Previously on SUPERGIRL…
This episode was all about setting up the battle that’s about to happen in the next episode. Sometimes, that’s OK. But when you’ve been off for three weeks or so, and then you’re back in reruns next week again, a midseason filler episode to put the players in position for the next one is a bit clunky.
The titular character introduced in this episode, Menagerie, is a jewel thief whose body gets taken over by an alien symbeast, turning her into a killer who eats her victims’ hearts while she steals their valuables. These deaths put her on the radar of Alex and the DEO, along with the Children of Liberty.
While the leader of the Children of Liberty – Ben Lockwood – is still in prison, he encourages his son George to take up the mantle and lead his people to find Menagerie and kill her.
Meanwhile, J’onn enlists Kara’s help in finding a missing government official. The Martian Manhunter tries to get Kara and Alex to team up on it, to give Kara a sense of togetherness with her sister now that Alex’s knowledge that Kara is Supergirl has been wiped from her mind. But when Alex declines, because of the heart-eating alien she’s hunting, Kara and J’onn team up instead.
Of course, it turns out that our missing person – and his wife – was killed by Menagerie, so Kara’s and Alex’s missions intersect. Kara, for reasons that can only be described as forced, is investigating in her civilian garb and not as Supergirl, so Alex feels the need to protect her when Menagerie shows up and tries to kill them with the alien snake that’s attached to her body. Kara surreptitiously uses her powers to keep Menagerie at bay, allowing everyone to escape.
Once we get the necessary “Protective Older Sister Alex” scene, Menagerie decides to hit a fundraiser gala to avenge the DEO seizing all her stolen goods. And that’s where the DEO, Supergirl AND the Children of Liberty all converge for a battle royal with the baddie. After Supergirl – with a little help from Nia Nal – softens Menagerie up, the younger Lockwood cuts the Symbeast off of its host, and the police take her into custody, because she no longer has an alien connected to her and is no longer under the purview of the DEO.
On the periphery of this episode, Nia Nal is having a Valentine’s Day party and courting Brainiac 5 and Lena Luthor gets offered a government contract to continue working on a serum to make regular humans super. The contract leads to a fight with boyfriend James Olsen and the couple breaks up. Olsen really should know better that to get involved with a Luthor. Most importantly, the President finds some loophole to order the release of Ben Lockwood, so the Children of Liberty have their leader back.
And Menagerie gets a letter in prison from MANCHESTER BLACK. The show is pulling the trigger on the group Black led in his comic book incarnation – The Elite. Menagerie was an important part of that group, so it’s no surprise to anyone familiar with the comics that the episode ended with contact between the two.
When you throw in the title of the next episode – WHAT’S SO FUNNY ABOUT TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY – is the same as the comic book story that introduced the team and that should be an exciting hour of television.
We just have to wait an extra week for it.