Medusa (Supergirl)

"Medusa" is the eighth episode of the second season from the The CW television series Supergirl, which aired on November 21, 2016. The episode features a minor tie-in with the Arrowverse crossover event "Invasion!"

Plot

Kara, James, Winn, Alex, Eliza and Mon-El celebrate Thanksgiving; Alex intends on coming out to Eliza, while James and Winn debate revealing the truth about Guardian. During the speech, a mysterious interdimensional portal opens over the table. The next day, J'onn intends on discovering what Cadmus wanted with Kara's blood. Kara visits Lena to discern what she knows about her mother Lillian and Cadmus; after Kara leaves, Lena invites Lillian over to inform her that a reporter is raising suspicions about her. At the bar, Hank Henshaw plants a device that unleashes smoke. Mon-El mistakes him for J'onn and follows him outside, leading to a fight that Mon-El loses; Mon-El goes back to find all the aliens inside dead.

Mon-El is placed in isolation and J'onn agrees when Alex suggests Kara remain isolated. Eliza is brought in to help figure out the toxin. The virus consumes Mon-El and he is placed in the infirmary. Eliza determines the virus is Kryptonian and Kara believes Cadmus needed her blood so Henshaw could break into the Fortress of Solitude. At the Fortress, Kelex regards her as an intruder and attacks, forcing Kara to destroy it. She discovers that Henshaw accessed the file called Medusa, a virus which Kara's father created for defense against potential invaders. Alex attempts to come out to Eliza, but Eliza already figured it out and is fully supportive. Kara reveals to J'onn how upset she is that her parents would unleash a virus on their enemies; he confides that he is turning into a White Martian, but does not want anyone else to know until Cadmus is stopped.

Alex and Eliza determine Cadmus needs an isotope to weaponize the virus, only found at L-Corp. Kara and Henshaw battle in the lobby of L-Corp and when he attempts to kill Lena, Supergirl protects her. The police arrive and he injures Maggie; the portal reemerges and keeps him from stealing the isotope. J'onn and Winn are not convinced Lena is different than her mother, so Supergirl tells Lena about Lillian being Cadmus' leader; Lena accuses her of continuing Superman's witch hunt against the Luthors. At the DEO, Alex gives Maggie a clean bill of health and Mon-El tells Kara that Eliza thinks he is dying. Mon-El kisses Kara as she admits that Medusa is her family's fault.

At L-Corp, Lena confronts Lillian about Cadmus and gives the isotope to her. Winn traces the isotope to the Port of National City. Kara initially insists J'onn stay behind, but he wants to go out a hero if he's infected. At the port, Supergirl tries to convince Lena to not release the missile, but Lena launches it. Supergirl races after the missile while J'onn battles Henshaw. In their battle J'onn transforms into a hybrid Green/White Martian and gains the upper hand. Supergirl fails to reach the missile before it explodes; it has no effect, as Lena previously rendered the virus inert after double-crossing Lillian. Lillian is arrested, but Kara and J'onn realize Henshaw has escaped.

A group of aliens is looking for Mon-El and any surviving Daxamite throughout space; they vow to destroy any planet that gets in their way. Mon-El is cured and Eliza reverse-engineers Medusa to restore J'onn's Green Martian cells. Kara asks Mon-El about their kiss, but he ignores it so she drops the subject. Maggie admits she reciprocates Alex's feelings and they kiss. Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon arrive at Kara's via the portal; surprised, Kara is ready when Barry asks for help with a problem on their Earth.

Arrowverse connection

The episode ends with a scene setting up the crossover event "Invasion!" that begins on The Flash season 3 episode 8, continues on Arrow season 5 episode 8 and concludes on Legends of Tomorrow season 2 episode 7. This scene is later repeated in the Flash episode of the crossover. Kara/Supergirl appears in all three episodes as a visitor to their universe due to Supergirl being set in a different Earth, referred to as Earth-38 in the Arrowverse multiverse. and has been informally referred to as "Earth-CBS" by Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim, named for the network where Supergirl first aired.^[1][2][3]

Reception

This episode received good reviews. Caroline Siede of The AV Club gave the episode a B.^[4]

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 8.4/10, stating "Supergirl wrapped up the first half of Season 2 on solid footing. This episode mostly avoided the disappointing Guardian subplot in favor of bringing the show's more important plot threats to a temporary conclusion. Between the enjoyable Kara/Mon-El romance, the conflict with Lillian Luthor and the battles with Hank Henshaw, there was plenty to enjoy in this mid-season finale. Unless, that is, you were tuning in specifically because of the crossover connections."^[5]

References