Recap: Supergirl 1.14 "Truth, Justice, and The American Way"

"Truth, Justice, and The American Way" begins with Kara dealing with the aftermath of Astra's death. Non comes to her and asks if she'll give Astra her funeral rites, which she does. Afterwards, she has an undercurrent of tension with Hank, who she thinks killed Astra. Alex also seems angsty, clearly uncomfortable with letting Kara believe this lie.

Speaking of Alex angst, the "Alex's Ex" DEO agent is back, and sporting a sharp new haircut:

Hey girl!

Hank explains that a Fort Rozz prisoner has escaped and so he sends the agents to retrieve him. When they reach the warehouse where the prisoner is hiding, I notice something important. All of the agents except for Alex are wearing helmets, because ...... um?  Is this like the human version of how Supergirl wears her hair down, instead of in a ponytail, while fighting because complying with conventional standards of femininity trumps safety and practicality?

Why oh why?? Alex is a badass and she has a very nice face. I don't want anything to happen to her. In fact, I want Supergirl's writers, showrunners, producers, and fans in general to form a protective circle around Alex Danvers because for the love of all that is Tara if they even bury this gay I just can't even.

No helmet!

However, things end okay for Alex. For the alien, not so much. He is mysteriously abducted by another alien before the DEO can retrieve him. Hmmmm.

Moving on, we later meet the Cordelia of Supergirl - Siobhan Smythe. Cat hired Siobhan to be another assistant and, immediately, Kara and Siobhan begin a Devil Wears Prada showdown in which they compete for Cat's affections. I mean, to be Cat's number one assistant. Here, I love how Kara is falling down on her job but instead of getting fired, Cat just hires another assistant. That seems fine. (Actually, this fits into my theory that Cat secretly knows that Kara is Supergirl, and she hires Siobhan so Kara can keep her CatCo job while still doing the hero side-gig. Yes? Yes. That settles it.)

Siobhan also gives Kara a hard time about how she's so obviously into James Olson. Kara gets annoyed, and geeeez, ladies. Kiss it out, already (Sorry not sorry, I had two margaritas at lunch before writing this over the weekend). Inhibitions officially lowered.

Women who long, love, lust

At CatCo, James accidentally lets Lucy know that he's close to Supergirl. We catch a brief moment of Superman/James subtext when Lucy asks James, "Are you as close to her as you are with him?" When he doesn't answer, she responds, "Fool me once," and then storms out of the room. Mmm-hmmm, just as I suspected. Go get your man, James!


Meanwhile, James lets Kara know that he disagrees with the DEO holding Max Lord in the bad human jail without due process. And, as much as I dislike Max, I agree with James. Even the DEO, even Supergirl, have to be accountable to something - in this case the justice system. It is a scary thing to just trust that people with enormous power will just do their right thing on their own.

Speaking of vigilantism, the DEO figures out that a former Fort Rozz guard has been abducting aliens and executing them on his own. There is a brief moment where Alex is shot and oh god it's happening! But wait no! She was wearing a bulletproof vest. Phew! BUT, this guy has captured Supergirl, ostensibly to kill her (and another rando alien). Without due process. So, it all comes full circle. Nothing makes a person appreciate the value of due process when your own ass is on the line.

Alex the Badass ultimately rescues Supergirl. Then, convinced that it's immoral to hold Max without due process, she and the DEO release Max from jail. To end, Supergirl is still upset that Hank killed Astra and says she doesn't know how she can continue to work alongside him. So, that throws a wrench into the Daddy J'onn/Kara relationship. Will this secret come between the Danvers sisters? Time will tell, my friends. Time. will. tell.

Deep Thought of the Day: Every so often, we get references to Kara and Alex binge watching TV together. I sometimes wish I could join them. They have good taste, as here are some of the shows they've referenced: The Wire, Call the Midwife, and Homeland.

It also turns out that I'm suddenly longing for a Supergirl/SVU crossover featuring Olivia Benson and Alex Danvers. Ahem.  It is the Trump era and we deserve this, TV People.


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