History Recap / Supergirl2015S3E6Midvale

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Kara tries to comfort Alex by saying her grief will get better over time, Alex just rhetorically asks her is ''she'' is feeling better.

* AssholeVictim: Both the pot smoking bully as well as the pedophile teacher were not guilty of killing Kenny, but their legal repercussions were still deserved.
* BigBrotherWorship: Well more like big/little cousin worship, Kara is shown to idolize Clark/Superman as a teenager, and initially openly wishes she could live and fight evil with him and not the Danvers.

* ContinuityCameo: J'onn uses his powers to disguise himself as a FBI agent who looks like Kara's mom in order to try to dissuade her from using her powers. He changes back when nobody's looking.

* CorruptCop: The sheriff who's selling drugs on the side -- and killed Kenny to keep him quiet.

* DirtyCop: Sheriff Collins.

* FantasticRacism: Both in the flashback as well as in the present during her chat with her adopted mother, Kara still shows light signs of this, insisting that she isn't human.

** Although the whole episode is a {{Prequel}} named after the city where the hero grew up, just like ''Smallville.'', the entire setup -Kara Zor-El adopted by the Danvers and hiding her powers as growing up in Midvale, the whole time wishing she could live with her cousin and be a hero- is taken from the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' stories.

* RedHerring: Samuel Bernard, one of Kara and Alex's teacher's, is set up as the villain and while he's definitely guilty of statutory rape (presumably, the age of consent in the state Midvale is in is 18), he's not Kenny's murderer. That would be [[DirtyCop Sheriff]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing Collins]].

* TeacherStudentRomance: Deconstructed as RealityEnsues and the teacher promptly goes to jail for statutory rape. Josie, the student in question, tried to justify the relationship to her soon-to-be-former best friend Alex by pointing out the age gap (ten years) isn't that large and that no one will care in five years when she's older. What she fails to realize is that in five years it's assumed she'll be mature enough to realize a guy that old that is willing to have a relationship with a teenager (his student no less) is a sexual predator. It's also implied that, in the state where Midvale is located, the age of consent is 18 (it varies between 16 and 18, depending on the state)[[note]]Midvale is mentioned as being near the US-Canada border, so assuming the ages of consent are the same as in real life, this would place it in either Idaho or North Dakota[[/note]].

** J'onn's fake FBI agent is played by Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', and is named Noel Neill, the name of the actress who played Lois Lane on ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman''.

* LittleMissBadass: Kara as a 15-year-old is easily able to save Alex from being killed by Sheriff Collins. She also easily overpowers a jock who had been threatening Kenny.

** Kara tries to be there for Alex in the wake of her broken engagement, but Alex cruelly throws the six months Kara spent distancing herself from her and her friends over Mon-El.

* UngratefulBastard: overlaps with NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished. Kara and Alex expose the JerkJock quarterback is using pot, that the history teacher is a sexual predator, and the sheriff as corrupt and a murderer and what's the reward? Being social outcasts in the school. However, Mr. and Mrs. Li are grateful, so they rewarded Kara and Alex with Kenny's favourite telescope.

* UngratefulBastard: Kara and Alex expose the JerkJock quarterback is using pot, that the history teacher is a sexual predator, and the sheriff as corrupt and a murderer and what's the reward? Being social outcasts in the school. However, Mr. and Mrs. Li are grateful, so they rewarded Kara and Alex with Kenny's favourite telescope.

*** And of course, the whole episode is a {{Prequel}} named after the city where the hero grew up, just like ''Smallville.''

* Foreshadowing: The song "Fake Do-Gooders" by The Eames Era plays during a montage of Alex and Kara competing with each other. "Fake Do-Gooder" turns out to be a rather appropriate description of [[DirtyCop the episode's villain.]]

* ThreePointLanding: Kara had already mastered this landing pose when [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-er9cwycDiMU/Wg19rYnyF5I/AAAAAAAAxCc/TRm1qcI88CE149ulyrbfzk5aOR_zuE_eQCLcBGAs/s1600/9.jpeg she was a teenager]].

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Kara, according to Alex.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: One of Superman's encounters with Lex Luthor is talked about.

-->'''Kara''': You want to talk, it might help?\\

* ShoutOut: "[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark They killed Kenny!]]"

* TeacherStudentRomance: Deconstructed as RealityEnsues and the teacher promptly goes to jail for statutory rape. Josie, the student in question, tried to justify the relationship to her soon-to-be-former best friend Alex by pointing out the age gap (ten years) isn't that large and that no one will care in five years when she's older. What she fails to realize is that in five years it's assumed she'll be mature enough to realize a guy that old that is willing to have a relationship with a teenager (his student no less) is a sexual predator. It's also implied that, in the state where Midvale is located, the age of consent is 18 (it varies between 16 and 18, depending on the state)[note]Midvale is mentioned as being near the US-Canadaborder, so assuming the ages of consent are the same as in real life, this would place it in either Idaho or North Dakota[/note].

* TeacherStudentRomance: Deconstructed as RealityEnsues and the teacher promptly goes to jail for statutory rape. Josie, the student in question, tried to justify the relationship to her soon-to-be-former best friend Alex by pointing out the age gap (ten years) isn't that large and that no one will care in five years when she's older. What she fails to realize is that in five years it's assumed she'll be mature enough to realize a guy that old that is willing to have a relationship with a teenager (his student no less) is a sexual predator. It's also implied that, in the state where Midvale is located, the age of consent is 18 (it varies between 16 and 18, depending on the state).

** Teenaged Alex acts that way, blaming Kara for everything wrong in her life.
** Sheriff Collins, who thinks that he is entitled to get more than he makes in his job and thus turned to drug smuggling.

** The flashback shows that Alex resents Kara because her presence disrupted her content life with her parents by resulting in Jeremiah having to leave and Eliza forcing Alex to act as a mentor/babysitter.

** Initially Alex acts that way, blaming Kara for everything wrong in her life.
** Sheriff Collins, who thinks that he is entitled to get more than he makes in his job and thus went to drug smuggling.

* SiblingRivalry: As teens, Alex and Kara had a very ''frosty'' relationship. It got better.

* SecretSecretKeeper: At the end of the episode, one of Kenny's telescope images reveals that he knew Kara was an alien, and that he didn't care. When Kara learns this, she admits that if he were in front of her right now, she'd kiss him. Adult!Kara even calls him a "keeper of secrets".

* TeacherStudentRomance: Deconstructed as RealityEnsues and the teacher promptly goes to jail for statuary rape. Josie, the student in question, tried to justify the relationship to her soon-to-be-former best friend Alex by pointing out the age gap (ten years) isn't that large and that no one will care in five years when she's older. What she fails to realize is that in five years it's assumed she'll be mature enough to realize a guy that old that is willing to have a relationship with a teenager (his student no less) is a sexual predator. It's also implied that, in the state where Midvale is located, the age of consent is 18 (it varies between 16 and 18, depending on the state).

* RealityEnsues: Kara tries to be there for Alex in the wake of her broken engagement, but Alex cruelly throws the six months Kara spent distancing herself from her and her friends over Mon-El.

* TeacherStudentRomance: Deconstructed as RealityEnsues and the teacher promptly goes to jail for statuary rape. Josie, the student in question, tried to justify the relationship to her soon-to-be-former best friend Alex by pointing out the age gap (ten years) isn't that large and that no one will care in five years when she's older. What she fails to realize is that in five years it's assumed she'll be mature enough to realize a guy that old that is willing to have a relationship with a teenager (his student no less) is a sexual predator.