Exodus – After stealing the alien registry, Cadmus have been abducting increasing amounts of peaceful aliens, planning to ship them back into space unless the DEO can stop them. Kara faces a moral dilemma over breaking news in warning and Alex is worried about her father being considered an enemy.
It’s been a quietly recurring theme over the season that anti-alien attitudes of people like Cadmus has been a mild reflection of certain right wing political figures and governments stance towards immigration. I’m very much enjoyed it. The episodes made subtle points without getting too tied down in the issues or going against the shows tone of lighter entertainment superhero action. This episode it goes much heavier as certain real world issues take centre stage but it still feels within the context of the show. Much like Arrow’s excellent recent tackling of gun control, it doesn’t feel like the writers of Supergirl are trying to spark a revolution. merely showing awareness of their story’s relevance to what’s going on outside their viewer’s screens. The main focus is on immigration as Cadmus is essentially forcibly deporting planetary aliens/immigrants despite many having long lived on Earth or being refugees. The opening minutes kidnapping sequence in smash changing from happiness to terror is outstanding in solidifying this message. Later. there’s a great exchange about deportation not being an acceptable compromise to those who would rather have them killed: that sending them to die somewhere else is no different than killing them on home soil. Jeremiah’s story within Cadmus also had a great feel of Rogue One’s Galen Erso to it. In Jeremiah’s mind, he was similarly sacrificing himself and playing the part for the greater good and to keep his loved ones safe.
Also impressive is the way writers Paula Yoo & Eric Carrasco use the character of Snapper Carr to make a bold statement about the need for journalistic integrity amidst the growing fake news epidemic. Firstly, we’ve already seen good journalism as Snapper’s core value since his first episode so his character isn’t being bent towards these issues; he’s naturally incorporating them. Secondly, the episode portrays him as a morally justified antagonist; we know Kara’s report is the truth but we always understand and appreciate Snapper’s opposition over sources that cannot be verified. Considering that Supergirl’s main character is an aspiring journalist (at least half the time), it feels completely appropriate to address the issue as a key learning point in her journey and as above, it’s all worked within the existing superhero story format. In fairness, one particular Snapper quote may be a little too on-the-nose. Even though it’s still used to impart the right message to Kara, it may cause some offense, “One miss-attributed quote from a candidate and you put a fascist in the White House”.
Outside of the politics, this was a great action episode too from the early bar fight to the impressive climax of the Cadmus facility and spaceship. The ship itself looked fantastic both docked and in flight. There is a real sense of dramatic stakes over the outcome. For a handful of moments at least, it felt things could genuinely go either way and in the process produced one of the show’s most spectacular sequences ever. Alex and Kara also get all the bonus points ever for pulling a Kirk/Spock on the glass. The Cadmus interior fight scenes might Alex look suitably badass and even the Cyborg Superman mask looked better this week (thank God). I also really enjoyed the use of Lyra within the episode’s action. Not only did having her captured by Cadmus add to the drama, create conflict within the DEO ranks from a frustrated Winn but it positioned her as someone we care about among the ship’s hostages. Having Lyla around to marshal/lead the hostages freed up Alex and Kara for the bigger task of stopping the ship and the result was far better for it. I’m also getting rather fond of Lyra’s geeky pairing with Winn...... which means something really bad will happen to her soon.
The concluding tease gives us our first look at promised appearances of Terri Hatcher (90's Lois Lane alongside Dean Cain) and Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, Andromeda). Upon first reaction, it looks like they’ll playing Mon-El’s parents (aka the Daxam’s royal family), which should make for some intriguing future episodes. A Dean Cain Vs Kevin Sorbo smack down anyone?