Supergirl
Season 4 / episode 11 - "Blood Memory"
SG/Kara: Good to see her (painfully) brief talk with James. The series lost much of what that brought to the characters in season one.
Despite trying to empathize with Nia, it was irresponsible to reveal her ID, as the latter is not prepared to deal with the world of the Haleys and Lockwoods who will target anyone associated with aliens in general and Supergirl in particular.
Comrade Kara: So, some mechanically triggered Gamma ray effects from Comrade Kara turns drugs into violent, Hulk-like creatures? Okay....
Her handler: "There is someone I need to reach...in America." Lena? Lex? I hope this mystery pays off.
Alex: So, memory-wiped Alex does not appreciate or respect Supergirl. Interesting that her alien tolerance levels were directly elevated thanks to a personal connection.
"This world is filled with a lot of people that are bigger and stronger than her, and that kind of vulnerability...it makes you angry! When you feel powerless enough, you will do anything it takes...to feel strong."
In a single sentence, Alex just justified Lena--and the Children of Liberty's positions. Fascinating turn.
Nia: Note that her tolerant town happened to be a small one--something of a farming community. Clearly (and rarely) the showrunners were trying to flip the stereotype of small towns being a hotbed of alleged intolerance.
Nia resisting her heritage is a longstanding trope of fiction, but in this case, I do like how she only dreams things to worry her--or inspire fear--a tease of things to come for a couple of main characters..
Nasty, unexpected spider-bite killing her mother. But that's a bit of TV exaggeration as no North American spider--not the Black Widow or Brown Recluse--kills instantly from one bite. Even if one is bitten, the victim would need to be very young, elderly, or suffering from conditions such as a compromised immune system, respiratory issues, etc. before the venom becomes lethal.
Annoying sister with entitlement/would-be destiny issues was...annoying. then, she took a deep dive into offensive-ville with her "...not even a real woman" line. So, that's what she believed all along,
James / Lena: Yeah, it was screaming telegraphing for Lena and James to offer different answers during the game--in other words, no "inside advantage" of truly knowing each other, and the set up for one of his own reporters to uncover what kind of genetic testing was conducted with L-Corp's "Black Budgeted" funding. His burying the story is--hopefully--not the result of living in denial, but wanting to uncover Luthor secrets on his own, with his emotions being a buffer of understanding that would not come from a detached reporter trying to get their scoop. That said, he seems to be sitting on an ethical fence, and if played right, it can lead to something big going down not only between James and Lena, but Lex as well, as I cannot imagine any of Lena's work being completely divorced from the shadow or influence of Lex.
NOTES: Fast moving hour.
Children of Liberty: at least they did not drop that storyline, but Roberta Miller seeking revenge as an accumulative reaction of being bullied was the all-too-obvious Very Special Episode sub-plot. It would have been just as effective to have her being fueled with revenge out of pure love for her brother.
Speaking of Liberty, Lockwood returns in the next episode.
GRADE: A.