Supergirl has to stop a bomber targeting Maxwell Lord, while juggling taking care of Cat Grant's son and her work, while Cat is off accepting an award in Metropolis.
Tropes in this episode:
- Batman Gambit: Lord hires Knox to try to kill him as a means of testing Supergirl's abilities.
- Bomb Disposal: Comes up twice in this episode. The first time there's a bit of Wire Dilemma when Lord cuts a wire, believing it will defuse the bomb, only for the timer to start going faster, forcing Kara to desperately fly the bomb a safe distance away from the city before it detonates. (Of course, Lord cut the wrong wire on purpose to test Supergirl's speed and durability.) The second time, Henshaw manages to defuse the bomb with the help of his as-yet-unexplained powers, later claiming the bomb was a dud.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: When Carter gushes about Supergirl, Kara says that Supergirl does sounds cool.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Lucy accuses James of this as a reason why they broke up, as he was always running off with Superman to save the world.
- Cool Train: This episode features the maiden voyage of Maxwell Lord's state-of-the-art Mag-Lev train.
- Cutting the Knot: When Alex asks Kara to hand her an Allen Wrench in order to remove the end of a disabled bomb, Kara simply pops the end off.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Maxwell Lord installs remote control switches in all the bombs, so he can shut them down in case Supergirl fails to deal with them.
- Gambit Roulette: While the bomb at the airport is reported in, Kara initially doesn't find any on the train or station, and Knox doesn't make any announcement he is carrying a bomb. Lord's Sadistic Choice depends on the two bombs being revealed almost simultaneously, and it's only dumb luck that Winn recognizes Knox and contacts Kara, before she arrives at the airport to deal with that device before anyone knows about the bomb on the train. Also, Lord is only able to guess that Kara knew someone on the train because he invited Carter (who, at the time, he only knew as some random kid with no connection to Supergirl) on the train and Kara found out about it.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: To an extent, Kara clearly still has feelings for James. But, she would rather have him be honest about whatever feelings he has for Lucy, than possibly move on to her without those feelings being resolved.
- Kick the Dog: Maxwell Lord personally invites a young boy onto a train which he knows full well is going to be blown up. While this ultimately works out to his benefit (by giving him a clue to Supergirl's identity), he had no way of knowing that it would at the time, so this is basically just him being an evil son of a bitch.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Cat mentions how she finally is able to rub winning her award in Lois Lane's "button nose." While Lois hasn't been seen yet (even in shadow) and the show isn't in the same continuity as the movies, Amy Adams, who plays Lois in Man of Steel, does have a button nose.
- Mad Bomber: Knox is described as one, but it turns out his motives are a little more complex than the garden variety mad bomber's.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Downplayed. While Lord is smug about his tests of Supergirl revealing both physical and psychological details, he is clearly visibly shaken at Knox's suicide.
- Mythology Gag:
- Supergirl's confrontation with Maxwell Lord at the end is how the initial meeting between Lex Luthor and Superman is usually played (when Lex isn't a criminal to start), including the promise by the hero that they'll be watching.
- Winn has a bunch of toys on his desk that he takes quite seriously, rather fitting for the comics' Toyman.
- Lois & Clark had at least two episodes where disasters were set up to test Superman. The first time was by Lex Luthor, to test his limits (ending with Superman angrily confronting Lex). The other was by survivors from a Kryptonian colony, testing his intelligence and morals (and yes, it included a two bomb dilemma).
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Out of Order: Aired fifth in the season despite being fourth, due to the attack on Paris the previous week. This episode suffers quite a bit more from the switch:- Cat asks about Kara's mother, and not noticing Kara's discomfort about her mother "not being around".
- Kara shrugs off a glimpse of Henshaw's red eyes, as she isn't supposed to suspect him of anything yet.
- Jimmy's relationship with Lucy Lane. In the following episode, they're on a romantic getaway in the woods, so it looks like they've taken a massive jump backward here.
- Precocious Crush: Carter has one on Supergirl, which naturally makes things a bit awkward for Kara.
- The Reveal: Henshaw's glowing eyes were the first clue he wasn't a normal human being, but this episode (in its intended order, not broadcast order) makes it clear, as he demonstrates superhuman strength.
- Sadistic Choice: Lord made it apparently impossible for Supergirl to save everyone by having two bombs going at the same time.
- Shout-Out: The DEO card, which can disguise itself as an FBI badge, seems to be from Men in Black. Appropriate, considering the nature of both organizations.
- Smug Snake: Lord is rocking the attitude during the confrontation with Supergirl at the end of the episode.
- Spotting the Thread: Lord notes that the only rational reason for rushing to save the hundred lives on the train instead of the thousands of lives at the airport was because someone on the train had some personal importance to Supergirl.
- Trainstopping: After failing to convince Knox not to activate his bomb in the lead car, Supergirl decouples the rest of Lord's train and slows it to a stop, allowing the car to carry the bomb to a safe distance.
- Title Drop: Kara mentions the title to ask how can Cat balance between being a caring mother and the boss of a newspaper. Maxwell Lord asks Supergirl how does she do it.
- Troll: When Cat asks her son what makes Supergirl a hero, he replies that it's her fantastic legs. After letting her hang for a bit, he laughs it off as a joke.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Lord firmly moves to this.
- You Owe Me: Cat mistakenly assumes this is why Kara agreed to watch Carter, but rather being upset by it, she actually admires this (perceived) quality in Kara.
