Supergirl Episode 2 recap and preview for next week
It’s been a busy week for Supergirl, who has been an active hero in real time since the pilot episode, but now she finds herself running tests for the DEO. They want to make sure she’s fit for field work despite her protests. She shows off by breaking the sound barrier, prompting a bonding moment between her and her sister Alex. Winn calls Kara to let her know about a fire at the port, where she finds a tanker full of crude oil on the verge of exploding due to the flames. Kara tries to use her freeze breath, which doesn’t quite work, so she moves the ship out of the way. Unfortunately, she doesn’t quite know her own strength, and cracks it open, sending crude oil pouring into the water below.
Kara carries her Supergirl stress to work with her where she sees none other than Maxwell Lord (a villain from the source material who the show appears to be setting up as its Lex Luthor) chastising the hero for the damages she’s caused. At a content meeting that day, Cat says she is tired of being scooped by The Daily Planet on their own hero and sets a plan for an interview with Supergirl, which she asks Jimmy to help arrange thanks to his Superman friendship. Afterward, Kara confides in him that she can’t do the interview, knowing Cat will recognize her. Jimmy gives her a pep talk, telling her that Clark gets away with that very problem because people don’t want to believe a hero is among them, and she’s in a city dying for a hero.
That night some security guards find a suspicious man rummaging through the chemicals at a planet. The scared-up man opens his face like the vampires from Blade 2 and kills the guard. Alex calls in Kara to help them investigate the next morning where she has a flashback to Krypton upon seeing a green spike pulled from the body. In the flashback, Kara waits for her mother to come home, and she tells her about her day of banishing a criminal called a Hellgrammite. Kara tells Alex and Director Henshaw about the species, which is basically a giant bug man. Kara offers to take him out once they track him, but the DEO has different plans. Alex leads Kara into a small arena-like room before telling her that its been lined with Krypton as a means to train her. She whips her alien sister around like its nothing, planting seeds in her mind about fighting: use your opponents’ strength against them. This doesn’t fill Kara with confidence though who leaves the base in a huff.
The next morning, Kara notices the headline that Cat Grant plans on running about Supergirl, which is less than flattering. When pressed for what she would tell Supergirl to do, Cat gives blunt advice: Take it easy, don’t put too much pressure on yourself, baby steps. Kara asks Winn to meet her in the alley in five minutes, but when he gets down there he finds none other than Jimmy. They both try to play each other off before Kara flies down, prompting surprise from both that each other knows her secret. That night in a seedy part of town, Hellgrammite is confronted by two Kryptonians who remind him that General Astra demands his loyalty. The General herself flies down and tells him he’ll be the perfect bait to capture Supergirl.
Kara’s plan for both Jimmy and Winn is to help her with her baby steps, point her in the direction of crimes and people in distress. It doesn’t take long for the plan to work and the public opinion on Supergirl to change. Alex shows up to Kara’s place that night to apologize for her Kryptonite switch-a-roo, confessing she was just looking out for her. She gets a call from work and heads back to the base where she learns that Hellgrammite has attacked five other chemical plants across the country. The DEO soon figures out it’s not because he’s building a bomb, but because he’s a chlorine-based life form and is using the chemical for food, and thus the idea for a trap is born.
Cat badgers Jimmy about getting that interview with Supergirl, but he’s not too keen about using his friend for business. Kara eavesdrops in on the conversation from her desk and hears Cat’s ultimatum: Get the interview or get a new job. That night DEO’s plan for catching Hellgrammite is a go as they transport a truck of chemicals across a bridge, attracting his attention and scorn. The villain fires his tiny projectiles into the car before ripping the roof off and grabbing Alex, leaping into the night with her in his arms. Hellgrammite takes her to a dingy warehouse and delivers her to General Astra, who has been eager to see one of the agents alive. Kara talks to Jimmy that night, revealing she changed her mind and will agree to the interview, she was inspired by working with he and Winn, and Cat of all people to embrace her family’s coat of arms which translates to “Stronger Together.” Kara’s phone rings and Henshaw reveals to her that Alex was taken. She confronts him at the DEO base and chastises him for not using her in the field, where she could have helped. He assures her they have surveillance teams looking for her, and she reminds him that now they’ve got her.
Astra taunts Alex as she bleeds, but she reveals that she knows exactly who she is thanks to a hologram. Kara flies over and hears their exchange, sending the address to Henshaw before flying there herself. As soon as she arrives, Kara takes a physical punch from Astra and then a gut punch after she realizes her aunt is still alive. The General goes on to tell Kara about why her mother locked her away and that she won’t let another planet die. Funny enough, Kara won’t either, and they start to throw down. As Alex calls for backup, Hellgrammite shows back up and tries to stick her with his projectile, she gets the drop on him though and takes him out. Kara and Astra’s fight continues, crushed up cement and bent steel scattered about, but she eventually reveals what Alex told her and fights to Astra’s strength, sending her flying out of the building. Alex and Kara embrace, but Astra isn’t done yet, having fully mastered her own freeze breath. Henshaw and his team leap in, prompting the General to hold the Director by his neck and leading him to reveal his Kryptonite-laced knife that he plunges into her arm. Astra flies away in disbelief at the pain.
Alex recovers back at the base and tries to console Kara for finding out she still has family around, but Kara won’t hear it because she’s always had family, The Danvers. Kara reminices about memories of her mother telling her about her relationship with Astra and how she didn’t have faith in people. Feeling better, Alex takes Kara down a hall to show her something, her own private room like her cousin’s “Fortress” that they know he keeps in the arctic. Inside, they’ve set up the interactive artificial intelligence from her ship which features a hologram of her mother, eager to answer her questions. Kara asks for a hug first, which is sadly shot down, but then asks about her Aunt Astra. Alex runs into Director Henshaw and thanks him for setting up the room for “Supergirl,” he obliges and walks away, his eyes glowing an unearthly red.
Back at her secret base, an alien doctor puls the Kryptonite knife from Astra and reveals that it lets off a specific radioactive signature. She demands he take it away as merely its presence is making her weak. Astra speaks to another party off screen who asks about Kara, making Astra admit they should hold off on their plans for Earth and that her niece is stronger than they thought she would be. That night, Cat calls Jimmy about the interview, threatening to fire him again, and he admits the interview has already started. Cat looks out her window to see the skyline passing her by. Supergirl sets Cat’s car down on the roof of the building, finally ready to talk.
