The Top Five Shocking Moments in Supergirl – “The Adventures of Supergirl”

After a long summer of waiting (and a surprise network switch) Supergirl is finally back in action. Tonight’s episode not only introduces the legendary Man of Steel, we also get our first look at James Corben…a name many DC fans will recognize. There’s also some teases about some possible future conflict between Superman and the DEO, our first look at Luthor and a healthy dose of relationship drama.

So without further ado, here’s the five most shocking moments from “The Adventures of Supergirl”.

Hey, It’s Superman!

At first glance, it probably seems funny to include Superman’s appearance in our “shocking moments” list, because everyone has known that Superman was coming to the show for months. But, it’s really nice to have Superman back on television.

This isn’t the mopey god wearing Superman tights that we saw in Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice or the awkward kid slowly growing into Superman in Smallville. Supergirl‘s Superman IS the purest, most accurate version of the character we’ve seen in live action since Christopher Reeves. That’s not meant to be an insult to all the other Supermen that have popped up on television and in the movies, it’s just that Tyler Hoechlin’s depiction really is that good. 

The best part about Superman appearing on Supergirl is how you can instantly see how Superman and Supergirl are related (and I’m not talking about the matching outfits). Superman’s been doing the whole superhero thing for a bit longer, but he has the same bright smile and optimism that makes Supergirl so fantastic. It’s easy to see why EVERYONE seems to love Superman, because he’s basically a slightly older male version of Supergirl. 

Seriously, Hoechlin’s Superman is the best. It’s good to see the Man of Steel on TV once again. 

Luthor vs. Luthor

The central plot of the episode revolves around Lex Luthor’s attempt to kill his younger sister Lena after she takes over his company and attempts to rebrand it as a force for good. This seems like a very Lex thing to do, because he’s a psychopath and would have no problem killing anyone, especially if it interferes with what he thinks is his legacy. 

However, Kara, Clark, and the DEO suspected that Lena had something to do with these attacks, and I can’t help but wonder if their instincts were that wrong. Lena and her new “L-Corp” came off smelling like daisies by the end of the episode. Lena had successfully rebranded, got plenty of positive press coverage from Clark Kent (a frequent thorn in Lex’s side), and she even killed James Corben, Lex’s triggerman behind the attacks. To me, that all feels a little bit…too convenient.

Let’s face it, it would be the most Luthor thing in the world for Lena to stage an attack on her own life, blame her supervillain brother, and then kill the person who could link her back to the attacks. 

Anyways, we got our first introduction to Lena Luthor this episode and I expect she’ll have a big role in Supergirl moving forward. 

Operation: Emerald

Although just about everyone at the DEO was a fan of Superman, tonight’s episode revealed that there’s a bit of bad blood between Superman and the Martian Manhunter. It turns out that Superman doesn’t work with the DEO because of Operation: Emerald, a mission where Superman and Martian Manhunter first discovered the first known sighting of kryptonite on Earth. Superman obviously wanted the kryptonite destroyed, but Hank hung onto it to deal with other Kryptonians, like the Fort Roz prisoners.

Even though Operation: Emerald happened years ago, it seems that neither Hank nor Superman are over their fight. The DEO still has kryptonite on site, and Superman doesn’t like the idea of the US government having a weapon that could kill him. When the two have another argument, Hank promises that he’d never use the kryptonite on Superman or Supergirl, but Superman points out that Hank won’t always be in charge of the DEO…and that Hank could also be put in a no win situation if he’s ordered by a superior officer (like the president) to use the kryptonite on someone.

We knew that the DEO had kryptonite already, but the mention of the president (who’s going to appear next episode) has us wondering if Operation: Emerald could foreshadow some really big problems for Superman and Supergirl this year. 

Jimmy and Kara….No More!

All last year, Supergirl fans watched as Kara and Jimmy gave each other longing looks and lingering hugs and wondered when the heck the two of them would get together. After one kiss last season, it seemed like everything finally fell into place for the pair…until Kara shut the whole relationship down out of the blue. After much consideration, Kara decided that she and Jimmy just work together as friends.

This wasn’t an action packed scene, but it still was the most shocking part of the episode. Supergirl spent an entire year building up the Kara/Jimmy pair, but the producers decided to kill the relationship off without so much as a second glance. Jimmy didn’t look too happy with how things ended, but I guess we need someone to just pine over Kara now that Winn’s working for the DEO and seems to have moved on from his feelings for Supergirl. 

Enter Metallo

The DEO left a critically wounded John Corben at a nearby hospital, but Project Cadmus had other plans for the assassin/mercenary for hire. Corben woke up in a shadowy Cadmus facility, strapped to a table with a ventilator stuffed down his throat. A mysterious woman offered him a choice: live as a Cadmus experiment or die. Corben chose to live, so the woman pushed a button and sent some unknown liquid coursing through his veins. The last scene of the episode shows Corben’s eyes turning metallic as the woman calls him by his new name….Metallo.

Metallo, of course, is the classic Superman villain who has plagued the Man of Steel many times thanks to the kryptonite that powers his robotic body. While we didn’t see Cadmus still any kryptonite in Metallo’s body this episode, we know where some is stored at. Could tonight’s episode foreshadow an attack on the DEO for its kryptonite?