Yahoo News Supergirl Recap: J’onn Is Interrogated In ‘Manhunter’
Ahead of the big Flash-Supergirl crossover, this week’s Supergirl finds itself at a slower pace and delivers a flashback heavy episode designed to fill in the blanks.
Last week’s episode saw National City’s favourite hero infected with red Kryptonite and causing a riot all over the city. Because of her actions, Supergirl is on the news being called out as a threat to the city. The news is also reporting about J’onn’s identity and most of the episode spends time fleshing out the meaning of his reveal and what’s next.
Kara’s personal day from work is interrupted when Lucy Lane and Colonel Jim Harper turn up as part of a Government military task force to investigate the DEO. Jim is particularly upset by J’onn’s reveal because he was Hank Henshaw’s best friend, so he feels deceived by the idea that he’s welcomed an ‘alien’into his home. As Lucy and Jim want to know what happened to the real Hank (and it’s about time that we did too!), they take him to an interrogation room.
We’re then taken back 10 years to meet the the man himself, as he’s putting together an mission to track down an alien life form living in the Andes, South America. The real Hank is more bloodthirsty and ruthless and David Harewood does a good job in separating his two characters. Kara and Alex’ dad Jeremiah Danvers is on the mission too, though he’s sceptical over whether they should be hunting down the alien in the first place. When he’s out in the forest alone, he finds J’onn and forms an unlikely bond, telling the alien about his daughters and how proud he is to have them. In the present, J’onn swears he didn’t kill Jeremiah – it turns out a series of events led to his death. Hank’s desire to hunt down the alien forces him to shoot J’onn. Defending his new friend, Jeremiah throws Hank off the edge of the cliff, but Hank’s already stabbed him, and he dies. In the present, J’onn swears to Lucy and Jim that he’s done nothing but good by adopting Hank Henshaw’s identity because the real Hank was a bad man.
Lucy then takes Alex into the interrogation room and wires her up to a lie detector. She explains how J’onn saved her life, leading in to a flashback three years ago to a drunk Alex parting hard. When she’s arrested for drunken disorderly, J'onn visits her in prison, where he explains that he knows exactly who her sister is and could use Alex’s professional brilliance at the DEO.
Meanwhile, Kara can’t stand the fact that no-one trusts J'onn so she comes up with a plan. She asks James to help her to get Lucy to come to her apartment, and ends up telling her that she’s Supergirl, hoping it would strike a nerve. Another flashback shows a young Kara at a beach party with Alex, struggling to decide whether or not she should use her powers for good; there’s a young woman and a baby stuck in an overturned car on a nearby road. Compelled to help, Kara ends up exposing her powers in front of her fellow students, and Alex is injured when the car catches fire as she tries to stop Kara. As a result, her dad makes her glasses lined with lead, designed to suppress her vision so she can fit in. Then, we’re taken back to two years ago where Kara is at CatCo for her interview. Cat immediately writes her off, saying she’s just another wannabe assistant, though Kara quickly impresses her future boss by using her powers, explaining that she wants to make a difference in the world. In the present, Kara and James appeal to Lucy’s human nature in an attempt to try and free Alex and J'onn.
Thankfully, Lucy agrees so she and Supergirl jump on motorcycles to run down the military truck that’s transporting Alex and J'onn. He ends up wiping Jim memory of the incident, but discovers in his mind that Jeremiah Danvers is still alive at the governmental programme Project Cadmus. Alex, who’s now a fugitive, is forced to go on the run with J'onn and tells Kara that she’s going to find their dad. Lucy is made the new acting director of the DEO thanks to J'onn, who used his powers to make Jim resign and name Lucy the new head.
Other points:
Siobhan tries to get Kara fired, but ends up being fired herself. In the final moments of the episode, she jumps off a building but is miraciously saved by her screams. What is she?
Project Cadmus is governmental-run a genetic engineering facility that treats aliens like lab rats.
More on Supergirl:
Supergirl Recap: Kara Is Infected In ‘Falling’
Supergirl Recap: It’s Time To Visit The Fortress In ‘Solitude’
Supergirl Recap: James Questions Kara’s Motives In ‘Truth, Justice And The American Way’
