Supergirl recap: Kara's Valentine's Day is all (devoured) hearts and (marshmallow) roses
I’ve heard of “eat your heart out,” but this is ridiculous.
Supergirl’s lone February outing finds our heroes tracking down a heart-eating, jewel-swiping symbiote in the midst of heart-and-roses Valentine’s Day.
First things first, though, RIP (forever, hopefully) to James and Lena’s relationship. En route to a romantic Paris getaway, Lena tells James that the government wants to partner with her on her research to super-charge humans.
James loathes the idea of her research being weaponized and tells her she’s better than that, at which point, Lena’s driver barely comes to a rolling stop to boot him out of the car. Lena ends the episode more isolated than ever, and she agrees to go into business with the government. She looks fabulous the whole time, of course.
In the main storyline, the Danvers sisters visit J’onn’s new PI shop—Alex thinks it’s her first visit sob sob—and find it awash in V-Day goodies from grateful alien clients. As they munch on marshmallow roses, Alex talks about how much she’s put her life on hold, even though she hoped assuming control of the DEO would lead to more stability. But she’s not dating, and she never did finish her adoption application.
Kara suggests she act as Alex’s wingwoman at Nia’s Valentine’s party that night, but a call about a meteor collision site and a slew of bodies pull Alex away. Kara’s bereft to be left behind, but at least she has chocolate to soothe her.
The villain of the week seems to have a sweet tooth for human hearts and gems and precious metals. Also, it shed its skin, leading Brainy to suggest that it underwent a metamorphosis, which relieves him. “I would much rather face that than anything snake-like, which I do have a deep phobia about, much as any rational being would.”
But Brainy’s distracted. Earlier, he stopped by Nia’s, awkwardly offered his condolences on her mother’s death, and offered to train her. She declined, and even though he intentionally shoved her party decorations to the floor, she invited him to the party. Now, he’s trying to figure out a good gift to give her to express his interest, assuring Alex that even 85 percent of his focus on DEO business is the equivalent of a very capable CSI team.
It turns out, J’onn’s new case overlaps with the DEO’s. He’s investigating the disappearance of Anthony Stuart, the director of Alien Affairs, and turns up at CatCo to suggest he and Kara pool their resources. He also compliments the office redesign, and while I didn’t see a big difference, Kara agrees that it looks like a real newsroom—you know, like The Washington Post. Their research leads them to believe that Stuart was having an affair with Madison Sinclair, a diamond broker, so they head to her place to see if he’s there.
And he’s there all right, along with Madison. Both of their hearts are missing. Then the DEO storms in, pursuing the heart-eater. Big sis tries to protect little sis from the crime scene, and little sis covertly X-rays the place and then “bumbles” open a hidden panel concealing a safe. Madison’s diamonds are gone, so Alex swabs the venom that dissolved the metal door and everybody heads to Nia’s party, where Brainy can analyze it for clues.
Nia and roommate Yvette’s party’s in full swing, and Alex bumps into one of her dates from her oats-sowing days. Kara encourages them to catch up. Becca, whose name Alex can’t recall (awkward!), is all smiles and asks how Alex’s adoption process is going. Alex stammers that she dropped the ball, just like she was too busy to call Becca for another date all those months ago.
Kara, meanwhile, chats with the still-mourning Nia and encourages her to honor her mother’s wishes and fight for good, regardless of her sister’s anger. Then Brainy pops up to announce the results of his venom analysis, which he conducted in a closet, where he was hiding from the dance-crazy Yvette.
He found human DNA belonging to Pamela Ferrer comingled with the alien venom. Kara’s ready to roll out, and Alex reluctantly agrees she can come along to Pamela’s provided J’onn stays by her side.
They arrive at Pamela’s place, where Brainy admits that his distraction prevented him from realizing that the alien would become a symbiote with a human host. And sure enough, ol’ Pamela turns up with a fanged snake that shoots out of her neck to spray smaller snakes all over the room.
So the hearts were for the alien, and the jewels were for the human thief, who declares, “We are Menagerie.” Kara stealthily blows the snakes away from Alex, while Alex freaks over Kara possibly getting bitten. (Next page: Dreamer suits up!)
At J’onn’s, Kara realizes that she’s what’s been holding Alex back from going after what she wants. After the Kryptonite bomb hit, Alex dropped everything to care for her. Now that those memories are gone, Alex doesn’t remember what derailed her, but she knows that her life is less full because of it. Although it grieves Kara to stop working with Alex even in her reporter persona, she prioritizes Alex’s happiness.
Okay, back to Menagerie. President Baker, worried that Ben Lockwood’s polling numbers are stronger than his own, wants to keep the news out of the press. He’s unsuccessful, of course, and it comes up during a Lockwood family prison visit. Ben’s proud that his son George feels a call to arms and encourages him to take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves.
The Children track Menagerie down at Pamela’s place, where they discover the bodies of the DEO agents left to guard it. Pamela herself strolls in and starts killing the Children. When she realizes the DEO confiscated her cache of stolen jewels, she decides to rebuild her net worth at that night’s Heart Association Masquerade Ball. (Sidenote: Pamela’s pad is swank, so clearly her jewel-thieving pays off handsomely. Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life, amirite?)
One of the surviving Children calls in this report to George, who orders his followers to assemble at the ball, where National City’s elite have no idea what’s about to hit them. Menagerie murders and steals basically in plain view of all the guests until the Children burst in and chaos erupts.
Nia catches footage of the attack on TV and, having dreamt about Supergirl fighting Menagerie, she bolts from her couch, leaving behind a confused Yvette.
At the ball, the DEO spends most of their time trying to protect the Children from Menagerie, who’s just throwing snakes everywhere. Then Supergirl swoops in and drops Menagerie out a window.
Menagerie’s snakes incapacitate Supergirl, and just as the main symbiote is about to go for her heart, a suited-up Dreamer attacks! AAAHHHH new hero in the house! Her blue and silver suit looks amazing in action, and I’m so thrilled to see her added to the crime-fighting roster.
Supergirl sends Dreamer inside to help the DEO, and Menagerie brags to Supergirl that she’s stronger because she’s part of a team, then spits venom in her eyes. In her weakened state, Supergirl can’t stop the Children, led by George, from chopping off the symbiote’s head.
In front of the cameras, George speechifies about killing a monster when even Supergirl couldn’t, and Baker orders Pamela sent to prison. (That’s…not how the justice system works, but whatever. Maybe he declared a national emergency.) Once the crime scene’s cleaned up, Kara tells Nia, “Nice suit,” and encourages her to keep working on controlling her powers.
Nia returns home to find that Yvette’s claimed the chocolates Brainy brought for her. But that’s okay; what she really wants is his help getting her battle-ready.
At Kara’s, Alex announces that she’s going to start protecting herself by trusting that the people around her can take care of themselves. She’s going to finish her adoption application, and she accepts Becca’s number, which Kara snagged for her.
Baker, frustrated by the public protests surrounding Ben’s incarceration, finds a loophole in the Patriot Act (it only protects humans, not aliens) and has Ben released. Outside the prison, a handsome, smiling Ben greets his supporters and promises to keep protecting humanity.
Finally, in her jail cell, Pamela receives a letter from Manchester Black, sealed with a wax stamp. The symbiote under her skin slithers as she opens it and reads.
Snaps of the cape
Seriously, Dreamer’s super-suit is a dream. Other heroes only wish they looked that sleek, modern, and confident.
Re: that photo James took of a sleeping Lena. Listen, nobody looks that good when they’re asleep. Where was the drool? Where were the pillow marks on her cheek? Or is Lena just that genetically gifted?
Team Yvette. More Yvette. Except for one small thing: Coconut is the worst part of the heart-shaped box chocolate mix.
Jessica Meraz’s Pamela will be sticking around for a future episode, which is excellent news. She’s a fun addition to add to Supergirl‘s rogue’s gallery.
