Holy. Shit. If anyone doubted that this show could stand shoulder to shoulder with The Flash as one of the best superhero TV shows out there right now, this is the episode that will prove them wrong. That was an amazingly well crafter episode that, even though people are only really talking about one aspect, should definitely be the episode that shows people just how good this show can be.
Without further ado, though, let’s jump into our Five Thoughts on Supergirl‘s “Human For A Day”.
Obviously, there are MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. Like I’m going to ruin the end of this episode in the paragraph immediately after this. Watch the episode before reading this. Seriously.
1. That Hank Henshaw Reveal
So this is the moment everyone has been talking about since last night. Even if you haven’t seen the episode, chances are you’ve probably heard about it in passing. David Harewood isn’t actually playing Hank Henshaw, he’s playing J’onn J’onnz disguised as Hank Henshaw. Because fuck you, Martian Manhunter’s on Supergirl. All of your arguments are immediately invalidated.
Well, now… I say that, but actually I wasn’t quite as hype about this as everyone else was. Maybe it was the fact that I really wanted to see Cyborg Superman (which is still a possibility, mind), but something about this didn’t quite click with me. I think it’s because the reveal is slightly similar in the broad strokes to the revelation that Harrison Wells was Eobard Thawne (spoiler alert), but the important distinction there was that Harrison Wells was an original creation for the show. It was okay, in my eyes, to use that original creation as the disguise for a character from the comics. But to use a character from the comics as the disguise for another comics character means that while I’m excited to see where they take J’onn, I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of Hank Henshaw. I’m definitely in the cautiously optimistic group on this one.
2. Human For A Day
Remember, earlier in the year, when DC made a big thing about Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr. introducing a new power to Superman’s arsenal in the form of a solar flare? Where Superman was now able to unleash all of the solar energy in his cells in the form of a massive heat vision blast? Well, it turns out Supergirl’s big heat vision blast that destroyed Red Tornado was actually a solar flare, which I would never have guessed because it didn’t look like… well, this.
The reason I bring this up is that it’s actually the crux of this episode: after unleashing said solar flare, Kara is without superhuman powers for up to 48 hours while her cells recharge. This allowed the rest of the episode do something pretty interesting as it caused a massive, city-wide disaster without Supergirl to save it. I’ll talk about it more in a second, but this episode really pulled out all of the stops to shake up Supergirl’s nature as a hero and having her try to endure such a crisis without powers was an incredibly smart move.
3. The Fortress Of Not-So-Solitude
If I’m being honest, I forgot that Kara’s weird not-quite-the-fortress-of-solitude in the DEO even existed. I think this is the first time we’ve actually seen it since it was introduced. Still, it made for a pretty cool opening and reminded us all that it was a thing that exists before having it be the base for Alex and J’onn while they defended against Jemm – which, in retrospect, the fact that Jemm is in this episode should have given away the whole Martian Manhunter thing right away.
I really hope the show actually does something with this room, though, because otherwise it feels like kind of a waste.
4. Supergirl Just Can’t Catch A Break
One of my favourite lines to come out of The Flash was Barry talking about even when he wins, he still loses. Now, that’s an idea that seems applicable to Supergirl too, except… Supergirl doesn’t seem to win all that much. If you look at previous episodes, the majority of the villains were actually taken out by Alex, including this episode’s one, while Supergirl was busy dealing with her regularly scheduled existential crisis about being a hero.
Continued belowThis episode did a bit better thanks to an overarching theme that was all about the fact that everyone was a hero with Alex, James, Winn, Maxwell Lord and even Cat Grant get into the whole saving people mood. It even allowed for the best Supergirl moment so far as Kara was able to stop a robbery at gun point without powers simply thanks to her compassion. I just really hope that the show lets Kara get in some wins as the show goes on. Being a hero is tough, but rewarding, sure, but it shouldn’t feel like Kara just exists to get beat on.
5. The Most Ambitious Episode Yet
There was a lot going on in this episode. Kara losing her powers, Jemm taking over the DEO facility, the huge disaster in National City and the attempt to recover from it, but this episode did a great job of tying all these disparate storylines together with connective themes about the nature of being a hero and it really allowed some of the supporting character like Jimmy Olsen, Hank/J’onn and, once again, Cat Grant to get a little bit of the spotlight.
As I said in the opening, this is probably the strongest episode of the show so far and if the reaction to the whole Martian Manhunter thing gets people watching this episode, I can’t think of a better place to start. Hopefully this is a sign that the show is starting to really find its footing because it would be a definite shame if all this hard work went to waste.
