How Does Lena Deal With the Truth About Kara on ‘Supergirl’? (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season 5 premiere of Supergirl, “Event Horizon.”]
Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Lena (Katie McGrath) will always be best friends, right? A little thing like Kara having trouble confessing she’s Supergirl won’t come between them, will it?
When the new season of Supergirl begins, Kara’s still struggling to find the right moment to tell Lena the truth. The fact that her friend is introducing her at the party for her Pulitzer win just makes it worse.
Kara also has a major problem to deal with as Supergirl: Midnight. This threat, however, isn’t on Earth for her, as another hero’s past returns. (Kara, does, however, need a new suit after a run-in with a shapeshifter in the form of a dinosaur.)
But hey, at least Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) are adorable together, sharing the same favorite movie villain and able to connect without saying a word (and without Obsidian North’s augmented reality contact lenses).
Confession Is Good for the Soul
Lena watches as Supergirl stops a speeding bus from hitting a group of kids. After, she confronts her about knowing her secret and punches her into the bus, causing an explosion. Hope, Lena’s AI, ends the virtual reality simulation and offers to help her achieve these results in the real world. Lena built her because she trusts in technology, not people, who are governed by emotions.
But Lena doesn’t want to kill Supergirl. “I just want her to experience the same hurt she inflicted on me, and soon enough she will,” she says.
(Dean Buscher/The CW)
But is Lena going to make that happen sooner rather than later? Kara discovers that Obsidian North now owns CatCo — not from her friend but her new boss, Andrea Rojas (Julie Gonzalo). Lena tells her she meant to tell her that day, but Andrea showed up early. She bought CatCo because she knew how much it meant to Kara, but she needs money for a new venture. Kara understands, and after Lena goes on about how virtuous she is, she’s about to tell her the truth, only for Supergirl business to interrupt.
Kara finally blurts out the truth just before Lena is about to introduce her at the party. “I should’ve told you so long ago, I know that, but I just kept making excuses because you’ve been hurt so many times and I convinced myself I was protecting you,” she explains. “Then one day, you were so angry with me, with Supergirl, but you still loved Kara, and I just kept thinking, if I could be Kara, just Kara, that I could keep you as a friend. I was selfish and scared and I didn’t want to lose you, so I kept pretending. And I never stopped. And every time I kept my secret from you, I wasn’t protecting you, I was hurting you, just like everyone else, and I am so, so sorry.”
Though Lena doesn’t respond, she does tell those in attendance that Kara is “someone who always reminded me that truth is the better way” and Kara herself that she’ll “always” be her best friend. She also neglects to send Andrea a big story she’d promised her, one that would have exposed Kara’s secret to the world. And she’s the first one to see Kara’s new suit in action as it materializes once she whips off her glasses, thanks to a microscopic motion activator from Brainy (Jesse Rath). “Pants!” Kara exclaims happily.
But after the day has been saved, Lena reveals to Hope that she “could never forgive” Kara for betraying her and breaking her heart. Luthors are “scorpions,” she explains. “When someone betrays us, we sting. But I have a calling Hope, and it’s to fix mankind.” She can now use Supergirl to achieve her ends, which is easier to do if she believes there’s trust. And she runs the virtual reality simulation again.
Blast From the Past
When a dinosaur seemingly attacks a museum, Kara and J’onn (David Harewood) try to stop it. However, he’s brought to his knees by psychic paralysis, and the dinosaur escapes in a Kryptonian pod — and the anti-matter inside could be used to make a bomb.
(Dean Buscher/The CW)
A young girl opens a portal and through it comes Midnight. But when the DEO picks up the massive energy signature and they find a homemade phantom zone projector, they realize it’s a trap. Midnight comes through, and J’onn recognizes her. He’s the one who locked her up. Though he tries to stop her, she’s able to get away.
One day, Midnight just showed up on Mars to fight alongside the White Martians. She’s fueled by death, and J’onn can’t remember how he defeated her. Though they all plan to take the night off to celebrate Kara, Midnight shows up at the event and begins to create a black hole above them. J’onn cuffs her, but she throws him into the void, and Kara goes in after him to save him and shut it down. The young girl watches her success.
And that young girl is waiting when J’onn returns to his office before shifting forms. He wants J’onn, his brother (!), to be punished for his crimes, and he’ll make sure he gets what he deserves. “I have no brother,” J’onn protests.
A New Age in Journalism
With Andrea now editor-in-chief, she plans to make a few changes to the way they write their stories (meaning it’s unlikely anyone else will also get a Pulitzer). They’re going to create a world class news organization that drives consumer cross-platform engagement, i.e. clicks and revenue. Everything is about clicks, she insists, and anyone is free to walk, but they’re all under a brand new contract with non-compete clauses. If they leave, they won’t be working as journalists.
Kara is offended when Andrea tells her renowned journalist William Dey (Staz Nair) will be rewriting her article to shorten it — by cutting out facts and not disclosing every side, inherently putting bias into the piece. And if Kara has any problems, William can always rewrite her and get a shared byline.
“You can’t just take over a storied news out and turn it into a pandering clickbait tabloid,” Kara protests, but Andrea says she can.
(Dean Buscher/The CW)
James (Mehcad Brooks), for one, knows he can’t play Andrea’s game, and Kelly reminds him that he started helping people before their father put a camera in his hand. He needs to take a step back and ask what James Olsen wants. After he does, he quits.
And the Greatest Movie Villain Is …
According to Brainy, it’s The Devil Wears Prada‘s Miranda Priestly. As he explains to Nia (Nicole Maines), he’s been keeping his distance from her — despite the fact they’ve been together for almost a month — because like Miranda, who’s cold, uncaring and betrays those she cares about the most, he hurt her at Lex’s camp. Even though he loves her, he hurt her. But she knows he’s a good person and tells him to kiss her. He does.
All About Eve
As for Eve (Andrea Brooks), she’s leaving work as a waitress when someone puts a bag over her head and drags her away.
Will Lena ever forgive Kara?
Supergirl, Sundays, 9/8c, The CW
