'Supergirl' Goes to Great Lengths to Protect Her Identity in "Suspicious Minds"

Supergirl returned from winter hiatus tonight and so did Colonel Haley's efforts to unmask the titular heroine. However, in order to protect Kara Danvers and those close to her Supergirl and her allies went to a heartbreaking extreme.

Spoilers for tonight's midseason premiere of Supergirl, "Suspicious Minds", below.

After Supergirl refused to reveal herself during the midseason finale and was forced to leave the DEO as a result, she continued to be a hero, responding to an alien attack on a naval ship. Supergirl's determination to continue to operate as a hero is a problem for Haley who decides to double down her efforts to find out her true identity. To that extent, Haley begins interrogating the agents and while they all want to protect Supergirl eventually Haley is able to get one of the agents to break.

Armed with the knowledge that Supergirl is really Kara Danvers, Haley plans to use the information to force Supergirl back into service for the DEO on her terms. If Supergirl doesn't comply, well, it's not exactly a veiled threat that the colonel will create problems for the people she loves. However, Alex knocks Haley out and the sisters call in J'onn who wipes Haley's mind of anything related to Supergirl's real identity.

While that seems like it would solve the issue, J'onn is unable to remove Haley's desire to get to Supergirl's secret. Haley soon brings in a truth-seeking alien life form that there will be no way anyone can fool. The only way to protect Kara as well as those she loves is to have J'onn wipe the minds of anyone who knows her secret.

Including Alex.

The idea of Alex not knowing that her sister is Supergirl is a heartbreaking one because it not only means that Alex won't know that Kara is Supergirl but presumably that Alex won't know about Kara at all. For Kara, it's a painful reminder of what she experienced during the Elseworlds crossover when she was on Earth-1 and the Alex of that world didn't know Kara (and no one knew of Kara since Earth-1 does not have a Supergirl). However, for Alex the situation may be more dire. The preview for next week's episode hints that there are bigger consequences than not knowing who Supergirl is for Alex. Removing memories may end up creating cognitive issues for Alex as her relationship with Kara is the cornerstone of her childhood and a huge part of her personal identity.

What did you think about the heartbreaking extreme Supergirl had to go to in order to protect her identity? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Supergirl airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.