What I’m Watching: Supergirl

Supergirl: Season 4, Episode 2 “Fallout” (B+)

If nothing else, there’s a whole lot going on here. This show has always tried to be politically relevant, and this episode really was in so many different ways. The president’s resignation in the face of an unrecoverable scandal was of course the farthest thing from our reality, but what ensued definitely looked a whole lot like what we’re experiencing, with aliens standing in for the “other” in society. Agent Liberty getting the crowd to chant “Earth First!” at the end of the episode was probably the most haunting echo of our world, and it was jarring to see Brainy, or Barney, as he’s known when he gets coffee or pizza, freeze upon being targeted when his image inducer went offline and his true form was exposed. It’s great to see this show embracing diversity with a trans character who, fantastically enough, is played by a trans actress, Nicole Amber Maines. I’ll be very intrigued to see if she has a romance with Brainy, who has now reached a very good point with Alex. The humans got to have some superpowered fun too in this hour, with Lena and Mercy shooting from arm-guns at each other while Kara had to stall to get out of Lena’s sight and transform into Supergirl. Hank may not be any closer to finding Fiona, but he has stumbled across something unsettling that definitely seems to be sweeping this fictitious but very recognizable nation and may be far more dangerous than the Kryptonite which just took down Supergirl.