Supergirl: “City of Lost Children” Recap

By: David Carner (@davidcarner)

Spoilers to follow!

Welcome to the Supergirl recap and this week’s episode, “City of Lost Children.” The episode started with the Guardian saving a woman from a mugging, and her being terrified of him. We cut to Lena and Kara having lunch together discussing the most important question, an N’Sync reunion or Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears getting back together. (I kinda like JT and Jessica Biel together myself, but what do I know.) Lena hints at her new partner but can’t say more. Cut back to James on the street, where it’s raining, and Winn finds him. James talks about how people are scared of Guardian, as they are “Clark’s friend.” Winn makes a horn sign and says they’re frenemies, and we have our first mention of Batman, ladies and gentlemen! James laments how Guardian is not what he wanted him to be. We seem to have a theme of fear in tonight’s episode. The music changes, and a lady with purple glowing eyes begins to attack people as James and Winn try to clear the area. Supergirl stops a truck from causing greater damage, as James looks on like he wishes he could do more. Looks like tonight is going to focus on James and what he can do as a superhero.

At the DEO, it’s being called an alien terrorist attack. J’onn even mentions that fear is being stirred up by the media (I’m not touching that one.) James offers to help, but J’onn turns him down and he wanders off like a lost puppy.

At a ritzy restaurant, Lena is upset that the generator didn’t work right today, and Rhea tries to cheer her up. Lena is concerned about getting Rhea home, and Rhea tells her that she has confidence in Lena. She’s playing this “second mother” role very well, building her up like Lena’s mother never did. Out on the street, Mon-El is walking and eating an ice cream cone when he thinks he sees his mom at the restaurant. We cut to Guardian breaking up a drug deal by an alien and human. The alien gives up info on the woman who attacked the people earlier in the day. Guardian goes to her apartment, and finds her son who’s scared of him. James takes his helmet off to try and calm him down. The boy touches James’ head and realizes he’s human. I don’t know if they’re going for “you can be a hero like me” here, or if they’re just trying to show the little boy he’s human.

At the DEO, the little boy who turns out to be named Marcus is talking to Alex, and she’s trying to get him to eat some food. She eats a burger in front of him to try and get him to eat. She begs Marcus to help. James says he doesn’t think that the way they are treating him is helping, and he’s shutting down. J’onn gives him grief, but Alex agrees with him. The boy is an alien and can see him through the walls. Alex says the boy is identifying with James. J’onn gives James the okay to take the boy and look for his mother. Mon-El shows up and wants Winn to scan for his parents’ ship.

At LexCorp, things are not going well for Lena. Things are making sparks and she’s disgusted. Lena says they could get Lex because he’s the golden boy. She has a moment and has a pity part. Rhea tells her she’s the smarter of the two. She reminds her that she needs to quit thinking like Lex. Lex would be obsessed with power, and asks her what she would do. Lena has an idea and goes to work on it.

At Catco, James and Marcus visit Kara and James’s office. James shows Marcus a game on his desk, and Marcus uses his mind to figure out the puzzle-game. James shows him his cameras and tells them stories behind them. He talks about his dad, and Marcus finally speaks, telling James his dad was a soldier as well. We cut to Mon-El bringing food to Kara. We find that Kara is intense about enforcing bathroom etiquette. Mon-El confides in Kara that he thought he saw his mom. He tells Kara that he hates that he cares about his mother. He tells her that on his planet, they would drug themselves to not feel anything. Kara says they are gone forever, and we cut to dear old mom. Lena tells Rhea if she had a mother like her, she couldn’t imagine the things she would have done. They fire up the generator. Back at Catco, Marcus asks to take a picture of James and before he can, he sees the TV showing his mom from earlier in the day. Back at LexCorp, the generator turns, and the wormhole seems to work. Marcus’s eyes go purple at Catco, and it’s like a scene from The Exorcist. Things are flying around the room, and the TVs are static. All we’re missing is someone puking green goo.

Lena and Rhea are proud of the core, and Marcus is floating, windows are exploding, and Supergirl runs to change. She flies Marcus away, and all James can do is watch. The Catco building nearly crumbles. The generator is turned off, and Marcus goes to normal. At the DEO, Supergirl vouches for Marcus. They think James should talk to Marcus some more, but he tells them that J’onn was right and it is a DEO matter. James walks off and J’onn follows. J’onn tells James they need his help and the kid has connected to him. James asks if it’s because he’s black. He tells J’onn he looks the same as Marcus and why doesn’t he talk to him. J’onn tells him that Marcus sees something in James. James tells J’onn that he almost lost Catco because of him, and Supergirl had to save the day. J’onn tells him a story about Mars and how that when his first daughter came along, he had a mission in life and someone that relied on him. J’onn tells him he saw a reflection of himself in his daughter, and he’s sure James saw a reflection of himself in Marcus. J’onn tells him he can find out what kind of hero he can be. I hope I wrote this as well as it was done on screen. It wasn’t subtle, but it wasn’t over the top. The message that we can be heroes in everyday life was well done. These writers keep putting out the idea of how we can love, be heroes, and make changes in each other’s lives week after week. Well done. Back to the story. At the DEO, Winn finds a shift of electromagnetic activity and how it can affect the mental state of the alien race of Marcus and his mother. Winn talks about ions that were found in the atmosphere, and Kara remembers her talk with Lena earlier in the day about those same things. Kara calls Lena, and Rhea answers the phone.

The DEO traces the call while Kara talks to her. Rhea blames Kara for all her problems and that Kara needs the love of the planet to bolster her ego. Mon-El is listening to it all on speaker. Rhea is bat crap crazy. Rhea says she came in peace. (Really? Really. Really? Really.) Mon-El finally jumps in and tells her that it has nothing to do with Kara and Rhea is behind all of her problems. Rhea removes evidence of the call from Lena’s phone.

Back at the cell, James and Marcus are talking. Marcus tells James that every planet he goes to, he’s run off. James tells Marcus how he used to be bullied, and it got worse after his dad died. James said his dad was his guardian, and when he died, he put up a wall until he moved to Metropolis and made a friend. James said he trusted him and let him in, and the wall came down. Marcus tells James he can see his mom but he doesn’t know where it is. James tells him he’ll protect both of them. After a brief discussion and James reminding J’onn of their earlier talk, Winn and James take Marcus to find his mom. Winn has a portable dampener. They find Marcus’s mom, and about 12 of aliens of that species.

At LexCorp, Lena tells Rhea she has meant so much to her. Rhea tells her whatever happens next not to doubt herself. (Oh boy.) Rhea turns the generator to 11, as Lena looks on in horror. Mon-El joins Supergirl in going after Rhea but needs to grab something first. Winn’s dampener can’t handle all of the aliens and we have many purple-eyed aliens on the loose.

James tries to break through to Marcus so he might break through the others telepathically. At LexCorp, J’onn, Supergirl, and Mon-El show up. Rhea has made the generator self-sustaining, and it is actually drawing something in (Zod is my bet). The fight begins, and Lena is accidentally knocked down. At the warehouse, James is pleading with Marcus, and James refuses to leave them. At LexCorp, J’onn is neutralized by White Martian tech. Mon-El pulls a gun on his mother. James is still pleading with Marcus to look within and know he’s not alone. Marcus’s eyes go back to normal, and the rest begin to change back. Rhea plays mind games with Mon-El and Mon-El asks where his father is. Rhea lies and tells him he took his own life. She gets him to put down the gun. Daxamite ships come through the portal (my bad, not Zod). At the DEO, over 100 ships are on the scanners. As the aliens leave the warehouse, they look up and see all the ships fly overhead. Rhea says, “Welcome to New Daxam.” We have a good old-fashioned “To Be Continued,” but soon, Cat Grant is BACK!!!!

Quote

“That is a hero without a suit.” – Winn

Little Things

For weeks, I have wondered why James was even on the show, and now, we have a great episode that focuses on him. He has been lost this season, and kind of pointless. Maybe this will get his character back on track.

Rhea is so good at being bad. She has played up the “mother” role to Lena so well.

Speaking of Lena, she has been turned on again. If this doesn’t make her evil, I have no idea what will.

This episode felt very much like a set-up episode. There were many good moments, but I don’t know if any great ones. I’m afraid that the James story won’t continue and it will be lost with the “To Be Continued.”

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