This week's episode of SUPERGIRL contains the scariest villain yet: a childhood friend of Alex and Kara's who wants his dad released from prison. When he kidnaps Alex, Kara and Maggie have to learn to work together despite their conflicting methods of catching criminals. Meanwhile, Rhea disguises herself as a human to make a business proposal to Lena Luthor.
The episode opens with Maggie on the phone with some criminals, calmly negotiating with them to release their hostages. Supergirl flies in and brings out the prisoners, but Maggie is frustrated with her. Clearly, the two have different styles to deal with crime.
Later, the Danvers sisters are having an adorable double date with their significant others. Mon-El praises Kara but goes a bit too far when he says, "What do you need cops for in this city?" Maggie is annoyed with him and Kara, telling them that some criminals are getting out of their charges by claiming that Supergirl used excess force on them. She says that while Kara is great for defeating big villains, "Most of the time, police work requires a more delicate touch."
Kara storms out of the apartment, trailed by Mon-El. Alex asks Maggie to keep trying to get along with Kara before chasing after her as well. The next day, Maggie shows up at CatCo and asks if Kara has heard from Alex. Just then, Kara gets a call from a man who tells her that he has Alex and won't let her go until they release a criminal named Peter Thompson from prison. He threatens her that he knows that she is Supergirl and says that she has 36 hours before he kills Alex.
Rhea, disguised as a business woman, shows up in Lena's office to see what she thought about the proposal she left with her at the end of the last episode. Lena is highly impressed with her plan for teleportation gates, but is concerned that it's all theoretical. Rhea tells her that she just needs the help of L-Corp to make it a reality.
Alex wakes up in a cell with a camera watching her. She says that she knows who her kidnapper is and that there'll be hell to pay when the people that she works with find her. Back at the DEO, Winn says that her tracker device isn't working and is clearly worried. Luckily, Thompson has no ties to CADMUS, so Maggie says they just need to research him to find out who the kidnapper could be.
Rhea and Lena bond over dinner at a swanky restaurant. "I wish I had a daughter like you," Rhea tells her. She bonds with Lena over family abandoning them, but it's so clear that she's manipulating her. She gives Lena a flash drive with the secrets she withheld from the proposal and says, "Thank the gods I found you." Lena Luthor is no idiot and of course caught Rhea's slip.
J'onn, Maggie, and Kara interview Thompson in prison, where he has a life sentence. Th ey ask if he's in contact with anyone and when he gives a sarcastic answer, Kara freaks out on him. After they're done, J'onn says that he read Thompson's mind and he truly doesn't know who could be behind the kidnapping. However, Winn has found a recurring visitor in the files named Rick, who is Thompson's son.
Kara goes to Rick's house, as he was actually a friend of hers and Alex's from high school. She's perplexed because he was always nice to her. He lets Kara talk to Alex over the computer long enough for Alex to reveal that she knows it's Rick too, but shuts them off before they can trade any real information. He once again tells her that she has to release his father within 36 hours or Alex will die.
Maggie and Kara go to talk to Rick, who they have in custody at the DEO. He reveals that he spent a year planning the kidnapping and had put together that Kara was Supergirl because he witnessed her save the family from the car accident on the beach back in high school. While Rick had a bit of a crush on Alex when they were young, he had a rough life with his abusive mother. However, when he finally found his father, Thompson took him away from his mother and even sent him to college. Kara lashes out again, but Maggie stops her.
When Rhea arrives at L-Corp, Lena asks for her thumbprint to give her elevator access. It confirms what she already suspected: that Rhea is an alien. She said that she realized it because the plans include an element that doesn't exist on earth. She refuses to help Rhea and kicks her out. I was so proud of Lena for figuring it out on her own!
J'onn poses as Thompson and goes in to see Rick, but he sees through the masquerade quickly. "I've been planning this for a year," Rick says. " Do you really think I didn't prepare for you, Martian?" I honestly think that Rick is the scariest villain we've had on Supergirl, at least since Astra. Not only does he basically have nothing to lose, but he also knows them all a bit too well.
Alex, ever the fighter, has disabled the camera and takes the tracker out of her shoulder. Her response to the pain of cutting open her shoulder? "That sucked." Honestly, Alex is the real Supergirl. She fires the tracker into the camera and Winn gets a signal from it. "Alex, you beautiful human, this is next level," he says. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love Winn and Alex's friendship?)
Kara smugly tells Rick that he underestimated Alex, but he issues a cryptic warning. Maggie is concerned, but Kara is determined to go after her sister. However, all Kara finds is a computer showing footage of Alex and a timer that clicks down to four hours left. She watches as Alex's cell starts to fill with water.
Kara brings the laptop to Rick and demands that he tell her where Alex is. He lets her talk to Alex again and she tells Kara firmly, "Do not give that terrorist what he wants." I can't even describe how pleased I was that SUPERGIRL called Rick exactly what he is: a terrorist. Alex asks to speak to Maggie alone and she walks out of the room with the computer. She says that she has something to tell her in case she dies, but Maggie insists that they have a lifetime to live together. Suddenly, the screen cuts to black. Maggie and Kara get into a fight about who loves Alex more. This seemed a bit ridiculous to me: a girlfriend of a few months or a sister and best friend...
Rhea shows up at L-Corp in her normal alien form and Lena tells her to leave. However, Rhea says that she was wrong to assume that Lena would hate aliens just because her mother did. Rhea insists that they should still work together for the good of Earth and to be able to get Rhea home. Rhea pleads with her until Lena says that she'll consider it. Later, she agrees to work with Rhea, which makes me very, very worried.
Kara tells J'onn how frustrated she is that even with her super powers, she can't save Alex. J'onn says that despite Maggie's opinions, no one can blame her for trying to save Alex. It's clear that Alex being in danger is rough for J'onn, who sees her as a daughter.
Maggie talks to Rick who tells her that he was wrong about Kara. He says, "She's too much of a girl scout to do what I need her to do." He tells Maggie that Alex's hope of survival lies with her.
With only an hour left, Maggie goes to the jail to break Thompson out. She's just succeeded when Kara arrives. "Maggie, you know Alex wouldn't want you to do this," she says. She tells Thompson that the one thing he can be proud of in his life is being a good father and that he needs to be a good father and help them keep Rick from killing Alex. Thompson reveals that he knows where Rick would have taken her. I have to say that I loved how they edited this scene by cutting between the jail and Alex getting continually closer to going underwater to build tension.
Maggie and Kara arrive just as Alex goes underwater. Their reunion was so touching! Back at the DEO, Maggie and Alex have a serious talk and say "I love you" to each other for the first time. I thought it was so adorable when Alex said, "I never want to stop having firsts with you."
When they bring Rick through, Winn insistently says, "You do NOT get to talk to her." I love protective friend Winn! Alex punches Rick straight in the face and everyone is clearly impressed. Maggie pulls Kara aside to thank her for stopping her, but Kara tells her that she understands and pulls her into a hug. I'm glad that the two most important women in Alex's life were able to reconcile their differences.
What is Rhea's evil plan that involves Lena? Will Lena finally turn to the dark side? Don't forget to tune back in next week for another episode of SUPERGIRL and check back for my next recap.
Watch a promo for next week's episode titled 'City of Lost Children':
Photo Credit: The CW.
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