Supergirl S02 E21 – Here for the aesthetic.

Previously: Lena helped Teri Hatcher start an alien invasion.
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Resist

Marines: Lena is sleeping on a fancy bed. She’s wearing a long, black lace dress that’s very vampy. Teri Hatcher caresses her face and that startles her awake. She asks where the hell she is. Teri Hatcher says she’s been caring for Lena ever since Supergirl almost killed her while attacking their portal. Lena knows that Supergirl was trying to stop Teri, and gets teary about the way Teri used her. Teri said she had to do it for her people, but also she did it for Lena, too. She meant all the substitute mom pep-talks she gave Lena. They stand at a window as Teri says that this world is wasted potential, but she’s going to build a better one worthy of Lena. We zoom out of the ship and see all the other Daxamite ships. And they start firing on National City.

Samantha: Yikes that’s darker than I expected. 

Catherine: Don’t worry, this whole ‘killing a bunch of humans’ thing doesn’t really get brought up again. 

Mari: Phew?

There are also Daxamites on the ground, firing weapons pretty indiscriminately. Teri Hatcher starts beaming herself down to tell everyone not to be afraid as they are being murdered in the streets. We see a cop run out of the NCPD and get promptly killed. Maggie is right behind him and she takes out 3 Daxamites and looks pretty badass doing it, just saying. She hides and calls Alex to tell her that the Daxamites are everywhere. The call is cut short as Winn update-yells about how bad things are out there and how all their satellites are crashed. Suddenly, a bunch of Daxamites materialize inside the DEO. Alex orders everyone to evacuate. We see Winn grab something and run.

Alex calls Supergirl, who is flying as fast as she can to get there. She tells Alex to meet her outside. We see Alex grab her gun and run for the exit, dodging Daxamite energy pulses as she goes. Once outside, she jumps off the level they are on and twists back, shooting one final Daxamite for good luck. She falls for a second before Supergirl is there to catch her and fly off. They have to get somewhere safe. They fly across Teri Hatcher’s big ole mug in the sky as she finishes the speech that I’ve been ignoring as it plays over this whole sequence with a “Welcome to New Daxam.” I see they didn’t take our advice and workshop that name a little.

Samantha: Has no one told her about marketing strategy? Surely Lena is well versed in this. 

Mari: Title card.

Mon-El is escorted in to see his mom. He snarkily asks if the invasion is as fun as she hoped. Teri Hatcher shares her plans to keep destroying Earth and then build over it later, like those cool pyramids they have at home, built with slave labor. (S: We have those here too!) Mon-El says that Earth will definitely fight back and they have Kara. Teri isn’t afraid of Kara, though, and she tells her son to stop thinking about her anyway. His mom has big plans for him, including an arranged marriage that will unite the people of Earth and the people of Daxam. Mon-El asks who he’s meant to marry and is actually shocked when he hears it’s Lena Luthor. (S: Someone hasn’t been reading our recaps.)

Bunker. Actually, this is the alien bar we haven’t see in a hot minute. Martian Manhunter is still in whatever coma Teri put him in. Jimmy arrives, and he gets hugs from the Danvers sisters who are happy he is safe. Remember when they almost made Kara and Jimmy date and then just hoped we would forget about it? lol.

Samantha: lol

Catherine: Lol. Also, did they just…bring a bunch of medical equipment when they had to escape the DEO? Because J’onn is hooked up to a bunch of stuff here. Is this a Carlisle Cullen thing? Did they steal it?

Mari: I hope someone wheeled him out in the middle of the invasion.

Jimmy gives an update about everything happening outside, which is basically that the Daxamites are instituting martial law. Kara tried reaching Clark, but he’s not at the Daily Planet and he’s not at the Fortress of Solitude. Alex says maybe Superman is out on the streets, fighting. (C: No, he’s just ghosting you.) Maggie comes in with the news that if he’s out there, she didn’t see him. Alex and Maggie hug, relieved to see each other. Maggie jokes about how even in the worst of times, they all knew their safe space was a bar. Supergirl says they can fight back, but they list off all the things against them right now: no DEO mainframe, streets full of soldiers, and no Hank J’onn to lead them.

We get our third someone-says-something-off-screen entrance in this scene, and this time we hear “maybe I can help.” It’s Lillian Luthor. If you think I remembered her name was Lillian, despite the whole alliteration clue, you would be wrong. I looked that one up. Everyone who has a gun draws it on Lillian. She’s not happy to be here either, but she figures that her doomsday prophecies about alien invasions have come true, so now they have to team up to defeat a common enemy. Maggie and Jimmy are hard nos, and they walk away.

Lillian tells Alex and Kara not to let their pride get in the way. The Daxamite ships have Kryptonite canons, they have upgraded shields, and they can beam wherever they want. Lillian wants help getting on that ship to save her daughter. Kara is like “girl, the daughter you kidnapped and framed?” Alex tells her to leave. On the way out, Lillian pleads one last time with Kara to help her save the daughter she definitely super loves. Supergirl tells her to get out, but Lillian leaves her a phone and tells her to call if she changes her mind.

Jimmy and Maggie decide to head back out and see how they can help. Supergirl asks Alex how they are supposed to do this alone.

Samantha: I am genuinely unsure! This is where an entire group of superheroes would be helpful. Idk, Katy, what would you name that?

Catherine: Some type of Justice…team? Justice gang? Super…buddies? 

Mari: Supper Buddies sounds familiar, I think.

Up on her ship, Teri Hatcher is telling a soldier to set up a blockade and arrest any resisters. No one is to get in or out of the city. Teri gets a call from President Lynda Carter who demands she leave Earth right now. Teri Hatcher says no. Lynda Carter says yes. They go back and forth, demanding and threatening each other for a very long time. All until… Calista Flockhart walks in. I feel like my co-recappers are going to be excited, and I am in theory, but the line she walks in with and the whole “ladies, ladies, lets not fight like boys!” thing is

I’m really embarrassed right now for this scene. Cat says that surely they doesn’t need to measure anything seeing as how they are women. Teri is like “who are you?” and Cat introduces herself as the queen of all media. Teri tells her there’s a new queen in town. Cat tells her that actually her tiara is a bit of overkill and real royals don’t need to try that hard. President Lynda Carter is smiling in the background like this is going really well.

Cat says she mediated peace between Taylor Swift and Kanye so this should be a piece of cake. And she throws in a “the future is female” in there for good measure.

Samantha: I… this was so much not a great scene that it also dampened my excitement considerably. Yeesh.

Catherine: I love Cat, and I’m happy to see her, but once again this played like the writers have read some Etsy slogans and went, “Yes! The Kids will enjoy this!” I’m surprised they weren’t all wearing pussy hats for this scene. 

Mari: I was so distracted that I forgot to mention that at Alien Bar HQ, Winn has managed to rig up some computers and monitors and he’s intercepted the call between the President and Teri. All the Good Guys are watching as this happens.

Okay, back to Teri saying she’s Queen now. Supergirl feels like she knows where this is going and takes off. Teri finishes that she doesn’t confab, she commands. And this conversation is over.

We watch as Teri’s ship shoots at Air Force One, causing major damage to it. Cat gets sucked out of the plane, but Supergirl is there to catch and land her safely. They are surrounded by wreckage, and Supergirl thinks they’ve lost the President. Just as she says it, though, Lynda Carter throws off a piece of plane, fully in her alien skin. She morphs back into Lynda Carter and tells Supergirl that she believes she owes her an explanation. Cat crosses her arms and hopes that Lynda Carter is still a Democrat. (C: See now, this actually did make me laugh.)

Supergirl brings Cat and Lynda back to Alien Bar HQ. There are hugs and reunions. I forgot that Winn worked with Cat, ‘member that? Lynda says she needs a moment to collect herself and heads off to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Cat tells the story of how she happened to be in DC when Daxam invaded and then hitched a ride with Lynda Carter, who was her RA in college. And now that she’s thinking about, she’s having a memory flash of walking in on ET in the bathroom, but thinking it was the pot brownies. But surprise! It was ET.

Everyone but Supergirl is confused, so Cat spells out that Lynda is an alien. Winn can’t believe it, but on cue, Lynda walks out as an alien. She morphs back into her human suit and tells everyone she isn’t going to hurt them. Cat totally vouches for her friend.

President Lynda Carter sits with Supergirl, Alex and Winn and tells them that she was born on the planet Durla. It was invaded, and her people did nothing. Within the year, they were all enslaved. She was one of the few to escape. Supergirl says that explains why she’s so supportive of alien refugees. Lynda asks them all to please keep her secret. They promise.

Onto business. With Hank J’onn still injured, Alex is acting director of the DEO. She wants her team to break back into HQ and get to the positron cannon on the roof. Winn exposits that a positron cannon can vaporize anything it shoots. Lynda tells them to shoot down the Daxam super ship. Supergirl says there are civilians on there, two of their friends in fact. Lynda doesn’t even really acknowledge that. She’s like “they shot my plane so.” She says she learned her lesson on Durla. The order is to shoot the ship. (S: LOL I forgot who the second friend on the ship was. It’s MayoBoy.)

Mon-El and Lena visit Teri Hatcher to tell her they are definitely not getting married. She’s like “okay, anyway, you are getting married and you are going to produce an heir.” Mon-El realizes that his mom intends to just use their genetic material to make the heir, something Daxamites can do with just locks of hair. Teri confirms that she collected the hair while they slept.  I bet she did it personally, too. (C: So this IS Twilight?) The wedding is just a formality.

Lena says she won’t even do that, and Teri says she figured as much. She turns a screen on and shows that she’s got crosshairs on the Luthor Children’s Hospital. She threatens to kill lots of people if they don’t get married. So, obviously, they agree to get married. She tells them they will eventually see how this was the right thing to do, and sends them off.

Alien Bar HQ. Lynda Carter is headed back to DC. Alex is planning on going through with their plan to shoot down Teri’s ship. Supergirl can’t believe she’s going to do this, but Alex says they have to.

Supergirl storms outside and paces around a bit until she notices that Cat is out here too. Cat asks who is up there on that ship, and Supergirl admits that it’s her boyfriend and her best friend. She calls herself selfish for wanting to save them. Cat shares a long story about yurts and Bhutan to tell us that human connection is important and people you love are important. Supergirl says she’s missed Cat’s advice. Cat is like “yeah, yeah, up, up and away.” Supergirl flies off.

Catherine: Everyone is so casual about them potentially murdering Mon-El and Lena, it’s weird. Kara does care but she’s not as upset as I would expect her to be. Also, is Lena her best friend? I feel like they’ve had like, 3 scenes together. How does Winn feel about this information? 

Mari: No one cares, not even the show.

Supergirl finds Lillian and Robot Henshaw. I feel like the reason Hank J’onn is inexplicably in a coma because Teri Hatcher happened to have that one doohickey is suddenly before us. He has to be Robot Henshaw this episode.

Supergirl has brought Lillian and Robot Henshaw back to Alien Bar HQ. Alex is still not a fan, but Supergirl says they have to try. Lillian’s plan is to use some project she stole from Clark (I think) to get on the ship. (S: I really hope they explain where Clark is at some point.) Robot Henshaw is going to use his robot skillz to get them in undetected. Meanwhile, Alex is going to get to the positron cannon. Winn brings up that they are missing on key component here: a distraction. Cat offers to be the distraction, but she’s gonna need Winn’s help.

Lillian grabs a gun and reminds them all that Daxamites are susceptible to lead, and a well placed bullet will take care of them.

Catherine: Weird how, somehow, no one has tried shooting at them yet. 

Mari: Surely someone has noticed this already.

Robot Henshaw walks over to look at Martian Manhunter in a coma, and enjoy it I guess. Winn runs into him, and he gets his arm twisted for it. Winn says he thought they were on the same team now. Robot Henshaw lets him go. Supergirl was watching this and she exchanges a little nod with Winn.

Alex tells Supergirl that if it were Maggie up on that ship, she would try to save her. Alex tells her that she will not survive the positron if she’s still on the ship when it’s fired. Supergirl says she knows. They hug and Alex tells her to be fast. Faster than her. Supergirl says faster than a speeding bullet.

Fortress of Solitude. Robot Henshaw works on powering up the thinger they are going to use to beam them up to the evil ship. Supergirl takes this moment to ask Lillian why she hasn’t told Lena about her real identity. Lillian reminds her that even though their interests are aligned right now, they go back to be enemies when this is over.

Evil Ship. Okay, Lena walks out in this dress.

  Samantha: Lena, the Heavenly Bodies MET Gala theme is the NEXT year. 

Catherine: I can’t even pretend to hate. I love it. She’s giving some type of Hunger Games vampire vibe and I am here for it. 

Mari: I too, love it. I’d be mad about the forced marriage but strutting down the ship corridors like “excuse you all, but who gave me the RIGHT?”

She joins Mon-El in front of Teri and they both glare at her while she begins the marriage ceremony.

Winn and Cat go back to Cat Co., which is destroyed because of the little boy with the telepath powers from last episode. Cat is more concerned with the fact that Jimmy has free weights and sports paraphernalia in her office. She asks where James is, anyway, and Winn says he’s hiding like a coward. She asks where “Kira” is, and Winn says she is also a coward. Good cover, bro.

Supergirl, Lillian and Robot Henshaw beam up to the evil ship. Supergirl decks a guard and they run.

Lynda Carter asks for an update from Alex, just as she breaks into the DEO via the HVAC system. Lynda asks where Supergirl is. Alex says she’s gone dark out of mission necessity, but she’s got a very trusted agent with her. Maggie drops down next. Aw. They are very, very cute.

Teri Hatcher is finishing up the marriage ceremony, when suddenly, Cat Grant starts streaming all over National City, including on the Daxamite’s projection system. She addresses National City and tells them that they have power and they have a job to do: resist.

Cat says that the invaders come with empty promises and closed fists.

“They promise to make our world great again, and yet they know nothing about the people who make this world great.” 

When one of these politically flavored lines lands, it really can be fun. That was a good one.

Catherine: I feel like when they do land it’s generally Calista that is giving them. Or, I just love Cat. 

Mari: I will at least admit that this cancels out “the future is female” from earlier.

As Cat continues delivering her rousing speech, we see people around National City deciding to fight back, banding together. Cat ends her speech by telling “Tiara Woman” that she’s come to the wrong town. Teri Hatcher tells one of her guards to send a squadron down there and kill Cat. Meanwhile, Mon-El and Lena are to be escorted back to their chamber.

Supergirl is still fighting easily through the guards they come across. Lillian says it’s a shame her “politics” are so intractable, since her methods are effective. Supergirl is like “my politics? Isn’t it my ALIEN GENETICS you hate?” Which, um, yeah.

Robot Henshaw uses a robot thing from his hand to break into the ships computer and locate the only other human heat signature on ship.

Mon-El tries to order the guard escorting them to lay down his weapons. That doesn’t work, so he gets to punching, too. He’s so much worse at this than Supergirl. Lena comes in with the assistance by grabbing and shooting the guard’s gun.

Alex and Maggie crawl out of a vent and shoot at the Daxamites in the room. Alex tells the President that she’s in and powering up the cannon. Lynda Carter very seriously tells her that they are watching and they expect her to shoot when the cannon is ready.

Mon-El and Lena come up against a locked door, but somehow, Lena uses her pointy tiara to open it up again. It’s fine. It looks cool. (S: I’m in for the aesthetic.) There are a bunch of guards on the other side of the door, but suddenly they all fall. Supergirl is there! Mon-El is happy to see her, but they have to pretend like she’s Supergirl and not Kara. Lena is surprised to find her mother working with Supergirl.

Samantha: For me, these shows get so much better once everyone is in the know about the secret identity. I find the lies and schemes really frustrating.

Catherine: On this show, it’s especially silly because everyone at the DEO already seems to know that Kara is Supergirl. So. 

Mari: And they never really addressed it? It was just like one day, everyone ~knew~.

They all head off, but Lillian, Lena and Robot Henshaw get to the beaming point first and beam away without Supergirl and Mon-El. Lillian calls Alex and tells her that they are safe and to fire at will. Lena can’t believe her evil mother is evil, but she is indeed evil.

Samantha:

Mari: It’s fine, though, because Supergirl imagined that this would happen. She had Winn bump into Robot Henshaw to bug him. He rigged a robot so that Supergirl could beam them back anyway. She’s not going back, though. As long as everyone is back safe on the ground, she’s going to go try and convince Teri Hatcher to surrender gracefully instead of die. Mon-El and Supergirl kiss and the music soars, but it is the blandest kiss you ever did see.

Catherine: I couldn’t believe that he would just leave her to die like that? He was like “No, I should stay. My mom is tough” and then .03 seconds later he peaced out. Is he written badly or are we supposed to hate him? 

Mari: In the Fortress, the projection turns on and Robot Henshaw loses control of himself.

At Cat Co., the Daxamites arrive and Winn and Cat are surrounded. Thankfully, Guardian zip lines (?) in. (C: No way that zipline meets OSHA standards for an office space.) He sprays all the Daxamites with lead dust to weaken them, and then takes them all out. Guardian tells Cat that she’s safe now, and she’s like “thanks James.” Jimmy insists he’s Guardian, but Cat says she can see his eyes through the slit in his helmet. Amazing. Should’ve tried glasses Jimmy, you did too much. (S: I’m fucking dead, you can SEE eyes through GLASSES as well- you know what, it’s fine.)

Mon-El gets back to the Fortress and immediately calls Alex to tell her that Supergirl stayed on the ship. Lynda Carter is yelling at Alex to fire the gun RIGHT NOW.

Catherine: Should’ve given her a Diet Coke button to calm her down. 

Mari: Supergirl finds Teri Hatcher and tells her it’s over. She gives a speech about how she always thought the Daxam couldn’t be all bad because they had families just like hers. Teri Hatcher is like “lol, I killed my husband.”

Alex can’t bring herself to fire the cannon.

And on the evil ship, Teri Hatcher tells Supergirl she really thought she’d won. And then she gets super punched. Superman walks out, and we know because Supergirl goes, “Superman?”

Samantha: Exciting! Wham! Pow! Ka-ching! 

 

Next time on Supergirl: Supergirl vs Teri Hatcher in S02 E22 – Nevertheless, She Persisted.