The CW’s Supergirl is back and took no time to relax, hitting the pavement at full sprint in its season four premiere. Reign might be gone and the space-time continuum might be balanced, but the vacuum left behind by those neatly-tied loose ends has been quickly filled by an even more insidious force. Now it’s time to dive into Supergirl season 4 episode 1
Acknowledging Fear
Kara might be living her best life at the beginning of the episode, but that satisfaction is swiftly torn away by the actions of ex-Cadmus agents Mercy and Otis Graves. Amid the backdrop of burgeoning relations between humans and aliens, the siblings steal an EMP device from an alien engineer, making a point to remove his tusks in the process. J’onn J’onzz views the actions as a hate crime, a point that Kara dismisses.
This fear of the unknown fuels many conflicts within the episode. From new Cub reporter Nia Nal’s struggles to speak up in editorial meetings to Kara’s slow realization that anti-alien sentiment is bubbling under the surface, acknowledging one’s own fear and “kicking its ass” inspire character’s actions. Unfortunately, pitching a fashion article and preserving intergalactic peace have slightly different levels of severity.
Time and Place
While Kara combats growing hostilities, her sister, Alex, learns how to cope with her new role as head of the DEO and the addition of Querl Dox, affectionately known as Brainy, in place of Winn. While Brainy shows his worth multiple times during the episode, Alex grows more irritated by his lack of understanding of present day culture. Brainy makes an effort to appease Alex, going so far as to dress like Winn to appear more like him, and both express they miss their friends. The moment unites the two, even if just for a moment.
“We’re the Good Guys”
Speaking of united efforts, Kara discovers the crux of the Graves’ plans spread across a series of computer screens in an abandoned warehouse. Various dark web social media sites reveal the growing anti-alien movement in full. Even parents requesting information and devices to kill aliens simply because their kids attend school with them. The find also reveals the pair’s plan to attack President Marsdin’s alien summit at Camp David.
Kara and the DEO watch over the summit, but the Graves’ still infiltrate the site. Otis’s assassination attempt fails, and Mercy shoots her brother during their escape to distract Kara. Otis reveals he is wearing a bulletproof vest as Mercy delivers a chilling message while she flees: “We’re the good guys.” Kara is left to question why she didn’t notice the growing hate, which J’onn explains by pointing out how Kara passes for human more so than other aliens. As J’onn points out that Kara could stand as a uniting voice, a news bulletin reveals that President Marsdin is an alien.
An Agent of Liberty
As the news update airs, Mercy is complimented on her skillful altering of the footage that depicts Marsdin as an alien by a masked individual. The masked man then makes his way to a bound leader of an alien support group. When asked who he is, he simply replies, “an agent of liberty,” before stabbing her in the back. The episode wraps up with the duplicate Russian Kara punching through a cliffside under the supervision of military officials.
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