The Darkest Place

"The Darkest Place" is the seventh episode of the second season from the The CW television series Supergirl, which aired on November 21, 2016.

Plot

In a mysterious building, Supergirl battles J'onn, who tells Kara it's time for her to die. Twenty-four hours previously, Kara, James, Alex and Winn are discussing the Guardian; Alex suspects he has help and Kara distrusts him, believing vigilantes are nuts, referring to her cousin having run-ins with one. Maggie asks Alex if things are okay between them, and Alex assures her everything is fine. At Cadmus, Mon-El is held captive until he breaks out after overpowering a guard. Lillian shows up with J'onn in tow, threatening to kill him if Mon-El leaves; Mon-El agrees to stay.

At the DEO, J'onn is thrilled to see M'gann, who brings a Martian brew to help him recover; he begins to hallucinate, but plays it off as if nothing is happening. J'onn later admits to hallucinating and feeling guilty because he isn't alone anymore to Kara. Guardian stops a burglar by stringing him up on a street light but moments after they drive away, a second vigilante kills the burglar. James is stunned to find out Guardian is wanted for murder; Snapper claims he has a bias for superheroes. Winn attempts to convince James to stop, but James plans to lure the other vigilante out. The other vigilante, named Barrage, shows up to kill a drug dealer when Guardian confronts him; both vigilantes claim they want to keep National City safe, before Barrage escapes and Guardian is confronted by police. Supergirl flies towards the location when she is interrupted by Cadmus, who convince her to find Mon-El instead. At Cadmus, Kara is confronted by J'onn, only to discover it is actually Hank Henshaw, who survived the accident. Supergirl and Hank battle, and she discovers he is a cyborg thanks to Cadmus saving his life by replacing his damaged body with technology; he suddenly overpowers her.

At the DEO, Alex asks Winn about Kara's whereabouts. After he makes a comment about Guardian, Alex catches onto Winn's secret and threatens to tell Kara, but Winn convinces her to let James clear his own name. With Guardian a fugitive, Maggie is after him, but Alex suggests she lay off him, refuses to give Maggie anymore details. At Cadmus, Supergirl wakes up in a cage next to Mon-El, bars made of Nth metal so she can't escape. She then comes face to face with Lillian, who has taken up the mantle of her son, Lex, and wants to humanize Supergirl by acquiring her heat vision. Lillian shows her a helmet and threatens to harm Mon-El if she doesn't comply. After Mon-El's leg is shot, Supergirl agrees and drains her powers before a blood sample is taken. Kara admits to Mon-El that she was afraid, when Jeremiah shows up to release them; he chooses to stay behind to ensure they get to safety.

J'onn has another hallucination that a co-worker is a White Martian. Alex convinces him to stand down and J'onn orders her to find the cause of the hallucinations. Alex locates the difference in his blood cells and they discover the truth about M'gann. J'onn confronts her, and M'gann comes clean to him, telling him she couldn't stand seeing the Green Martians dying. M'gann reveals her true form and J'onn takes out his vengeance on her, but she returns to human form, saying she wants to die as who she wants to be. Winn traces Barrage to an ex-Navy SEAL, Phillip Karnowsky, who is going after criminals released on technicalities. Guardian arrives and defeats him just in time for Alex and Maggie to catch the imposter. Maggie allows Guardian to leave before the police arrive.

Alex races back to the DEO, after hearing about Kara, and learns about Jeremiah being alive; she is too late to find him, as Cadmus adandoned their headquarters. J'onn places M'gann in a containment cell instead of killing her. With the transfusion infecting him, M'gann says his blood is transforming him into a White Martian and there's no way to stop it; as J'onn walks away, he watches his hand briefly transform. Alex, James, Winn, Kara and Mon-El have dinner at Kara's apartment, when Maggie shows up to tell Alex that she's really important to her and James and Winn believe Mon-El is smitten with Kara. At the Fortress of Solitude, Hank, revealed as Cyborg Superman, injects himself with Kara's blood to infiltrate the computer to find out about "Project Medusa".

Reception

This episode received good reviews. Caroline Siede of The AV Club gave the episode a B-.^[1]

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 6.8/10, stating "Supergirl is rapidly building towards its mid-season finale. This episode succeeded in escalating the Cadmus storyline and reintroducing Hank Henshaw in a big way. Unfortunately, the Guardian storyline continues to be a major drag on the show. The fact that James' superhero antics were such a heavy focus this week really didn't do "The Darkest Place" any favors. Is it too much to hope that the show can wrap up this Guardian business before 2017 rolls around?"^[2]

References