In the Supergirl recap, J’onn Jonzz is faced with an enemy from his past who is hell bent on his final destruction …
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Supergirl is cruising through season one while introducing all kinds of mythology from the DC Comics Universe with a unique spin for this particular series.
The biggest reveal from a few weeks back was that Hank Henshaw wasn’t some evil cyborg or even the real Hank Henshaw — he was actually The Martian Manhunter J’onn Jonzz, who had been living on Earth for decades before assuming his current identity as the leader of the Department of Extranormal Operations.
This week’s episode introduced a lot more of J’onn’s back story, which is familiar to comic book fans, but new to many Supergirl viewers who are still learning more about this alien who has powers virtually equal to Superman yet hides in the shadows afraid to reveal who he really is.
The introductions of the White Martians is a game changer for J’onn and while he was dealing with a threat that brought back the worst memories lodged inside his brain, Kara was facing a mediation between mother and son after luring Cat Grant’s child back into the fold and back into her life — even if she didn’t know it was happening until he already arrived.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of Supergirl titled “Strange Visitor from Another Planet”…
A New Threat Arrives
Cat Co. is on high alert to start this week’s episode as Senator Miranda Crane is arriving in town, ready to deliver a dose of her alien-hating rhetoric that always stirs up a crowd. It seems Senator Crane is on a mission to eradicate all alien life from Earth — even the ones wearing red capes and flying around saving people.
James volunteers to shoot the event and cover the Senator’s speech because she’s going to say something inflammatory by the end of it that will end up splashed across newspapers and serve as the ultimate clickbait on the Cat Co. website.
But just as Senator Crane is getting ready to whip the crowd up in a Trump-style frenzy, a flash enters the crowd and before long a creature is revealed that starts taking out guards and citizens alike. The Senator is whisked away by security as Hank and Alex rush in to help after being staked out just in case one of the not so friendly aliens arrived to give the rally goers something to really fear.
Sure enough an alien has landed but when Hank gets one look at the creature, he’s petrified with fear after realizing that the White Martians from his home planet have finally arrived on Earth. He’s powerless to stop the alien but thankfully James made a call to Kara and Supergirl shows up just in the nick of time to save the day.
Unfortunately she gets there just as the creature attacks the Senator in a basement dwelling underneath a building. Supergirl saves the Senator’s life but the creature is nowhere to be found.
Hank is clearly rattled and both Supergirl and Alex want to know what got him so shaken up.
Mother and Son Day
A few weeks back Cat Grant revealed that when she was much younger she had a son named Adam, who has been estranged from her ever since he was born after his father whisked him far, far away from her. She still sends him money and attempts to help where she can, but Cat didn’t feel like she was ready to be a mother back then and now it’s far too late to really try again.
But she constantly writes letters pouring her heart out to Adam before throwing them in the trash. One of these letters “accidentally” got tossed at Kara’s head and rather than toss it away, she actually finished it with her own words and then sent it off to Adam.
A few days later, Adam shows up in National City looking to spend some time with his mother after her heartfelt letter. Cat is obviously furious with Kara that she took it upon herself to reach out to Adam, but ultimately she can’t deny that this is what she’s always wanted — a chance to reconnect with her son.
Unfortunately at their first dinner together in years, Cat can’t stop talking about herself and all the great things she’s done while asking virtually nothing about Adam. He finally gets frustrated and leaves, which forces Cat to call Kara back in to play mediator on a second get together between mother and son.
This time, Kara is able to keep Cat and Adam on point as they hash out some old issues and try to build a bridge to finally meet in the middle. In the end, Adam realizes he still wants and needs a mother in his life and Cat would give anything to have her son back. They come to an understanding, hold hands and it seems like mother and son are reunited.
Oh and in the end, Adam (who is actually Melissa Benoist’s husband in real life) asks Kara out on a date, the appropriate sparks fly, and they will have dinner later that night.
Too bad this comes one episode after Kara shot Winn down like a SCUD missile and she’s been trying to reach out to him ever since with no luck. Kara misses her best friend but he’s still very much in love with her. At the end of the episode, Winn finally speaks to Kara but little does he know that she’s already moving on with someone else.
That’s not going to help his confidence — at all.
The Last of His Kind
Back at the DEO, Hank and Alex have put the Senator into protective custody for her own safety after the White Martian attacked her assembly. Hank knows that the White Martian used her as bait to draw him out of hiding after he used his powers recently and because all people from Mars are connected, the evil creature sensed he was still alive and came searching for him on Earth.
During the conversation and subsequent investigation into the photos of the rally, Supergirl and Hank both realize almost simultaneously that the alien — who has the same abilities — has transformed into Senator Crane before launching its attack against him inside the base.
Hank battles back but it’s Supergirl who finally has to save the day once again. Finally, Hank reveals why he’s so scared of the White Martians.
It seems many years ago while the Green Martians were living peacefully on Mars, the White Martians emerged from deep inside the planet with one mission in mind — destroy the other half of their race and either kill every one of them or put them into servitude. During the hellacious battle, J’onn’s wife and daughters were captured and burned alive before the conflict finally came to an end. The rest of the Green Martians were eventually killed and so far as he knows, J’onn is the last surviving member of his race.
They all team up to stop the White Martian, but when the plan goes awry and Alex is captured by the creature, Hank/J’onn and Supergirl know they have to do everything possible to get her back unharmed.
Eventually they meet with the White Martian in the desert for a final battle and after a lengthy back and forth fight, J’onn and Supergirl get the upper hand. But just as Supergirl is ready to take the creature into custody, J’onn locks on kryptonite handcuffs to slow her down. He’s decided that this White Martian has to die — but of course Supergirl uses her power of persuasion to convince him that killing this creature would just lower Hank to their level.
Finally, Hank decides to imprison the White Martian at the DEO base but not before it warns him that there are millions more just like him lurking underneath the surface of Mars and eventually they will come for him.
As rattled as Hank was at the start, he’s finally feeling like himself again before telling Kara and Alex that he’d be proud to call them both daughters after they not only saved him from the White Martial today but saved him from himself.
Epilogue
At the end, Kara and Alex are enjoying some ice cream while discussing her upcoming date with Adam when they see a news report featuring Supergirl doing some of her regular heroics. There’s only one problem — Supergirl didn’t actually save anybody. It appears there’s a super imposter roaming around the city and from the look of the preview for next week it looks like Bizarro Supergirl is about to make her first appearance!
Supergirl returns to CBS next Monday night at 8pm ET.
