Fly Like a Girl: ‘Supergirl’ – Episode 3 ‘Fight or Flight’

Supergirl is DC’s television adaptation of the comic book of the same name. It airs Monday nights at 8/7 Central on CBS. Our writer, Nicole Drum recaps the series each week updating you on the latest episode here in Fly Like a Girl.

Image Credit: The CW

Welcome back! Last week’s episode left off with Supergirl granting Cat Grant’s interview request and that is exactly where we pick up this week. This is your last warning: spoilers from here on!

So about that interview. It’s a pretty lackluster interview which I think is a weakness of the episode here. The show is definitely improving with its writing and acting, but it’s not quite smooth yet. Anyway, Cat asks Supergirl some questions and seems to be rather bored when she realizes that Supergirl and Superman have the same backstory. There’s a little boring back and forth, but then Kara slips up. She reveals that Superman is her cousin. This delights Cat, but Supergirl is flustered and flies off answering no more questions.

The next morning Kara enjoys some breakfast at a restaurant seemingly near her office. Her breakfast of champions? Sticky buns. It seems that she eats this all the time and doesn’t gain weight. Alex shows up, followed quickly by James. Kara awkwardly flirts with James and Alex figures it out. She’s also not buying the “just friends” bit that Kara gives her and then gets to the point: she wants Kara to stop letting people know she’s Supergirl. Then the news reports that Supergirl is Superman’s cousin. Whoops.

Breakfast over Kara goes to work where Cat announces that she’s writing an expose on Supergirl because she’s a writer, but more than that they are going to a very special edition of the magazine and through a giant party to launch it. Giant party, with like a thousand people. Kara is not impressed.

Also not impressed? A dude with a facial burn or something who sees on the news that Supergirl is Superman’s cousin. He puts on his Discount Iron Man costume and blasts the television. And at the DEO, Henshaw and Alex are pissed about it, too. They also get a code grey and Kara dashes off.

The code grey turns out to be a pile-up on the highway. Supergirl has to rescue a bus driver pinned inside the vehilcle. She saves the driver and it looks like a warm and fuzzy moment, but then Discount Iron Man shows up and blasts Supergirl. He’s pretty effective and he wants to kill Supergirl to hurt Superman. Supergirl does her thing and tries to take him down. She’s definitely stronger than he is, but he has that crazy energy blast thing that is definitely hurting her. She eventually hits him with a car door and the damage shuts off his blasts. He takes flight and escapes. Back at the DEO, Henshaw informs Supergirl that they can’t help her. The guy, actually named Reactron, is just a human with some tech so no dice.

Troubled by Reactron, Kara goes back to work. Cat is caffeinated up to her gills and hallucinating from the stress of writing and Winn decides that Team Supergirl need a special place to operate out of so he has set up an abandoned office in the building (I want to know how the heck they got the tech…) They’re in the new digs and James starts talking to Kara about how he wants her to get help from Superman. James also slips up and refers to Superman as Clark which causes Winn to geek out. Yet again this show and its lack of protecting identities, geez. Kara manages to stay on task, though, and tells James that she can’t ask for help. Asking for help would make her and the city look like an easy target, no to mention make her look weak.

Speaking of weak, Maxwell Lord is at Lord Technologies working his high speed light rail and is firing an engineer for not figuring out something fast enough when Reactron blasts in. Reactron needs some assistance with nuclear fission and tries to kidnap a scientist, but Lord steps in instead because he is oh so smart. Supergirl hears about the attack and shows up, but by the time she gets there Reactron and Lord are gone.

Back at the Cave of Improbability, Team Supergirl are chatting about what they are going ot do. Alex shows up and says she can help. With Alex’s information they figure out that Reactron was technician at a nearby reactor that almost went, well, nuclear. Superman had saved it and millions of people, but there were two people who did die, a husband and wife team of technicians. That man didn’t die and is Reactron now.

At Reactron’s junkyard hideout Lord is secured to a chair. He offers to help Reactron get a normal life back, but Reactron refuses. He just wants his armor fixed so he can go back to going after Superman because normal won’t work for him. Lord is on board.

At work we’ve reached the point of the episode where Kara has a moment with Cat that is supposed to impart some sort of lesson or food for thought. Kara has read Cat’s story and has issues with it despite the great writing. Kara tells Cat that she’s being unfair, but Cat disagrees. She has a few sharp things to say about Millenials before James comes in to get Kara with a thin lie about the florist. Seems that Winn has located Reactron so Kara goes with him to attempt to reason with him. She goes to the junkyard where she finds Lord tied up. She frees him, but Reactron pops out and attacks her. Lord runs at Supergirl’s command, but Reactron goes after her. He manages to get her down and is about to deal the killing blow when Superman shows up and saves her.

Kara wakes up a few hours later at home. Alex and James are there, worried. Superman has already gone, Lord is on television giving the credit to Superman for saving him. James reveals that he has a special watch that lets him call Superman and Kara is really upset with hit. She tells James to leave, and he does, but says he’s not sorry she’s still alive. Kara then realizes that she is late for the party but fortunately Alex has a dress for her.

Kara gets to the party late and Cat is about to be upset with her for it when Winn shows up with a lie about magazines and Kara’s hard work, thus saving her. She dances with him as a thank you. Know who else dances? Cat and Lord. It’s creepy and more weird than the digital smoothing of Calista Flockhart’s face. Mercifully, Cat leaves her own party early.

Back at the DEO Henshaw’s eyes get creepy again, but then he goes to the forensics lab where Alex is and gets on her case about helping Kara. Alex explains that she can no longer separate alien threats from human ones and that she has to help. Henshaw then sits down to help her out.

Back at the party, James cuts in on Kara and Winn’s dance. James explains to Kara that he called Superman not because she needed help but because he was scared of losing her. Kara tells him that she needs him to trust her. He does, but he worries. Then Reactron blasts in through the ceiling and wants Supergirl. He also blasts through the poster of her. He then turns on Lord, but then Supergirl shows up and kicks him to the ground, saving Lord again. They fight and Reactron shoots out a beam that nearly falls on Winn. Supergirl catches it, but it makes her vulnerable so James distracts Reactron. He says that, as Superman’s best friend, killing him would definitely hurt Superman. Reactron takes the bait and James runs with Reactron following. With Winn safe, Alex calls Supergirl and tells her that to stop Reactron they will have to take the core of his chestplate out. The problem with that is that the second she does it will melt down so it needs to be encased in lead. Supergirl finds something lead, liquifies it dips her hand in it, and goes out after Reactron. There’s a bit of fighting before Supergirl snatches the core out and stops Reactron. The day is saved! She also gets to be upset at James for putting himself in danger, but he tells her that he knew she’d save him.

Back at the DEO, Supergirl thanks Henshaw and Alex. Henshaw says that it looks like they are now in the Supergirl business in addition to normal duties. When Alex asks her sister’s plans for the night and Kara says they should go to a movie, Alex tells her she needs to go ask out James instead. So Kara heads to do that! Except when she gets to his office Lucy Lane is there. He wants to be alone with her and it turns out (thanks to Kara’s hearing) that Lucy is James’ ex. Kara is crushed and goes back to her desk near tears, But as she settles in to work she gets a message from Clark. He tells her she’s doing great and that she did what he couldn’t do.

In an all’s well that ends well, Kara and Alex are eating Chinese and hanging out. Alex tells Kara that she has read Cat’s story and that Cat respects Supergirl, deep down. The conversation is cut short, though, when Kara hear a siren so it’s Supergirl to the rescue!

So now we have Lucy Lane, Henshaw’s eyes, and creepy flirtation with Maxwell Lord and Cat Grant. The show seems to be finding its footing and I’m kind of enjoying the James-Kara flirting. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!