Supergirl has to protect the president from an alien assassin.
Tropes in this episode:
- Action Girl: Maggie's the one to eventually take out Scorcher, and declares that getting kidnapped, nearly killed, and then getting in a throwdown with a hostile alien beside Alex and Supergirl was a load of fun.
- Artistic License – Physics: Kara uses her heat vision on Lena's alien detector, but rather than melt the device, it somehow causes it to read Kara as human without showing any signs of damage.
- Attack Backfire: Supergirl tries to use her heat vision on Scorcher, but the energy just fuels Scorcher's powers.
- Bait-and-Switch: The President's line about her other jet is a blatant enough Actor Allusion to make you wonder if Lynda Carter is actually playing Wonder Woman again. Nope, she's an alien.
- Composite Character: Maggie Sawyer is introduced in this episode as a detective in the National City Police Department. Her namesake counterpart in the Superman mythos is a no-nonsense short-haired blonde woman, while this version (long-haired sarcastic Latina with a willingness to bend the rules) has more in common with Renee Montoya from the Batman comics.
- Continuity Snarl: J'onn says he's been disguising himself as a black man for 15 years. He started his Dead Person Impersonation of Hank Henshaw in 2005, which was only 11 years ago. However, it is possible that he impersonated another black person prior.
- Cool Old Lady: The President really comes off this way; despite two assassination attempts by a violent alien, she's still optimistic and cheerful about aliens integrating into American society. Of course it turns out she is one.
- Da Editor: Snapper Carr does have an attitude like one, but James reminds him that he's not in charge of the entire newsroom.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Maggie explains to Alex why she's sympathetic with aliens: growing up as a non-white lesbian in Nebraska made her well aware of what it's like being an outsider.
- J'onn makes a comment about knowing that many humans will react badly to the open presence of people who look different, not merely because he's an alien but because for the last 15 years he's looked like a black man.
- The entire plot involving acceptance of aliens reflects real-life issues surrounding refugees.
- Alex's... liberal interpretation of the appropriate level of force for a given situation recalls the recent string of high-profile cases of discrimination and misconduct by police.
- Doomed Hometown: According to Kara, Daxam was devastated and rendered uninhabitable by Krypton's explosion, meaning Mon-El Can't Go Home Again.
- Fantastic Racism: Essentially the whole point of the episode. Even Kara herself is no exception, letting what she knows (or rather, what she thinks she knows) about Daxamites get in the way of facts.
- Fiery Redhead: Scorcher has both the looks and attitude. Bonus points for her being able to Playing with Fire. Obviously, she also doubles as an Evil Redhead.
- Foreshadowing: Savvy viewers will notice that the redhead Alex bumped into the bar is behind the assassination attempts on the president. Her boiling the cup of water already gave away the clue that she can control heat.
- Heel Realization: Kara eventually realizes that she's been treating Daxamites with the same sort of prejudice she's been complaining about humans showing aliens.
- Hollywood Law: Played for Laughs. Kara thinks that almost letting the President get killed is "misdemeanor treason."
- Homoerotic Subtext:
- Alex and Maggie have a lot of romantic chemistry starting with Maggie's first scene -– before Maggie is revealed as being lesbian, and long before Alex comes out of the closet.
- Kara and Lena's interactions also have some romantic vibes.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Alex twice roughs up one of the alien bar patrons, first to find out about Mon-El and second to find where Scorcher is. He's forthcoming the first time, while the second has the bartender volunteer the information to save Maggie.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Snapper Carr's assessment of Kara's initial story as an editorial was indeed correct, and it was not appropriate for a simple fact-reporting story, regardless if one feels her opinion was correct or not. Kara eventually takes this on board.
- Carr is also correct in his journalist instincts during the story meeting: you don't write the lead before finding the story, and his assignments reflect what serious reporters would seek under the circumstances. The problem is that he hijacks the meeting out from under James, rather than bringing up these issues privately. The "headline before story" attitude is characteristic of James's old editor Perry White in some continuities, so it's nice to see it being called out.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Alex and Maggie come to odds initially, as both claim jurisdiction over the first crime scene. They eventually work it out.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Kara goes all fangirl around the President, even as Supergirl.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Maggie Sawyer, who is a tough cop who is more in the "chapstick" category (she has long hair, but also more masculine clothing a somewhat tomboyish manner, but not enough for "butch" either). She had an alien ex-girlfriend who learned English by tongue contact.
- Multi-Character Title: The episode title can refer to Mon-El, the President, and Miss Martian.
- Mythology Gag:
- Maggie's note about the bartender instantly learning a language hearkens to how Tamaraneans assimilate languages via physical contact, and her quip about it being through a kiss is a likely reference to the most well-known Tamaranean in DC Comics.
- Supergirl pulls the iconic Transformation Sequence from Wonder Woman when extinguishing the flames on her suit.
- When Supergirl is excited about visiting Air Force One, the President replies, "You ought to see my other jet."
- In this continuity Daxam is a sister world of Krypton orbiting the same star and was rendered uninhabitable by the explosion that destroyed Krypton. This is the exact same backstory as the planet Argo from Superman: The Animated Series, which was the birthplace of that show's version of Supergirl.
- In the original Superman comic that introduced the character, Superman called him "Mon-El" since he was found on a "Mon"day, and Kal's family name is "El." This shows airs on Mondays.
- Not So Above It All: After ranting on bias against aliens by humans, Kara instantly believes Mon-El is a threat just because he's from Daxam. By the episode's end, Kara is forced to accept she's just as prejudiced as any human.
- Pardon My Klingon: Kara mentions that they used to have a saying about Daxamites on Krypton, but it's nothing that she's willing to repeat in English.
- Pass Fail: J'onn notes that while he and Kara can live among humans easily, not all aliens on Earth are as lucky.
- Poor Communication Kills: If Mon-El hadn't woken up fighting, he wouldn't have been a suspect in the attempted assassination of the president. Of course introducing himself by Neck-Lifting everyone he meets didn't help.
- Properly Paranoid: Turns out that the kryptonite J'onn let Clark dispose of during the last episode might have indeed come in handy against Mon-El (or at least that's what he thinks, not knowing yet that he is a Daxamite).
- The Reveal:
- The President isn't exactly human.
- There's another Martian on Earth.
- Krypton had a twin planet that was basically destroyed after Krypton blew up.
- Ship Tease: Maggie and Alex from the moment they meet are being teased. Their interaction in their first scene screams romantic tension. At the alien bar, Maggie compliments Alex's motorcycle (and name-drops her own) and offers to buy her a drink. Maggie's ex believes she moved on, which neither deny. When Maggie leaves for a hot date, Alex's expression as she watches is intriguing.
- Shout-Out:
- When Maggie and Alex enter the bar, one of the patrons is blinking with vertical eyelids, just like in the first Men in Black movie.
- The alien bar patron Alex keeps abusing refers to Mon-El trying to get a signal offworld as "E.T. phone home."
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The episode's focus, together with Fantastic Racism. In the end, it strongly leans towards the idealistic side.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: The enmity between Krypton and Daxam boils down to this, with the Kryptonians considering the Daxamites as primitive, warlike hoodlums, and the Daxamites seeing the Kryptonians as self-righteous, high-and-mighty pricks.
- Super Registration Act: Scorcher claims that the amnesty act is simply a backdoor way of registering aliens.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: In retaliation against Snapper making his demands about who will be doing which articles about the President's alien amnesty proclamation (James's job as the new boss), James completely rewrites one of his articles (despite Snapper being in charge of editorial content) and, at Snapper's outrage, tells him they should keep to their own jobs instead of taking over each other's.
- Tornado Move: Supergirl creates a vortex around Scorcher using her Super-Speed to deprive her of oxygen, disabling her powers.
- The Unreveal: It is still unclear why a Daxamite like Mon-El was on a Kryptonian escape pod.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Mon-El got his powers very recently; he literally went to sleep and suddenly woke up with them. He still manages to escape from the DEO because of his raw strength and resistance.
- Villain Has a Point: Some of the things Scorcher says to Kara and Maggie are actually quite true.
- Weak, but Skilled: Relatively speaking, as Daxamites, by canon, are slightly stronger and tougher than Kryptonians, and Mon-El manages to outmatch Kara when he first escapes from the DEO, but later, when having an actual fight, Kara defeats him with relative ease, as she actually knows how to use her powers in combat and has the DEO's hand-to-hand training.
- Wham Line: The last exchange of the episode, between J'onn and a bartender:J'onn: Who are you?
Bartender: I am M'gann M'orzz, the last daughter of Mars. - Wham Shot:
- The President walking in shadow as her eyes and face glow, showing she's an alien.
- The bartender shifting forms.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: A non-villain version. Everyone is so concerned about the president that not a single character makes any reference to the numerous bodyguards who are burned alive by the Scorcher. That includes the president herself. Partially justified since it is of course literally their job.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Snapper criticizes Kara's article on Lena for being too tendencious.
- Written by the Winners: Judging by the argument between Kara and Mon-El, Krypton and Daxam spent centuries blaming the other for attacking first and starting the war between them.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Kara tells Mon-El this word-per-word.
