'Supergirl' recap: 'Homecoming'

This week’s episode of Supergirl marks the return of Kara and Alex’s dad, and his suspicious behavior threatens the bond between the sisters.

Last week’s Valentine’s Day episode ended with Maggie and Alex making up, Winn and Lyra officially dating, Kara and Mon-El getting together. This week opens with Mon-El waking up alone in Kara’s bed, clothes strewn across the floor. The news is on in the living room, proclaiming Supergirl is having a good day helping the citizens of the city. Kara flies into her home as Supergirl, and greets Mon-El with flowers and coffee. The two flirt and Kara asks Mon-El to keep their relationship secret for now because she does not want everyone to comment on their relationship.

Given Mon-El’s track record of ignoring her wishes, it is not surprising that he announces to everyone that they are dating the moment they arrive at the DEO. Embarrassed, Kara asks J’onn and Alex if they can pretend Mon-El did not announce their relationship in front of everyone. J’onn tells the couple they have to go register their relationship with the human resources department. They have to fill out paperwork and attend a sexual harassment seminar.

Winn is alerted to some Project Cadmus activity and Kara decides to take J’onn with her to investigate. The two fly to the base as Martian Manhunter and Supergirl and are shot at by a bunch of henchmen in SUVs. Kara removes a trailer from one of their trucks while J’onn takes out the henchmen. Opening the truck, they find Kara and Alex’s father, Jeremiah Danvers, chained up and beaten.

The heroes bring Jeremiah back to the DEO, where Alex has a touching reunion with her father.

Jeremiah tells them his story while Alex patches him up in the infirmary. He says Cadmus found him and forced him to save Hank Henshaw and turn him into Cyborg Superman. Cadmus kept him captive and tortured him when he tried to escape. Alex tells him his hand is very damaged, and he tells them it was punishment for helping Kara and Mon-El escape. Mon-El is worried about Cadmus’s intention and Jeremiah reveals the group has a nuclear bomb. The bomb is made from the heat vision they stole from Kara.

At a Cadmus hideout, Lillian Luthor and Henshaw are readying the bomb.The team fills Winn in and he works on finding the bomb. Jeremiah is reunited with his wife, Eliza. Mon-El voices concerns about Jeremiah and Kara dismisses them and tells him to be positive.

The group gets together at Kara’s house and Alex introduces her dad to her girlfriend. He is surprised, but welcomes Maggie to the family.

The sisters share their happiness over their father coming home. Jeremiah talks to Eliza and she tells him they need to get to know each other again before anything can happen between them. J’onn and Mon-El join in the celebration as they all share a toast. Giving a speech, Jeremiah declares his intent to help them fight Cadmus and join the DEO again. J’onn accepts his help, but Mon-El is skeptical and shares with the group. Alex and Kara are upset with Mon-El and Kara tells him to leave. Jeremiah arrives at the end of their argument and walks out with Mon-El. He tells Mon-el he knows who he really is and subtly threatens to tell Kara.

At the alien bar, Mon-El shares his worries with Winn about Jeremiah being a spy. Winn agrees to help and tells him to be a good boyfriend to Kara. Lyra stop by, meets Mon-El, and reminds Winn they are getting together later.

J’onn and Jeremiah chat at the DEO and J’onn gives him an ID and tells him to get caught up. Instead, Winn sees Jeremiah trying to hack into the system. Winn and Mon-El share their findings with Kara, who goes to confront Jeremiah. He claims he tried to use his old information to look at files about his daughters and had to hack to do so. 

Winn confirms it was old case files. Alex is angry at the two men, but also her sister. Kara and Alex fight over trusting their dad, with Alex implying if Kara does not, she is not part of the family.

Lyra and Winn play darts together at the alien bar, then Mon-El arrives. Winn tells Mon-El what Kara needs in a relationship is communication. He receives a notice about the location of the bomb. Supergirl and a team of DEO agents go to the location but find an empty building. At the DEO, J’onn figures out something is wrong when Jeremiah leaves the room and discovers he cannot read his mind. J’onn, Winn and a group of DEO agents try to stop Jeremiah, but he has an enhanced arm.. J’onn fights him as Martian Manhunter but Jeremiah knocks him out, taking information hacked with him when he leaves.

Alex learns about her father’s betrayal from the others and does not want to believe at first. They worry about how to find him, then Winn tells everyone he put a tracker on Jeremiah. Meeting Lillian Luthor in the woods, Jeremiah tries to turn over the information he stole. In a ridiculous cartoonesque move, the villains have rigged a train track to blow up, so Supergirl leaves her sister alone to face off against Cadmus.

Kara is able to fix half of the track and then has to hold up another part of the tracks on the bridge while the train passes. The villains run and Alex chases them down, asking her father how he could betray his friends and family. He claims he did it for Alex, and she will have to shoot him or let him go. She cannot shoot him, so he runs.

At the DEO, Kara shares her worries with J’onn and he comforts her. At her house, Alex is drinking alone when Maggie arrives. She asks Alex what happened and Alex cannot answer. Alex breaks down and Maggie holds her and comforts her while she cries.

Mon-El goes to Kara’s place and asks her what she needs. She asks him to stay with her and the two cuddle on the couch while she cries. Winn calls to let Kara know that Jeremiah stole the National Alien Registry. The two get off the couch to head to the DEO. The episode ends with Jeremiah and Lillian plotting.

I feel like this episode was a bit messy and cliche. Most shows have one of these episodes, where someone is held by a villain and corrupted. In that regard, Supergirl did a poor job. It was obvious what trope they were using, and having only Mon-El be suspicious of him at the beginning seemed weird. Also, it was strange that even though they examined Jeremiah in the infirmary, they did not know about his enhanced arm. Once again, we get the information that Mon-El is not who he seems to be, and I hope his lies are revealed soon. On a positive note, Chyler Leigh was fantastic. The scene where Alex breaks down in Maggie’s arms was emotional and believable.

Check out the trailer for the next episode, airing at 8 p.m. Monday on The CW.