Supergirl 2×18 Ace Reporter-Recap & Review

Warning: The following recap contains major spoilers for Supergirl episode 18, Ace Reporter.

Recap:

The episode begins with Lena inviting Kara to a press conference hosted by her ex-boyfriend, Jack Spheer, the CEO of Spheerical Industries, who is unveiling new technology.

When they arrive at the press conference, Kara sees Snapper and sarcastically exchange quips. Jack Spheer takes the stage where he unveils the Biomax Nanobot Program which has the ability to heal wounds and cure illness. Lena is happy to hear that Jack finished the project they had begun working on together before she moved to National City. Jack then asks Lena to dinner, while Kara is approached by another member of the media, who has information regarding Jack.

Guardian is then seen fighting a criminal. Upon defeating said criminal, he walks to the van only to find Winn and Lyra kissing. James expresses his distrust in Lyra, but Winn convinces him that she is trying to be a better person.

Kara is seen meeting the whistle blower in his car, where he reveals himself to be Joe Watkins, a lab technician that was fired from Spheerical Industries. He reveals that human trial records were never archived in Spheerical’s system.

This leads him to believe that the human trials were faked, and that the nanobots were dangerous. Shortly after, nanobots invade the car causing it to explode. Kara is left speechless a she witnesses the car in flames.

The next morning, Kara walks into James’ office asking him to report Watkins’ information to the FDA. James agrees, until Snapper walks in and further insults Kara, causer her to withdraw her favor. After she leaves the room, the two discuss a lead regarding the human trials. Kara uses her powers to listen to this from outside the room.

We then see Jack walk into Lena Luthor’s office, asking why she won’t have dinner with him. After a charming exchange of words, Lena agrees to dinner.

The show cuts to Guardian and Lyra fighting a criminal, but Lyra loses control, so James tells the criminal to leave.

Snapper then interviews his lead, who explains that there were no human trials until nanobots swarm the apartment. Supergirl flies in too late, as Snapper’s lead is eliminated by the nanobots. She is only able to save Snapper and herself.

Kara returns to her apartment where Mon-El awaits her. She expresses her distress of losing her leads and allowing two people to die. Mon-El tells her to ask Lena for help, who called while Kara was away, hoping she’d talk her out of dinner.

Kara brings Mon-El to the restaurant Lena and Jack are having dinner in, and begins asking Jack about the human trials. Lena then asks how he figured out the rest of the solution.

He tells Lena he was able to find the solution after thinking of her. Lena and Jack dismiss Kara and Mon-El, but as they say their goodbyes, Mon-El steals Jack’s office badge. Lena and Jack are seen back at her office where they console each other for their past.

Kara and Mon-El sneak into Spheerical Industries where they use Jack’s pass to gain access to his office. They find a video of Jack testing the nanobots on himself, and when they begin copying the video from the computer, Jack tells Lena he must leave, and appears in his office in the form of nanobots, just missing Kara and Mon-El.

Kara visits Lena at her office and tells her that Jack is covering the dangers of the Biomax Program. Lena doesn’t believe her, but Kara shows her the video. Lena asks to talk to him before Kara releases the video, but Kara makes her promise she won’t go talk to him in order to keep her safe.

Winn meets Lyra at the bar, and explains that he and James no longer want her in the field with them. She loses her temper because she’s insulted that Quinn and James think of her as crazy, and storms away.

Kara brings Snapper her information on Spheerical and tells him that she is only concerned with telling the truth. She apologizes for posting the CADMUS article on her blog. Snapper shares that Spheerical’s Chief Financial Officer, Beth, may be assisting in the cover up because she’s relying on the program to bring her a large amount of money.

Lena confronts Jack about the Biomax Program. He explains that he has no idea what she is referring to. It is then revealed that he is telling the truth, and is being controlled by Beth.

She reveals that she did this to Jack in order to control him and the company. She threatens to put the nanobots inside Lena in order to merge Spheerical and Lex Corp., but Supergirl saves Lena, who destroys Beth’s ear piece which controls the nanobots inside Jack.

This sends the nanobots out of control. Lena attempts to override them, but she finds that if she does, Jack will die. Lena is forced to choose whether or not she should kill Jack to save Supergirl. Jack tells Lena to do it, so she does. The nanobots deactivate, however because they were bonded to Jack’s body, he dies.

Kara visits Lena and tells her that Beth is in jail. She consoles Lena who feels cold and angry. Kara promises that she’ll always be there for her.

James tells Winn that he is sorry for everything that happened between the three of them, revealing he wants Lyra back on the team.

Kara brings Snapper a danish, and he shows her their magazine in which he accredited her for helping with their investigation of Spheerical Industries. He then tells Kara that she is back on the team because of her reporting skill.

At the end of the episode, Lena is visited at her office by Rhea, who has a proposition.

Review:

This episode was a good way to return from hiatus. It focused on Kara’s journalism and Lena’s personal life, which both proved interesting and developmental to both characters. Audiences were treated to multiple scenes with quips between Kara and Snapper, while also having a clear, coherent story that was not over-complicated or underdone by any means. The only things detrimental to this episode was the subplot involving Winn, James, and Lyra. This subplot was overly simple, which brings to question whether or not it was necessary to the episode. Regardless, this episode was great in developing our characters further while also leaving a surprise for viewers at the end.

Supergirl airs Monday nights on The CW, at 8|7 Central.

Raymond Vinuya