Cadmus is back, and this time, their fear-mongering propaganda involves arming crooks with alien tech guns to terrorize National City. Meanwhile, Lena invites both Kara and Supergirl to her fundraising party.
Tropes in this episode:
- Bad Liar: Mon-El has trouble maintaining his cover because he has no understanding of the documents Kara hands him, reading off his Social Security number as if it's supposed to be his ID. Then he blurts out that it's fake when Kara stops him.
- Ballroom Blitz: The crew armed with alien weapons crash Lena's gala and attempt to rob the guests.
- Beam-O-War: Kara does this a few times with Heat Vision against the alien guns. She isn't able to overpower them, and is overpowered herself a couple times when she either stops trying or the others join in.
- Blatant Lies:
- Winn immediately sees through James's nonsensical excuse after he is beaten up while playing vigilante. It helps that he has video of James unmasking at the scene.
- Kara claims that she has never once used her powers to make her job easier. Mon-El doesn't buy it and points out that Kara has a noticeable tell.
- Brutal Honesty: When Alex awkwardly tries to ask Maggie out (just for a fun girls' night, she claims), the latter immediately points out that Alex is behaving like other gay women she's known who were still in the closet.
- Captain Obvious: When Cadmus sends out a message right after Miner's first heist, Alex sarcastically comments on the coincidental timing. Just in case the viewer didn't catch on, Kara helpfully spells out that they're probably supplying him.
- Celebrity Paradox: Mon-El references Grey's Anatomy when justifying why he thought it was okay to have sex in the workplace. Chyler Leigh, who plays Alex, was a series regular on Grey's for several seasons. However, since Mon-El never actually name-drops the show, instead referring to it as a "TV show about doctors," he could have been talking about an In-Universe equivalent.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: James is starting to develop this after he fails to stop the crooks at a bank robbery. Winn agrees to help him because he recognizes James won't stop.
- Closet Key: When Alex is talking to Winn about how she's worried for Maggie after her breakup, Winn observes that she's not interested in Maggie "that" way, causing Alex to mull that over silently. This, combined with Maggie's reaction to what Alex thought was an invitation to hang out has Alex questioning her sexuality.
- Coitus Interruptus: Kara walks in on Mon-El and Miss Tessmacher as they're about to have sex.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Alex tries to explain to Kara that maybe Mon-El just isn't fit to live the life she is trying to give him, and uses her and Kara's differing tastes in music as an analogy, Kara starts arguing about music.
- Continuity Nod: Lena thanks Alex for saving her back when Corben was trying to kill her.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Mon-El initially doesn't see anything wrong with letting Eve handle all his work, since he remembers how things were on his homeworld.Mon-El: She wanted to please me. On Daxam, when a woman wishes to please a man —Kara: Just — wherever you're going with that, just — just don't.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Eve Tessmacher can't stop ogling Mike/Mon-El. She's also this close to literally eating him up when the two of them are about to get kinky in the supply closet.
- Energy Weapon: One of the weapons Cadmus gives Miner's crew is a photon cannon. Winn notes that if it had been fully charged there's no telling what would have happened to Kara.
- Fish out of Water: Mon-El's attempt to pass as human is comically inept, such as believing his Social Security number is his primary ID and having no idea how to operate a telephone. Fortunately for him, being attractive lets him rope Miss Tessmacher into doing his work for him.
- Foreshadowing: The head of Cadmus tells Miner that she's doing what she's doing for the safety of "my son and my daughter," at the same time that she's warning him not to mess with the Luthor family. Since we know that the Luthor family includes a brother and sister, this drops a hint as to who she really is.
- Forgot About His Powers: No one brings up J'onn helping out when Kara and Supergirl have to both appear at Lena's party (in fact, he barely has any screen time in this episode).
- Gadgeteer Genius: Lena has built a device specifically designed to disarm the high-tech guns, though she hasn't quite nailed it down by the time they attack. Luckily, Winn is on hand to help her finish it up.
- Gravity Master: One of the guns is able to control gravity for whatever it shoots, either suspending it in the air, causing it to fall very fast, or flinging it into orbit.
- I Just Want to Be Special: James's reason for deciding to fight bad guys.
- Lured into a Trap: Lena arranges the gala knowing the crooks will more than likely attack it. She has a device on standby ready to disable their weapons.
- Mundane Utility: Kara uses her Heat Vision to give Mon-El a haircut, which is typically how Clark cuts his own hair and shaves in the comics.
- Mythology Gag: Eve Teschmacher was Lex Luthor's curvaceous assistant in Superman: The Movie.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- Miss Tessmacher tries this line when Kara catches Mon-El and her doing it in the supply room. Kara points out that there is little else it could be.Kara: This is the definition of something being what it looks like!
- Winn says this when he crawls out from under the banquet table at the gala just after Lena has done the same. He manages to stammer his way to explaining that they were the ones that destroyed the guns.
- Miss Tessmacher tries this line when Kara catches Mon-El and her doing it in the supply room. Kara points out that there is little else it could be.
- Offscreen Breakup: Maggie's girlfriend dumped her in-between episodes.
- Oh, Crap!: Supergirl's reaction to both Kara Danvers and her being invited to Lena's gala.
- Oh, My Gods!: Kara mutters a brief "Thank Rao" after explaining to Mon-El that Earth isn't like Daxam.
- Only in It for the Money: Miner has no interest in achieving anything for Cadmus other than filling his pockets.
- Out of Focus: J'onn barely has any screen time in this episode. Presumably he's still preoccupied with M'gann or other DEO business.
- Power Perversion Potential: Mon-El jokes that he may have more powers than the DEO realized, after Kara catches him and Eve having sex in a storage room.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The Head of Cadmus knows that robbing Lena's fundraising party is not a good idea due to the Luthor family having high wealth and powerful connections. Being Lena's mother, she may also care on a personal level, or at least knows enough about her daughter to have surmised it's a trap.
- The Reveal: Turns out the Head of Cadmus is Lena Luthor's mother.
- Shooting Superman: Subverted. When one of the bank robbers points an ordinary gun at Supergirl, she's quick to point out how useless it is. Cue the other guy shooting her with an alien cannon.
- Shout-Out:
- Mon-El took the idea of sex being totally normal in the workplace from Grey's Anatomy.
- Kara argues with Alex that *NSYNC is not weird music when discussing about personal hobbies and interests.
- Kara and Supergirl both get invited to Lena's party. Kara and Winn initiate "Operation Doubtfire" to distract Lena at key moments so that Kara can switch costumes.
- Smug Snake: Miner is a greedy, overconfident, and just plain hateable asshole, who is so full of himself he even threatens the Head of Cadmus. Unsurprisingly, she offs him as soon as he is detained, fittingly while he is bragging he won't stay in prison for long.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- If you go up against several crooks who have highly advanced alien weaponry with just a ski mask and a baseball bat while being on your own, you're gonna get your ass kicked.
- On the other hand, if as a group of random criminals you decide to go up against a wealthy family with a reputation for not tolerating threats (alien or otherwise), you can expect your heist to be prematurely interrupted.
- Wham Line: Lena to the head of Cadmus: "So, what can I do for you... Mom?"
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Miner and his henchmen are killed off before he can provide information that Cadmus supplied him with the weapons.
