"Supergirl" Recap: "Blood Bonds"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Well it's good news everyone, some of our favorite shows are coming back early from winter break and that's always a wonderful thing, especially when one of those shows just so happens to be Supergirl. After all, the winter finale was simply sublime and firing on all cylinders and this week's episode, "Blood Bonds" managed to up the ante when it comes to storytelling and character development. 

But while I was happy to get a juicier story and growth for our heroes, I was actually quite surprised with this episode and its vastly different feel from the rest of the season. This is a show that always has a hefty amount of lightheartedness and fun to it and while there were laughs, this particular tale had a Man of Steel feel to it the whole way. It was gritty, angry and while I want to say darker, I simply can't...it just had a little more edge to it and it worked on so many levels believe it or not and it made for another fine entry in the series.  

Mainly because the grit and anger came from Kara and her internal struggle this week. I loved the constant cat and mouse between her and Astra since it led to constant confusion for Supergirl as she tried to figure out the right way to deal with her Aunt on a personal level and with the events that fell into her lap at the DEO with Henshaw being kidnapped and all. It meant we were treated to another fine performance from Mellissa Benoist but more importantly, the show had the potential of taking a step back when it came to Kara's growth by making her a weak character/female once again and thankfully, it never fell into that trap. Sure Kara had a little help from friends, but what matters is that she made the final decisions last night on her own terms and it made for some bold storytelling for sure. 

Another wonderful little piece of storytelling that worked so well this week was the whole back and forth between Kara and Cat over whether or not Kara happened to be Supergirl after all. It really seemed as though Cat had it all figured out for certain in the midseason finale but that turned out to not be the case and man...this whole little segment of the story really gave us a true understanding of how driven Cat really is and how far she is willing to go to get the answers she wants. I mean hell, threatening Kara's job was pretty bold but how the issue managed to get resolved, by having J'onn J'onzz morph into Supergirl and share the room with Kara was an absolute stroke of genius.  

It's clear now the show is starting to find his stride and the writing staff is comfortable with the characters at last because everything feels more relaxed now on this show and perhaps the best part of the night for me...was the fact that we have another supervillain in the mix since Maxwell Lord appears ready to unleash his intelligent fury on Supergirl and any other Kryptonian that gets in his way. This has been a subtle build that more or less exploded in front of us Monday night and I'm curious to see what Maxwell is planning to do to his "patient" since we were given glimpses of the Red Tornado's arm and some of the disturbing alterations to this unfortunate Jane Doe. I really can't wait to see what quality episodes await us next, and it looks like Supergirl is about to face some big time challenges with her Aunt on the loose and Maxwell Lord cooking up nightmares in his lab. Until next time.

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