Supergirl’s latest season kicked off with a burst of anti-alien sentiment that grew to a full blown crisis following President Dresdin’s outing as an alien. With new foe Agent Liberty stoking the public’s fear and paranoia, Supergirl’s time to prove her altruistic view of society is dwindling. Luckily, there is still time before the country becomes permanently fractured.
Barney
A post-Dresdin National City is coming apart at the seams. Political divides begin to emerge as Dresdin announces her resignation, including within the DEO. Jensen expresses anti-alien sentiments before Alex reminds him of their peacekeeping task.
In an effort to improve morale and blood sugar levels, Brainy offers to buy pizza for the office and whisks away to his regular pizza joint. As he waits for his order, a rattled Nia enters on the hunt for an espresso. Brainy’s image inducer suddenly fails while settling up with the owner, exposing him as an alien and provoking the pizzeria owner to take a swing at him with a baseball bat. Brainy dodges the attack as Nia comes to his defense, promising that she will cover the event for CatCo. A shaken Brainy makes a hasty exit with his order, but not before being formally introduced to Nia.
Back at the DEO, Brainy unpacks the experience with Alex. His surprise at the owner’s reaction despite knowing him leads to an unexpected amount of pain as a result.
Blast Doors and Broom Closets
It turns out that the failure of Brainy’s image inducer is a result of Mercy hacking into the product’s code. The hack reveals all users of the LCorp tech. Lena, who is with Kara at the time of the attack, corrects the damage and locks Mercy out of the mainframe. That effort doesn’t hold up long as Mercy breaks into LCorp, taking control of the company’s mainframe from the inside.
Kara’s attempts to change into her Supergirl costume are comically thwarted by Lena as she implores her she’ll be safer by her side. This doesn’t stop Kara from using her powers inconspicuously to aid the group’s escape. Lena and Mercy eventually arm themselves with pieces of Lex Luthor’s armored suit and fight long enough for Kara to don her cape. She quickly subdues Lex’s former head of security.
“Ignorance is Our Enemy”
The ideological chaos is clearly getting to Nia, who asks James if he will write an editorial to firmly establish where CatCo stands on the anti-alien issue. James isn’t keen on the idea as he tries to navigate the cultural minefield. Nia later strengthens her argument to James by coming out as transgender. She likens her struggles for cultural acceptance and visibility to that of Earth’s alien population. James appears more moved by Nia’s vulnerability and experience, but still says no to the editorial for fear of CatCo being viewed as a biased publication.
Tensions continue to infiltrate even the most safe of environments when an anti-alien motivated prank occurs within the CatCo offices. James finally takes a stand, ridiculing the guilty employee and affirming the inclusive culture within the CatCo walls. He stresses that they must understand that “ignorance is our enemy, not each other,” eliciting a smile from Nia.
Earth First!
J’onn’s continued search for Fiona leads him to a police officer named Dean Petrozelli. It appears that Fiona was looking into him before her disappearance, and for good reason. J’onn approaches Dean at a bar just as he exclaims his dissatisfaction with Earth’s alien population. J’onn follows Dean to an Earth First rally being held by Agent Liberty. J’onn stands among the crowd as the masked man states his desire for the audience to feel fear, believing it will motivate them to action.
As the rally occurs, Jensen frees the Graves siblings from the DEO. As Alex realizes what has happened, Mercy uses a dispersal mechanism to release Kryptonite into the air. The element immediately affects a flying Supergirl, causing her to plummet toward National City.
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