Welcome to Earth (Supergirl)

"Welcome to Earth" is the third episode of the second season from the The CW television series Supergirl, which aired on October 24, 2016.

Plot

After the alien attacks Kara, he escapes into National City. J'onn and Alex are both worried, as the President is coming to National City to sign an alien amnesty agreement, and she wishes to meet Supergirl, which excites Kara. When the President arrives, Supergirl is ready to meet her when a series of fireballs hurl towards the President and Supergirl swoops in to protect the Commander in Chief; they go to the DEO for her safety. At the crime scene, Alex notices a non-DEO personnel, and confronts the woman, who introduces herself as Maggie Sawyer, a detective with the NCPD. Winn gets a lead on the alien and traces him to a warehouse, but before Alex arrives he disappears to another location. At the warehouse, Alex runs into Maggie again and gives her a number to call.

Alex returns to the DEO empty handed and after getting scolded by Kara, Maggie calls her and they meet at a bar which serves as a safe haven for aliens. Maggie explains that she has been helping good aliens, and admits to previously dating a female one. Alex and Maggie talk to an informant about the escapee, and they learn that he may be trying to contact his home planet. Winn traces the transmission and determines it is being sent to a planet called Daxam. After hearing that name, Kara immediately tracks him down and after a brief scuffle, she brings him back to be held in a DEO containment cell.

Kara explains to Alex, J'onn, and Winn that Daxam was Krypton's sister planet and the two were at war long before Krypton's implosion. She suspects the visitor of being behind the attack against the President, but he explains he just wanted to contact home. With the Daxamite contained in his cell, Kara and the DEO prepare for the President's event. As the signing gets underway, the real alien (revealed to be Scorch, who was at the bar earlier) unleashes fireballs to keep Kara and Alex at bay, before taking Maggie hostage. Alex returns to the bar and interrogates the informant again; she and Kara confront the alien and together with Maggie they capture the alien. Alex and Maggie agree to work with each other again, while Kara settles her differences with Mon-El, the Daxamite, before revealing the fate of Daxam to him. The President thanks the DEO and Supergirl for protecting her, but they are unaware that she is actually an alien.

In between the events, Kara is ready for her next assignment during a meeting between James and Snapper, who reminds Olsen about who has the final say. Kara is given the task of interviewing Lena about her views on aliens. Lena shows Kara a prototype device her company is developing that would detect who is actually an alien. When Lena's back is turned, Kara uses her heat vision to alter the device before Lena asked her to touch it. Kara's initial first draft is rejected by Snapper for the tone being non-neutral and Kara rewrites it. Lena and Kara later discuss the article. At another meeting, James asserts his leadership to Snapper and takes control of the creative content away from him; Snapper has no choice but to give in, and Kara vows to become a better, polished reporter.

Later that night at the bar, J'onn enters as Martian Manhunter and recognizes a woman who is about to end her shift. He follows her outside and confronts her—she reveals herself to be the last daughter of Mars, M'gann M'orzz.

Reception

This episode received positive reviews.

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 8.2/10, stating "It's a shame that we won't be getting more of Tyler Hoechlin's Superman for a while, but this episode proved that the show still has plenty to offer without him. It was great to see Lynda Carter return to the DC Universe. But even better, this episode set up an intriguing anti-alien hysteria storyline that looks to be as much a driving force this year as the hunt for Cadmus. Unfortunately, the bland villain and dull Catco subplot held this episode back slightly."^[1]

Caroline Siede of the AV Club gave the episode an B.^[2]

References