It’s safe to say that this week’s Supergirl episode was focused on Lena Luthor because her past and the people connected to her was the focal point of Supergirl season 2 episode 18. In addition, it also detailed Kara’s friendship with Lena and her journey back to being a CatCo reporter. Here is a recap of what happened on this Supergirl episode.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
Baddie of the week
This week’s episode started very non-typically since at the very beginning J’onn along with Alex and Winn announced that there is no crime for Supergirl to fight. But, of course, it wouldn’t be a Supergirl episode if Kara didn’t find some trouble to get into.
Soon enough Kara found herself sitting in a presentation, given by Lena’s ex-boyfriend Jack Spheer. Which lead her to meet up with a man who promised to have crucial information on Jack’s new invention or rather why it is not ready to launch. But before Kara could find out more, the witness was blown up. Same happened with Snapper Carr’s source, who also claimed that there were no actual human trials conducted with this new medicine. So, of course, Kara went with her journalist’s gut and decided to investigate. Which lead to an unexpected discovery.
It looked like Lena’s ex was behind the two murders. But not everything is as it looks because it turned out that Jack’s company’s CFO Beth Breen was behind all of it. Since Jack had injected himself with the nanobots, he became vulnerable to outside manipulation. And Beth did just that. She took control of Jack’s body and mind and made him kill Kara and Snapper’s sources. And she also made Jack kill Lena, once Kara told Lena about her discovery and Lena went to confront Jack.
Luckily, Lena, with the help of Supergirl, was able to stop Beth and therefore stop mind-controlled Jack from killing her. But it came at a price. Jack died once Lena executed the system override leaving Lena devastated. Lately, it seems like Supergirl has become more imaginative and intricate with their villains, which is a great sign that the show is growing and ready to wow audiences with new material episode after episode.
Lena
Speaking of Lena, this truly was an episode for Lena to shine. And there are a couple of reasons why I can confidently say that.
Firstly, in Supergirl season 2 episode 18, we got to know a little more about Lena’s past. In previous episodes, we already learned about how she was adopted and became a part of the Luthor family. But this episode highlighted Lena outside her family’s scope. It showed us who Lena was right before she came to National City. And it was great to see, especially, since we know that Katie McGrath will be a much more permanent figure on next season of Supergirl because she was promoted to series regular for Supergirl season 3.
Secondly, this Supergirl episode also showed us a different side of Lena. Previously, we have been treated to strong, independent, business woman Lena, with just a smidge of her more emotional side. Whereas in this episode we got to see a softer side of Lena as well. We saw her interact with her ex and later mourn his death, which truly showcased how complex Lena’s character really is.
And thirdly, we also saw a glimpse of how Lena possibly will factor in the story that will be unfolding over the last few Supergirl season 2 episodes. At the very end of this episode, we saw Mon-El’s ruthless mother Rhea visiting Lena and telling her that they would make good allies. So we were left to wonder if by the end of this season Lena will indeed join the baddie team. Or maybe she will surprise us all and will be an integral part of beating the big bad of season 2. Time will only tell.
Unemployed no more
We all remember how in episode 15 Kara sacrificed her job as a reporter to warn all aliens about Cadmus. Which means that for a couple of episodes she was unemployed. But no more, because in Supergirl season 2 episode 18 Kara got her job back and is back to reporting for CatCo.
At first, it seemed like Kara wasn’t really bothered by the fact that she didn’t have a job since her hands were full with Supergirl-related duties. However, this episode showed, that Kara might not be as at peace with her current employment situation as we thought. Which, of course, made sense, since her journalism career was as important to Kara as being Supergirl. Fortunately, a lucky set of circumstances and an apology helped her earn her CatCo spot back.
So starting next episode we will see Kara back to juggling being Supergirl, working as a reporter and her relationship with Mon-El. And just in time too, since Cat Grant will be back in National City for the last two Supergirl episodes, and I don’t think she would be impressed to see that her protégé had flunked out and is unemployed.
Last thoughts Supergirl season 2 episode 18
I also liked how all the Lena and Kara scenes were balanced by scenes with James, Winn, and Lyra. The three of them make quite a team and I love seeing Winn happy and in love. However, I can’t help but think that they are trying to recreate the last season dynamic between Kara, Winn, and James by replacing Kara with Lyra. So I hope that if it is so, they would stop because that original trio dynamic will probably be impossible to embody, no matter how hard they try.
Episode highlights:
• Lena and Kara’s relationship this Supergirl episode
• Kara grief-baking
• Rahul Kohli as Jack Spheer
• Kara standing up to Snapper Carr during the conference
• Winn wanting Lyra to work with The Guardian
• Kara asking James for help
• Lena and Jack’s relationship
• Kara and Mon-El crashing Lena’s date and then breaking into Jack’s office
• Jack not being the killer
• Kara checking up on Lena
• James asking Lyra to be back on their team
• Snapper giving Kara a byline and her job back
• Rhea visiting Lena
Episode low points:
• Lyra going crazy about Winn not wanting her to work with James
• Lena having to kill Jack to save herself and Supergirl
Quote of the episode:
Lyra: “Now, what this about cat stuck up in a tree? I’m starving.”
James: “She’s kidding, right?”
Winn: “You know, I am not sure.