Monday night’s Supergirl saw the aftermath of last week’s red kryptonite influence it had on Kara and the fallout of Hank revealing himself as the Martian, J’onn J’onnz. Warning, spoilers ahead…
As Kara laments on her Red Rage and the negative affects her persona has taken in the public eye, the main focus in “Manhunter” is who is J’onn J’onnz and what happened to the real Hank Henshaw? This episode did more to further develop some of their key characters than focus on a villain of the week. We learn through some terrible interrogation methods conducted by Colonel James Harper (Eddie McClintock) and less so by Major Lucy Lane, that the real Hank led a team from the DEO to hunt down J’onn and that he was the one responsible for the death of Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain).
The strongest part of this episode by far was the flashback scenes and the instant connection J’onn and Jeremiah had with one another as fathers of two daughters. Parenthood is universal and the fact that Jeremiah spoke of Kara being from another world; it only furthered their bond. When Jeremiah fought Hank in defense of J’onn, Jeremiah accidently killed Hank by tossing him over the side of a cliff. When J’onn reached Jeremiah, we see that he had been stabbed with what looks like a fatal blow. Jeremiah asks J’onn to look after his two girls. This explains why J’onn as faux-Hank is so protective of both Alex and Kara. He even bails Alex out of jail and gives her an opportunity to join him at the DEO.
One of the big Easter egg moments came with the discussion of Project Cadmus. This is significant because this project was responsible in the comics for creating not only Golden Guardian but also most notably, Superboy. One could only wonder where this could lead. When Harper takes Alex into custody, Kara asks Jimmy for a huge favor. Jimmy brings Lucy to see Kara at her apartment where she reveals her true identity as Supergirl. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise to Lucy who felt deep down she knew the truth but didn’t want to admit it to herself. We are then shown flashbacks to Kara’s youth and her trying to fit in with her human surroundings. We are shown how Kara was able to use her super abilities to save a mother and her baby from an exploding car. The only one getting slightly hurt in the process was Alex. This leads to a great father-daughter moment between Jeremiah and Kara. He gives her, “The world already has a Superman” speech. It’s not that she shouldn’t use her powers for good but needs to be a kid and live like one for now. He hands her a pair of lead-lined glasses that will help suppress her X-ray vision. This was a nice way to introduce Kara’s look that she carries with her today.
Although reluctant, Lucy helps Kara to free J’onn and Alex from Harper’s custody. It all works out and J’onn uses his powers to erase Harper’s memory of these events. In doing so, he sees a vision of Jeremiah. He would appear that he is actually alive and well. Alex vows to bring him back home. With Harper resigning and Hank and Alex technically fugitives, the DEO is turned over to Lucy. This is a great way to keep Lucy in the fold with a new role for her character.
Not to be forgotten and what sets up next weeks all-important crossover even with The Flash, is Siobhan. Her storyline here was more filler than fluff. She tried to frame Kara with an ill-advised email to Cat only to have her boyfriend, Winn rat here out. We end up with Siobhan discovering her Silver Banshee powers. This is the setup I was referring to when she’ll clash with Supergirl.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
