Recap: SUPERGIRL Throws Some Heavy Metal

Episode 202 “The Last Children of Krypton”
Written by Robert Rovner & Caitlin Parrish
Directed by Glen Winter

The soft reboot concludes this week with our intrepid heroes being heroes in a fun never-before-seen team-up that may (or may not) ever happen again, as the two “Children of Krypton” go about National City putting out fires, stopping bank robbers, and capturing dangerous aliens…

“Does this ever get old?” ~ Kara

“If it does, I’ll let you know.” ~ Kal

… all that’s missing is the rescue of a cat stuck in a tree. #toomuchfun, indeed.

This episode has to serve several purposes, and it does so with a pretty seamless blend between the plot threads:

• Clark has to go back to Metropolis
• Cat has to leave on her new adventure
• Snapper has to enter as Kara’s new boss
• Metallo and Cadmus become the new villains
• Kara has to move in a new career direction

Kara (Melissa Benoist) has to put on her big girl pants and adjust to the different changes going on in her life, and that’s the through-line for the weaving of plot threads as she moves forward with her life. Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) decides that even though it’s been fun teaming up with his cousin, he needs to get back to Metropolis.

Cat also decides to leave on her next adventure, taking her own advice from last episode. “I need to dive.” That gives us our exit point for Calista Flockhart, of course, but it also introduces a new dynamic to the show with the entrance of Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez) as Kara’s new boss. And it properly addresses concerns that Kara just “chooses” to be a reporter. Snapper rightly gets in Kara’s face about the path to being a reporter — either by going to journalism school or walking a beat, neither of which Kara’s done.

It also gives us one final bit between Cat and Kara, confirming without confirming that Cat has just been playing along with the whole disguise thing. Cat never comes out and says it, but there have been plenty of one-off lines of dialogue in these two episodes that all but throw it out there that she knows, but is just playing along with the charade.

And it gives us an introduction to Kara’s new boss, Snapper Carr, who’s not very impressed with “Ponytail” at all. In fact, he gives voice to the same reaction a lot of regular people probably had when Kara just “chose” to be a reporter — that kind of thing takes training, hard work, a willingness to pay your dues. It speaks to that sense of entitlement a lot of young people have today, and it’s good that Snapper gets to pop off about it.

By the way, have I told you about my lawn lately? Listen to our podcasts…

The main thrust of the episode revolves around John Corben (Frederick Schmidt), now known as Metallo, and the threat he poses to Superman and Supergirl. Fueled by a heart of kryptonite, Corben rampages through National City after being given a second chance at life by the mysterious organization known as Cadmus.

Cadmus comes out by hacking the communications grid and calling out the Kryptonians as a threat to Earth. Very much like Zod’s message to Earth in Man of Steel, it’s meant to paint the aliens as the threat. But, as Kara says, “How could you not like Superman? He’s… Superman.” And …. hold up a minute.

Remember last season when Colonel James Harper, United States Marine Corps, showed up to investigate J’onn J’onzz pretending to be a government agent? When Project Cadmus was identified as a government operation? Remember, Jimmy said, “It’s a genetic engineering facility that treats aliens as lab rats.” Cadmus is the reason Superman won’t work with the government.

So why, all of a sudden, is Cadmus a rogue terrorist hacker organization?

Why hasn’t anyone made that connection yet? Why didn’t Clark react to the global message on everyone’s TV? Why didn’t Jimmy (Mehcad Brooks) say something when he was in the middle of moving into Cat’s office?

It’s also odd to get two Metallos in this episode, although only the second one gets his kryptonite heart ripped out by the Martian Manhunter during the final knock-down, drag-out fight on Clark’s home turf. So that probably means Corben will stick around as the one remaining Metallo, and at some point he’ll escape to threaten Supergirl and Superman another day.

Assuming DC lets the show have Superman for more episodes…

 

Clark has his “I told you so” moment when Metallo shows up with a heart of kryptonite, and he confronts J’onn about it at the DEO. Reluctantly, J’onn admits a shipment of the mineral went missing, and Clark figures there’s a mole in the organization. Alex ferrets him out, but almost at the expense of her own life. It’s only a last-minute save by Supergirl that gets her out of it, and also gives Kara the insight that they need to form teams to defeat Metallo 1 and Metallo 2.

But consider that J’onn has a perfectly good reason for keeping kryptonite: “Because Mars is a crypt.” He’s seen what an angry godlike being can do to a planet. Mars was decimated, and he feels a sense of obligation to make sure his adopted homeworld doesn’t suffer the same fate. He even points out that the threat from Clark’s fellow Kryptonians — remember, he fell vicitm to Myriad’s signal, too — would have been far more difficult without kryptonite.

In the end, they bury the hatchet, with J’onn giving Clark the rest of the green k, but where does Clark put it? Maybe he hands it off to a friend. You know, someone who can keep it safe in a … cave or something…

 

 

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8/7c on the CW.