In the aftermath of Kara's battle with Red Tornado, she has been left with no superpowers. Which would normally be fine, except it's been days with no sign of them coming back and Kara is beginning to get antsy. And she's got a cold.
Meanwhile, the DEO needs to do the monthly cell cleaning for Jemm, a dangerous psychic alien criminal who claims to have conquered twelve worlds. Luckily, he's behind PSY-proof glass, and is all bluster with no bite. Just a simple cleaning.
Naturally, an earthquake hits.
The initial quake knocks out most of the power in National City, and reboots all the systems at the DEO. Naturally, Jemm takes that opportunity to escape his confinement. Down on the street, James shoves Kara out of the way of an out-of-control car, accidentally breaking her arm. But the worst thing is the powerlessness that she feels, as Maxwell Lord spares no time in dissing her alter ego in the press, making a bad situation worse.
Meanwhile, Henshaw and Alex have to deal with Jemm, who is trapped with them in the locked-down base. Luckily, R&D had whipped up some psychic jammer headbands. Unluckily, they only made three. Henshaw orders Alex to maintain the base lockdown while he takes a pair of agents down to contain the monster. But Alex, fresh off of learning that Henshaw had been there the day her father died, doesn't trust him. Tensions mount as Jemm quickly tears apart the two agents while Henshaw disappears.
Kara and James decide to head down and confront Lord about his cynical bashing of Supergirl, but things quickly take a turn for the worse when Lord reveals that he knows Supergirl is without her powers, and even goes so far as to hypothesize that they may never return. This understandably throws Kara for a loop, then a woman runs over screaming for a doctor. Her husband, the who wrecked their car, has suffered from severe lacerations in his chest cavity. While Maxwell puts his medical knowledge to use, Kara looks on helplessly as the man dies. Without her powers, Kara feels worse than useless.
At the DEO, Henshaw turns back up. Alex confronts him on where he was, but the leader of the DEO is evasive, saying that Jemm got the drop on the squad and destroyed the other two PSY jammers. He tells the remaining DEO agents to remain where they are. Alex, of course, doesn't listen, taking the head of security with her to recover the damaged PSY jammers, only to find that they still work, further straining her ability to trust Henshaw. While Alex gets hers on in time, the security officer isn't so lucky. As his hand slowly brings his pistol to bear on Alex, he tells her to go before he can no longer fight off Jemm's influence.
Kara is in a dark place now. She lashes out at James, because she loved being a superhero, and now she might never get her powers back. James replies with a speech, telling her that she is a hero, with or without her powers. Just then, a group of looters charge into a convenience store. This looks like a job for Supergirl... or rather, for Kara, relying on Supergirl's reputation for invulnerability. As Cat Grant speaks on television about the capacity within every person to be a hero, Kara manages to defuse the dangerous situation without a shot being fired, while James takes photographs. Kara is Supergirl, powers or no.
Alex catches up with Henshaw, but all is not well. He admonishes her for following him and getting the head of security captured. Said head of security calls them over the radio, but Henshaw sees through the puppet to the one pulling the strings. It's then that Alex reveals she knows that her father disappeared on a mission with Henshaw. She forces him to handcuff himself at gunpoint before calling up Jemm to make a deal.
Back at CatCo, Kara and James are sharing a moment. James reveals that his father gave him a camera right before leaving to serve in Iraq, where died, and the two hug... right when Winn walks up. Kara and Winn argue, before cooling off as Winn reveals that her powers could return if she had an adrenaline rush. Naturally, this is when a massive gas line explosion rips through the building, trapping several people on the upper floors. It's up to Kara and friends to rescue their coworkers, with no Supergirl in sight.
In the darkly lit bowels of the DEO's base, Alex ambushes Jemm at the meeting site. Guns, grenades, nothing has much of an impact on the alien's bullet proof skin, with the exception of one bullet knocking his forehead gem off and removing his energy projection ability. But suddenly, something appears. With punches and kicks, the mysterious figure quickly and brutally takes down the conqueror of twelve planets, breaking his neck. And then he turns, and walks into the light. It's Henshaw.
Kara and James manage to jury-rig the elevator shaft, using the maintenance ladder to evacuate people from upstairs. Unfortunately, things just aren't stable. James manages to get the last person, but he's stuck on the elevator rope as it rapidly frays. There is nowhere to go, and his grip is weakening. SNAP! The photographer falls, and Kara jumps right after him, shedding the clothes of the assistant and revealing the cape beneath. With angelic grace she plucks her friend out of air, and flies back up the shaft.
Meanwhile, lockdown has ended in the DEO facility. Alex and Henshaw find a private room, and talk about her father. Henshaw agrees to tell her the truth, but swears her to absolute secrecy, saying she can't even tell Kara; Alex agrees. While on the mission with Henshaw, Jeremiah realized that the alien they had been chasing was not one of the Fort Rozz escapees, but a refugee. It is revealed that the real Hank Henshaw died when Jeremiah made a Heroic Sacrifice to save the alien's life. As Jeremiah lay dying, he told the alien about his family and Kara, and the alien promised to protect them as long as he lived. Being a shapeshifter, the alien took on Henshaw's identity, and then reveals his true form to Alex: the last son of Mars, J'onn J'onzz.
The episode ends with Supergirl, flying once again, meeting with Cat Grant. After Cat chews her out for not being there, Supergirl admits the reason she had the strength to come back was because Cat inspired her to do so. She then takes off into the night... only to get shot down. After a hard landing, she finds two Kryptonians holding her down. General Astra lands before her, a wicked smile on her face.
Tropes in this episode:
- Adaptational Heroism: Subverted in the case of "Henshaw", because he is not Hank Henshaw (the villainous Cyborg Superman of the comics), but J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, assuming Hank's identity.
- Adaptational Villainy: Jemm is a generally pacifist hero in the comics.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Inverted, but the same principle. After talking a gunman down by bluffing him into thinking she still had her powers and was choosing not to beat him up:Kara: Wow, that was better than flying. Better than catching a plane. You know, that was better than the time I stopped the hold-up in the pizzeria and the owner gave me 12 pizzas.
James: Oh, yeah. That was good pizza. - Artistic License – Physics: There's no way an earthquake will affect the upper floors of tall buildings while leaving the lower ones untouched.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Alex defeats Jemm by blasting the psychic focusing jewel out of his forehead... or not. It slows him down briefly and keeps him from using his psychic blasts, at least.
- Bad Boss:
- Played with—Cat notes that she would fire Winn under normal circumstances after he breaks a vital piece of equipment, but she's short-staffed so she goes for an inspirational speech instead.
- Subverted in how the episode seemed set to confirm "Henshaw" as a villain, but he turns out to be one of the most iconic heroes of the DC Universe.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Even most comic book fan viewers were stunned that after all the buildup of "Henshaw" being the evil Cyborg Superman, it turned out he was really the Martian Manhunter instead.
- A minor example at the beginning of the episode, when Jemm threatens to expose "Hank"'s true nature...as a coward.
- Benevolent Boss: Ironically Cat ends up being this as well as the above, immediately calming her employees after the earthquake and openly allowing and pushing those who have families to go and check on their loved ones in the aftermath, while telling those who choose to stay behind aid her in getting a message of relief to the most likely frightened citizens of National City.
- Big Damn Heroes: Henshaw to Alex in the climax.
- Brought Down to Normal: For the majority of the episode. James notes that Superman calls it a "solar flare" when he overdoes it, and that it typically takes two days for his powers to return.
- Call-Back: The pizza parlor that Supergirl thwarted a robbery at (by plugging a shotgun discharge and blasting the shooter back from the plugged report) in Episode 2 "Stronger Together" thanked her with a heapload of free pizzas.
- Cavalry Betrayal: Subverted. Mind control is involved, and "Hank" sees through the deception in seconds.
- Chewing the Scenery: "Henshaw" lied about the neural disruptors being destroyed "because I didn't want you DOING SOMETHING STUPID LIKE THIS!!!"
- Cliffhanger: Astra and two Kryptonian goons capture Supergirl.
- Composite Character: Jemm uses the name of a DC comics alien who's usually a hero, while his powers, attitude, stated history as a conqueror of multiple worlds, and use of something in his forehead as a way of channeling his powers make him more like Despero.
- Conspiracy Redemption: The DEO's focus on extraterrestrial criminals, and its leader's seeming xenophobia, has placed it under some suspicion over whether it would eventually go after benign aliens like Supergirl and her cousin. It turns out that "Henshaw"'s DEO was truly xenophobic, which is why when J'onn J'onzz took it over, he began to slowly reform it.
- Distressed Dude: James Olsen finds himself at the receiving end of the classic "superhero has to catch falling love interest" situation.
- Earthquakes Cause Fissures: The earthquake that strikes National City causes cracks to appear in the ground.
- The Ending Changes Everything: For weeks, the show has been hinting that "Hank" has already became the Cyborg Superman and will inevitably go crazy like his comic book counterpart. As it turns out, Hank Henshaw died years ago, with J'onn J'onzz taking his place and no one the wiser. And unless the series intends to make major changes to the character, J'onn J'onzz is about as far from crazy as it's possible to get.
- Failsafe Failure: The earthquake happens exactly as the DEO is attempting to transfer Jemm safely from one cell to another. He escapes, of course.
- Five Rounds Rapid: Alex attempts this on Jemm, but his alien biology makes him Immune to Bullets, meaning that she really only succeeds in shattering his head crystal and pissing him off.
- Foreshadowing: When Jemm hisses to "Henshaw" that he will grind his loved ones to dust, a quiet Henshaw whispers "there are none left to grind."
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: During "Henshaw"'s fight with Jemm, which is shot mostly in darkness, a few frames show that he is actually fighting in his full Martian Manhunter form.
- Holding Out for a Hero:
- Maxwell Lord says that if people rely on Supergirl, this will be the inevitable result. He does have a point, but he's still being a dick about it.
- Cat Grant urges people to be strong without Supergirl, while still assuring them that she'll come once they need her. When she speaks to Supergirl at the end of the episode, Cat chews her out for not helping people earlier, but Supergirl says it was fine because they had Cat.
- Immune to Bullets: Jemm, naturally. Alex shoots him with a long burst from a machine gun, unloads several shotgun blasts into him, and empties two pistols with barely any effect besides knocking him back a little and knocking his forehead gem out.
- Internal Reveal: J'onn reveals Alex that he was actually impersonating "Hank" to reform the D.E.O. and to protect her by a request from Jeremiah.
- It's All About Me: Cat seems to think — or at least is comfortable with saying — that if she gets sick and starts to underperform in her job, it could trigger the next big stock market crash.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Maxwell Lord is well aware that Supergirl blew out her powers, and is acting cruelly towards her because he doesn't want people to have faith in an alien who cannot protect people. Although he doesn't say so explicitly, he also invokes the notion that Supergirl can't be everywhere at once anyway, which James also brings up to Kara when the injured driver dies.
- Kill and Replace: J'onn J'onzz claims to be a heroic version of this trope. It's still unclear who did the killing when Henshaw and Jeremiah Danvers went after him (J'onn implies a Mutual Kill thanks to a Heroic Sacrifice on Jeremiah's part), but after both men died, J'onn took Henshaw's place to refocus the DEO on truly criminal aliens. Having to mimic Henshaw's attitude makes this a slow process.
- Mood Whiplash: At the end of the episode, Supergirl has her powers back, she's flying through the night sky, all happy and smiling, and suddenly out of nowhere she's blindsided by Astra and her minions.
- Mythology Gag:
- The scene with the looters told by Supergirl to stand down mirrors the same situation where the New 52 Superman foils a robbery in progress post-Men of Tomorrow Story Arc, but without his powers after temporarily losing them.
- Jemm, Son of Saturn, was originally and explicitly an Expy of the Martian Manhunter, intended to replace J'onn when he hadn't been used for several years in the comics and the connection (and similarities) between the two have been played up in canon. So it's appropriate that a character of that name is responsible for The Reveal of the Martian Manhunter.
- J'onn stated that the DEO had caught up with him in South America. In comic continuity, J'onn is regarded by the people in the Southern Hemisphere as a hero whose level of fame is comparable to, if not surpassing, that of Superman.
- Neck Snap: How "Henshaw" kills Jemm once and for all.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Lord has medical training on top of his degrees in Engineering — he says he did med school in a year (it normally takes four).
- The Power of Love: The adrenaline rush that restores Kara's powers happens when James nearly falls to his death.
- Red Shirt: The DEO agents who are not "Henshaw" or Alex. The two who go with "Henshaw" are killed within a minute of danger, and the third gets mind-controlled just after he and Alex reach where the first two died.
- Scotty Time: The IT guy tells Cat it'll take four hours minimum to get them back on the air after the earthquake. She tells him that's unacceptable and he needs to "think creatively" to get it done faster.
- Secret-Keeper: J'onn tells Alex she's going to find out something only one other living person knows, and she can't even tell Kara.
- Theme Music Power-Up: More of an "into the zone" example. As Supergirl zooms out of the Catco elevator shaft and into the sky, her theme music plays as she carries out various earthquake-related rescues (saving the teetering school bus, blowing out the skyscraper fire).
- Trauma Conga Line: Over the course of the episode, Kara: 1) catches a cold, 2) breaks her arm, 3) is told that she may never get her powers back, 4) watches a man die in her arms who she could have saved as Supergirl, 5) gets yelled at by Winn for hugging the taken James Olsen, 6) watches Olsen fall down an elevator shaft, 7) gets a chewing out by Cat; and 8) gets captured by Astra and her Kryptonian bodyguards. The girl has a rough episode.
- Title Drop: Alex tells Kara that she would live as a "human for a day".
- Truth in Television: Kara's reaction to breaking her arm is very realistically handled, right down to crying out when she bumps it into something and the arm shivering when she's forced to pretend it's not injured while wearing the Supergirl costume. The fact she does not have a cast put on is also realistic as not every arm break justifies getting a cast (and even if she were to need one given the disaster-in-progress she would unlikely have received one in the timeframe of the episode).
- Twitchy Eye: Alex gets a hell of a twitch in her left eye when she sees J'onn J'onzz shapeshift into his true Martian form.
-
Unexpected Character: J'onn J'onzz has been masquerading as Hank Henshaw the entire time. Unlike so many modern-day series (especially in the SF/F genre), CBS managed to keep this revelation unspoiled until broadcast. - Wham Episode: The revelation that Henshaw is actually J'onn J'onzz quite obviously shifts the entire thrust of the series and the DEO backstory.
- Wham Line:Alex: If you're not Hank Henshaw, then who are you?
"Henshaw": I am the sole survivor of my planet. The last son of Mars. (transforms into his full Martian Manhunter form) My name is J'onn J'onzz. - Wham Shot:
- General Astra and her minions restraining Supergirl at the end of the episode.
- Earlier, the amazing effect as "Henshaw" transforms into the full green-skinned J'onn in front of a stunned Alex.
- You Killed My Father: Alex believing this about "Henshaw" just makes things worse at a point when she has to be able to trust him.
