- Title: Supergirl – American Alien
- wiki: link
There are quite a few takeaways from the Fourth Season premiere of Supergirl along with foreshadowing of where the series is headed. First, fans of Superman: The Animated Series should be happy with the introduction of Rhona Mitra as Mercy (who first appeared on the cartoon as Lex Luthor’s henchman). There was turmoil both inside the DEO and in the government, Kara (Melissa Benoist) made major strides at work taking on the mentorship of a cub reporter (Nicole Maines), and we also got a slight tease of the powerful Russian Supergirl who likely won’t make a major appearance for a few weeks. The bigger takeaway is that Supergirl isn’t shying away from political storlyines as the new alien citizens come under attack from other Americans (who are assisted in the anger and thirst for violence by Mercy and her brother) as the show will apparently take a hard look this year at a divided nation and a rise of bigotry and violence by those who view others as outsiders.
“American Alien” works both as a standalone episode, featuring Supergirl’s attempts to stop Mercy and her brother from an attack on the President, and as a launching pad for the new season in which the right wing vigilante Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer) is likely to play a major role in a battle that, until now, has been happening right under Supergirl’s nose. The smaller stories also help set up larger arcs for the season as Brainiac (Jesse Rath) struggles in his new role with the DEO and working with an increasingly frustrated Alex (Chyler Leigh). And despite coloring inside the lines, using information rather than blackmail to help Superman’s black friend James “Don’t Call Me Jimmy” Olsen‘s (Mehcad Brooks) stay out of jail, Lena (Katie McGrath) takes another step towards the Dark Side. How many episodes before a Luthor and a member of the House of El square off once more?
