"... I don't see it."
"I'm not Superman's cousin, I'm Supergirl! And if I’m going to be defined, it’s going to be by my victories and my losses. No one else’s."
—Kara Zor-El
A villain named Reactron comes to National City, looking to hurt Superman by killing his cousin.
Tropes in this episode:
- Aesop Amnesia: Just last episode Kara told James that accepting help was honorable on Krypton. Now she absolutely refuses to get help from Superman, even against a villain Superman had trouble beating, because she doesn't want to be seen as weak, or confirm Cat Grant's assumptions of her.
- Artistic License – Nuclear Physics: Kara is told to encase the core of Reactron's suit in lead to keep it from going critical once it's removed. She accomplishes this by making a glove out of lead and grabbing it. She should have irradiated James with such inadequate shielding.
- Artistic License – Physics: A glove quite literally made of lead would not flex like fabric, even taking into account Kara's strength.
- Bait-and-Switch: Cat's reaction when she finally gets a good look at Supergirl's face looks at first like she's recognized Kara. It's actually because Kara just revealed that Superman is her cousin.
- When Reactron invades the party we see him firing at something after which we get a shot of Kara, then we see he blew up the giant magazine cover.
- Ballroom Blitz: Reactron (literally) crashes the Catco party celebrating the commemorative Supergirl issue to challenge Supergirl.
- Big Damn Heroes: Superman showed up in the nick of time to save Kara from Reactron.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The argument about calling Superman falls into this a bit. Reactron is a legitimate threat that even Supes hasn't been able to beat by himself but Kara's view is that calling him in every time she has trouble could lead to National City as being seen as Holding Out for a Hero.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Kara tries to acquit Supergirl when Cat accuses Supergirl of a typical millenial who would call an older and stronger figure to solve their problems by saying that "she wouldn't do that".
- Clothes Make the Superman: Reactron's suit is responsible for his powers. Once Kara yanks out the core, he's powerless.
- Expy:
- Reactron is essentially an evil Iron Man. Or perhaps closer to Whiplash, considering Maxwell Lord seems to be an expy of Tony Stark.
- From the conversation and the shape of the pod in the scene where Lord is introduced, it appears that he and his company are building a Hyperloop.
- Internal Reveal: Many different examples.
- The world learns of Supergirl's and Superman's relationship, specifically that they are cousins.
- Winn learns that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same, much to his amazement and fanboy-joy.
- Winn and Jimmy show Kara and (later) Alex the office within Catco that they can do Mission Control from and that is not in the DEO's way.
- Jerkass:
- Maxwell Lord, who credits his rescue to Superman, even though Kara is the one that showed up and allowed his escape.
- Cat Grant's article about Supergirl makes a lot of assumptions about her character, mostly based on Cat's own negative opinion of her. Her main selling point—that Kara would call on Superman when things get tough—only pans out because James goes against Kara's wishes. Ironically, she doesn't seem to get along with Lord.
- Misplaced Retribution: Reactron blames Superman for the death of his wife in spite of her dying in an accident he in no way caused and his only crime was not being able to save her, amazingly he is never called out on this. It probably wouldn't have done much good.
- Must Have Caffeine: Cat drinks a very strong coffee mix to get herself the 'mental clarity' to write her article on Supergirl.
- Mythology Gag:
- Kara is asked by Cat to have a co-worker named Dave to move to another desk in the office because his hair is distracting. When we get a good look at Dave, we see that he strongly resembles the classic depiction of Jimmy Olsen, right down to the curly red hair.
- This incarnation of Jimmy Olsen also has the signal watch that so many of his comics counterparts have had.
- Possibly two very subtle ones, both referencing Crisis on Infinite Earths: After her near-defeat in her second fight with Reactron, Kara bemoans having to be save by Superman and Alex replies, “…someday, you will be the one saving him [Superman]”. In fact, said second fight with Reactron, with the villain blasting the heroine with a beam weapon, does look similar to her famous death scene from the comic-book.
- Henshaw mentions the classic "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" Catchphrase.
- Never-Forgotten Skill: Cat Grant still can do articles. She compares them to riding a bike or childhood trauma. You never really forget.
- Oh, Crap!: Kara when she accidentally blurts out Superman is her cousin to Cat.
- Revenge by Proxy: Reactron wants to kill Kara to get back at Superman for the death of his wife.
- Sarcastic Confession: A minor one: when asked by a waitress how she can eat sticky buns every morning yet still maintain her figure, Kara replies that she is an alien.
- Shirtless Scene: Ben Krull/Reactron is shirless when he doesn't use his armor.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Cat and Lord do nothing but trade barbs at each other while they dance at the party.
- So Proud of You: Clark says this to Kara through texts, since she managed to beat Reactron when he couldn't.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Kara gets really pissed off when Alex and Jimmy call Superman to save her from Reactron. She argues that if people (and especially villains) think Superman will come to bail her out every time there's trouble, National City will be seen as an easy target. By the end of the episode, Clark has come to agree and promises not to intervene in National City's affairs again.
- Ungrateful Bastard:
- Kara enters to a hopeless situation against Reactron and James calls Superman to save her. She gets angry although she could have died. However, she is not that angry about being saved but because she doesn't want to rely on Superman.
- Discussed by Maxwell Lord when he knows that fixing Reactron's armor doesn't mean Reactron would spare him.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Kara is slowly breaking out of relying solely on brute strength when in a melee with a foe, as shown in her initial throw-down with Reactron at the freeway pile-up.
