Truth, Justice and the American Way (Supergirl)

"Truth, Justice and the American Way (Supergirl)"

"Truth, Justice and the American Way" is the fourteenth episode in the first season of the CBS television series Supergirl, which aired on February 22, 2016. The episode's teleplay was written by Yahlin Chang and Caitlin Parrish, from a story by Michael Grassi, and directed by Lexi Alexander. The episode is named for the catch-phrase that is used as the motto for Superman in comic books and related television and film series.

Plot

As Kara and Alex talk about what has transpired with Kara's work and Astra's death, Non shows up and asks Kara to pay her final respects to her aunt, whose body now lies floating in a pod. With members of Astra and Non's army looking on in mourning, Kara says a Kryptonian prayer before Astra's body is sent into space, and Non gives her niece a warning that the next funeral will be hers. Kara later relays this to Alex and Hank back at the DEO as she warns of Non vowing to return within two weeks. Kara, who is already upset with J'onn over killing Astra (as J'onn refuses to let Alex tell Kara the truth because she doesn't want Alex to lose Kara as her sister), goes to see Maxwell, who wants to be let out. Kara brusquely refuses.

At CatCo, Winn informs Kara that Cat just hired a new assistant and discovers her nameplate, Siobhan Smythe, on her desk. Cat then introduces Siobhan as her "number one," making "number two" Kara feeling worthless due to having dumped Adam and missing a week of work as the reason behind Cat's new hire. Cat also wants information on Maxwell's disappearance and assigns James and Lucy to investigate. James informs Kara about this by reminding her that he can't be held because of due process, but Kara sites Bizarro as one of the reasons the DEO won't release him, although James informs Kara that Supergirl's ethics might be compromised. Meanwhile, an escaped Fort Rozz prisoner is about to be taken in by the DEO agents as they corner the fugitive in a warehouse, but they discover that someone has already chained the alien and are ambushed by someone wearing armor. After he flies off the armored attacker, revealed to be the Master Jailer, becomes judge, jury, and executioner by releasing a guillotine blade and killing the alien. When Alex and J'onn tries to find out about their latest threat Kara comes in and demands to be included in the investigation as J'onn suggests they check with local law enforcement to see if any of their missing persons cases matches with missing Fort Rozz prisoners. Their hunch later checks out at the National City Police Department, where thanks to Detective Draper they discover that the Master Jailer has been involved in executing bodies and disposing them in the river. Unaware to Alex and Hank, it appears that Draper's partner, Detective Warren, seems to be suspicious.

Over at CatCo, Siobhan wastes no time at all to call out Kara over what she believes is flirting with James, causing Kara to almost snap when Alex calls her and asks her to come to the DEO and Kara leaves, prompting Siobhan to continue slamming Kara for slacking on the job. Meanwhile, Lucy shows pictures she just took to James. Lucy believes that that Maxwell is being held by a secret government organization that tracks aliens, which prompts James, who notices Siobhan (who was nearby and eavesdrops) to close the door and he accidentally slips out the truth about the DEO, leading Lucy to become jealous about his relationship with Supergirl. At the DEO, they learn that the prisoners are identified by their number, which is how the Master Jailer seeks out and kills them. They get a break when the Jailer shows up to make another kill, this time going after a professor, and Kara arrives to stop him, but the fight leaves the Jailer victorious as he takes his prisoner and leaves Kara chained temporarily.

Back at the CatCo balcony, Cat asks James about Maxwell, citing her experience as a journalist, saying that journalists tell the truth, not because they want to be good journalists, but because they want to be good people. James later heads to the DEO to talk some sense into Kara by making Maxwell prove her wrong. Kara turns around and asks James if Lucy knew about the DEO, only to learn from James that it was Siobhan who found out and tells her to be careful. Alex then interrupts them and informs Kara that the Master Jailer was Detective Warren. As they arrive to confront Warren, Draper shoots Warren down and reveals that he is the Master Jailer. When Alex comes to, she discovers that Kara was taken by the Master Jailer and is now his prisoner as she is placed in cell that stripped her of her powers by using a light that mimics the red sun. She makes contact with the professor, who was convicted of drug dealing but explained it was to support his sick wife and wanted to change his life. As the Jailer prepares to execute him, he informs Kara that she was next. Alex later discovers that the Jailer was a Fort Rozz prison guard until the ship's crash landing, and pinpointed his location to a cabin. Although they arrive to see it empty, Alex discovers that the cabin is actually a cover for his ship, and as the Jailer prepares to execute the prisoner, Alex arrives from the ceiling to rescue Kara, leading to a fight between Alex and the Jailer while Alex shoots her gun at the ceiling to let sunlight in so Kara can reclaim her powers just in time to finish the Jailer off for good. As they return the professor back to the college, Kara and Alex decide to let Maxwell go. However, Alex warns Maxwell that if he reveals anything about Supergirl or the DEO, the DEO will send the police enough information to send him to prison.

The following morning at CatCo, Kara turns the tables on Siobhan by snapping back at her. When Siobhan tells Kara that her real goal was be the next Cat Grant, Kara tells her that it'll be up to Cat to see who stays. She also thanked James for being ethical about Maxwell, but James tells Kara that he might have to tell Lucy sooner or later about her being Supergirl because he wants to fix the wrongs he had with Lucy. When Kara returned to the DEO to speak to her AI image of her mother, she asked about Myriad, only to see the AI starting to act strange and threatening self destruct when J'onn shuts down the device. Kara is not happy with J'onn for doing as she still haven't forgave him, and tells him that she no longer wants to work with him.

Reception

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode an 8.8/10: "“Truth, Justice, and the American Way” is a thematically confident episode that tackles one of the major themes of the Superman mythos – one not so subtly displayed in its title. It’s deftly written (Cold War line aside) and makes sure that all of the elements tie together to result in the most important lesson Kara has ever learned. While Lexi Alexander’s direction is ambitious, the budgetary restraints are a burden. Still, despite a few shortcomings here and there, this episode is Supergirl at its best."

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly noted: "“Truth, Justice and the American Way” spends most of its running time asking what Supergirl is supposed to stand for, which leads to one of my favorite scenes on the show to date. While the villain of the week isn’t that compelling, the questions and issues his presence raises make up for that."

Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5 stars.