Photo: CBS
Supergirl Recap-Episode Sixteen: “FALLING”
This week, Kara encounters a strange new substance that makes her act in a way that is very different than usual, red kryptonite. This has major ramifications for her relationships with the people around her and also feeds into some of the anger she has been feeling in the last few episodes. Here is episode sixteen, “Falling.”
Cat Grant, in the opening scene, has just been named number one in the National City Tribune’s annual “Power List.” During an interview on the daily talk show, “The Talk,” she talks about Supergirl, and how she is the kindest and the most selfless person she knows.
Kara, watching, is touched. Cat returns to CatCo, very pleased with how the interview went. Unable to find Winn, Kara offers to go find him and sets off. Hearing a suspicious thud in the supply closet, she wonders if Winn is there. Deciding to use her laser vision, she sees Winn and Siobhan and is horrified. They emerge and Winn is bashful. He tells Kara that he knows it’s wrong, but it just sort of happened. She is still clearly traumatized by the laser vision moment, telling him that she is never using anything from that supply closet again unless she has surgical gloves to get things with. Hearing Cat call for her, she tells Winn that he missed a shirt button and heads back to her job.
After meeting with Cat, Kara goes to talk to James, because Cat informed her that Lucy had quit and left the city. Since the last she heard, James was telling Lucy her secret identity, Kara is a little hurt that Lucy left on finding out that she is Supergirl. James tells her that no, Lucy broke up with him before he could tell her the truth. Kara feels guilty because James stood Lucy up when he went with her to the Fortress of Solitude. She apologizes, and tells James that she tried to talk to Lucy.
When he says that he knows she did, she immediately feels more guilt and asks if she said something wrong. He reassures her that no, she didn’t, but it was just something between Lucy and him. He’s clearly still thinking about his breakup and the conversation with Lucy about Kara, however, because he trips over his words a few times, ending by saying that maybe he didn’t love Lucy as much as he should have or thought he did. It looks like feelings are about to be shared and these two are about to admit to falling in love when Alex calls Kara and she has to go to the DEO.
At the DEO, Kara talks to her sister about James and Lucy’s breakup and Kara says that she feels guilty. Alex counters by saying that James said Kara was not the reason, so Kara should be feeling hope. However, Kara doesn’t want to be the rebound girl, though Alex points out that rebound relationships can work. She also tells her sister that Kara has to tell James how she feels or another Lucy Lane will get him.
Senator Crane from the episode, “Strange Visitor From Another Planet,” is at the DEO, with the news that she is getting the DEO additional funding to fight Non. She also says how much she appreciates the DEO, especially Hank for all that they do to keep the planet safe. Hank tries to shrug off the compliment that’s directed at him, but she tells him that it starts at the top. She’s glad that the person in charge of the DEO is someone who she and other leaders can trust, and someone who is consistent.
When a fire breaks out on a roof downtown and a fireman is trapped under a beam, Kara flies to the rescue. She grabs the beam and the rest of the team is able to pull the injured man to safety. However, Kara sees something else on the roof and when she goes to investigate, her face lights up with something red. It seems to quickly pass and she flies away, but the shot then reveals that there is red kryptonite on the roof.
The next day, Kara is clearly different, from her fashion to her attitude. She also manages to show up Siobhan, in a move that was very un-Kara like. She’s getting a lot of attention, Cat gives her tickets to a club, and Siobhan is clearly upset at the ways things are going. Kara seems to be falling into some very unKara-like behaviour patterns, and no one is sure what to make of it.
Back at the DEO, it turns out that two aliens are taking out armored cars, with all the gold taken, using an alien as their thug. Hank tells his team that they’ll be fine, though, because they have Supergirl.
Unfortunately, Supergirl is a bit different from herself, not actively paying attention in briefings and making references to the other alien at the DEO, which could hurt Hank later, as his identity is a secret. However, she goes with the team and when the next truck is attacked, Alex and her team take care of the truck while Supergirl goes after the alien.
After a very brief fight, Supergirl lets him go, telling the criminal that he isn’t worth the time it would take to kill him. Alex and Hank are surprised at this, and Hank reminds her that their job it to catch criminals, not let them go. Kara blows up, saying that Hank is just as strong as she is, but every Kryptonian on the planet, except for Superman, is actively trying to kill her.
Asking Hank what he is so afraid of, she mocks him for talking about honoring his people, but hiding his true identity. She leaves, reminding Hank and Alex that she has work in the morning, calling it “another job that under-appreciates me.”
The next day at work, Kara has fallen even further off of her regular path, even using Cat’s personal elevator. Cat is annoyed but tells her that brazen is a new color on Kara and she doesn’t hate it (yet). However, Siobhan has footage of Supergirl letting the thug go and brings it to Cat, hoping that CatCo can be the first to report that Supergirl is falling prey to her dark side. Cat wants to take a bit of time to see what is happening, not wanting to believe that Supergirl could be evil.
Meanwhile, Alex has managed to catch the thug, who tells Alex and Hank the truth about what happened. Alex and Hank don’t want to believe it, but you can tell that they are thinking it might be valid, based on their last conversation with Kara.
Back at CatCo, Kara catches Siobhan trying to send the video footage of Supergirl to Perry White at the Daily Planet, Cat’s biggest competition. Deleting the email, Kara gives a copy to Kat who fires Siobhan for trying to sell a story to the competition. Cat also called the Daily Planet and talked to Perry White, meaning that there is no job there for Siobhan.
When Siobhan leaves, Kara does not try to hide her glee, inviting “her boys,” Winn and James, out dancing at a fancy club. Winn is waiting for Siobhan to text him back while the boys are waiting for Kara; poor Winn cannot catch a break! Kara shows up, dressed to the nines, and grabs James for a dance. I guess I can call him Jimmy now, right? He dances with Kara, who is being very being very mean about Lucy and very forward with him. He and Winn are both getting more surprised as Kara is acting less and less like herself, and finally realize that something is wrong.
Cat calls James and tells him that she needs to talk to Supergirl. When Supergirl shows up, Cat asks her if the alien release was just a stunt. Kara tells her that Cat has been portraying her as a girl scout, but everyone has a dark side. When Cat points out that Supergirl doesn’t get to be a person; as a superhero she represents goodness in the world, Supergirl decides that she is quitting.
When Cat tries to talk her down, things escalate quickly. Cat tells her to lay low because Supergirl’s haughty attitude is not appropriate. Kara shoots back that she learned from the best, and calls Cat the most arrogant and self-serving person she knows. Cat reminds her that she made Supergirl, and she cannot and will not let her, Cat, down.
Supergirl takes it as a challenge, however. She reminds Cat that people call her the most powerful person in National City. However, she tells Cat that real power is deciding who lives or dies. This object lesson is really hammered home when Kara throws Cat from a balcony, catching her just in time to prevent her death while horrified citizens look on. Seriously, Cat was falling down from her private balcony at CatCo. That’s a lot of falling!
Winn and Jimmy go to the DEO to tell Hank and Alex that something is wrong with Kara, and the two admit that they had thought something was up. Looking through the log of Supergirl’s previous missions, they realize that there was kryptonite on the roof. However, it’s man-made, so it’s not affecting her cells; it’s just causing erratic behavior. When Winn wonders who could have done this, a familiar voice admits that it was his bad. Yup, Max Lord, everyone’s favorite genius that we also hate, is back!
He is promptly arrested, and when questioned, it turns out that his purpose had been to kill Non with the kryptonite, by placing it on a satellite. This crashed down and started the fire Supergirl went to help at. When the discussion turned to the fire, he swears that that was an accident. He hadn’t meant to put firefights or other citizens in danger, and he also swears that he never meant to hurt Supergirl; he was after the other guys.
He hadn’t realized that it would affect Supergirl that way; he started tracking her as soon as he realized she’d been exposed. When she let the alien go, he was a little confused, but when she threw Cat off a building, he went to the DEO to offer to help. Since he made the red kryptonite, he figures, he can make the antidote.
He apologizes to Alex for putting her sister in danger and points out that he did come in to make it right. Alex tells him that he better hope he can fix it because now Supergirl is the monster he was afraid she could be.
Back at CatCo, Cat is getting ready to denounce Supergirl to the city. Jimmy and Winn try to talk her out of it, saying that Supergirl still needs people’s trust for when she is back to normal, but Cat reminds them that Supergirl threw her off of a balcony and people need to be warned. She goes online and warns the citizens to stay away from Supergirl, something that clearly hurts her to do (since she has supported Supergirl from the beginning).
Alex goes to see Kara, and Kara is antagonistic toward her, telling her that Alex has kept her down all these years and is just jealous of Kara. Burning all of her old clothes, Kara tells Alex that she feels more like herself than ever. When Alex says that she’s proud of her for all she does, Kara shoots back that now she works for Alex, so her sister still controls her life. Now, however, she is free. Heading out into the city, she reminds Alex that they aren’t really sisters, and Alex killed her aunt (so she must hate Kara).
Back at the DEO, a visibly shaken Alex asked Max if the antidote is ready. It almost is, but Alex is concerned now not just for Kara, but about what Kara can do. Senator Crane reminds Hank and Alex that the DEO’s job is to take out aliens who are a threat to the security of Earth, and that, although Supergirl saved her life, this is not the Supergirl that they all know and love. This alien is dangerous.
They realize that she is right, and move out against Supergirl. Max has figured out how to reverse the effects of red kryptonite, and, loading it into a gun, hands it to Alex. He wishes her luck, and Alex sets off to save her sister. Kara, meanwhile, is at a bar watching Cat’s broadcast. Being bored, she starts to shoot peanuts at the bottles, causing chaos. Next, she flies through a TV monitor and begins to use her laser vision to rain down destruction on National City.
The DEO arrives and Alex tries to take aim with the gun from Max, but Supergirl is fast and in the flurry of action, Alex is wounded. Supergirl, angry at Alex for spoiling her fun and for being part of the DEO team that is trying to bring her down, is preparing to blast her sister with her laser eyes.
Hank, who Kara had thrown into a telephone pole seconds earlier, realizes that his “daughter” is in danger and that the only being in National City who could take down Supergirl is J’onn J’onzz. Risking everything to save the planet and city he loves, he transforms into his true self.
Hank is able to neutralize the threat of Supergirl by throwing her into the sidewalk. While Supergirl is distracted and disoriented after falling, Alex is able to use the special gun Max made her and hits Kara. This reverses the effects of the red kryptonite, and Alex runs to her sister. Meanwhile, Hank has been seen by his highly trained DEO teams to be an alien capable of fighting Supergirl.
Although Alex encourages him to flee, he turns himself in. I imagine he’s a little proud of his team in that moment, even though he’s being arrested. Kara wakes up at the DEO and asks her sister if she killed anyone, and sees her sister’s broken arm. When Alex tries to reassure her by telling her that broken bones heal, Kara breaks down and sobs. She remembers, and is ashamed because she acted on every horrible thought that she has ever had and was an all-around awful person.
She apologizes for everything she said, and Alex reminds her that they’re sisters and she will always love her. She also admits that there might be some truth to what Dark Kara said, but says that they’re family, so they can work on it.
Meanwhile, J’onn J’onzz is in a cell, where Senator Crane is interrogating him. She told him that she used to be afraid of aliens, but he changed her mind. Now, she knows that everything he told her is a lie because he is a deadly alien. Later on, Alex asks him why he ran because he could have gotten away. He tells her that he would spend a thousand years in that cell to keep “his girls” safe.
Back at CatCo, Kara sees the maintenance team removing Siobhan’s desk, which reminds her of the other apologies that she has to make. First, on the list is Jimmy, who, although he understands that it wasn’t Kara who said those things, points out that all the angry words she said and all the hurtful things she did, were inside of her true self. When Kara says that she was just jealous of Lucy, and tries to tell him how she feels, Jimmy stops her. He needs some time.
That night, Cat is joined on the CatCo balcony by Supergirl, who tells her how much she loves the city and wishes she could take back what she did. She knows she can’t, but it kills her that everyone is afraid of her now.
Cat is remarkably calm for a woman who is talking to the person who threw her off a balcony, and tells her that it will be hard to win back National City, but not impossible. It’ll take time, but if anyone can do it, it’s Supergirl. The show ends with Cat and Supergirl, sitting on the balcony outside of Cat’s office, watching the city. I’m starting to think that somehow Cat totally knows Supergirl’s secret identity, and she’s just keeping it under wraps.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I haven’t seen many episodes of anything that deal with red kryptonite, but I really enjoyed this episode. Kara’s struggle and anger made sense, and I’m sure that Dark Kara was a lot of fun for Melissa Benoit to play. Her lines were pretty consistently funny, except when they made you hate Supergirl. I also love seeing Max Lord in episodes, because he is a fun (though psychotic) presence and he and Alex play so well off of each other. And anytime Cat Grant is sincere and not just drippingly sarcastic is always a delight to watch. The twist with Hank was also fabulous, and I didn’t see it coming. I mean, there were hints that he was going to reveal himself, but it wasn’t really obvious. Overall, however, this was a really fun episode.
CAT GRANT-ISMS
“She’s an idea, and she’s inspiring us to be our best selves.”
“Supergirl, I fear that you are having some sort of mental breakdown. Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.”
“God knows I hate a generic sports metaphor, but that interview was a touchdown. A home run. Whatever you call it when you do something good in hockey. Where’s my computer droid?”
“Now, personally, I don’t believe in failure. Not if you get up and face the music.”
What did you think of the episode “Falling?”
How does it compare with other Red Kryptonite plots you’ve seen in other shows?
Photo Credits: CBS
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