Supergirl – Changing

By: Michelle Lopez

Parasitic Invasion

In a Norwegian lab specializing in climate change research, a wolf was recovered from the ice. Upon further inspection of the animal they discover that after 5000 years in ice, the wolf is still warm. The lead scientist, Dr. Rudy Jones (William Mapother), reaches into the wolf to discover the cause and is infected by some organism.

Over at the alien bar, Mon-El (Chris Wood) is getting Kara (Melissa Benoist) drunk as she lectures him on becoming a functional member of society and learning to control his powers. Alex (Chyler Leigh) shows up to discover Kara drunk for the first time ever as they’re called back to the DEO. At HQ, Winn (Jeremy Jordan) shows the team video footage of wolf lab in complete chaos. Alex and J’onn (David Harewood) head out to investigate the lab. They find the lab staff, sans Dr. Jones, dead and looking like something sucked them dry. They take Dr. Jones back to the DEO for medical treatment, but upon arrival he insists on getting back to work. The climate is still in crisis so he’s got no time to waste. With Dr. Jones gone, Winn continues to investigate what happened at the lab. He finds footage of Jones getting infected by whatever creature sucked all the other scientists dry. Realizing Dr. Jones is the killer, Kara as Supergirl and Alex head over to his local lab to apprehend him. He’s not pleased by the interruption, grabs onto Supergirl and begins to suck her energy. Alex distracts Jones from Kara by firing off a few rounds at him, but they bounce right off him and he leaves.

Kara and Alex report back to the DEO and Winn determines that they’re dealing with an alien parasite that feeds off the energy of whatever its host comes in contact with. James (Mehcad Brooks) bursts in making a scene as he panics over Kara being injured. Winn pulls him aside to scold him for showing up at the DEO. James wants Winn to give him the vigilante suit so he can go faceoff with the alien until Winn aptly points out he doesn’t stand a chance against an alien that Supergirl couldn’t beat.

Kara goes out to stop an alien/human altercation and discovers Mon-El beating up a fellow alien. It turns out Mon-El’s found work as muscle for a local bookie. Kara is outraged because she wants him to help people like she does, but Mon-El doesn’t care for that. He lashes out at her for acting selfless when she’s really Supergirl for the accolades. Kara flies back to the DEO pissed as hell.

In downtown National City, Dr. Jones approaches a man who’s a lobbyist for climate change deniers and has tried to discredit Jones’s climate change work. Jones goes to attack him when Supergirl and J’onn fly in and stop him. Dr. Jones grabs both Kara and J’onn by the neck and begins to suck the energy out of them. As he absorbs their power, Jones mutates into a pretty grotesque creature – The Parasite. Alex and DEO show up as The Parasite runs off. Kara and J’onn are rushed to the DEO for medical attention, which prompts Winn to give in and get James set up with his suit.

Out in the streets of National City, The Parasite attacks the lobbyist again. This time around Mon-El shows up to distract him while everyone in the area clears out. The Parasite makes short work of disarming and grabbing Mon-El, but before he can suck Mon-El’s energy he’s hit with a small explosive delivered by National City’s newest vigilante, Guardian. Mon-El and Guardian fight with The Parasite as Kara wakes up back at the DEO. She quickly comes up with a plan to defeat The Parasite and rushes out to grab two fistfuls of Plutonium 239. When she arrives at the fight, Supergirl of course gives The Parasite one last chance to turn himself in which he declines by charging her. Supergirl stands her ground and hits him with the Plutonium. It provides so much power to The Parasite that it ends up overloading and killing him. Kara proudly points out that Mon-El showed up when the chips were down, as Guardian rides off into the night on his motorcycle.

On his way home Mon-El, having turned a new leaf, stops to help a homeless man on the street. The homeless man stuns him with a supercharged taser as a van of armed men pulls up and they kidnap Mon-El.

The Definition of Bravery

Alex finds Maggie (Floriana Lima) at the alien bar to apologize for dropping the coming out bomb on her, but Maggie’s more interested in how Alex is handling her revelation. Alex is confused since she just discovered this new and exciting part of herself, but she’s an adult who should have had it all figured out by now. Maggie assures Alex it’s fine to feel that way, everyone’s coming out experience is different. She shares how she handled it by coming out to her family. It wasn’t perfect, but it rarely is. Ultimately, she was accepted and that was that. Alex, thrown off by the idea that it might not go well, back tracks and tries to convince herself and Maggie that it might just be a phase that’ll pass. Maggie’s done this all before though and is not about to let fear control her friend. With the most serious, caring expression and a tone that leaves no questions, Maggie tells Alex that it’s real – she’s real and she deserves a full and happy life living her truth. Alex shouldn’t have to hold in her excitement, she should be sharing the experience with Kara who is the person she cares about most. Alex is terrified, but Maggie assures her she’ll be there to celebrate her coming out no matter the outcome.

In a painfully real coming out conversation, Kara and Alex walk in awkward silence until Kara breaks the ice and asks Alex what’s going on. Alex stutters like we’ve never seen, desperately trying to find the words to explain to Kara what she’s feeling. After some more stuttering she manages to start talking. Kara supportively eggs her on and to make it easier on herself Alex decides to explain through the Maggie filter. She stumbles through how they met and became closer, but still unable to say the words she tells Kara she started “thinking about” Maggie. Kara doesn’t get it so she takes a step closer to saying the words by admitting she’s developed feelings for Maggie. It clicks for Kara and Alex momentarily sags with relief until the panic of what Kara’s reaction will be sets in. She rambles until Kara finally speaks up. Kara confirms Maggie is gay and then asks the million dollar question: “Are you gay, too?” because it sounds an awful lot like Alex is coming out. Alex knows her truth, but still can’t say the words which Kara interprets as uncertainty. She starts asking Alex clarifying questions that just put Alex on the defensive. To appease Kara and further prove to herself, Alex opens up about her high school best friend that she now realizes she liked as more than a friend. It’s amazing the amount of denial we can put ourselves in when we’re terrified. In her fear, Alex lost her friend and shoved those feelings down into the deepest darkest corner of herself. Kara tries to continue the conversation, but Alex has shared all she can for now.

Since their conversation, Kara’s been acting weird so Alex stops by Kara’s place with countless questions rattling around in her head. Is Kara ok with her liking ladies? Is she disappointed? How will she survive if Kara can’t accept her? Alex ladies the hell up and just goes for the harsh truth, asking Kara if she’s disappointed in her. It turns out Kara is more than okay with Alex liking ladies. Kara’s been acting weird because she knows the pain and loneliness that accompanies locking a huge part of yourself away from the rest of the world and she feels guilty for not giving Alex a place to work out her truths. She speaks with Alex to tell her the one thing she desperately needed to hear “you’re not alone.” With that, the Danvers sisters are back in action.

With a huge weight lifted off her shoulders Alex practically floats into the alien bar to share the great news with Maggie who is just as excited for Alex. Riding the high of coming out and accepting herself, Alex does the bravest thing possible. She puts herself out there, leans in and kisses Maggie. Unfortunately, Maggie knows all too well the excitement of being fresh out of the closet. Everything’s exciting and new which doesn’t lend itself to a mature stable relationship. She tries to explain this to Alex. She’s not saying never, she’s saying not yet. Sadly, all Alex hears and feels is rejection.

Alex found a girl who awakened feelings she’d never allowed herself to feel. Instead of running from it and pushing Maggie away, she thought about it and found that it fit for her. She jumped off a cliff into unknown waters, opening up to her best friend and amazingly the world didn’t end. She did all this work because she likes Maggie and then Maggie rejected her. Kara finds Alex hiding out in her apartment and she is clearly not okay. Alex tries to run back into the closet, but Kara won’t let her. She probes until Alex breaks down and breaks all our hearts as she sobs and explains that Maggie doesn’t like her. Kara can’t fix this for Alex, but she can be proud as all hell of her for being brave enough to try.