- "Look. We're all suffering through a major disaster. Now, you could react to this crisis by being petty and divisive or preying on other people's fears. And after all, it is human to be selfish. But isn't it also human to face our weaknesses and rise above them? Act like a superhero, even if you aren't one?"
- —Cat Grant to National City
"Human For a Day" is the seventh episode of the first season of Supergirl, and the seventh episode overall. It aired on December 7, 2015.
Synopsis
| Kara and her friends must rely on their inner strength and courage when an earthquake strikes National City. Also, Alex's mistrust of Hank reaches a breaking point when the earthquake traps them in the DEO with Jemm, a powerful alien escapee. |
Cast
Starring
- Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl
- Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen
- Chyler Leigh as Dr. Alex Danvers
- Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott
- David Harewood as Director “Hank Henshaw”
- Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant
Special guest stars
- Peter Facinelli as Maxwell Lord
- Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El and General Astra
Guest starring
- Luke Macfarlane as Agent Donovan
- Charles Halford as Jemm
- Bryan Lugo as a looter
Co-starring
- Stephanie Arcila as Woman
- Ashton Bingham as Senior Tech
- Zuhair Haddad as Store Owner
- David Lim as Agent Tsung
- Ayo Sorrells as Agent Reynolds
- Casey Strand as Reporter
Plot
In the wake of her recent battle with Red Tornado, Kara's powers have been drained after she used the full power of her heat vision. As such was pointed out by Alura Zor-El's hologram during her moment alone with it, in the D.E.O.'s Kryptonian fortress chamber. Kara is told that her abilities should return in a few days, which is what Hank Henshaw is hoping for even though Kara is concerned about her powers never returning. Alex, more suspicious than ever, tells Kara that she doesn't trust Hank anymore but urges Kara to enjoy her day without her powers. At work, Kara has come down with a cold and informs Winn about her status, and when Cat sees her sneeze she sends Kara home for the rest of the day.
Back at the DEO, an alien conqueror known as Jemm is determined to escape, but Hank informs the psychic criminal that the neural shielding can withstand his powers. Jemm threatens Hank's family, but Hank tells him that he has none. Meanwhile, Kara and James bump into one another, who tells her that he and Lucy are getting a place together. When Kara starts sneezing, James instantly concludes that she lost her powers. All of a sudden, an earthquake starts to erupt.
James with Kara, who broke her arm.
As a car heads towards Kara's way, James knocks her out of the way, but Kara sustains a broken arm. The earthquake has everyone taking precautions, with Cat informing necessary personnel to stay while Winn gets everything back online just in time to see Maxwell slam Supergirl for not coming to the rescue, prompting Kara and James to stop him from going any further. When the two visit Maxwell, he is unfazed, claiming that Supergirl no longer has her powers due to her recent fight with Red Tornado and may never get them back.
The earthquake also causes damage at the Department of Extranormal Operations, causing a power outage and an opportunity for Jemm to escape his cell. Hank and Alex seek out Alura for advice and gather a team to go after Jemm with psychic disruptor helmets. Believing he can trust Alex, Hank asks her to stay behind. When Hank does meet up with Jemm, he has already taken out his security guards, before Hank vanishes altogether. He returns and tells Alex that Jemm is using his power to control the security and fellow guards, and plans to stop him with a neural inhibitor. He wants Alex to remain at her post as well, but Alex decides it time to find out what Hank is trying to do behind her back.
Maxwell Lord, Kara, and James try to save a man's life.
Back on the streets, Maxwell attempts to save a woman's father in front of Kara and James, but, in the absence of an X-ray machine to find a venous thrombosis, he fails. Without her power of X-ray vision, Kara is unable to save the man as well, making her feel helpless. Suddenly, just as James is ready to help her overcome her loss of her powers, Kara hears a robbery happening nearby. She shows up as Supergirl, barely keeping the pain of her broken arm under control, and talks the robber out of it, resulting in the criminal turning the gun over to her and James snapping a photo of the event. Back at the DEO, Jemm uses his powers on Alex's partner and kills him just as Alex is tackled into a room by Hank, only to discover that Jemm plans to free the prisoners. Alex makes Hank handcuff himself to a wall, revealing she knows about his connection to her father's death, and wants Jemm to come to the control room.
James's picture of a powerless Supergirl and a potential criminal.
Back at CatCo, James shows Kara the picture he took of her and the two share a moment, resulting in Kara thanking him for his encouragement with a hug just as Winn shows up with information that will restore Kara's powers - which is an adrenaline rush. Upset over seeing the two hug, Winn bitterly reminds Kara that James has a girlfriend and when her powers return she won't ever be able to have a normal life or relationship. When reports of a gas explosion hits the building, the three attempt to help the people trapped on the floor above them, with James climbing the ladder to open the doors and rescuing everyone. However, he loses his grip on the ladder and begins to fall down the elevator shaft. He grabs on to an elevator rope but it was beginning to snap and this was beginning to Horrify Kara. But then Kara clenches her broken arm and looks at it in a serious face, to which after it the line snaps and James to fall. Then Winn turns and sees that Kara is gone with her cast laying on the ground, as Kara now somehow in her Supergirl suit saves James.
Meanwhile, Jemm comes looking for Alex, who is ready with a gun and attacks him, taking out his third eye. However, he gains the upper hand and prepares to finish her off when he is suddenly knocked out by Hank, who exhibits an unnatural level of strength. Hank then turns on the lights and tells Alex that he's truly not the enemy. Alex still demands answers, and he tells her that he's is not actually Hank Henshaw, explaining how he had died alongside her father when they were tracking a lost alien in Peru who was seeking refuge. Henshaw had wanted to kill the alien, but Jeremiah objected to such a cruel plan and died stopping him. He tells her that Danvers died a hero, and Alex realizes that Henshaw is the alien that her father saved and he reveals himself as a shape shifter who copied Henshaw's appearance in order to reform the DEO. He then reveals himself as J'onn J'onzz, who is the last surviving member of the Martian race. He also tells Alex that he promised her father that he would look after her, hence, why he recruited her into the organization in order to keep an eye on her.
Later on, Kara invites Winn to her home, but he declines, saying he's never disappointed in Supergirl, but he was disappointed in her. He leaves as Kara and James see each other from across the hall and share a moment looking at each other before James leaves as well. Kara as Supergirl then arrives outside Cat's window, where she demands to know why Supergirl abandoned them. However, Supergirl informs Cat that she already inspired both humanity, and Supergirl, to tackle things. Unfortunately, on her way back home, Kara is suddenly attacked by three Kryptonians, led by her Aunt Astra.
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- James refers to Kara losing her powers as a "solar flare", claiming Clark calls it that. In the DC comics New 52 storyline Men of Tomorrow, Superman loses his powers for 24 hours after releasing all the energy stored in his cells at once as a successor to his heat-vision, a power which Batman dubs a "solar flare".
- A powerless Kara convinces an armed robber to surrender and give her his gun. This mirrors a similar panel with Superman in the New 52 comic 24 Hours in which despite being rendered powerless, Clark convinces a rampaging gunman to release his hostage and turn himself in to the police.
- This marks the first episode where the Martian Manhunter is formally revealed and introduced as J'onn J'onzz, under the guise of Hank Henshaw.
- J'onn helps Alex deal with an alien convict named Jemm. In the DC comics, Jemm was the ruler of Saturn and an ally of Martian Manhunter. The character was intended to replace J'onn J'onzz in the comics for several years.
- J'onn tells Alex how the D.E.O. ambushed him in South America. In the comics, J'onn is revered as a hero akin to Superman in the Southern Hemisphere.
Goofs
- Hank's earpiece changes ears when he is in the control room with Alex.
- Kara says that she doesn't need to go to the hospital when she breaks her arm because it will heal once she gets her powers back. However, Kara's arm would still need to be put in a splint or cast or the bone would heal incorrectly, causing potential disfigurement and later complications.
- It should be noted though that not every arm break needs a cast, so Kara's makeshift sling could've stabilized her arm enough for her not to ask for medical treatment in the current situation.
- It was mentioned in "Stronger Together" that only Kara's palm print could open the door to Alura Zor-El's projection room, yet the D.E.O. is able to confer with her before seemingly without issue from this episode onwards.
- It's possible Alex or the other D.E.O. scientists were able to replicate her palm print for emergency usage.
- No one questions why Kara no longer has a broken arm or isn't sick anymore even though the episode takes place over the events of 2 days.
References
| Supergirl season 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Pilot" • "Stronger Together" • "Fight or Flight" • "Livewire" • "How Does She Do It?" • "Red Faced" • "Human For a Day" • "Hostile Takeover" • "Blood Bonds" • "Childish Things" • "Strange Visitor From Another Planet" • "Bizarro" • "For the Girl Who Has Everything" • "Truth, Justice and the American Way" • "Solitude" • "Falling" • "Manhunter" • "Worlds Finest" • "Myriad" • "Better Angels" | ||||