Supergirl – Nevertheless, She Presisted

By: Michelle Lopez

We pick up where we left off last week, Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) is attacking Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) while Rhea (Teri Hatcher) watches. When Superman broke onto Rhea’s ship to try and stop her, Rhea shot Silver Kryptonite at him so now when he looks at Supergirl all he sees is Zod (Mark Gibbon). Rhea gloats from her throne while they fight. Finally, Superman charges Supergirl pushes them through the window of the ship and crash through the roof of an apartment building nearly crushing a mother and son. Supergirl runs over to try and help the family, but Superman still sees Zod so he grabs her and throws them through another window. Understanding the only way to stop Superman is to beat him, Supergirl stops holding back. They fly around National City trading punches until they crash land in a park fountain and the most cinematic fight scene this shows ever produced ensues. Having followed the Kryptonite signature Superman’s emitting, Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Maggie (Floriana Lima) stand to the side as Supergirl and her cousin faceoff. Superman lands a solid punch on Supergirl and gains the upper hand, but the girl of steel is nothing if not persistent. She fights back and lands an uppercut that knocks Superman out and then collapses into Alex’s arms from sheer exhaustion.

Kara (Melissa Benoist) wakes up in her bedroom next to Mon-El (Chris Wood). She tells him about the necklace she always wears. Her mother gave it to her before she launched off Krypton to follow her cousin. She promised that as long as Kara had that necklace her mom would always be with her. Mon-El breaks her out of her memories telling her that she’s not actually there, she’s in the Fortress of Solitude.

Kara wakes up confused. Alex rushes over to explain that Kara passed out, woke up, flew Alex and Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) to the Fortress and passed out again. Clark wakes up confused because the last thing he remembers is fighting Zod. Kara fills them in on the Silver Kryptonite fiasco and assumes that she beat Clark because of his weakened Kryptonite state. Clark assures her he was at full strength and she beat him fair and square. Alex asks if there are any positron cannon type weapons in the Fortress, but Clark’s got something better – information. He searches his archives for the Daxam/Krypton wars and finds something called “Dakkam Ur” that might do the trick.

Over at L-Corp, Lena’s (Katie McGrath) sulking and resenting her family name over a glass of whiskey. She knocks over the chess set on the table when Lillian (Brenda Strong) walks in full of judgment. She can’t understand how Lena allowed herself to be tricked into helping alien invaders after all her lessons. Lena was so neglected by her mother that she jumped at the first person who gave her validation. Lillian apologizes and admits that she’s always put stuff ahead of Lena but now she believes Lena can rid the Earth of Daxamites for good. She hands over a device Lex built to get rid of Superman and suggests she adapt it to only target Daxamites.

Kara, Clark and Alex fly back to the DEO much to the relief of everyone. Winn (Jeremy Jordan) fanboys over Clark while he meets the guy Kara’s dating. Mon-El is rightfully embarrassed about being from Daxam, but Clark trusts Kara’s judgment and warmly welcomes Mon-El. Rhea’s fleet is preparing another attack so Kara jumps on the horn and invokes the sacred rite of Dakkam Ur which Rhea accepts. The Daxamite ships retreat while Mon-El freaks out about Kara invoking Dakkam Ur. He’s under the impression that Kara’s got no chance and is going to end up watching her planet be destroyed. He goes as far as to suggest Superman take her place as Champion of Earth, but Clark puts him in his place. Kara beat him so she’s the rightful Champion of Earth. Kara tells Mon-El he needs to get onboard or get out of her way.

J’onn (David Harewood) dreams that M’gann (Sharon Leal) is with him. He wakes up after she tells him that his friends need him. He thinks M’gann is there  but she’s still on Mars. Alex brings him up to speed and he jumps back into action. He’s concerned that the media is hyping up Kara and Rhea’s fight so much that civilians might show up to watch so he sends Kara and Clark to talk to Cat (Calista Flockhart) about toning down the hype.

Cat’s pleasantly surprised to see that Clark’s in town. She wants him to talk some sense into James (Mehcad Brooks) because she can’t have him running around as Guardian begging to get killed. Kara tells Cat that Supergirl is offering an exclusive if Cat’ll tone down the hype. Cat’s hesitant because it’s giving a people a reason to stand up and fight but a flirty smile from Clark has her agreeing.

The Luthors have requested Supergirl and Superman stop by L-Corp to hear their plan to make Earth uninhabitable for Daxamites. There’s plenty of bad blood between the two families so the meeting is icy at best, but Supergirl agrees that the device is a good backup plan if the fight doesn’t go as planned. She tells the Luthors to start working on it.

Kara and Clark return to the DEO to report back on the Luthor’s plan. Winn’s onboard assuming Mon-El will be safe but his exposure to Earth’s yellow sun will only buy him a few extra minutes. Mon-El tells them to use it if they need to, he’s not going to be the reason Earth falls. Kara assures everyone that she’s going to win and they won’t have to use the device. Mon-El’s accepted that Kara’s going to fight and insists on tagging along as her second to support her. J’onn sends Winn to help Lena while Clark and Kara head to the training room. They spar a bit, but Kara’s got to get something off her chest. She’s on the brink of having everything she wants (family, friends, career, boyfriend, etc.) and it’s all riding on her winning. She fears that she’s going to lose it all. Clark lets her in on a little secret, the love she feels for her people is a superpower in itself that’ll give her an edge in the fight.

Rhea and Supergirl meet on a rooftop, agree to each other’s terms and begin to fight. They go back and forth trading blows until Kara notices that the Daxam ships are back and primed for another attack. Rhea’s more interested in winning than honoring traditions. Kara sends Mon-El to go be a hero while she deals with Rhea. As they continue to fight Kara begins to gain the upper hand. She points out that Rhea’s getting tired, but it’s all a part of Rhea’s plan. When Krypton was destroyed it rained Kryptonite on Daxam. Kryptonite ended up merging into Rhea’s bloodstream and her blood is actively weakening Kara.

Mon-El returns to the DEO to deliver the bad news about the impending attack. He, along with Superman and J’onn, head down to the streets to fight the attack. J’onn leaves Alex in charge while he’s out fighting. On the streets, M’gann and some White Martians teleport down to assist J’onn in the fight. J’onn’s surprised she showed up but they share a psychic bond and his distress called to her. Cat and James view the battle from the CatCo balcony when Superman and Daxam soldier crash into the office. They destroy whatever parts of CatCo weren’t wrecked before Superman knocks him out.

At L-Corp, Lena and Winn put the finishing touches on the device. Lillian grabs the controls and turns on the device, but Lena’s no fool. She knew her mother would act without waiting to see if Supergirl wins so she gave Supergirl the remote. They call up the DEO to let Supergirl know that the device is ready to go if she needs it.

Back on the rooftop, Supergirl’s struggling with the effects of the kryptonite blood while Rhea explains her plans to destroy the world city by city. This gloating reminds Kara of why she’s fighting and she manages to get the upper hand on Rhea. Rhea’s down, but not worried. Daxam will never stop their invasion. Alex calls Kara to let her know that the Daxamites have locked onto every school, hospital and municipal building in the city. Kara has no choice but to activate the device and put Mon-El in danger. With an apology to him, she hits the button and the Daxamites get on their ships and flee. Rhea begs Mon-El to save her, but he’s done with her and she turns to dust. Mon-El begins to show signs of distress and Kara begs Alex for a way to save him. Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do but Kara’s persistent. She has Alex prep the pod Mon-El arrived in so he can escape.

Kara flies Mon-El over to the pod and they begin their tearful goodbye. Mon-El promises Kara that wherever he ends up, he’s going to be the man she thought he could be. Kara gives him her mother’s necklace and tells him that she loves him. They share a final kiss and Mon-El flies off.

J’onn and M’gann enjoy each other’s company while celebrating their victory. J’onn’s impressed that she showed up to help with an army of White Martians by her side. It turns out she wasn’t the only one who didn’t agree with what their people did to the Green Martians. She’s started a resistance movement and they’re working to take back their planet from the xenophobic monsters that have ruled for too long.

Kara’s out on the DEO balcony trying to process everything that’s happened. Clark stops by to check if she’s ok before he heads home. Kara did the right thing so of course, she’s ok. Clark admits that if he were in her place he wouldn’t have been able to sacrifice Lois. She’s stronger than he’ll ever be and they both know it. With that, he flies back to Lois. Next, Alex stops by to check in on her. Alex returns the words Kara gave Alex when she was in her darkest time after coming out didn’t work out like she hoped: “I’m proud of you.” She offers to stay with Kara as long as she’d like, but the only thing Kara needs is to know that everyone’s happy. She tells Alex to never let Maggie go and flies off. Kara’s request on top of the endless life and death moments she’s experienced prompt Alex to propose to Maggie. Maggie doesn’t believe her at first, but Alex isn’t joking. Maggie doesn’t say yes, but her smile speaks volumes.

Kara stops by CatCo and Cat immediately notices something’s wrong. Kara shares that she’s had a boyfriend while Cat’s been away. She had someone she loved and now they’re gone. She’s beginning to think that a relationship is not in the cards for her. Cat calls shenanigans on that, Kara’s going to bounce back from this because she’s a woman and women have their own superpowers. Women are strong because they are bold enough to be vulnerable, feel the depths of their emotions and know that they’ll walk out the other side. Sure, Kara’s hit a snag but she’s on a hero’s journey and this isn’t the end. Kara takes these words to heart and rushes out to go assist on a 911 call. Cat proudly watches as Kara leaves to go do her Supergirl thing because, of course, Cat knows Kara’s Supergirl.

Somewhere in space, Mon-El’s pod gets sucked into a portal.

35 years ago…a few cloaked figures place a baby in a pod and prepare to send it to Earth. They plan on it growing up and reigning over the planet.