A twisted version of Supergirl, one who’s the mirror image of the Kryptonian hero, sets out to destroy her national city counterpart. Meanwhile, Kara grows closer to Cat’s son Adam.

CBS‘ Supergirl has some good and some bad in this episode which revolves around a different version of the classic character Bizarro than we’re used to.

And the episode really fails with the concept of Bizarro who isn’t the opposite of Supergirl at all. She just talks in a stilted speech pattern. That’s part of the charm of the actual character. Instead of saying he hates someone, he says he loves them. And that can create some pretty funny moments. Here, we get none of that, just really bad makeup and horrible writing that misses the point.

If you’re not going to go all the way, why would you even give a nod to the character? It raises the bar for fans of Superman and Supergirl, and I’d imagine many will be disappointed for similar reasons that I am.

The rest of the episode is dealing with Kara and her personal relationship, and all of that is very predictable plotwise.

The acting, some of the action, it’s all pretty decent otherwise and rather entertaining. There’s just some big opportunities here that were ignored and thrown to the side. This is an example of why giving nods to the source material can backfire.

I will say that the turn with Maxwell Lord is welcome and nips the worry I had that he’d be dragged along as a younger hipper version of Lex Luthor. That’s not the case, which is a good thing.

I had high hopes for the episode. I expected Bizarro, we just got Supergirl in bad makeup.

Overall rating: 6.1

Hank is confronted by his painful past when a member of the alien race that wiped out his people kidnaps Senator Miranda Crane. Meanwhile, Cat’s estranged son arrives in National City.

CBS‘ Supergirl has an interesting spin this episode. The majority of the episode doesn’t focus on Supergirl, but instead it splits its story between Cat and her estranged son and Hank Henshaw/J’onn J’onzz.

Both stories really are one in the same in that they are focused on family and dealing with your past decisions or events.

In Cat’s case it’s letting her son go to pursue her career. Through some meddling they’re reunited and it’s rather awkward at times. It’s an attempt to probably make Cat a bit more human, and there’s some tender moments, but something doesn’t quite sit right about it all.

The majority of the episode involves a new threat, a White Alien which we learn is from Mars and at war with J’onn J’onzz Green aliens. We learn his people were enslaved and murdered by the alien. This has him seeking both revenge against the White Alien and at times wanting for things to end so he can return to his family in the afterlife.

This is a bit better as far as the plot, but again, something is off. The story is a but predictable in how it ends and the lines and acting is a bit cheesy.

While the idea of the episode is cool, and it’s great to see other characters fleshed out, the acting, tone, and even some of the special fx, just aren’t quite up to snuff compared to previous episodes. Not all will be winners, and this one is a bit of a clunker.

Overall rating: 6.7

Kara does her best to support Winn when he hears that his father Winslow Schott Sr. breaks out of prison. His father looks for Winn for a reason to become like him. Cat offers Lucy a job working at CatCo and Alex asks Hank to use his powers to find out and uncover Maxwell Lord’s plans.

CBS‘ Supergirl takes a bit of a darker turn this episode. The coloring and vibe reminded me much more of The Flash series from the 90s which had a darker palate and vibe.

The episode does a solid job expanding on a lot of the characters that haven’t gotten a ton as the show pivots a bit more to focus on Maxwell Lord’s plan (which you know will be evil).

The may thrust of the story is Winn’s father who turns out to be Toyman. There’s some nice nods to the character in comics and we learn a lot more about Winn. There’s also some solid moments where we reflect on Kara’s family situation. Of course Winn’s crush on Kara is addressed and the series goes where I was hoping it did.

Then there’s J’onn who we learn a bit more about his powers and what he is and isn’t willing to do with them. That’s clearly building and gives us more of the great power comes great responsibility aspect of having super powers.

The final thing is Lucy Lane being offered a job. There’s some solid exploration of women and jobs, with some really fascinating back and forth between her and James. I want more of this in many ways. It’s great in that in gives a lot more depth to the characters and also explores real world issues.

The episode brings the series back with what’s hopefully a long uninterrupted run. There was an episode two weeks ago after a break, then another break, now this. It’s a good episode to set up what’s to come in the second half of the season.

Overall rating: 8.1

A standoff ensues between the DEO and Astra’s forces also Non kidnaps Hank, while Kara tries to refute Cat’s allegations that she’s Supergirl.

CBS‘ Supergirl returns from its holiday break with a brand new episode that has the DEO and Kara figuring out what to do when Hank is kidnapped.

The episode is a mix bag with Kara talking to her aunt a lot in a boring, predictable way. It has the warm and fuzzy boringness and feels really anticlimactic. The whole situation could have built into something much more, but it just seems to fizzle leading in a direction that’s somewhat predictable.

What is actually good is Kara dealing with Cat thinking she’s Supergirl. We get some solid insight as to what someone like her would keep a job like that. It’s always a good question considering how powerful she is, not like she really needs work, or can’t work for the DEO. The end of that situation is handled really well with a nice twist that makes sense.

What’s really solid is the build of Maxwell Lord which the series has been slowly progressing into a worthy bad guy. It hasn’t been obvious, and what he’s up to isn’t obvious at all. But, this episode gives us more in that storyline than any episode before.

This wasn’t the best episode of the series, but a welcome return to the small screen that has me excited for the latter half of the first season.

Overall rating: 7.8

Kara faces off with Astra after her aunt challenges Kara’s beliefs about her mother; and Cat is threatened with being removed as CEO of CatCo after a hacker exposes her private and damaging emails.

CBS‘ Supergirl goes a different route this episode. While there’s movement in the Supergirl/Astra storyline but really the focus is Cat and her being threatened with being fired.

Not only does the episode reveal that Cat has another son, but as she says herself she’s dealing with the “walking personification of white male privilege.”

The episode takes on its girl power theme through this storyline focusing on Cat this go around. It addresses the issues of a woman being the CEO of a corporation. It’s something we don’t see often in a drama, let alone an action series like this one.

The story also feels right at home and natural for the series.

It’s also clear there’s a bigger plot concerning Astra, and we get a taste of some of what that is. Also on tap is Henshaw/J’onn mentioning his powers in a nice wink and smile for comic fans.

Overall, the episode is solid in that while there was action and adventure, it also is very personal in many ways in its focus on Cat addressing a real world issue.

But, with all of that, we also finally get someone being smart when it comes to secret identities instead of everyone being an idiot about it all.

The end fight scene had some good and some bad, but overall much more good than bad.

Treating characters intelligently. Addressing real world issues. Lots of action. This is a solid episode, especially after last week’s excellent reveal.

Overall rating: 8.1

Kara and her friends are forced to rely on their inner strength and courage when an earthquake strikes National City, while Alex’s mistrust of Hank reaches its breaking point when the earthquake traps them in the DEO with an alien escapee called Jemm.

CBS‘ Supergirl adds another familiar face in a big payoff episode that runs a story that’s been done over and over, but, it’s done really well here.

Supergirl has lost her powers after last episode which saw her go against the Red Tornado. Unfortunately an earthquake has hit the city and everyone is looking towards Supergirl to save them which she can’t. That has the stereotypical story of people realizing the superhero within them. We’ve seen this story before and here it’s done decently. It’s very cute and there’s some moments that definitely gave me feels.

But really the bigger story is the D.E.O. and and reveal of who Hank Henshaw really is. We’ve been teased that he’s not human and we finally get the reveal.

Stop reading if you don’t want to know.

You good?

Ok, here we go!

Henshaw is in fact the Martian Manhunter! J’onn J’onzz is now on television and the outfit and look is reminiscent of the New 52 version, but it actually looked really good!

This feels like a great payoff and reveal, one that was well worth the teasing and the time it took to reveal it was solid, not too long, not too short.

It may be that reveal that saved the episode from being cheese, but overall, it pumped me up excited to see what comes next.

Overall rating: 9

Stress makes Kara go too far during a training exercise against a military cyborg commissioned by General Sam Lane, while Cat’s mother comes to visit and Winn helps Alex investigate her father’s death.

CBS‘ Supergirl adds a familiar faces for fans of DC Comics as Red Tornado makes its debut on the series along with General Lane.

While the introduction of those characters may have kept the comic fans focused, really the episode is about women and expectations of how they react in public. Coming up a few times, there’s talk of Supergirl/Kara not keeping her cool and how that is a societal faux pas. It’s nice for the episode to really just put that out there as it has danced around the “lady like” subject for some bit.

We also get to see Supergirl have a lot of issues taking on the Red Tornado. With its strength and ability the character really gives her a run for her money.

The episode in many ways takes on the ending of Man of Steel. How the ending is shot mimics the anger Superman had on his face facing Zod. Both touch upon how these two beings are supposed to be so much better than us all, but like every person they too have anger underneath it all that some times just needs to come out in cathartic rage. It’s interesting the television show can make you think of that film in a different way.

The ending gets really interesting in that it grows the mystery of Alex’s father and Cat’s reaction to her mother. Plus…. Supergirl bleeding!?

Overall rating: 8.2