Supergirl S1E7 “Human For A Day”

Much like our heroine, I was reminded how human I am this week being sidelined with a nasty cough and generally crumminess.  Hence the delay on all my recaps this week, but, you can’t hold me, or Kara, down for that long!

Kara depleted her powers fighting Red Tornado the week before, and now she’s struggling with your usual human inconveniences.  The common cold, broken bones.  As great of a moment this was to illustrate Kara’s empathy and natural charisma, personally, I would’ve liked to have seen a little more of Kara understanding of then pain humans go through on a daily basis. Dealing with a paper cut, hitting your funny bone, or jamming your thumb in a drawer.  We’re fragile.  And clumsy.  And I would’ve liked Kara to truly appreciate that rather than to just realize that without her powers, she can’t save people’s lives.

Despite that, we did get the wonderful moment of Supergirl talking down the guy holding up a convenience store.  She couldn’t take a bullet, but talked him out of ever having to shoot one at her.  That moment allowed Kara to understand she can still save people in a way Supergirl can’t.  It reminded me of a line from one of my favorite episodes of Lois & Clark.  Lois finds out who Clark really is, and she’s upset he never told her given her feelings for Superman.  And Clark is frustrated because he doesn’t want her to love him because of Superman.  His exact words, “Superman is what I can do, Clark Kent is who I am.”

The lack of Supergirl’s powers also allowed another woman to shine: Cat Grant.  I acknowledge I’ve had a weekly moment of appreciation of Cat Grant since this show has debuted.  But you can’t blame me.  Cat has such layers to her, it’s hard not to appreciate her.  What I liked most is Supergirl acknowledging Cat’s leadership and thanking her for it.  In a world where we often see women portrayed as catty and bringing each other down, to have the two of the main female characters actually work together and respect each other for it, is refreshing.

But this episode didn’t stop at giving us Kara’s other side, it also gave us Henshaw’s.  Or should I say, J’onn J’onzz!  Yes, Henshaw, in fact, is the Martian Manhunter! I will be honest, I did not see that coming.  Turns out, on Henshaw’s and Jeremiah’s last mission, Jeremiah objected to the mission’s objective – to kill the last surviving Martian.  The real Henshaw is killed during the mission.  As is Jeremiah, who died protecting J’onn, who assumed Henshaw’s identity and image (he is a shape-shifter).  To honor the man who saved his life and the promise he made to protect his family, J’onn recruited Alex to the DEO so he could stay close to her.  Henshaw’s officially one of the good guys!

As for the other humans,

• Cat finally notices Winn, but doesn’t remember his name.  It’s a start.
• Was the shot of James ripping off his shirt to help Kara necessary? No.  Appreciated? Yes.
• Maxwell is getting annoying now.
• I liked Alex getting more of an independent storyline, but they still need to flesh out her character more.  Right now, she consists mostly of eyebrow raises and gun-pointing.  She’s at her best when she can bounce off Kara.
• James and Lucy are moving in together.  Even superheroes can feel that pain.