Supergirl season 1, episode 13, “For the Girl Who Has Everything,” took on a classic Superman story.
In this episode, Kara is attacked by a parasitic plant known as the Black Mercy. She falls into a coma and Audrey II feeds her hallucinations of an ideal life back on Krypton with her parents, Astra and a young Kal-El. Unlike Clark in the comic book story “For the Man Who Has Everything,” however, Kara realizes immediately that the dream isn’t real. But her memories of Earth start fading and she falls into the ideal life she always imagined.
This story is well-suited for Supergirl, as Kara has memories of Krypton and her family before she was sent away from the planet in her cousin’s wake. Not only does Kara have memories to draw on to build her perfect family life, but she also incorporates Kal-El into the fantasy. She gets the chance to protect him in this dream, which was something she wasn’t able to do because her pod was knocked off course. Kal-El grew up without her protection, which is guilt Kara has held onto. Her fantasy gives her the opportunity to erase that guilt. It’s powerful.
While Kara is blissfully happy in her coma, however, her loved ones must figure out how to rescue her from the Black Mercy’s clutches. Surprisingly, help comes from Astra, who was displeased to learn that Non had been behind the attack. She visits Alex — and learns that Alex is Kara’s adoptive sister — and tells her what is happening and how to stop it. Astra, despite her mission, still loves her niece and does not want to see her hurt.
James and Winn are also brought into the DEO to be at Kara’s side when she wakes up, though Winn also ends up helping the team figure out what Non’s Kryptonians are up to while Kara is out of commission. (More James and Winn working with the DEO, please! It’s fun to see Kara’s worlds colliding.) With the aid of the captive Maxwell Lord, Alex is able to enter Kara’s dream. Kara attacks her, but Alex continues to fight for her sister and in a heart-wrenching scene with Krypton exploding around them, Kara tearfully rejects the fantasy and wakes up.
This is one of the best scenes Supergirl has done. Kara must knowingly and purposefully give up the life she’d fantasized about returning to for years. While she has a loving environment to return to in the real world, it’s not the perfect fantasy — which is what makes Alex’s tearful plea about not promising a life without pain so powerful. And Kara’s fury when she wakes up back in the real world is overwhelming as she beats on Non for doing this to her.
However, Kara’s pain is only set to intensify as Alex stabs Astra through the chest with a Kryptonite blade. Alex calls Kara to the scene so she can be there in Astra’s final moments. This is a startling development, as Astra seemed prime to be the season-long Big Bad. However, it’s also worth noting that this episode would have been Supergirl‘s finale had CBS not picked it up for a full season, so Astra’s death would have wrapped up a significant storyline with some degree of closure.
With Astra dead, Hank takes the blame so Kara wouldn’t look at Alex with any sense of pain. Unaware of this, Kara is reunited with her loved ones, who are there for her, while Non plots revenge for the death of his wife. Is this the last we will see of Astra? It seems a bit hard to believe now that the show has a full season order. Either way, Non’s revenge is sure to be violent.