Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Supergirl - Manhunter


The fallout of Supergirl's (Melissa Benoist) exposure to Red Kryptonite continues this week as our heroine fights to win back the trust of the citizens of National City. Through both flashbacks and the interrogation of DEO agents by James Harper (Eddie McClintock) and Lucy (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), "Manhunter" also fills the audience in on J'onn Jonzz's (David Harewood) initial appearance on Earth and how he came to take over the life of Hank Henshaw. While continuing down a road involving major changes for multiple characters, the episode takes the time to throw in a few fun nuggets for longtime comic fans (such as the Manhunter's love of Chocos and the introduction of Project Cadmus).

With her list of friends not in government custody quickly dwindling, Kara decides to enlist Lucy's help by increasing her circle of trust by one and revealing her secret identity. It's a pretty quick switch for Lucy to make, but the ferocity of Harper's witch hunt and the death sentence (or worse) of Cadmus leaves little wiggle room. Project Cadmus is an intriguing piece of world building for the show to make as it offers the opportunity for countless government-created threats for Supergirl to face. The reveal that Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) is not only alive but somehow tied to Cadmus also hits close to home for both Kara and the now fugitive Alex (Chyler Leigh).

The show's current trend of filling the episode to the brim continues as "Manhunter" is stuffed full with little waste. Even the episode's B-story involving Siobhan's (Italia Ricci) ill-conceived retaliation against Kara works to further her super-villain origin story as we get our first look at the powers of the Silver Banshee. Now that they are fugitives it will be interesting to see how much of Alex and J'onn we see in the coming weeks (and if his days as Hank are officially over). Not leaving Supergirl alone, the show already has a temporary replacement ready to have her back in the new head of the DEO. But all of that can wait as next week finally brings us the crossover we've been waiting for as the Flash (Grant Gustin) races into National City.

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