Recap Wednesday: Supergirl 1.8 "Hostile Takeover"

Important episode beginning: Astra is back. Yessss! I can't help it, I like her. Partly because she's a nuanced villain, partly because you know she's the evil twin because of her stripe of white hair like in Gremlins, and partly because in my headcanon she's Alex's "bad girl secret lover."  

Anyway, Astra and her minions are trying to recruit Supergirl into whatever their master plan is, which I'm sure we'll find out about ASAP because what superhero-genre villain can ever keep their master plan a secret? Supergirl, being 100% puppy pureness, is not having any of Astra's nonsense, however.

She's baaack.

Meanwhile at Catco, Cat's emails have been hacked, putting her at risk of public humiliation. So, Cat asks Kara to go through all of her emails ever to flag anything that might be used against her. Of note, Cat also refers to Winn as "that handsome little hobbit who has more cardigans than [Kara does]." Tee-hee.

Anyway, the emails are largely benign, but still somewhat embarrassing since they also weren't meant for public consumption (welp). For instance, in one, she calls CatCo's board chair Dirk, "the walking personification of white male privilege." Which, I trust Cat's take on such matters.

Kara then actually overhears Dirk talking after a meeting and discovers that he's the one responsible for the hack. Winn then hacks into Dirk's files to find evidence of this, and thus slightly redeems himself from last week's nerd-rage meltdown.

At the DEO, we are privy to a Supergirl/Alex sparring session, which is always a nice addition to life in general. During it, Alex questions whether Supergirl has the capacity to kill Astra, her aunt, if needed. We then see a flasback to Krypton that offers insight into some Zor-El family dynamics. It seems that the Krypton was on the verge of environmental destruction. Astra had been a radical environmentalist (or something) and she and her husband Non killed a guard while trying to make a larger point about saving the planet.

Later, Astra and Supergirl have a combat encounter. At one point, Supergirl has the chance to kill her, but she's unwilling to (see above, re: puppy pureness). Instead, she hauls Astra to the DEO bad alien jail. While there, Astra tells Supergirl that she wants to save Earth from environmental destruction and that she wants help. Supergirl is super confused and angsty about all this, so Alex comforts her.

Sisters gotta hug.

Aside from Cat mentoring Kara, the Alex/Kara sister relationship is one of my favorites of the show, as they consistently have each others' backs. Is this rare, to have two women be consistently loyal to each other? This seems rare on TV. 

Later, while going through Cat's emails, it's discovered that Cat has a secret 24-year-old son, Adam, who she didn't raise. In order to shield Adam from media attention, Cat says she's going to resign from CatCo.

*insert my eternal screaming*

Before Cat can resign, James, Winn, and Lucy swoop in to save the day with proof that Dirk was behind the hacked emails, so Cat doesn't have to resign after all! Cat also tells Lucy, who is Lois Lane's sister, "Congratulations, you got the looks." Which, is probably fair, and also causes James to make this face:

LOL

Okay, but wait. On the hacked email front, I can suspend my disbelief about a lot, but I love the notion that Dirk would have laid out his master hacking plan while using his CatCo corporate email account and on his CatCo computer. Way to go, dipshit. But then again, what do you expect from "the walking personification of white male privilege"? Dudes think they can get away with anything. (And see what I mean about villains always blabbing about their evil schemes?)

At the DEO, Alex and Hank/J'onn interrogate Astra. I might be imagining some Astra/Alex subtextual eye contact and sexual tension. Perhaps, I might even be over-reacting in order to eradicate the thought of Alex and he-who-shall-not-be-named from my brain. Then again, I might not be.

Speaking of subtext, the episode ends with Cat confronting Supergirl, letting her know that she's on to her superhero secret identity (!!!!).  In my headcanon, this is also the point where Cat says, "And on top of knowing that you're Supergirl, I also know that you want me. I feel the same way. But, if we're going to date, you can no longer work for me, so I'm going to tap into my network of power lesbians to help you get a position with a media firm that doesn't directly compete with CatCo." (Or something, it's not like I've thought about it very much geeez).

Anyway, Cat points to the all the times Kara has come to her rescue and how, basically, Supergirl and Kara have never been in the same room together. Cat asks Kara to take off her glasses, which Kara does, and ... it's marvelous. Marvelous, I tell you.

"To me, you are perfect"

I found this scene reminiscent of the old Christopher Reeve movie Superman II, where Lois Lane confronted Clark Kent about possibly being Superman. She tested him by "falling" over a railing at Niagara Falls, and Clark saved her (albeit without using his powers) and then they made sweet sweet love in the hotel room. In Supergirl, I want for Cat to jump over the balcony, Kara to save her, and then for them to go back into Cat's room for a proper nightcap.

Is that too much to ask? I think not. Now good day to you. I SAID GOOD DAY.

Deep Thought of the Week: Okay, the plot of a jerky dude hacking into a competent female leader's emails to try to bring her down is too much for me to bear in my pop culture right now. SO my afterlude this week is to watch this Cat/Kara fan vid, set to the song "Titanium."


 [Note: In November 2017, CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.]