that Kara is NOT Supergirl. She finally gives Kara the ultimatum of revealing that she's Supergirl or lose her job. Kara is so protective of her identity that she actually gives up her job with Cat, even though you can clearly tell that Cat actually misses her personal assistant when she's gone for less than an entire day.
In the background of this episode Winn and Jimmy are trying to figure out exactly what Maxwell Lord is up to. Jimmy breaks into Lord's building (with Winn's hacking expertise), finding a room that's heavily guarded behind biometric security. He's caught and taken to an empty room where he's threatened by Lord to back off or something quite evil will happen to him. Eventually Kara finds out about what they were up to and gets very upset that they lied and almost got Jimmy killed. It's at this point where she wants to take matters into her own hands and face Lord, but Jimmy and especially Winn are able to step in and prevent her from doing something she'd regret.
The episode itself deals heavily with the bonds between Kara and Astra as well as the memory of Kara's mother. We get flashbacks to Krypton one year before it's destruction. Astra and Non are being sentenced by Kara's mother Alura. Kara breaks down near the end of the episode, coming to the realization that maybe her mother wasn't who she thought she was, she couldn't rescue Hank from Non, and she was going to lose her job with Cat. Her bonds between her mother and her bonds between her human life were coming apart. However, her human bonds are what kept her from crossing a very real and very bad line of hurting Maxwell Lord. Winn and Jimmy are able to talk to her and convince her that she has to be better than those around her like Non who wants to kill the humans of Earth and General Lane who wants to hurt and eventually kill the escapees of Fort Rozz. Supergirl is able to rise above this pain and hatred and peacefully broker a deal to return Astra to Non in return for Hank.
In the process of the deal, Non surrounds the DEO and Supergirl with his men floating above ready to laser blast them below. Having gotten through to Astra, she calls them off and they leave peacefully. Supergirl's faith in her Aunt's deep down compassion saved the day and perhaps she can save Astra entirely before it's too late. During the showdown with Non and his men, Alex tells Hank he'll need to transform and Kara with her super-hearing is able to listen in on that conversation. She later questions them which prompts Hank to reveal his Martian origins to Kara. In order to prove herself to Cat, that she's not Supergirl, J'onn appears in her form and this finally gets Cat to back off giving Kara her job back. The importance of working at CatCo to Kara is it grounds her in her humanity. Cat's push to get her to reveal herself is to actually help Supergirl. She felt her time and ability is wasted in the office when so many people need her on the streets and in the skies above National City. They're both right in the case and they essentially both get what they want in the end.
The episode ends with some wholesome bonding between Clark and Kara via Instant Message. He checks in to see if she's doing ok and if she needs his help. She assures him that if she does, she'll ask him. Clark then reassures her that they're in this together with the Kryptonian mantra of "Blood binds us all." We get a scene of Lord going into secured room 52 where we find a woman, Jane Doe, who's suffered brain trauma laying on a hospital bed. Lord says he's going to help her and she opens her eyes to reveal very black retinas...could this be our Bizarro Supergirl? We will have to wait and see but what did you guys think of the episode? Who is this girl that Lord is "help" in the secret room 52? Sound off below and we'll see you back here on January 18th when Supergirl returns with "Childish Things."
What I Liked:
Winn is able to assert himself more and become less of the annoying character he had been. Finally giving him some backbone. He also has some fun bonding moments with Jimmy, however, he does come off a bit petty with his competition over Kara.
Supergirl breaking down. Her showing signs of weakness and failing is a positive in her climb to being a hero. I love her story thus far and I root for her every time she faces a seemingly impossible obstacle.
Maxwell Lord. He's so bad he's good. I love Peter Facinelli in this role and this character has really come to life so far.
Clark and Kara using IM to chat from time to time is a perfect usage of her younger much more famous cousin. I love it and they're using it just enough to make sure it's not overkill.
What I Didn't Like:
General Lane. Granted you're not supposed to like him, but he really comes off as an ignorant jag in this episode.
The love triangle. I hate pitting Winn against Jimmy in the love triangle. I hate the romantic angle of this season altogether to be quite honest, but the triangle is the worst aspect of storytelling. I get that it is needed for drama and conflict. I understand. But I would rather have more of Jimmy and Winn working together in aid of Kara, instead of Winn being this guy who needs to prove himself as better than Jimmy to Kara. Makes him less likable.