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This week’s Supergirl talks about immigrants’ aliens with a not so subtle dive into xenophobia.

• The President comes to visit

The President is coming to National City and Kara is fangirling hard, especially since the president wants Supergirl to meet her when Airforce One lands. (And especially because it is WONDER WOMAN! Hey Lynda Carter!) When the president arrives, she is attacked by an alien (whom Team Supergirl assumes is our missing Kryptonian), and Supergirl saves her.

The President, who is in National City to sign the Alien Amnesty Act, meets with Hank at the DEO who tells her it’s a bad idea. By allowing aliens to come out of the shadows, Hank thinks that she’s just inviting terrorists to come out and attack, both aliens and human. Hank also points out to Supergirl that people don’t have that much tolerance for difference. Though she and Hank can blend in smoothly, there are a lot of aliens who cannot. This conversation sheds a heavy light on the racism tied into xenophobia and the discussion of immigrants in the United States today.

Anyway, the President signs the bill, only to be attacked again. Supergirl, Alex and Alex’s new detective friend Maggie (more on that later) find the assailant and she reveals herself as an anti-human extremist.

• Mon-El is on the loose

The mysterious Kryptonian who was choking Kara last week, freaks out on everyone in the DEO and jumps out of a window without asking any questions. Kara tracks him down eventually and we find out he’s from Daxam a neighboring planet to Krypton whom the Kryptonians hate and have been to war with. Kara assumes that Mon-El is the one attacking the president, when he just wants to go home. Unfortunately for him, it is a desolate wasteland.

• It’s James 1st day as boss

James starts off his first day as the new Cat by holding a staff meeting in his office. He tries to keep everything the way it was (so that the turnover can run smoothly) but Snapper — who likes things the old, old newspaper way — interrupts him and, in the whitest male privilege thing I’ve ever seen, takes over the meeting.

James is peeved, and Kara and I are appalled. The most frustrating thing about Snapper is he’s right most of the time. I agree that the headline is the last part of a news story and that James should be making his own mark while he is leading, but Snapper’s execution is gross.

During their next meeting, James shuts Snapper down letting him know who the Captain is now, and tells him if he doesn’t like the way James does things he can go back to unemployment.

• Alex Meets a Girl

After the President is attacked by an alien Alex runs into Maggie a detective for the National City PD. The two butt heads in a way that makes you think that maybe… just maybe Alex plays for both teams. Is it just me or is Alex shippable with almost everyone? This possibility increases when Maggie offers to help Alex with her alien search and shows Alex her intel spot, a dive bar that is alien friendly. When President Wonder Woman is attacked again, Maggie tries to take down the alien but is kidnapped. Kara and Alex go to find her and after she is saved Maggie and Alex have a moment, and the live-tweeters start searching for ship names (I’m gonna go with Malex).

• Kara learns to write

Snapper assigns Kara to write a Lena Luthor piece in lieu of the President’s Alien Amnesty Act, seeing as Lex was very open on his anti-alien stance. Kara interviews Lena and finds out, much to her horror, that L Corp is creating an alien detection device, essentially outing aliens regardless of if they look human or not (not too distant from the metahuman trackers in The Flash).

Disgusted, Kara writes a piece about how Lena is restricting freedoms, but Snapper rejects it, telling her there’s too much bias — and he’s right. It’s not an opinion piece, it’s a news article. When she learns that Mon-El is from Daxam, her bias changes her tone, and she can report the facts.

This episode looks at a lot of important topics in terms of immigration, race, government involvement, and general civil liberties which is great, but was sometimes too on the nose, which I could’ve done without. A lot of the themes in this episode reminded me of Captain America Civil War, especially Lena’s determination to ID aliens.   

Side Notes

• Kara’s overall fangirling over President Wonder Woman is adorable.
• Supergirl’s Wonder Woman spin was priceless!
• As was the epic line, “If you like Air Force One, you should see my other jet.” !! Lynda Carter has a great wink.
• I’m all for #teamMalex, but can we trust Maggie?
• Will M’gann be a part of Team Supergirl?
• Is the Alien Amnesty Act a good idea?
• Are the L Corp detection devices ethical?

Stephanie Francis is an aspiring journalist with a TV addiction. She has been published in a multitude of small papers including the Gloucester Times, the Salem News and the Boston Globe. You can find a collect of her published work at adventuringsomewhere.wordpress.com. And her live tweets @stephsfrancis.

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