Violet recaps the third episode of Supergirl, where Kara faces her toughest villain yet — Reactron! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Supergirl episode recap for Fight or Flight? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Supergirl episode, Fight or Flight, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of Supergirl Season 1 Episode 3: Fight or Flight
This episode picks up where the last episode left off, with Cat Grant’s interview with Supergirl. She asks her where she’s from, what her powers are, and where she’s been. Kara lets it slip that Superman is her cousin, and flies away, ending the interview.
The next day, Kara meets Alex for breakfast, and James happens to be at the restaurant as well. After he leaves for the office, Alex guesses that Kara likes James. Alex tells Kara that she needs to stop telling people who she is. Just then, they see the news report that Supergirl and Superman are related.
At work, Cat is pleased with her scoop. Cat tells Kara that she is going to write an expose on Supergirl. She asks Kara to put together a launch party.
Meanwhile, a supervillain suits up as he sees the news report.
At the DEO, Hank Henshaw is upset at Kara for giving the interview. The DEO team finds a freeway accident, and Kara flies off to help. Kara rescues a bus driver from an overturned bus. Just then, the supervillain we saw earlier flies in. He says he wants the Man of Steel to suffer and know what it feels like to lose everything, starting with her. He shoots some fire power at her, but Kara fights back. She uses a car door as a shield, then throws it at him. It seems that this disables his weapon, so he flies away.
Back at the DEO, we find out that this villain has been previously dubbed Reactron — by James Olsen. Kara asks how they stop him. Hank says they don’t. He’s human, so it falls out of the DEO’s jurisdiction. Hank tells her to call her cousin to help.
At work, Cat is having trouble getting started on her article, and blames it on the vent. Kara says she’ll get maintenance to look at it. Winn takes Kara and James to Ed Flaherty’s old office. It seems he has set up a tech base there. He has set up an algorithm to find Reactron. James advises Kara to call her cousin, telling her that he nearly killed Clark once. Winn is surprised to hear that Clark Kent is Superman. However, Kara says she wants to be defined by her own victories and losses.
Reactron drops into Lord Technologies saying that he’s looking for someone with a background in nuclear fission. Maxwell Lord tries to talk him down and tries to convince Reactron to take him instead of one of his employees.
Kara gets wind of the break in and flies over. A scientist tells her that Maxwell Lord has been taken.
Alex comes over to Catco to help. They go down to the Supergirl Cave. They figure out that Ben Kroll is Reactron, and that he blames Superman for the death of his wife when they were exposed to radiation.
Meanwhile, Reactron is holding Maxwell Lord captive, tied to a chair. He asks Lord to repair his suit.
Kara proofreads Cat’s article, and suggests that the tone is “a little nasty,” and goes over the article with Cat. Kara says that Cat is taking Supergirl out of context. She tells Cat that Supergirl just needs a chance to prove herself.
James tells Kara he has found Kroll’s location. He encourages her to just rescue Lord and get out of there, not to fight Reactron. However, she says she is going to try to talk to Reactron. She flies over there and finds Lord, who tells her Reactron’s suit has been repaired. She tells him to run, then she and Reactron fight. Reactron fires shot after shot at Kara, causing her to pass out. Superman shows up and saves her. Reactron flies away.
When Kara wakes up, she is at home, and Alex and James are there. On TV, Maxwell Lord thanks Superman for saving him. It turns out James contacted Superman. Kara is upset, and tells James to leave. Kara wonders how she’s supposed to become a hero if Superman has to keep saving her. Alex says that one day Kara is going to be the one saving him. Kara realizes she’s supposed to be at Cat’s party soon, and Alex has a dress ready for her, which happens to be bulletproof.
At the party, Winn covers for Kara for not having the magazine there. He asks her to dance with him. Maxwell Lord has come to the party, and Cat goes over to talk to him. They dance together as well. Lord tries to get Cat to tell him how she got the interview with Supergirl, but she’s not revealing anything.
At the DEO, Hank asks Alex what she’s doing, and she admits that she’s helping Kara stop Reactron. After she explains herself, he sits down and tries to help.
James cuts in and dances with Kara, apologizing, saying that he pressed the button for himself, because he was scared that he was going to lose her. Reactron drops into the middle of the party, asking where Supergirl is. Kara runs off to change into her suit, then comes back and attacks Reactron. He fires back at her, and she uses her cape to shield herself. A column falls over, and she catches it. While she’s holding the pillar, James distracts Reactron and gets him to chase after him. Alex and Hank tell Kara to remove the core on his chest plate. She uses her laser power to melt some lead onto her hand to encase the core in. Outside, Supergirl and Reactron fight some more. Reactron fires at her, but she holds him off, and is able to get close enough to grab the core with her hand that is now covered in lead.
At the DEO, Kara thanks Hank and Alex for their help. It seems that Hank has resigned himself to the fact that this may not be the only non-alien the DEO goes after.
At work the next day, Kara goes into James’s office, only to find that he is talking to a girl. Her name is Lucy Lane. She is Lois Lane’s little sister. After Kara leaves his office, she listens in to their conversation. It seems that they were in a relationship before James left Metropolis. Lucy says she doesn’t like how they left things, and James agrees to go to dinner with her. Kara is bummed. When she returns to her desk, she sees that Clark has just sent her an instant message. They chat for a few, and he praises her for stopping Reactron, saying it was something he could never do, and that it was a job for Supergirl.
Kara and Alex have dinner back at Kara’s apartment, and they discuss Cat’s article. Alex tells Kara she should be proud of herself, that she is doing things even Superman couldn’t even do. Kara hears some sirens and flies off to help.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 3 of Supergirl: Fight or Flight
So far, this show still isn’t growing on me yet. In fact, it’s just annoying me more. I can see where Kara is coming from, that she wants to make a name for herself, rather than always be defined by her cousin, Superman, or have to always be bailed out by him. But she’s kind of being irrational in how she goes about doing so.
She hasn’t really had a lot more training and experience since the last episode. We know this for a fact because this episode picks up exactly where the last one left off. Therefore, she wouldn’t have had a chance for her fighting ability to improve yet. So when she hears that the latest villain, Reactron, nearly killed Superman, she should have taken that into consideration before getting all stubborn about it, and choosing this villain with which to make her point. It turns out that James was actually right to have called in Superman to help, because it looked like Kara would have been a goner otherwise, the way he had her pinned, and considering that she passed out and didn’t wake up until much later. Then she gets mad at James for essentially saving her life. It seemed so illogical of her to react that way. She should have been able to admit to herself that she wasn’t ready to take on a villain alone that her cousin had already had trouble with.
It’s also bothersome the way they keep treating Superman’s character in the show. If you’re going to have a Superman character, then have one. If not, then don’t. Don’t just keep showing glimpses of him, but not his face, or having him actively involved in a scene (where you don’t show his face), then making up excuses as to why he’s not around. Maybe that odd IM conversation that Kara had with Clark at the end is actually signaling that this was the last we’ll be seeing of him?
It also feels a little ironic that while Kara herself does not want to be defined by Superman, and wants to be her own thing, that the show itself seems to be defined by Superman with its constant references to him. Even if this episode does happen to be the last we see of him, this episode also brought in another element which refers to Superman’s world, and that is Lucy Lane, Lois Lane’s little sister. Not only that, but apparently she and James were an item. So as if there wasn’t enough so soon with a love triangle being introduced in the first episode, here we are at the third and we already have a love quadrangle?? Why is this turning into a soap opera??? Ugh.
I don’t know if I even want to keep watching. Maybe I’ll give the next episode one more shot. We’ll see.
Josh’s Thoughts: Supergirl, Season 1 Episode 3: Fight or Flight
COMING SOON
Scenes from Supergirl, Season 1 Episode 4: Livewire
Here are scenes from the next Supergirl episode, titled Livewire:
