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| Some comic book humor from Instagram Search Meme |
In a brilliant casting turn, last year’s Supergirl pilot brought in former TV Superman Dean Cain playing Kara’s earth father,
Dr. Jeremiah Danvers. Of all the parents that face their grown children in this show, Dr. Danvers is by far the one with
the most baggage (see comparison below). In a convenient plot twist, Dr.
Danvers appeared in a few flashbacks because he died in an “accident.” Later in
the first season, Kara (alias Supergirl, played by (Melissa Benoist) and her adoptive
sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) discovered their dad was still alive, held captive
for over 13 years by a top-secret organization called Cadmius. I had to look it up, but Cadimus is a top-secret genetic engineering project, for those of us not up on our comic book lore. The women also learned that their
dad was part of the same alien protection agency (DEO for short) that the
sisters joined to protect earth from bad aliens. Kara, recently kidnapped by
Cadimus to drain her powers, was freed from the compound by dead old dad. It was only a matter of
time before we saw him again. This week, Jeremiah escapes the organization's convoy and
comes home.
The gentleman working at the DEO ( Mon-El and Kara's friend Winn) both are overly suspicious that Dr. Danvers is a spy. The sisters refuse to believe their dad would betray them, even though he was held captive and possibly brainwashed for almost 15 years. For those of us that loosely understand the Superman folklore, Cadimus is evil. The group wants to rid earth of aliens and it's run by the mother of all baddies, (literally) Lillian Luthor. The big action is that Cadimus was supposed to be transporting a chemical bomb when Dr. Danvers escaped. The bomb used Kara's power from her captivity and it will blow up the whole city if the DEO can't stop it. Of course, Dr. Danvers was corrupted by Cadimus and is stealing information from the DEO to help Cadimus. Most importantly, he accesses the master list of all aliens on earth. I'm sure the same list could be put together just walking into the local alien bar (which reminds me of Angel's demon karaoke bar Caritas). In the last minutes of the show, Kara stops a train from crashing, after the bomb blew up the train track over a ravine. (Back to the Future much?) Alex confronts her father for stealing from the DEO, but lets him escape because she cannot deal with bringing him in for punishment. It's heartbreaking, it's real, and it's not over yet. Tonight we should get more closure on the issue, but I cannot see how Dr. Danvers will ever be a good guy again. Here is how Dr. Danvers fares against other parents on the show:
Kara’s real alien parents:
Kara Zor-El’s mom and dad were wise rulers back on the
planet of Krypton. Kara held them in high regard and would reach out to their
holograms in season 1 when she found trouble on earth . Being sent away from
her home as a pre-teen, Kara had issues opening up to people. She finally
had the opportunity to get together with her pal James (Jimmy) Olsen (Mechad Brooks) toward the
end of last season, but she abruptly changed her mind and walked away. I’m
going to chalk this departure up to psychological trauma and abandonment
issues. Despite her lovely earth family
and the resilient Mrs. Doctor Danvers, Kara formed a close parental attachment
to her boss, Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). Ms. Grant called Kara by the wrong
name, sent her on stupid assignments and chastised her for disappearing in the middle of the day. Secretly, I think she knew Kara was always a bit distracted because she was out
saving the city. Ms. Grant took an abrupt sabbatical from her company at the
beginning of this season, ruining everything. She promoted Kara from assistant to reporter and Supergirl has been super lost all season.
In other disturbing family news, Kara’s alien prison escapee
Aunt Astra (Laura Berlanti) came to earth last season to bring eco-terrorism! Through many
fights, Kara’s feeling about her parents got taken down a peg. Were they as
perfect and just as they claimed to be back home? It also didn’t help
that Astra was Kara’s mom’s identical twin. It gave me enough of the heebie jeebies, I imagine it was a head trip for Supergirl as well. In last season’s battle royale, Alex killed
Astra, leaving her adopted sister with no other blood relatives. This messed with Kara’s head to
the point that being trapped in delusion of being on her home planet sounded
better than reality. Astra’s creepy
husband came earlier this season for revenge, and the group had to take him
down as well. This left me with big questions:
What is the Zor-El side
of the family tree like?
Will we ever see Supeman’s alien parents? Are they nice?
Is Kara's dad named Zor-El Zor-El?
General Lane is not a nice man, much like the real Hank Henshaw. He is an army general with a heart of steel. He made life for Supergirl very difficult, vehemently opposing aliens and refusing to accept her help in taking down some very bad creatures. We are left with the impression that he barely speaks to eldest daughter (and Superman's gal) Lois. His younger daughter Lucy (Jenna Dewan Tatum) joined the family practice, becoming a lawyer for the army. He forced Supergirl to fight an army-created android, and took over the DEO, torturing alien prisoners. When Lucy learned Kara was Supergirl, she wanted her dad to lighten up, but he could not change his thinking about aliens. These daddy issues made things between Lucy and James rough at a time when we were all rooting for them to break up and James to declare his love to Kara. By the time it happened, Kara's issues got in the way and Lucy left the gang.
Winslow Schott Sr., Winn's Dad
Winn's dad is a literal mad scientist. The brilliant Henry Czerny (Revenge) played the jailbird with ease. Also known as Toyman, Winn Sr. weaponized toys to make them do evil things. He tried to get Winn to help him, but he turned him down and helped capture him.
Cat Grant, Adam's Mom
Cat revealed to Kara that she is the mother of two sons. Kara gets stuck babysitting the precocious tween Carter while Cat goes out of town, but she later learns Cat has another son. Cat gave up Adam for adoption when she was about 20 and she has always felt bad about never reaching out to her son and building a relationship with him. Kara tracks down Adam and reunites the pair, and the begins dating Adam. It all ends badly, the pair break up and Cat goes back to being tough on Kara.
Lillian Luthor, Lena and Lex's Mom
Two episodes ago, we got a deep dive into the backstory of the Luthor family. Off-screen Lex Luthor (a known nemesis of Superman) is criminally insane and rotting in jail. His younger sister Lena (new to the cast this season) and has taken over the family business Lexcorp to try to rebuild and re-brand. It was revealed that Lena was an illegitimate child, taken in and raised as a proper Luthor. Lillian (Brenda Strong) was against the idea, and she always cared more for her biological son than her adopted daughter. Lena was offered her mother's love once this season, but turned it down and helped put her in jail for her sketchy criminal activities. Remember, this woman is the head of Cadimus. Lena was recently framed for breaking her mother out of jail, but Supergirl helped prove her innocence because the two have developed a sweet friendship. Kara and Lena also have a lovely reporter/subject relationship that has developed, which may take the place of Lena's crappy family.
The Henshaw/Danvers connection:
* Dr. Danvers and the real Hank Henshaw were members of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. The pair went out to retrieve a martin as part of their DEO assignment. Henshaw, a cruel human that hated all aliens, died on the mission. The martian (J'onn J'onzz) assumed Henshaw's physical form, bringing about a friendlier DEO. From then on, the DEO set out not only to capture aliens, but to assist good aliens like Kara and her cousin Clark.
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