Supergirl, Episode 73 “Fallout” Broadcast on October 21, 2018
Teleplay by Maria Maggenti & Daniel Beaty
Story by Dana Horgan
Directed by Harry Jierjian
Previously on Supergirl: Kara meets Nia Nal at Catco, a bartender at the alien bar is kidnapped and killed by “an agent of liberty,” Otis Graves is caught by Supergirl after trying to kill the President with his sister Mercy, though the latter escapes. Unfortunately, the assassination attempted was filmed and it was revealed to the world that the president is an alien.
Now: Protesting factions circle the White House: those who want the alien out of office and those who want her to stay. Supergirl arrives, surprised that the president is resigning. Outside the mobs turn violent. An arriving news van swerves to avoid hitting a protester, though it makes the situation worse. Supergirl arrives and stops the crowd. “Now is the time to talk to each other. Not fight.” Cue opening title card.
This was another really good episode. The story was tight, with all the characters getting key moments against the “fallout” of the president’s reveal. Supergirl really has to sell her opinions to the public, and it’s not going to be easy. Melissa Benoist does a great job in the broadcast to the nation. And I loved that Kara couldn’t get away from Lena to change into her famous alter ego. How she dealt with Lena and the antagonists was full of classic comic book scenes. I loved them! Nicole Maines as Nia Nal gets some big scenes, with her sharing the screen with Mehcad Brooks and Jesse Rath. I was curious to see what James Olsen’s role was going to be in the show since he’s been stripped of being Guardian. I like how he reacts to Nia’s words and an incident in the office forces him to make a decision. I’m a die hard Legion fan and have not been thrilled with the character last season. My opinion is slowly changing, with Rath getting some strong scenes defining his character and showing that Brainy isn’t perfect. As long as he doesn’t create a program named Computo, he’ll be a strong member of the DEO. Lena Luthor reveals some backstory and has some delicious dialogue played against Mercy Graves; their scene underground was excellent — very comic booky, but believable (and hopefully teasing something in a future episode: I really want this “thing” to look like the one designed by Gil Kane). Rhona Mitra was a great villain, spewing her deliciously vile dialogue outstandingly. She spoke like Lex Luthor, who’s showing up later this season. David Harewood as J’onn also had some excellent scenes, searching for his missing friend and eventually going into the lion’s den. Agent Liberty has a fantastic speech at the end of the episode that reminded me of the Hate Monger from Marvel Comics, but this is the way the character would rally others. The cliffhanger was also strong. That’s two weeks in a row where the reader is left with a major hook that will change the direction of the series.
The good: The script where every scene was necessary to progress the episode, the outstanding dialogue, the acting, the continual improvement of Brainiac 5’s character, Mercy being a terrific foe, the battle under the building, the tech that’s revealed by ally and antagonist, J’onn’s quest, the cool cliffhanger, and Bruce Boxleitner! Every show becomes that much better with Boxleitner attached.
Fun lines: “Fear can create monsters where none existed before,” “Oh, I don’t take things personal,” “Why do you have to be so mean?”, “This is just a security blanket,” “If you truly want to find me, you will,” “They totally missed me,” and “…I hope you will all do the same.”
The bad: There’s really nothing bad about this episode. If I have to grouse about anything, it’s Agent Liberty’s mask. It doesn’t look good. It looks made out of paper mache. And, now that I think about it, I’m finding it a little hard to believe that people would rally so quickly behind this character if he’s wearing a mask. The president was just revealed as an alien, so I think they would be concerned about seeing someone’s face.
The final line: An outstanding episode with every character getting great things to do. The writers are to be congratulated for a good story and the director, too, for bringing it to life. This season of Supergirl looks to be great! Overall grade: A
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