Previously: The DEO got Aunt Astra and Lord Technologies was infiltrated.
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Blood Bonds
Samantha: The episode picks up right where the last episode ended. Supergirl and Non go busting through the ceiling of Lord Technologies and begin to duke it out in the sky. They’re briefly interrupted by an airplane RUDELY flying in the middle of their fight but they carry on by smashing into the ground. Non has Supergirl in a chokehold and tells Supergirl that she’s as weak as any human. Hank comes out with a blaster gun thing and Non drops Kara to go after Hank. Is this a good time to ask what they wanted with Lord Technologies in the first place? (C: Good a time as any since I doubt we’ll ever get an answer.) (M: Secrets Techs-nologies, duh.) Alex comes out with her own gun and demands that Hank be let go. Non plays the opposites game and takes off with Hank.
Alex and Supergirl are walking back into Lord Technologies and Kara apologizes for failing. Carlisle Lord is telling some agents not to go upstairs. Alex bad acts her way through some dialogue about how this is a crime scene and she needs to know what the aliens wanted. Carlisle Max doesn’t tell her anything and calls Supergirl a “pet alien” just in case we weren’t sure how we were supposed to feel about him.
DEO Headquarters. A truly head scratching moment happens as Alex informs us that Hank classified the line of succession so she doesn’t know who is in charge. Ohhh….kaaaaay? Seems kind of useless to have a line of succession literally no one knows about. Some random agent presses a button that very easily reveals that Alex is now in charge. But….what if the computers were down? (M: Aliens would escape and they would play tag in the hallway. I think we saw that episode already.) (S: Huh. It must have been boring and I completely let it leave my memory.) Alex starts issuing orders and Kara is all “Unless Hank has superpowers you’re not telling me about, we have to help him!” Omg, why the anvil, show? Why? She decides to go talk to Astra and see if she can get some answers.
Aunt Astra’s Cell of Conflicted Feelings. Kara asks Astra where Non took Hank. Astra lols because she’ll have to do better than that. Kara says that she could call her cousin and maybe together they could get her to talk. Hey! Cousin shots! I feel like we haven’t had these in awhile.
Marines: WE HAVEN’T. I’VE MISSED THEM.
Samantha: “Kal-El doesn’t have the stomach for it. He was raised on Earth, he’s practically human,” Astra scoffs. I wonder if Astra knew Supes parents. I can’t quite figure out how exactly Kara is related to everyone.
Catherine: Here, I made this El family tree for you:
It’s as illustrative as it is poorly made!
Mari: I’m going to treasure this forever. Also, I’m going to use it as an excuse to ignore the fact that they are basically saying that Superman can’t come help in this super crazy important situation because he’s sOoOoOoOoooo human ew. (???)
Samantha: Catherine Jane, this is amazing. And informative! Lets hope if those demons of Astra and Non ever show up that the Winchester’s are not far behind. And, Superman has cooties, quick run to the top of the jungle gym!
Astra deduces that Kara is trying to manipulate her but can’t, because she’s afraid of the truth Astra has about Kara’s mommy dearest. Astra goes on to say that she ordered Non not to kill Kara, because they are bonded by blood. Gold Star for Astra! They talk some more about blood and family and Astra concludes that Kara has chosen Earth over her. Idk what’s happening but there’s a part of me that wants Kara to reconcile with her aunt. Also, Astra looks like she has more hair. Does the DEO prison treatment come with extensions?
Flashback O’Clock. Krypton, 1 year before its destruction. Alura is intoning the “blood bonds us all” that we just heard the girls talking about. She is speaking at a trial, I guess, because Astra is in space handcuffs. Alura accuses Astra of her plan being monstrous and depriving people of their freedom. Astra says that people are weak, not good, and she wanted to give them courage to save themselves. Non starts talking about how Alura believes them to be terrorists but I’m distracted by how the space handcuffs appears to be made from cardboard and the so called terrorists could break free at any moment. Alura looks to her husband and he nods (what’s his name?) and she sentences them, tearfully, to a lifetime in Fort Ros. What is her job?!?!?! Non screams about how she has sentenced the sons and daughters of Krypton to death. Why are the only options death with the extremists and death by planet explosion? She hits the button and they are beamed away.
CatCo. Kara, Jimmy, and Winn are watching Maxwell Cullen’s press conference on a laptop because they are Millenials. (C: JERKS!) He covers up the attacks and the team puzzle over what he’s up to. Jimmy offers to look into it and Kara declares Carlisle Lord too dangerous but Jimmy recently cleaned his press credentials so he wants to get some use out of them. Kara overhears Cat on her way up and spazzily insists that they all act SUPER NORMAL today. Kara, they would have probably acted normal if you didn’t weird them out first. She tells them that Ms. Grant thinks she’s Supergirl and they wig out too. Oh god, is this the route we’re going? She’s going to try and convince Cat she’s actually not Supergirl? This is not what I wanted.
Mari: I’m already angry at this development. I hate it.
Samantha: Kara ruins Cat’s coffee by letting her heat vision get away from her and they all generally act like idiots.
Kara hurries to Cat with Jimmy’s coffee but forgets those Super Secret Magic Disguise Glasses so Jimmy hurries them out to her. I know I need to let the glasses thing go and just accept it but I’m not sure that I can.
Catherine: Well, I mean she already saw her without them and looking all intense in the last episode. So??? What’s the point here?
Mari: Maybe she forgot about the intense look? Or maybe this show is being stupid.
Samantha: Kara tells Cat they were out of lattes (lol) so she brought her coffee. Cat is annoyed she’s acting like her normal boring self and Kara insists it’s because she’s boring. Cat remains unconvinced and Kara tries to act like it’s an inside joke. Cat eyerolls, “Kira. There are many topics that I find appropriate for humor. English cuisine, black lipstick, but I will never never make a joke about a good story.” Kara keeps denying it and Cat says, “One time at a party Paul McCartney told me that he and Yoko Ono were the closest of friends. He was more convincing.” I have to keep quoting her because I love her lines. They arrive at a stalemate and Kara leaves.
Supergirl zooms to the DEO with food for Alex.
Lord Technologies. Jimmy is outside, taking pictures and Carlisle Maxwell comes outside and tells him no pictures allowed.
Catherine: Does this man not have a security team to do this for him? Does he patrol the grounds at all times looking for intruders? When does he have time to work and do vampire shit?
Mari: Duh. Vampires never sleep, they just sit around staring at their baby girlfriends, or whatever.
Samantha: Jimmy questions Max about why he lied about the break in. Max tells Jimmy that he finds his association with Supergirl troubling since he’s in the media. Jimmy says that the media exists to tell the truth, not make Carlisle feel comfortable. This transitions into a Rant by Max (trademark pending) about how shitty the media is and that he will do what needs to be done.
CatCo. Kara brings some paperwork into Cat’s office and Cat insists that she stay for a trip down memory lane. She starts grilling Kara about the year 1997, seeing if she can catch her in a lie. Guys, even if I wasn’t Supergirl I’d probably mess this up out of panic. (C: Does that mean that you are? I KNEW IT!) (S: I wear glasses! I can’t be!) Kara answers all of the questions perfectly and Cat decides this proves she’s Supergirl because, “Only a person who is determined to lie can answer all of the questions they’re asked. How do you think I caught Lance Armstrong?”
Kryptonian Bad Guy Lair. Some random alien dude s perplexed that he can’t read Hank’s mind and Non is frustrated by this. Random Alien concludes that he humans must have a new technology that blocks his mind reading. Hank and Non trade barbs back and forth and it ends with Non snapping Random Aliens neck. Idk, I zoned a little.
Aunt Astra Cell of Feels (C: And disco lights) (M: The better to fit with her strand of rave hair, my dear.) General Lane heads in with some army cronies and rambles about seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still as a child. He had nightmares for months and whenever he looks at her he is right back in that theater. Dude, you are an adult, if you can’t tell yet that not all aliens are bad then that is fully on you and your non-development. Astra is somehow impressed by this declaration????? Because it proves he is a man of honor to admit fear???? Then I am so honorable, you guys. Anyway, whatever, he’s going to torture the fuck out of her with some Kryptonite. Kara tries to stop this from happening but the Kryptonite in the room weakens her. Astra asks how she can align herself with these people. Alex drags Kara screaming from the room as Astra screams in pain and I have feels.
CatCo. Kara is explaining to the boys what just went down. She then asks Jimmy if he got anything out of Maxwell and he says no. Cat calls Kara into her office and as soon as she is gone Winn tells Jimmy he knows he’s lying. Jimmy says that Carlisle is actually planning a counter strike against the Kryptonians. And we’re keeping this from Supergirl, why? Jimmy says that they need to find out what he’s up to so that he can’t hurt Kara. He took some surveillance shots of Lord Technologies and they are going to find a way in.
In Cat’s office she very sternly tells Kara to sit. She stayed up all night watching old news coverage of Supergirl’s rescues and realized that while she is here, at work, even more bad things are happening out there. “Every minute that you waste playing assistant in here is a minute that someone out there is not getting saved,” she declares. She’s pissed and says that either Kara prove she’s not Supergirl or clean out her desk. I’m torn. This is interesting, the idea that maybe the supers shouldn’t have day jobs. But, also, this is not how I wanted this to go. Kara looks crestfallen.
Catherine: The idea that Superman/Girl should be saving lives all the time always no bathroom breaks usually gets brought up at some point in any adaptation. But it is interesting that it’s being brought up by someone else besides emoClark in this one. And not an enemy.
Mari: I think it feels fine coming from Cat because we know that kind of work ethic is pretty in line with Cat’s philosophy. Cat’s just questioning what Kara/Supergirl’s job IS.
Samantha: Definitely, it’s an interesting concept to ponder, I just didn’t like the general direction of this whole story line.
Lord Technologies. Jimmy and Winn are breaking in and these two make me need some gin. Jimmy gets in (Winn is at a computer somewhere aiding but not breaking and entering) and there is one of those spy movie laser security things. But NBD, Winn disconnects it. Jimmy snaps pictures of everything and these pictures go straight to Winn’s computer. He stops Jimmy at a door with a weird lock on it. While James is peering at this Bio Lock, he’s hit over the head. Maxwell Cullen stands over him with two thugs. (M: Wow. Absolutely no one saw that coming.)
CatCo. Kara sits at her desk while on the phone with Alex, who is informing her that Astra gave up Non’s location. Kara doubts the location’s validity but Alex says they have to try so Kara heads out.
The troops + Alex march on the location and General Lane is grumpy that Supergirl is there. She can’t see through these giant container things because they are lined with lead. The troops go to investigate them as Kara laser eye opens the nearest one. We cut to Non standing with a lackey who informs him that the troops are closing in. Inside the container is Hank, still tied to his chair. Except JK is a hologram and the container actually contains a bomb. Supergirl throws the nearest soldier out of harms way and covers her and Alex with her cape. Everywhere bombs are going off. Almost all of the soldiers are dead.
Lord Technology Lair. Jimmy is handcuffed to a chair in a dark room. Maxwell Carlisle wants to know who helped Jimmy get past his security. Jimmy tries to get Carlisle to spill what he’s up to but Max declares himself decidedly not a Bond villain. He does, however, start beating on Jimmy with his fists. Then he destroys his camera with a wrench and leaves.
Catherine: It’s a GIANT wrench, too. Like, what does he even need a wrench that big? He’s a vampire.
Samantha: Edward petulantly snagged it out of Jacob’s garage and left it lying around the house. Probably.
CatCo. Kara heads into Cat’s office and speechifys about how important this job is to her.
Kara heads to their super secret batcave and finds James with a split lip. She surmises that Maxwell did this to him as Winn walks in with ice. She’s mad that they lied to her and vows revenge on the evil Dr. Carlisle Maxwell Lord Cullen. Jimmy accuses her of sounding like Astra and she angrily wonders if maybe Astra wasn’t so wrong. Winn blocks the doorway so Kara angry speechifys.
Samantha: She sits despondently on the couch as Winn and Jimmy hold her hands and comfort her with the knowledge that she’s on a cheesy TV show and is sure to prevail (M: with her hair and makeup in tact).
Aunt Astra Cell of Sadz. Kara tells Astra that she’s ready to hear what she has to say. She gives yet another speech, this one inspirational, about how they have to be better for the future. Astra thinks that the good in her died on Krypton but Kara believes that it’s still in there. Kara demands the truth about what happened on Krypton.
Flashback O’Clock. We’re back at the trial? I guess? Alura tells Astra that she believes her, that the end of their planet is coming sooner than anyone wants to admit. But she killed people and no matter the nobility of her goals, murder is murder.
Alura promises to fight for Astra’s cause through compassion and reason. “I love you, Astra,” she says and they both cry as she beams her to Fort Ros and I have sister feels. Back in Astra’s cell, she tells Kara that her mother never stopped believing in her and Kara is so much like her. Kara’s face lights up and it’s a sweet moment and damn I just want these two to reconcile.
Catherine: Not me. I remain COLD and UNMOVED like Krypton’s icy surface.
Mari: My heart is totally and completely dead except for all of the parts that aren’t dead and that come back every episode. Like Krypton. (What?)
Samantha: Astra says that the only way to get Henshaw back is to make the trade but the humans will never agree to it. Supergirl says it’s good that she’s not human.
Kara, Alex, and a handful of DEO agents walk Astra into the main DEO room because they are going to make the prisoner exchange. General Lane is less than impressed. He says that his men will put them down if they keep walking but one of the soldiers orders his men to put down their weapons because Supergirl saved his life. They exit.
At the drop point, Astra can tell that Alex is conflicted. Alex tells her that she would leave her to rot but she wants the Kryptonians to see that they’re better than General Lane so that they can find a way to end the war. Astra says that Alex sounds just like her niece, with a little smile. Non shows up with Hank and they exchange prisoners. Just after, Supergirl spidey senses that something is wrong. A whole host of evil Kryptonians show up and Non orders them to attack. Alex tells Henshaw that he needs to transform, right in range of Supergirl’s super hearing. Before that can happen though Astra orders them to stop. The Kryptonians leave and Astra tells Kara and Co to not mistake her compassion for weakness. It’s not a truce, but maybe it’s a start.
DEO Headquarters. Hank kicks out General Lane. Kara immediately asks Hank wtf they meant by him transforming. Next we cut to Supergirl, Hank, and Alex walking through a door with Kara exclaiming, “You’re from Mars?!” She asks why he’s been hiding and he explains that he’s trying to make the world safer for everyone and right now that’s easier under the guise of Hank Henshaw. Sidebar: Did the real Hank Henshaw have family or friends and if so, is Fakshaw still keeping up appearances with them?
Catherine: No idea. In the comics the real Henshaw was a cyborg, so no. In this? *shrug*
Samantha: CatCo. Supergirl shows up in Cat’s office and she comments on the poor color design of the costume. OH MY GOD then Kara walks in as Kara and I don’t even care how they are doing this, why are they doing this?? I might cry. Kara and Supergirl exchange pleasantries and my fucking head explodes. It’s the same person this shouldn’t change anything Cat, they are the same person! Am I being trolled?! Cat is convinced because this show hates me and Kara gets to keep her job. I hate this, you guys. I hate this. Cat even says that they look nothing alike. I am so disappointed in this turn of events. I don’t even want to finish the episode.
Catherine: Yeah, it’s pretty bullshit. Why bother having Cat find out if they were just gonna undo it in the stupidest way possible in the next episode? And Supergirl standing next to Kara just makes it even more obvious that they’re the same person. Since they’re literally the same person. Cat is smart, she should know something was up.
Samantha: Because I am a dedicated recapper, I take a few minutes and then hit play again. Jon Jones lands on the roof as Kara walks up. He transforms into Hank Henshaw, it was him pretending to be Supergirl. They chat about the importance of their jobs and friends.
Later, Kara sits at her computer and oh man, it’s Superman IM time! (M: How wonderfully terrible is it that this is A THING?) He wants to know if she is okay or if she needs help. (C: Yeah, she did, ya know, yesterday.) Lol, if she had said yes it would have been like, “Oh…I was just asking to be nice….there’s a new episode of Teen Wolf on tonight that I can’t miss.” He says the whole “Blood bonds us all” thing and that he learned that from her.
Cut to Carlisle. A doctor tells him he found exactly what he wanted and that they don’t have any relatives. Maxwell dismisses him and enters his super secret room. A Jane Doe with black eyes lays on a bed. Maxwell says that he is going to help her. End of episode.
Next time on Supergirl: Winn’s evil dad comes to town in S01 E10 – Childish Things.
I'm a 28 year old graduated English major and almost librarian. I can often be found singing too loudly (poorly) in the car or spending some time (hours) on Tumblr. I am a lover of Harry Potter, the Spice Girls, and too many other things.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
I am a 30-something year-old human woman who lives in Maine. I'm a freelance writer who mostly spends time that I should be doing that, watching T.V. I also love reading and comic books way too much.