Blood Bonds

"Blood Bonds"

"Blood Bonds" is the ninth episode in the first season of the CBS television series Supergirl, which aired on January 4, 2016. It was written by Ted Sullivan and Derek Simon, and directed by Steve Shill. The episode centers on Kara's attempt to rescue Hank from Non after she captures Aunt Astra that leads to a tradeoff and a question of who they can trust, while Cat Grant attempts to refute Kara's claim that she is not Supergirl.

Plot

As the battle resumes at Lord Technologies, Non and Kara continue to fight from the air, but after they fall back to earth, Hank tries to intervene, only to have Non find a suitable hostage in Hank and Non grabs him. Afterwards, Maxwell orders the DEO to leave, especially when Alex asks him why the Kryptonians were coming to the headquarters. When Kara and Alex returns to the DEO headquarters, Alex takes over as the temporary director as Hank left no successor. Hank's kidnapping by Non is making Kara suspicious, as she wants to ask Astra where Non took Hank. When Kara went to Astra's cell, Astra would not divulge information, even being threatened to bring in Superman if Kara has to. Astra says Kara is compromised by her feelings about Alura, since she tells Kara that she ordered her husband not to kill Kara and she chose to stay in her cell because of her own actions now that Kara has chosen sides.

At CatCo, Kara is stunned that Maxwell has covered his tracks involving the attack. When she hears Cat coming, Kara informs James and Winn that Cat figured out she was Supergirl. Kara suddenly becomes nervous by accidently overheating her latte and forgets her glasses, and when Cat arrives Kara tries to act normal but Cat doesn't buy her cover. Later on at the DEO, Kara brings lunch to Alex when they receive a message from Non: he'll trade Hank for Astra and gives them 48 hours. But the plans to hand over Astra at the staging area is upstaged by General Lane, who is now in charge of the DEO thanks to a presidential order. Later on at Lord Technologies, James investigates what Maxwell is hiding, but James is caught and is ordered off the premises by Maxwell, while back at CatCo, Cat quizzes Kara about her past, but Cat suspects that she is still pretending.

At a secret location, Non uses a mind reader to interrogate Hank but cannot and Non kills the mind reader after he fails. Likewise at the DEO, Sam interrogates Astra, then brings in his soldiers to inject her with a lethal syringe containing kryptonite and the torture is too much for Kara that Alex takes her out the room and she is weakened by kryptonite as well. Hours later James informs Kara that they couldn't find anything that Maxwell was hiding, prompting Winn to call James out for lying after Kara is called away to see Cat, who has issued a ultimatum: prove she is Supergirl or lose your job. Meanwhile, James and Winn successfully break into Lord Technologies, where James take photos until he stumbles onto a room that had no keypad entry. But as he attempts to peek, James is knocked out by Maxwell and his security. He is then interrogated by Maxwell about if he had help, even smashing his camera to make his point clear. Thanks to Astra, the DEO has managed to locate the area where Non is holding Hank, which is covered in lead so Kara can't see them. Non and his army are ready to attack just in time for Kara to rescue Hank, only to discover its a hologram and a trap, prompting Kara to save Alex from the bomb that goes off immediately. Astra had tricked them.

Back at CatCo, Kara feels that as long as Cat keeps asking her about Supergirl the more useless she'll be as her assistant, and offers her resignation to Cat. She then heads down to the room where she tends to James' wounds, but is furious over what Maxwell did, and it prompts Winn to stop her from becoming like Astra, saying that she can't let these events consume her and vows that he and James will find a way. Kara then visits Astra, ready to learn the truth as to they can't let fear control them and that she believes Astra is still a good person. In the flashback, Alura tells Astra about Krypton's demise but has to sentence Astra because she murdered people, resulting in Astra being sent to Fort Rozz. Back in the present, Astra tell Kara is much like Alura, as Kara asks her where to find Hank. Astra tells Kara to go through with the trade and takes her aunt to the staging area, defying General Lane's orders. Non then shows up with Hank and the trade is made, but Kara soon discovers its a trap when she hears his army coming, but Astra orders her husband to call off the attack and honor the truce for now, displeasing an angry Non, but Kara tells Astra its a start.

The following day at CatCo, Supergirl arrives just in time to meet Kara and Cat (at the same time). This was good enough to convince Cat to give Kara her job back as long as she doesn’t tell anyone that Cat thought Kara was Supergirl. When Kara went to the roof, she thanked J'onn (who reverted back to Hank) for pretending to be Supergirl, but she feels that her life at CatCo is still a priority and turns down a offer to work with the DEO full time. She then receives a text from her cousin and she text him to let him know things are alright. James and Winn then check on Kara and is relieved that Cat allowed her to keep her job and not revealing the truth to Cat. As the three try to come up with a way to stop Maxwell, it is revealed later on at Lord Technologies that Maxwell was indeed hiding something in the room: a young blonde woman who apparently died from brain trauma. She opens her eyes, and her pupils are entirely black.

Reception

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly noted: "What separates us from them? Who’s the us, and who is the them? Are we more alike than it seems at first? These are some of the questions that Supergirl touches on in tonight’s episode, which finds Kara incredibly stressed out in the face of all of these mounting odds. All of this pressure tests Kara’s resolve to continue embodying “the best of us.” "

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 5.2, saying “Blood Bonds” tackles some of the more interesting subject matter of the series thus far, forcing Kara to confront her ties to her only remaining family with her sense of justice, but ultimately it’s a scattershot episode that peters out pretty quickly. The villains lack dimension and reversing the decision on Cat’s discovery feels like a step backward rather than an interesting story choice. While there was still some charm to be had from the CatCo crew, this episode was a definite dud.

Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.0 out of 5 stars.