Supergirl Episode 3 recap and preview for next week
We pick up where last week left off, with Cat and Kara on the roof for their arranged interview. As Kara tells Cat her origins, she rolls her eyes since it’s not all that different from Superman‘s origin. She badgers Kara about why she’s only just now shown herself to the world and tries to get into her personal life, prompting Kara to point out no one asks her cousin these questions. A slip of the tongue, because now everyone knows they’re related. The next morning, Kara eats breakfast when her sister comes to see her, and watches her make goo-goo eyes at Jimmy Olsen. After it becomes clear Jimmy knows her secret, Alex goes on to remind Kara that the less people that know the better. Back at the office, Cat is delighted to have scooped The Daily Planet on Supergirl’s relationship with Superman and she’s planning on running a special issue of their monthly magazine wherein she herself will write a feature on the hero. Kara is naturally uneasy about this and is tasked with planning a big party for the issue’s release. Meanwhile in a junkyard, a scarred-up man puts on a nasty metal suit with glowing bits while watching a news report on Supergirl.
At the DEO, Director Henshaw is upset with Kara for doing interviews, even though it’s honestly none of his business, but Kara doesn’t see the big deal – she wanted to provide her perspective. An alarm goes off about a car pile-up on the freeway, but it doesn’t concern the DEO. Kara, however, still goes to the scene. After rescuing the driver of the overturned bus, Kara gets a surprise. The scarred-up man in his bad Iron Man suit. He flies down and blasts her with radiation, citing that he wants the Man of Steel to suffer. Kara puts her training to use and holds her own in the fight, leading the villain to give up and fly away.
Back at the DEO, Kara learns the villain’s name, Reactron, which Jimmy Olsen coined after he fought Superman to a standstill more than once. She also learns that this isn’t a problem the DEO will handle since he’s just human, she’s on her own. In her office, Cat can’t concentrate on her article and Kara isn’t helping by asking for her approvals for the party. Afterward, Winn takes Kara and Jimmy down a few floors to a previously-abandoned office which he’s reworked into their CatCo-Supergirl-HQ. They start going over the details on Reactron and Winn thinks he has figured out how to track him. Jimmy pulls Kara aside and tells her to call Superman, but she doesn’t want villains to see that happen and think of her as weaker and the city as an easy target. Jimmy, like Kara earlier, accidentally drops the name “Clark” in regard to the big man, and Winn quickly figures out, and geeks out, that Clark Kent is Superman. Kara is determined to beat Reactron on her own, to be defined by her own battles.
In another part of town, Maxwell Lord admires one of his company’s magnetic trains though he has a few changes he wants made. As he prances through the lab, Reactron bursts in, looking for a scientist with a nuclear fission background. Lord convinces him to take him instead of one of his employees, which he obliges. After hearing about the attack, Kara flies to the lab where the doctor confirms Reactron took Lord. 24 hours later, he’s still missing but lucky for Kara, Alex arrives at her work where she not only has the actual way to track him but the information about his origin. Dr. Ben Kroll was presumed dead after a radiation leak at the power station which almost went critical thanks to some terrorists, but was prevented by Superman, though his wife did perish in the blast.
In the junk yard, Kroll tasks Lord with fixing his suit which he agrees to do in exchange for a Dr Pepper (not an ad, nor a joke). Kara shares her notes with Cat about the Supergirl article, citing the piece’s nasty tone regarding her generational statues and clarifying that perhaps Cat took Supergirl out of context. Jimmy alerts Kara that Winn figured out how to find Kroll, by tracing a similar type of mold from Chernobyl to a spot outside National City. Before she leaves, Kara vows to try and talk him down, but if that doesn’t work: Punching. After arriving, Kara finds Lord tied up in a shack but is quickly kicked into the junkyard by Reactron. The pair come to blows as expected and he eventually gets the better of her, blasting her full of radiation as she lies helpless. Lucky for Kara, her cousin shows up and scares off the trouble maker.
Kara wakes up in her apartment hours later with Alex and Jimmy at her side, where Jimmy reveals that he called Superman via his very Silver Age wrist communicator. Upset, Kara doesn’t want to give herself any life lines that Clark didn’t have since it wasn’t her initial mention, and pushes Jimmy out the door (metaphorically). While lamenting her place in a world where her initial purpose has been dried up, Alex reveals she got her a dress for Cat’s magazine party. Kara enters the soiree and is immediately chastised by Cat. Luckily Winn is there to save her (this time!) and the pair begin to dance where they talk about her interview. At the DEO base, Henshaw’s eyes glow their sinister red again as he figures out Alex is helping Kara. She quickly convinces him that it’s fine and he agrees. Easy enough.
Back at the party, Kara and Winn continue dancing, but Jimmy cuts in – reason #43 that Winn will become a super villain and resent Jimmy. He goes on to tell Kara he didn’t call Superman because he thought she needed help, he called him because he was worried himself. As the two talk and dance, Reactron busts in, looking for Supergirl. Reactron spots Maxwell Lord as Kara runs out of the room before flying back in for a fight. Kara saves Winn from a falling concrete column, and Jimmy gets the bright idea to taunt the supervillain, leading him out of the building and into the city. Alex and Henshaw get in touch with Kara with a way to stop Reactron, pull the core out of his suit, and in-case it in lead. Since she booked the party at a museum, Kara approaches a priceless artiface and melts its center, dipping her hand inside the molten lead, and covering her fingers in it.
Reactron chases Jimmy only for Kara to tackle him out of the sky. Their skirmish doesn’t last that long this time as she stops his blasts with her bare hand and then rips his core out with the other. Jimmy runs up to her, he knew she’d do the right thing. At the DEO, she thanks them for her help and Henshaw throws his hands up knowing they’ll have to do it again too. Kara tries to make plans with her sister who tells her to go see Jimmy instead. The next morning, Kara enters Jimmy’s office, only to find he’s not alone. Lucy Lane, younger sister of Lois, is there and Jimmy quickly gives Kara the exit from the awkward air of the room. Using her super-hearing, she realizes the two were previously an item, an item that Lucy is keen on repairing. Bummed, she returns to her desk, where she gets an IM from Clark, who offers some encouraging words on her career so far. That night, she eats dinner with Alex, who points out that clearly Cat Grant respects her. As sirens blare in the city, Kara tells Alex not to watch “Homeland” (a series which star Melissa Benoist appeared in two episodes!) until she gets back.
You can watch a preview for next week’s episode, titled “How Does She Do It?” and airing on November 16, below.
