"Supergirl" Recap: "Truth, Justice and the American Way"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Over my many, many years of being a comic book and comic book show fan, I have come to realize that there is one particular storytelling element that all of them use that I love over anything else they put forth...their lessons in morality. Those little nuggets about what is right and what is wrong in life are essential to these tales since they reinforce all the things mom and dad teach us, often on a more subtle level.

But to me, the finest stories in this genre come about when the hero is forced to face their own morality. When a decision they make or are about to make could fundamentally change who they are and what they do forever. It's a struggle we see from the greatest of heroes from time to time and it's always a fine reminder that we should strive to be better and make the better choice and this week on Supergirl, it was the grand debate of morality that took center stage for Kara in "Truth, Justice and the American Way".

Now before we get too deep into that, the first thing I really enjoyed about this episode, was its opening, specifically the funeral for Astra and the surprising class that went along with it. To date, Non has been nothing but a jerk so to see him put aside his Kryptonian fury over the death of his wife and invite Kara to be there to perform their people's burial rites made for an incredibly classy and gentle moment. One that was of course never meant to last because hey...he's planning on coming back in two weeks to start a war but, at least we saw the man actually has compassion after all. But once that was out of the way, it was into the meat and potatoes of the story where Kara was forced to face off against herself and a guard out for justice from Fort Rozz, the Master Jailer.

While one would think that the hunt for Master Jailer, since he decided it was time to become judge, jury and executioner of other aliens escaped from Fort Rozz would be the centerpiece of this morality tale, but he wasn't in the slightest. He was merely another awesome comic book character come to life. No, the battle for right and wrong ended up being the whole issue with the DEO locking up Maxwell Lord and that was nothing short of a stroke of genius since James was the voice of reason this go round, by pointing out the fact that Lord was being held against his will, without bond or the chance at Due Process and it was all Kara's doing, something not indicative of those who wear the "S", and well, her anger around the issue and her desire to keep the world safe by keeping him locked up merely confirmed it. 

It took the gentle moment between her and the alien professor who learned his lesson while in Fort Rozz for her to see the light that for one, people can change after all and that hey, he served his time legally whereas Lord did not and she let Maxwell go, with the caveat that if he rats on the DEO and Supergirl's identity, he'll pay the price and be behind bars legally. Either way, what a smart episode through and through. There was the opportunity here to handle the whole discussion of what's right and what's wrong in heavy handed fashion and the episode never took that route. Supergirl continues to impress me with its top notch writing and this episode was no exception. Plus, it also set the stage for another villain last night since we saw the introduction of Siobhan Smythe, who most likely will become the television version of the comic book villain, Silver Banshee...and that's freaking awesome. I just wonder how long it will take before Siobhan goes from assistant to Cat Grant to full on evil...we'll just have to stay tuned to find out. Until next time.

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