Supergirl: Millennial nuisance? This week, Kara's problem has less to do with her gender and more to do with her generation.
The episode starts right where last week's left off. Kara hovers over Cat, ready for her interview. Only Kara doesn't maintain the upper hand for much longer. Cat's line of questioning gets to her. Cat implies that Supergirl isn't really anything special considering she has the same powers as Superman. She asks why Supergirl stayed quiet for so long, and whether she has any plans to start a family.
Uh, what? Yeah, that last one really gets under Kara's skin. And why wouldn't it? It's the type of question female celebrities get all the time that men somehow avoid. “Nobody ever asks my cousin these questions," Kara says. Whoops. Sharing the information that she's Superman's cousin probably wasn't the best decision. At least Cat doesn't realize who Supergirl really is.
Cat — savvy media professional that she is — takes that scoop and runs with it. Soon enough it's all over the news, and Cat's planning a special issue of CatCo's monthly magazine, which will feature a profile of Supergirl that Cat will write herself.
All this attention gets Kara into some trouble. Hank Henshaw is none-too-pleased that Kara did an interview, but, once again, Hank is the least of her problems. There's a bigger evil that's intrigued by the revelation of Supergirl's familial connection: Reactron. Kara's helping out after a multi-car pile-up on the highway when Reactron shows up, saying, "I want the Man of Steel to suffer. I want him to know what it feels like to lose everything, starting with you."
Reactron, who was named as such by James, has battled Superman before, but he is human, rather than alien, so Hank doesn't want the DEO involved. That means it's up to the crack team of Kara, Winn, and James — who now have a crime-fighting lair in the CatCo building — to figure out what's up. James suggests Kara get some help from Clark — a.k.a. Superman — for this one. Kara's not happy about that proposal, and Winn's just amazed to learn Superman's secret identity. "If I'm going to be defined it's by my victories and my losses. No one else's," Kara says.
Reactron doesn't stay quiet for that long. He needs someone to fix his suit, which Kara damaged in his first face-off. So off he goes to Maxwell Lord's Lord Technologies. Lord, in his sleazy fashion, offers himself up for the job. With news of Lord's kidnapping, Alex shows up, disobeying Hank's instructions. Kara, Alex, and co. discover that the villain's true identity is Ben Krull, and his vendetta against Superman is personal. Though Superman once stopped what would have been a Chernobyl-like disaster caused by by terrorists, saving many lives, Krull's wife died in the accident. Now, Krull wants Superman to feel his pain.
To Krull, Supergirl's just an extension of her cousin, and that seems to be the prevailing sentiment around National City, much to Kara's distress.
For her big magazine feature about Supergirl, Cat has decided to hop on the media trend of millennial-related malaise. She writes that Supergirl "embodies the worst traits of her generation, the earnestness without purpose, the unshakable belief that she has a right to be heard even when she has nothing to say." According to Cat's story, Supergirl is just going to call Superman when the going gets tough.
Kara, of course, is desperate to prove Cat wrong, and that's why she's seriously pissed when James actually does call on Superman — using a handy button on his watch — to help her. After her disappointing chat with Cat about the story, Kara rushes off to Reactron's lair, where she frees Maxwell and starts going head to head with Reactron. In all fairness to James, it does look like Kara's seriously losing when Superman comes to her rescue. She wakes up on her couch. She feels betrayed by James, and, to make matters worse, Maxwell doesn't even give her any credit during his post-kidnapping press conference, telling that world Superman was the one who freed him.
Alas, duty calls, and Kara has to change into a different sort of suit: a cocktail dress for Cat's party celebrating the release of the issue. Kara and Winn are dancing when James cuts in, much to the frustration of Winn. James tells Kara that he's the one who has relied too much on Superman's help. "I press that button when I get scared," he says. "And I was scared that I was going to lose you." Kara tells him, "Trust that I'm going to save the day." Unfortunately, their sweet flirtation is interrupted by Reactron, who busts into the party. Luckily for Kara, Hank has decided to help Alex aid her sister, and they explain to Kara how she can defeat the bad guy: all she needs to do is rip out the core from his suit and encase it in lead. Thankfully, there's a lead sculpture nearby. She melts that down, gives herself a lead glove, and wins the fight.
Kara's eager to celebrate this victory with James, only he has a visitor: Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum) — of that family of Lanes. She's Lois' little sister, and, clearly, she and James have history. Kara uses her eavesdropping skills to hear Lucy say, “I didn’t like the way we ended things." Yikes. But despite the heartbreak, Kara does get a super special instant message that cheers her up. It's from "Clark." You know the one. Clark tells her that he talked to James and he won't interfere again, and that she's doing great. "You stopped Reactron. Something I could never do," he writes. "Guess it was a job for Supergirl."
You bet it was.
Some other moments of note:
Seems even National City can't escape the thrall of Kardashians/Jenners. When Hank is mad about Kara's little publicity stunt he says, "What's next? A book deal? A reality show? Keeping Up With the Kryptonians?" Meanwhile, Cat brags that her Supergirl cover is going to one up the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair.
We're still keeping an eye on Hank's, uh, eyes. This time they flash red before he decides to let Alex work with her sister.
There was definitely tension between Cat and Maxwell when they danced at the party. Do they have a romantic past? Or are they just old competitors?
Kara eats sticky buns for breakfast. Come on, show, we know she's sweet, you don't have to hit us over the head with that fact.
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