‘Supergirl’ 2.07 Recap: “Show Yourself!”

There’s a lot going on again in this week’s ‘Supergirl’. Mon-El has been taken captive by Project Cadmus, J’onn continues to deal with the ill effects of his blood transfusion, and our girl Kara meets a familiar face from her past.

First up is more of the Guardian. James has been making the rounds in National City stopping bad guys. However, his latest crime-fighting effort has a much different end when another costumed person shows up and kills the robber that Guardian left for the police. Now everyone thinks Guardian is actually a vigilante murderer.

While flying over the city, Supergirl hears an audio message from the woman who runs Cadmus stating that she’s holding Mon-El hostage. When arriving at Cadmus headquarters, Supergirl is surprised to see J’onn waiting for her… but it’s not J’onn at all; it’s the original Hank Henshaw, who’s somehow still alive, as evil as ever, and super-strong. The two get into a fight. Supergirl hits Hank in the face and reveals an exoskeleton underneath. It seems that’s there’s far less of Hank Henshaw left than we thought. He now goes by the name “Cyborg Superman.”

With everyone thinking that Guardian is evil, Winn tries to get Alex to back off. Realizing that something is up, Alex threatens Winn until he confesses that James is actually Guardian. Alex then pressures Maggie into stopping the police pursuit of Guardian as well.

Supergirl is placed in a cell right next to Mon-El. The woman who runs Cadmus comes in and introduces herself to Kara as Lillian Luthor, Lana and Lex’s mother. She demands that Supergirl wear a special helmet and use her heat vision to drain her powers long enough that she’ll become no stronger than a human for a while. Supergirl resists, but relents when Lillian shoots Mon-El in the leg. (Lead poisoning is one of his race’s weaknesses, it seems.) Lillian wanted Supergirl weakened so she can take a sample of her blood, but why she needs it won’t be revealed until episode’s end.

J’onn continues to have problems after his blood transfusion. His hands occasionally shake and he’s been having visions of his wife and children from Mars. He even almost shoots a random DEO officer when he thinks he sees a White Martian. J’onn asks Alex to perform a blood test, which reveals something happening to his cells that she’s never seen before. J’onn knows what it is immediately and goes to confront M’gann. He tells her that he knows she’s a White Martian. The two get in a fight, but J’onn finally holds off, deciding instead to throw M’gann in a cell at the DEO.

After Winn discovers that the new costumed vigilante was targeting criminals who got away with murder, James figures out who the next victim will be and puts a stop to him. Maggie and Alex show up at just the right time to arrest the villain, while Guardian is allowed to leave and fight another day.

Both still weakened, Supergirl and Mon-El are rescued from their cells by a hooded figure. It’s Alex’s father, Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain). Kara heard that he might still be alive but hasn’t seen him since she was a child. He removes the bullet from Mon-El’s leg and helps the two of them escape, but insists on staying behind at Cadmus. As soon as Supergirl and Mon-El return to the DEO and tell Alex about Jeremiah’s whereabouts, she launches a full-scale assault on the building. Unfortunately, the facility is now empty, with no evidence that Cadmus had ever been there.

This week’s episode ends with a number of surprises. First, it becomes obvious at a gathering in Kara’s apartment that Mon-El is romantically interested in her. Maggie shows up to ask Alex if they can still be friends, though how far Maggie wants to take their friendship remains clouded. At the DEO, J’onn learns from M’gann that her blood is turning him into a White Martian. and there’s nothing he can do about it. Finally, Cyborg Superman arrives at the Fortress of Solitude with a vial of Kara’s blood. He pours the blood over his hand and then uses it to trick the computer there into thinking he’s Kara. Once he has access, he demands to know everything about “Project Medusa.”

The cliffhanger regarding Medusa seems to be a teaser for the four-series crossover event between ‘Supergirl’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Arrow’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ that will happen next week on The CW. (Episode 8 of ‘Supergirl’ is actually titled ‘Medusa’.) That will also be the last new ‘Supergirl’ episode of the year, after which the show goes on hiatus for the holidays until January. Hopefully, next week’s big event will be more than just a chance to see all of the CW’s heroes on each other’s shows and will actually give us a story worth spending four nights with.

6 comments

  1. Bryan

    I say it virtually every week, but I just love this show. It’s never going to win Emmy awards or critical accolades, but for my money, it’s one of the most entertaining shows on TV today. I’m still in awe of the pitch perfect casting of Melissa Benoist as Supergirl/Kara – I literally can’t picture anyone as Supergirl now other than her.

  2. I found the way this episode was directed really distracting and frustrating. It had way too many show-offy handheld shots with the camera circling all around the characters, and then whip-panning to the side during cross-cuts between scenes. It felt like the episode director was fresh out of film school, but looking at his IMDb page, he has a lot of TV credits.

  3. Guy

    They’ve already said the Supergirl episode isn’t part of the crossover in the same way The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow episodes are. As I’ve seen it characterized by the producers involved, it’s a three-part storyline with Kara visiting Earth-1 to make for a crossover of characters from four shows. Expect a normal Supergirl episode until Barry and Cisco pop over at the end of the episode to ask for her help.

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