How Does She Do It?

"How Does She Do It?"
Information
Season 1 » Episode {{{epnum}}}
Episode number	5 of 0
Original airdate	November 23, 2015
Written by	Yahlin Chang Ted Sullivan
Directed by	Thor Freudenthal

"How Does She Do It?" is the ???th episode of the first season of [[{{{show}}}|{{{show}}}]], and the fifth episode overall. It on November 23, 2015.

"Fascinating theory. Unprovable, but worth exploring. I suspect that whoever is responsible for these attacks might be curious about you, Supergirl. What is she made of? How does she do it?"

—Maxwell Lord to Supergirl

"How Does She Do It?" is the fifth episode of the first season of Supergirl. Originally set to be the fourth episode of the season, it was set to air on November 16, 2015, but was instead replaced with "Livewire".It aired on November 23, 2015.

Synopsis

Kara’s two identities are stretched thin when Supergirl must protect National City from a series of bombings and Kara is tasked with babysitting Cat’s son, Carter. Also, James is conflicted when his ex-girlfriend Lucy Lane seeks to rekindle their relationship.

Plot

Kara flies above National City when she notices a somewhat familiar laser sight on her arm while she’s flying. It looks a lot like the laser sight that accompanied a D.E.O. kryptonite dart in the first episode, but after she finds the source — an unmarked drone — and takes it back to D.E.O. headquarters, Henshaw reveals it’s not one of theirs. The drone was remarkably nimble, nearly evading Supergirl altogether before she managed to eye-beam it to an explosive demise. A drone with no markings and loaded with super-advanced Earth tech? Who could manufacture such a thing? Who in National City has a megacorporation dedicated to tech R & D? Oh. Maxwell Lord. It’s not revealed to be his until much later, but the “Previously On…” bumper that preceded the episode reminded us all about Lord, so, I mean, duh.

At CatCo, Kara volunteers herself to watch Cat Grant’s son Carter so that Grant can go to Metropolis to accept an award (an award that Cat won over Lois Lane, no less.) It was a noble gesture on Kara’s part, of course, but one that was potentially a little short-sighted. She is splitting her CatCo assistant time as Supergirl, after all, so watching someone else’s child, when trouble pops up in National City almost daily is just asking for trouble. Big sister Alex even warns Kara that she may be spreading herself a bit too thin with her commitment to CatCo, to the “S“, and to the D.E.O. While Kara is out on a lunch errand, a tremor rocks National City, and she uses her X-Ray vision to zoom through multiple blocks to see that a bomb has detonated. Reflexively, Kara springs into action and saves a portion of the bombed building from falling into the street full of onlookers. Another drone, just like the first, was at the scene of the bomb monitoring Supergirl’s every move without interfering.

At the crescendo of the episode, two more bombs have been placed in two opposite sides of National City. One is aboard Maxwell Lord’s brand new high-speed rail train, the one he’s been hyping since the second episode. The other is at National City airport, where Lucy Lane is headed. Oh, that’s right, Lucy Lane is back, and the danger she’s in at the airport is what spurs James Olsen back to her side (and explains the holiday they took together last week.) Because, again, the chronology has been swapped between last week’s and this week’s episodes.

After a curious Carter Grant makes his way aboard Maxwell’s bullet train, Supergirl changes her plans and decides to save the train rather than the airport, sending the D.E.O. in her stead. When she tries to talk down the bomber, Kara notices that something is off about the whole situation. He doesn’t seem to be doing this out of malice, but out of necessity. She reckons he’s struck some kind of deal, and after she’s disconnected the train from the car he eventually detonates, she digs deeper. His daughter’s medical costs are being covered by none other than Maxwell Lord, and the bombs were all a ruse. This wasn’t the work of some disgruntled employee. Each bomb had a failsafe, which Lord could no doubt utilize should Supergirl not have made it to any of them in time. But why? Why would Lord create chaos in the city if he doesn’t harbor any ill-will towards the city or the people in it? To test Supergirl, of course. Everything Kara faced in the episode was a carefully constructed series of super-abilities. The first drone was to test Supergirl’s reflexes and agility. The first bomb was to test her strength capacity and how she uses her abilities. The final two bombs represented a choice; the train held 100 citizens, while the airport held more than 1,000. Supergirl choosing the train was a tell, one that gave away her priorities. Someone on that train was a passenger that she wanted to protect for personal reasons, and now he just has to figure out who and why.

Gallery

Videos

Supergirl 1x04 Promo "How Does She Do It?" (HD)

References

Template:Season 1