Recap: Supergirl 1.20 "Better Angels"

At the end of the previous episode, Non had put Alex under the Myriad trance, suited her up in a kryptonite outfit, and sent her to kill Supergirl.

We pick up the action right when the Danvers sisters begin to fight. Alex somewhat easily gets the upper hand, but during the fight, I kept wondering how the trance might be broken. Would Supergirl give her a Xander-crayon-breaky speech and, if so, what would it entail?

Also, to go back to my roots as a fashion critic for Vogue, I kept wondering if Dark Alex's all-black outfit was a nod to Dark Willow's outfit in said crayon-breaky-speech scene, albeit with 99% fewer face veins. Fake News Alert: I was never a fashion critic for Vogue. But still, resemblance?

Dark Apocalypse Willow

Versus:

Dark Apocalypse Alex

Whatever the case, woof! I love a Dark Female Protagonist.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Alex has a sword poised to kill Supergirl, but Hank swoops in with Eliza, Alex's mom, in tow. She gives Alex an inspiring speech along the lines of, "Remember, STRONGER TOGETHER, ALEX? You are the strong one!" And, it works. The trance is broken and Alex is free. So, that answers my first question.

Now that that dilemma is solved, Cat has in the meantime hatched a plan to use an old TV station to broadcast Supergirl giving an inspiring message of hope to the people. This plan is the alternative to Max's plan that would kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people.  Basically, she talks about how when she landed on Earth, she felt alone, but the people of National City helped her see how much love exists in the world. And now, she needs them to know that they can all be heroes if they choose to be, because she needs their help and oh god, it's just like President Obama's farewell address all over again. *cries forever*

'You have to hope!"

And, the inspiring speech works. The trance is broken and the humans are no longer brainwashed.

Once Non and Indigo realize Myriad has been defeated, they vow to leave Earth to go lord their dominion elsewhere. But first, they want to destroy Earth, so they begin amplifying Myriad (what? how?).

Max explains that, basically, the Myriad signal will cause everyone's head to literally explode in a matter of hours and that they need to find where it's being broadcast from. He also secretly tells Supergirl that she'll probably die trying to save the world, since both J'onn and Superman are down for the count and she'll be on her own. (PS - Superman is lying on a slab at the DEO and we only see his boots. I'm not sure what's up with him. *shrug*)

So, Kara goes to CatCo and says her "goodbyes" to Winn, Cat, and James, while trying not to let them know she may die soon. She also pre-emptively breaks up with James before they even get together. Fun Times! She then tells Hank that she has accepted her fate and can I just say here that I feel like everyone's getting ahead of themselves? Why would they just assume this is like the one mission that would kill Supergirl? What about all that "you have to have hope" business? ANYWAY, she and Papa Hank have a touching "final" moment.

Welp. looks like this is the end.

Max and the DEO figure out that the Myriad signal is coming from Fort Rozz. So, Supergirl and J'onn go to move it. J'onn ends up going with her, even though he's still hurt, which seems bad, very bad, in a Bruce-Willis-at-the-end-of-Armageddon sort of way. When they get there, they have a seriously-dramatic fight with Non and Indigo that involves J'onn ripping Indigo in half and Supergirl winning an epic laser eye battle with Non.

Supergirl then phones Alex (for real, is there an earpiece? What did I miss?) and says she has to fly Fort Rozz into space. Alex tells her that she'll die in space, but Supergirl says she accepts that fate. There is sister-crying, and then Supergirl goes, and it looks like this.

The Gift

Wait no, I'm kidding. And, I'm sure there is something serious to say about female heroes who willingly sacrifice their lives for humanity. There's also maybe something to say when these same heroes then come back, and why. But before I can deconstruct that, Alex is suddenly in a spaceship rescuing Supergirl from outer space. Actually, she's flying the pod that brought Supergirl to Earth.

.....Oh?

Now, I've watched a lot of space flight documentaries as well as the film Hidden Figures and logistically, physically, and mathematically I just really don't think.... oh what the hell, I can roll with this. The truth is, I love the Alex/Kara sister bond. Of course Alex Danvers had secretly been learning to fly the pod. It might come in handy one day, you just never know!

And Alex's line, "You saved the world. And then I saved you." Isn't that Stronger Together, in a perfect little nutshell? All of us, even the greatest of superheroes, need allies.

To end, James gives Kara a promotion at work, and Cat kisses her. Wait, reverse that. That's what happened.


Deep Thought of the Week: Has Season 1 ended so soon? Now what? Move on to Season 2? Recap a new show? Watch fan videos foreverrr?

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