'Supergirl' recap: 'Alex'

This week on Supergirl, Kara and Maggie must work together to find Alex after she is taken hostage.

Last week on Supergirl, Lena saved Kara’s life, Kara got her job at CatCo back and Queen Rhea went to L-Corp to try and get help from Lena.

This week begins with Maggie trying to talk down a bank robber who has taken hostages. Supergirl bursts onto the scene and captures the bad guys in a moment. Maggie is annoyed, but Kara is oblivious and tells her she will see her at dinner.

The sisters and their partners have dinner together, eating pizza because Alex burnt the paella. Mon-El praises Kara for stopping the bank robbers, questioning why we even have police. Maggie is livid and Kara is surprised that she is angry, citing that the bad guys are in jail and everyone is safe. Maggie tells her people are using the “supergirl defense” in court to try and get their charges dropped. She says Kara is great for fighting aliens but for regular everyday crimes, police are better citing that Kara hurt two people and caused property destruction. Mon-El puts his foot in his mouth again and Kara leaves with Mon-El following. Upset, Alex tells her girlfriend she just wants them both to get along. Maggie says she does get along with her sister, but not always with Supergirl, though she agrees to try. Alex leaves, saying she is going to go talk to Kara.

Rhea arrives at L-Corp in the morning to meet with Lena. Lena is impressed with the proposal Rhea left her, saying it could help people all over the world. Rhea says if she has L-Corp’s help she can make her tech a reality. Lena says she is interested and the two make dinner plans.

Meanwhile, Maggie shows up at CatCo to ask Kara if she has heard from Alex. Kara lets Maggie know she did not see Alex after the fight and Maggie says she already checked the DEO. Kara’s phone rings and it is Alex’s kidnapper. They demand she releases a man named Peter Thompson from prison if she wants to save Alex’s life. They also know she is Supergirl.

Alex wakes up disoriented in a cell, she tells the camera watching her that she recognized him from the elevator.

Kara tells the team at the DEO what the kidnapper said. Mon-El suggests releasing the man, but J’onn tells him they cannot do that or it will happen again and again. They have no location on Alex and Maggie tells them what they all need to do is figure out who Thompson is because whoever has Alex will not be easy to find.

At dinner, Lena tries to get to know Rhea by asking her about her past. She lies about college and then compliments Lena, calling her a genius. Rhea gets her to talk about her relationship with her mother and then says her husband died and she is having trouble with her son. She gives Lena the rest of her proposal plans and Lena is happy to have made a new friend, but she notices Rhea’s slip up and her smile wavers. Rhea says “thank the gods,” which is an alien saying.

J’onn, Maggie and Kara go to see Thompson in prison. They tell him someone wants him out and Kara loses her cool when he does not answer seriously. Thompson says he does not know who asked to get him out and J’onn says he is telling the truth. Winn calls and tells them Thompson has a son named Rick Malverne. Kara says that sounds familiar and realizes he went to high school with Alex.

Kara bursts into Rick’s home, finding monitors set up showing Alex in the cell. Rick arrives and Kara attacks him when he says he will not release Alex. He lets her speak to Alex, but only for a moment. He will not give up the location, so Kara brings him into the DEO.

At the DEO, J’onn says he is somehow unable to read Rick’s mind. Maggie questions Rick, and he admits he has been watching Alex for a year. He recalled as a kid Kara helped people from an accident and did not get hurt in the blast. That along with knowing where she lived and that Supergirl also lived there made him believe she is Supergirl. Kara asks what happened to the nice boy she knew and he reveals his father saved him from his abusive mother. He tries to pit Maggie and Kara against each other, saying he does not know which one of them loves Alex more. Maggie tells Kara they need to focus on Thompson, so J’onn pretends to be Thompson, it fails to work.

At L-Corp, Lena tells Rhea she needs her fingerprint for the elevator access, and uses her alien identifying device. She confronts Rhea about being an alien and tells her they will not be working together.

In the cell, Alex digs into her skin to get her tracker out and hooks it up to the camera in the cell. Winn tells the team. Rick warns them against going and Maggie notes how he is acting and tells Kara to wait but Kara goes to the location. Instead of finding Alex, she finds a trap and the countdown is now four hours and water pours into Alex’s glass cell.  

Kara bursts into the interrogation room and demands Rick free Alex. He lets her talk to Alex. Maggie arrives and Alex asks to speak to her alone, She goes to the hallway and Alex tries to tell all the things she wants to say in case she dies, but Maggie tells her no. She tells her their relationship just started and this is not how it is going to end. Maggie tells her there are “a lifetime of firsts that we’re going to do together,” so she has to be strong. The video cuts out and Kara shows up and the two argue. Maggie says she should have some say in what is going on because Alex is her girlfriend and that she “ has just as much to lose” as Kara..

Rhea shows up at Lena’s office and says she still wants them to work together to make the portal in her proposal. Rhea apologizes saying she thought Lena also hated aliens like the rest of her family. Lena agrees to think about the proposal and working with Rhea.

Lena calls Kara asking for advice, noticing Kara sounds off and Kara says she will call her later. After she hangs up, Kara and J’onn talk about how afraid they are to lose Alex. Maggie talks to Rick and he tries again to get her to release his father.

In the cell, Alex is fighting to break free and there is very little space to breathe. Kara and the team are still working to find Alex and notice Maggie is missing. Maggie is busy breaking Thompson out of prison when Supergirl arrives. She tells Thompson about his son’s plan and implores him to help them stop him from becoming a murderer. He tells them he may know where she is being held.

Maggie and Kara rush to save Alex. Kara punches through the glass, freeing Alex just in time from the water filled cell. The two hold onto her as she catches her breath.

Alex is recovering at the DEO with Maggie when the two exchange their first I love you’s. They go to see the rest of the team, and J’onn pulls them both into a hug. J’onn tells them he is going to mind wipe Rick, and Alex punches Rick in the face before the agents take him away. Maggie and Kara make up and hug.

Lena calls Kara back and the two talk for a moment, making lunch plans and letting the other know their problem is solved. Lena hangs up and turns to Rhea, acknowledging they will be working together after all.

This episode was a mixture of good and bad for me. I think that the sanvers moments were great and am happy to see Floriana Lima finally get more screentime. The Lena and Rhea storyline is not my favorite as Lena has been betrayed enough and it is getting ridiculous. My main issue with this episode was Rick. I find it unbelievable that he could have followed all of them for a year without any of them finding out. Maybe if they were normal people but not DEO agents, an alien superhero and a cop. Also J'onn says he is going to mind wipe Rick at the end of the episode, despite not being able to read his mind earlier for some unknown reason.

Supergirl airs Monday's at 8 p.m. on The CW. Check out the trailer for the next episode, "City of Lost Children," below.