Supergirl season 1, episode 5, “Livewire,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
“Livewire” was a Thanksgiving-theme episode that explored various types of families, from blood to foster to found.
Cat Grant vs. Livewire
One family the episode focuses on is Cat Grant and her employees, starting with her relationship with Leslie Willis, a shock jock she plucked from obscurity and mentored. When Leslie starts targeting Supergirl on her show, Cat demotes her to traffic coverage. When she goes up during a thunderstorm, the helicopter is damaged. However, Supergirl saves the pilot and is in the process of saving Leslie when she is struck by lightning.
The lightning current going through Kara’s Kryptonian body gives Leslie electricity powers. After coming out of a coma, Leslie dubs herself Livewire and targets Cat Grant. Eventually, though, Supergirl takes her down, and Livewire is taken to the DEO as a prisoner.
It’s clear there is a lot of emotion invested in the relationship between Cat and Leslie. Cat admits that she pushes those she cares about as a response to her relationship with her mother, who did the same, and perhaps she pushed Leslie too hard — leading to the electrified (pun intended) standoff.
This relationship runs parallel to that of Cat and Kara, as Kara reveals a version of her backstory to Cat. Hearing that Kara’s parents died and she has a foster mother makes Cat realize she doesn’t know much about her assistant and decides that needs to change. This shows definite promise for the future relationship between the two women.
Danvers family drama
Running parallel to the work family drama is Mama Danvers’ arrival for Thanksgiving. Alex is worried that Eliza will be mad at her for letting Kara become Supergirl while Kara doesn’t think there is anything to worry about. However, it turns out Eliza is upset. This leads to a blowup over Thanksgiving dinner between mother and daughter where Alex comes clean about her real job. Eventually, mother and daughter reconcile, though “Take Me to Church” was definitely an odd choice as a background song for that scene.
Before returning home, Eliza makes sure to tell Alex how proud of her she is and to give Kara some constructive criticism — both signs of progress in their respective relationships.
The dynamic among these women, though it involves the adoption of an alien teenage girl, is actually quite human. Alex feels like her mother has put too much on her shoulders while Kara gets off scot-free, a struggle many siblings face. What’s nice to see, though, is that Alex doesn’t take any negative feelings out on Kara. Their relationship remains strong as ever.
The fate of Jeremiah Danvers
Once the air has been cleared among the Danvers women, Mama Danvers reveals to her girls that Papa Danvers went to work for Hank Henshaw and the DEO shortly after Kara came to Earth in order to protect her. He later died, supposedly in a plane crash, but Mama Danvers doesn’t think that’s the truth. This is a major reason Eliza reacted so poorly to hearing about Alex’s real job.
Considering Jeremiah had extensive research on Superman that he gave the DEO access to, we have to wonder if Henshaw’s Cyborg Superman-ness is somehow related. Perhaps to Papa Danvers’ death as well.
Perhaps the saddest part of this all, though, is that Dean Cain will only be appearing in flashbacks.
Also worth noting
- After telling Kara he has no one to spend Thanksgiving with, Winn revealed that his father is in prison. Based on the comic books, his father is Toyman.
- Winn gave Kara a kiss on the cheek that she didn’t know what to do with.
- James and Lucy spent Thanksgiving out of town, but he still took the time to call Kara on the holiday.
- Alex and Kara are determined to find out the truth behind Jeremiah’s death.