Supergirl – We Can Be Heroes

By: Michelle Lopez

Fighting for all the Wrong Reasons

We open on Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Mon-El (Chris Wood) preparing to run through a training drill at the DEO. They leap into action as an orb begins shooting lasers. Kara easily takes out the first orb with her heat vision while Mon-El shoots off snarky comments about the cardboard cutout of Hank (David Harewood). As a second appears, Mon-El takes a flying leap and punches it into the far wall. Mon-El, who is pleased as punch for taking out an orb, fails to notice his tactics resulted in the beheading of a cardboard little girl. Kara reminds Mon-El that as a hero the number one rule is to protect the people. After that reminder Kara deems Mon-El ready for field missions.

In a back alley, Guardian (Mehcad Brooks) watches on as Maggie (Floriana Lima) discovers a bunch of “giftwrapped” criminals he left for her. Guardian heads back to the van to regroup with Winn (Jeremy Jordan). James is disappointed that Winn wasn’t watching his every move and failed to notice him getting grazed by a bullet. James doesn’t think much of the wound, but Winn flips out. His suit failed, meaning he needs to design a new suit for James on top of a suit for Mon-El. James missed the memo about Mon-El’s training and is confused about him needing a suit. James doesn’t like this development, but Winn doesn’t have time to him feel better. Between all the superhero suits, DEO work and lying to Kara, Winn is at the end of his rope. He demands they tell Kara, but James accurately guesses she won’t be pleased with the news yet he agrees to tell her anyways.

In jail, Livewire (Brit Morgan) is in therapy with Dr. Hampton (Marci T. House). Livewire’s more interested in taunting the doctor that actual therapy. She eludes to escaping and harming both Supergirl and the doctor. Hampton reminds Livewire she can’t escape while elsewhere a guard and prisoner make their way to Livewire’s cell, break in, taze the doctor and free Livewire.

Later on, Alex and Maggie inspect Livewire’s cell as reporter Kara Danvers “bullies” her way onto the scene. Alex and Maggie make a bet on how long it takes Kara to get in. Alex obviously wins. Kara rushes into the cell panicking and jumping to all the worst conclusions. Alex and Maggie try and talk her down, but Kara’s not going calm down until Livewire is caught. She carries her panic to the DEO where someone will take Livewire’s escape as seriously as she is. Winn gives an energetic intro on Livewire while Mon-El gets pumped for his first opportunity to head out with Supergirl. Neither Kara or J’onn are impressed with Winn and Mon-El’s attitudes.

Next, Kara takes her panic to James at Catco. James, believing this is the perfect opportunity to tell Kara about Guardian, tries to get Kara to bring up Guardian. Unfortunately, seeing as Kara is not pro-Guardian she thinks of Mon-El before considering Guardian. This bruises James’s ego and he decides against telling her choosing to rag on Mon-El and declare he’s not a hero. Kara notices one of the TVs in the office is showing Livewire attacking police in a parking garage so both Kara and James bolt out the door to go help.

In the NCPD parking garage, Livewire is traveling through electrical conduits while attacking when Supergirl and Mon-El drop in. Supergirl tries reasoning with Livewire, but a second person with Livewire powers apparates out of light fixture and the two attack. Supergirl sends Mon-El to protect the civilians while she handles the fighting. She isn’t faring well in the fight, but insists Mon-El protect the officers. Mon-El can’t handle Kara in danger so he abandons his post to help Supergirl. Luckily, Guardian arrives in time to help the officers and save one from an electric shot Mon-El deflected their way. The blast knocks them both out and the Livewires take this opportunity to apparate out of the area. Kara unmasks Guardian and is floored to find out it’s James.

In the DEO medbay, James rests while Mon-El fanboys over Guardian’s motorcycle. Kara storms in and discovers everyone, Alex included, knew about James being Guardian. She dismisses everyone and asks James to explain why he decided to become a vigilante. James has never felt that he was enough. His career, personal relationships and work with superheroes was never enough for him. He doesn’t believe he was meant to be the sidekick, he was meant to be shine in the spotlight and be someone people look up to. He claims that he and Kara are the same, which she immediately shuts down. James is a human, one mistake and he’s dead. James digs his heels in and goes on the offensive claiming Mon-El can’t be a hero because he’s selfish and only fighting for what he cares about – himself and Kara. Mon-El left civilians unprotected to go help Kara and that’s not what a hero does, but Kara can train Mon-El and he can improve. She notes that James will never be strong enough. James, in a pot meet kettle moment, coldly tells Kara she can’t decide who is a hero… like he did moments earlier with Mon-El.

Kara stops Mon-El outside the DEO to discuss his behavior earlier. She can’t trust him if he won’t follow orders. Mon-El’s was trying to protect Kara, but that’s not the point of being a hero. Heroes protect the people who can’t protect themselves and Kara is no damsel in distress. She asks him if he’s working with her because he has feelings for her. She brings up the kiss, but Mon-El digs his heels in and denies it ever happened. He notes his reasons for being a superhero are in fact altruistic. Kara can’t handle listening to another man explain away their actions as altruistic when they’re clearly not with James fighting to protect his ego and Mon-El fighting to be around and protect the girl he has feelings for. She bounces out of there to work on finding Livewire since she’s the only one dedicated to the mission.

In the DEO control room, the team discovers that Livewire isn’t the antagonist, but rather the victim in this situation. A prison security tape shows her getting kidnapped by the guard and inmate who broke her out. Winn reports he has not been able to lock down Livewire’s location so the DEO is playing a waiting game. Winn calls up James to let him know that he does, in fact, have Livewire’s location. He suggests James head there to prove to Kara that Guardian is just as much a hero as she is, further highlighting that James is not in the hero game for helping others but for satisfying his own ego. Mon-El hears this exchange and decides to follow without letting Kara know since he also is trying to prove that he’s in the hero game to help others and not just for Kara.

Restrained in a warehouse and hooked up to a machine that collects electric output, Livewire is furiously trying to escape. An unhinged scientist (Steve Valentine) monologues about his plan to make copies of her and sell them off to militaries. The attack at the police station was free publicity for his super soldiers. Guardian bursts into the warehouse shortly followed by Mon-El and Livewire is less than impressed. She asks where Supergirl is and when James says she’s not coming Livewire sighs in defeat. They take out the scientist’s two guards and forget about the scientist who attacks with the same powers as his lackeys. He knocks them out and restrains them. Panicking, Winn calls Kara up to bring her in to be an actual hero. As Supergirl makes her way to the warehouse, Livewire scolds James and Mon-El for “think[ing] they could do a better job than a woman who’s an actual superhero.” The scientist begins preparations to turn James and Mon-El into two more super soldiers, but before the procedure can begin Supergirl flies into the room. She frees James and Mon-El, sending them after the scientist’s lackeys while she frees Livewire and handles the scientist. Free, Livewire immediately turns on Supergirl who decides to reason with Livewire. Yes, she could kill Supergirl for ruining Livewire’s life, but all that she lost is gone and who she is now is all that matters. Supergirl isn’t trying to steal her powers, the scientist did. They’re by no means friends, but they both want to see the scientist dealt with. Livewire agrees and they team up easily incapacitating him. Livewire agrees to let him live as long as Supergirl gives Livewire a pass on escaping this one time.

At the DEO, Kara admits to Alex and Maggie that there’s still some good in Livewire and it’s worth giving her a chance to find her way. This unexpected result flips the outcome of Alex and Maggie’s earlier bet so it’s vegan ice cream night. Kara goes and talks with Winn and James about the Guardian situation. They insist on continuing and Kara refuses to have any part in her friends needlessly putting themselves in danger.

Mon-El stops by Kara’s apartment to admit he has feelings for her. He remembers the kiss and he abandoned the civilians because he cares about her. Unfortunately for him, Kara doesn’t feel the same way so they agree to leave things as they are.

You Are Forgiven

In a DEO containment cell, M’gann (Sharon Leal) experiences some psychic distress causing her to space out and collapse. J’onn brings her to the medbay for Alex to run some tests. Alex wonders if M’gann is faking, but J’onn can feel her pain and knows she’s not. After some more observation, Alex admits to J’onn that M’gann is quickly headed to brain death. She suggests he psychically link up with M’gann to discover what’s causing her shut down, but J’onn is not about helping war criminals. As M’gann’s impending brain death approaches, Alex makes a final plea for J’onn to help her. She saved his life despite knowing it would out her as a White Martian. If she were evil why would she risk herself like that? J’onn admits he doesn’t hate M’gann, but forgiving her would be letting go of the rage toward White Martians that’s fueled him for years. Alex reminds J’onn that forgiveness is not for the forgiven, it’s about granting yourself peace of mind.

In M’gann’s mind they’re on Mars. M’gann is consumed with guilt over how her people treated J’onns and for her betrayal of her people. When she was commanded to kill a child she couldn’t justify the action. Instead, she let him run while she went back and killed her people both for self preservation as well as to end the cruelty her people brought on J’onn’s people. She’s accepted that she’ll die on Mars as payment for her actions, but J’onn reminds her that she did escape. She traveled to Earth where she became friends with J’onn, a Green Martian. She begins to remember, she met J’onn and befriended him to help make him feel less alone. M’gann as already shared her past with J’onn, but blinded by his rage toward her people he ignored it until he was given no choice to face her past and accept that an individual doesn’t represent the whole. She is not evil, just a person making their way through life the best they can. Finally, J’onn tells M’gann she is forgiven and that forgiveness breaks her out of her mental prison and brings her back to the real world. J’onn tells M’gann she’s paid her debt for her people and they both have the right to move on so she’s free to go. M’gann isn’t thrilled because she was physically attacked by her people. They know where she is and they’re coming for her.