Fight or Flight (Supergirl)

"Fight or Flight (Supergirl)"

"Fight or Flight" is the third episode in the first season of the CBS television series Supergirl, which aired on November 9, 2015. It was written by Michael Grassi and Rachel Shuker, and directed by Dermott Downs. The episode centers on Kara taking on Reactron, who has come to National City to seek revenge on Superman by killing Supergirl, while at the same time take on Cat's plans to do a expose on Supergirl.

Plot

Picking up from the previous episode, Cat interviews Supergirl, asking uncompromising questions about the timing of her appearance and her relationship to Superman, causing Kara to accidentally reveal he is her cousin - news which makes it onto TV the next day. Cat writes an exposé on Supergirl, painting her as having all the stereotypical negative traits of a millennial. Alex isn't pleased about this, and neither is Hank; Alex is also not happy when she discovers Winn and James know her secret identity.

While assisting at a major car accident, Supergirl is attacked by Reactron, a disfigured man in nuclear-powered armor. Kara managed to damage his armour but he escapes, but the DEO refuse to act against him because he is not an alien threat. Back at CatCo, Winn reveals that he and James have built a high-tech lab in a disused office for them to use as a base of operations. Across town at Lord technology labs, Maxwell is overseeing his train project when Reactron storms in looking for someone who can repair his suit. Maxwell offers himself in place of another scientist, and Reactron takes him hostage. Kara and the DEO discover Reactron is Ben Krull, who worked in a nuclear reactor where Superman prevented a reactor meltdown, saving nearly everyone inside - except for Ben's wife. He blames Superman for her death and created the Reactron armour in order to take revenge, targeting Supergirl to hurt Superman.

The DEO find Reactron's hideout and Kara races there. Lord has repaired Reactron's armour and he fights Supergirl, overpowering her, and she is saved by Superman. When she recovers, Kara is angry that James called in Clark to help her, and asks James to leave. Back at the DEO, Hank's eyes glow red and he catches Kara using DEO information to help Kara; he agrees to secretly help out.

At the magazine launch party for the Supergirl issue of CatCo magazine, Maxwell tries to get Cat to talk about Supergirl without success. Kara shares a dance with Winn, then James cuts in to patch things up, but before they can finish their conservation Reactron breaks in searching for Supergirl. Kara stops him, saving Maxwell and Winn, and James to diverts Reactron's attention. Kara learns from Alex that removing Reactron's power core will render him powerless, but it will melt down dangerously unless encased in lead. Kara saves James, then fights Reactron and extracts the power core with a hand coated in lead she melted from a statue. Afterwards, Kara thanks Alex and Hank for their help.

Back at the apartment, Kara and Alex make up, with Alex suggesting that Kara asks James out, but when she went to the office, Kara sees Lucy Lane, James' ex-fiancé, who arrived to talk to him, and Kara overhears that conversation, leading her to believe that Lucy wants to get back with James. While Kara was upset about this, even giving Winn the cold shoulder, she does receive a texted apology from Clark. Alex also reads the article on Supergirl, telling Kara that Cat was impressed before she took off to answer a siren's sound.

Reception

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly notes in his assessment of the review, "Every week, Supergirl seems intent on addressing its critics and naysayers. This scene here is it’s explanation for why Superman isn’t a stronger presence on the show. Supergirl, like Kara, is intent on proving that it can stand on its own and doesn’t need Superman to make people interested in it."

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 7.2, saying, Supergirl’s third episode leaves the Kryptonian villains behind and instead focuses on Supergirl’s desire to prove herself. It’s a good episode that takes a few too many missteps with James and gives a lot of screen time to an unlikable Maxwell Lord, but it also goes to great lengths to endear us to Winn – a character that’s been underserved thus far – and give Supergirl some real solid internal drama to wrestle with.

Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club gave the episode a positive review, giving it a B+. In her assessment of the episode: "To put it frankly, I don’t think Supergirl needed to address Superman as directly as it does tonight. The showrunners clearly think the Man Of Steel looms large over viewers’ expectations of the series, but I’m not actually sure that’s the case. Had the show simply mentioned Superman in the pilot and then moved on I don’t think viewers would have been particularly upset (outside of the usual “Why isn’t the hero from one city helping the hero in another?” complaints that get lodged against every connected universe). But Supergirl clearly wants to clear the air when it comes to Superman, and all things considered I think they do that fairly well. If the concept of bringing Superman into this universe is a little shaky, at least the execution mostly works. "

Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 out of 5 stars.