'Supergirl' Recap: 'Triggers'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

If there's one thing we all expect from our superheroes at any level, we expect them to be fearless. After all, these are the men and women who are supposed to thrust themselves into harm's way to save the day and make the world a better place and really, in our minds, fear has no place in what they do. If anything we admire their courage and their ability to leave fear behind when they enter a dangerous situation and that bravery is why we love heroes so much, because they inspire us to be better and be bold in everything that we do.

But, as the years go by and these incredible stories continue to evolve, we are coming to realize that the best superhero stories feature more than bold machismo. We need to connect to our favorite heroes on a personal level and because of that, we are starting to see superhero stories that feature these iconic characters going through the trials and tribulations that we all go through. Sometimes it's successful, sometimes its not, but last night's episode of Supergirl, 'Triggers', opted to go that more personal route by allowing for Kara to explore something few superheroes ever get to, fear, and the power that comes with it and wow...did it make for one engaging episode.  

Because this go round, every ounce of pain and trauma that the Girl of Steel has gone through in her life came to the forefront of her mind thanks to a villain named Psi who used everyone's darkest fears and pains to get what she wanted and wow, did this make for some compelling television. Sure we've seen Kara struggle and battle all kinds of issues, but she's never acknowledged the pain that came with leaving Krypton, nor has she really confronted her decision regarding Mon-El and well...all of it was on display here and for the first time ever, we saw Kara become incredibly invulnerable and weak in ways we never thought possible and quite frankly, it was a brilliant stroke of storytelling to see this. Because not only did it allow for Melissa Benoist to turn on her acting chops and wow us all, but because it did exactly what I made mention of a moment ago, it made Supergirl relatable on a whole new level.

Sure, she can accomplish wonders, but now we know, her mind wanders to dark places like the rest of us and she struggles with her past, just like we do, and I love the fact that the series was willing to strip away the image that Supergirl exudes and remind us that when she's not fighting evil, she's fighting her demons within, and what matters most about last night's episode, is that she was able to overcome it. Something that I'm fairly certain inspired any audience member currently going through their own struggle in life right now, to perhaps take their issues head on, and I love the fact that season three is becoming a character study on the human condition in ways this series has never explored before and well, I'm loving every single second of it. 

Because this series is almost serving as the antidote to the gritty superhero trope that permeates the industry right now, since Kara isn't burying her problems deep down into the depths of her soul and using that angst to fuel her, she's facing her problems head on and dealing with them as they come and if that's not unique and quite frankly, inspiring, I don't know what is and if this is what season three is going to revolve around, then please keep it coming. Either way, this is two back to back top notch episodes from this show and it looks like the character study continues next week since we are headed to Mars with J'onn, a place that will no doubt bring up bad memories and plenty of pain for the Martian Manhunter. Until next time. 

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