SuperGirl Season 4 Episode 4 Review “Ahimsa”

Written by: Eric Carrasco

Directed by: Armen V. Kevorkian

Starring: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie Mcgrath, Sam Witwer, David Harewood

Official synopsis “When Supergirl needs help, Alex asks Lena and Brainiac to team up; J’onn questions his decision to quit the DEO, but after running into Manchester Black, he realizes there are a lot of ways to help his fellow aliens.”

After last week’s episode being very story related and character driven, I was excited to see Armen Kevorkian’s name attached to direct episode 4 Ahimsa. When I see Armen’s name, I naturally assume the episode will action packed and full of special effects, due to him serving as the special effect’s supervisor for Greg Berlanti since The Flash season 1 and boy he did not disappoint.

This was by far the best episode since the season opener but surprisingly not because of Supergirl who is still missing (I will get to that) but the addition of a new character Manchester Black. Let’s start with Supergirl who has spent 2 episodes locked inside a hazmat suit. The reason for this is Melissa Benoist was tied up on Broadway doing a musical so rather than delay the production of Supergirl the producers found a clever way around this by having her stuck inside a kryptonite protection suit after the events in episode 2. Scenes Kara was in were shot very Iron Man esq where we see here face inside a suit surrounded by computer text and then a body double will do the action sequences. Knowing this means it was very obvious to me what was going on but it was done very well so might not be noticed by many. By the end of the episode brainy and Lena found a way to remove all the kryptonite from the atmosphere and Kara was able to leave her suit, I message to the audience that she will be back on screen in episode 5 I hope.

Throughout the episode James Olsen is struggling not being to don his Guardian suit and get out and help, especially with Supergirl out of action. We get another glimpse of Nia asleep at her desk before a heart to heart with James again. I’m interested to see how her transition to Dream Girl will impact on the show but I’m certain it will have something to do with helping James Olsen as we continue to see their friendship blossom.

STAR OF THE SHOW 

This week we got introduced to Manchester Black and a fantastic debut to the show it was. Manchester Black is a lesser known character in the comics, predominantly featuring as a foe to Superman. Originally an antihero vigilante who went to extreme measures when dealing with criminals and turned full time villain when superman deemed his actions to be a step to far. Along with strength and fighting abilities he is a strong tele-kinetic and telepath. Expertly portrayed on the show by British actor David Ajala we got to meet a cool, calm and collected Black who had demonstrated early on he is not to be missed with.

The first time we meet Black is my favourite scenes of the episode as J’onn returns to his apartment to find Manchester Black waiting for him. With his ultra-cool sounding British accent and cockney esq swagger we learn Black is the Fiancé of Fiona (remember J’onns friend from episode 1) and for now is an allay to J’onn as they set off together to track down Fiona.

We are regularly checking back in with Brainy and Lena at the DEO who are trying to remove the Kryptonite from the atmosphere and save Kara while Alex is having a tough time as director and has her first run in with the new president. The climax to the episode brings all our heroes and villains to the National City fair where Agent Liberty and the Graves are using Fiona’s mind control to have kidnapped aliens attack the public. This is all part of Agent Liberty trying to install the message of fear that has been ever present this season.

LOOSE ENDS

A sudden ending to the episode this week as the Kryptonite is removed from the atmosphere, Mercy and Otis Graves get an arrow to the chest which looks fatal and they should be dead, J’onn and Manchester Black rescue Fiona only for her die in Blacks arms. Agent Liberty managed to get away which means he is now the main protagonist out there until Lex Luthor joins the show or Manchester Black turns bad following Fiona’s death, but I hope the latter doesn’t happen too soon as his pairing on screen with J’onn J’onzz has been a real highlight to season 4.