Supergirl - 'Truth, Justice and the American Way'

Punch, kick, it's all in the mind.

Kara is going through a lot just at the moment. The burgeoning quasi-familial relationship between the Danvers sisters and J'onn J'onzz is threatened by Hank's assumption of the blame for the death of Astra; Cat has hired a second assistant, Siobhan Smythe (dubbed 'Assistant Number 1' just for spite's sake) in the wake of the Martian temp farrago; and Maxwell Lord continues to be an inconvenient blip in the moral landscape.

In the midst of this, Non asks Kara to officiate at Astra's funeral, before telling her that once the (two week) mourning period is over, the next coffin will be hers. She snaps at Hank for questioning whether Non would honour that tradition, and tells Lord he'll never see the light of day. Even as Supergirl gets bitchier, however, Kara is pushed back into her shell by the appearance of Assistant Number 1, and even as James confronts her over the illegal holding of Max Lord and Cat launches an investigation into the disappearance of same, another killer alien comes on the scene.

What the hell is going on with that outfit. I guess it's supposed to 'pop'
compared to Kara's secretly sexy librarian look, but it looks like an Atari
loading screen or something.

The Master Jailer is a power-armoured vigilante, seemingly dedicated to tracking down, capturing and executing the Fort Raz prisoners, regardless of their offence. He has enough tricks up his sleeve to give Supergirl a run for her money, and manages to capture her while she is trying to protect an inoffensive ex-con who smuggled drugs to pay his wife's medical bills and got eight in the chokey from Kara's mum.

The Master Jailer is eventually brought down, but the encounter causes Kara to reassess her stance on Maxwell Lord. She has the DEO release him, and also takes something of a leave of absence until she can work out whether she can continue to work with J'onn/Hank. Meanwhile, Alex struggles over whether to tell Kara, periodically beginning to and being interrupted. Ah, Supergirl; you're going to fit right in with the DCTVU.

There is an interesting juxtaposition within the more supporting characters this week. While Kara struggles with 'Truth, Justice and the American Way', James is faced with his own ethical conundrum: Protect Kara, or follow the story he has been assigned and find out what happened to Lord. Cat once more shows her hidden depths as she offers a tidbit from her own experience, but her hard-won wisdom contrasts with the ruthless go-getting of Siobhan, whose implacable determination to be the next Cat Grant kind of shows the reasons why she never will be.