Supergirl Episode 6 Recap And Review: Red Faced

This week fans of Supergirl got a real treat. The series, which has been all over the place in terms of what kind of show it wants to be, finally got “super” with “Red Faced.” I watch a lot of super hero television, and one of my biggest complaints has always been that the writers venture too far from the comics when there’s no need.

The ongoing theme of this episode is anger and how to deal with it, and they almost go too far. This episode has to show how Kara can handle her anger and all the factors that affect it, so they really pile it on. Straight from the start, her ability to be a hero is brought into question, and of course that is spearheaded by Maxwell Lord. They even spin her saving a group of school children into a bad thing.

We also get a good handle on why Kara’s boss Cat Grant is so mean and nasty. It’s because her mom is worse. The acting by the woman playing Cat’s mom is horrific, but you get the point. Grant is mean to others because of how her mom treats her. This comes to a head when she starts in on Kara, though Kara has a “girl power” moment and let’s her boss have it.

We also get a big taste of another massive jerk in Lucy Lane’s dad, the nefarious General Sam Lane. He comes to the DEO and asks if Supergirl can help them test a new weapon. The weapon turns out to be Red Tornado. I was excited to see him on screen, but it was short lived. Not because the design is bad or that the fight scenes are bad. In fact, I liked both very much. But it doesn’t appear that the writers have any long term plans to keep him around.

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Anyway, back to the story. Supergirl gives Red Tornado a proper beatdown, including tearing his arm off, and he goes into stealth mode and escapes. The general naturally blames Supergirl for this, sending her into an even greater rage. General Lane and Cat’s mom are awful in both acting and character, but they serve to help build Kara’s rage.

Red Tornado shows back up as General Lane, Lucy and James are leaving dinner, and Supergirl intervenes. After Red Tornado releases a tornado on the city, Supergirl flies in and stops it while the big red menace makes a run for it. The General then criticizes her for how she handles the situation, just adding to her bubbling anger.

We then get a scene where Kara and James Olsen vent their frustration by hitting the heavy bag — and for Kara, that means a car hanging upside down on a chain. Olsen is venting because Lucy’s dad is a jerk and thinks he isn’t good enough for her. Keep in mind, earlier in the episode we see Lucy exhibiting some pretty awful behavior herself in regards to Supergirl.

Meanwhile, we have two separate stories going involving Kara’s sister Alex. First, she has asked Winn to hack the DEO mainframe to get information on her father’s death. At the same time, Alex seeks out Lord, who is clearly infatuated with her, and asks him to help track Red Tornado. He initially declines before inviting her to dinner to offer more information.

The gang puts it together that Red Tornado isn’t moving randomly and is instead still under control of its creator, Morrow. He’s now hunting General Lane to pay him back for scrapping his project after Supergirl beat it the first time. We also discover at this point that this new weapon was built to hunt super-powered humans like Supergirl.

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The team figures out a way to draw Red Tornado out in hopes of tracking Morrow and stopping him. The fight between Supergirl and Red Tornado at the end of the episode is great, except for the fact that she completely obliterated him with her heat vision. This squashed any hopes of seeing him as a recurring character and possibly becoming a hero.

The episode wraps with Supergirl feeling more empowered and at ease after helping get in touch with her anger. This is short-lived, however, as Winn reports to her and Alex that the last person who said their dad alive was their DEO boss, Hank Henshaw. They went on a mission together, their plane crashed, and both were lost — until a month later when Henshaw showed up unharmed but supposedly with no memory of what happened. Cyborg Superman coming soon.

The final shot we get is Kara in Cat’s office, and after a brief exchange, she drops a glass. Upon picking up the pieces, she cuts her finger: and she bleeds! What will we see next week with a more human Supergirl?

Next: Supergirl Episode 5 Recap: How Does She Do It?

All in all, this was my favorite episode of the season. It felt like a super hero show, looked like one and acted like one. This came on the heels of the news that despite mediocre ratings, the show has been picked up for a full first season. Let’s hope they build on the momentum of this week’s episode and keep things super!