Livewire (''Supergirl'')

"Livewire" is the fifth episode in the first season of the CBS television series Supergirl, which aired on November 23, 2015. It was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Caitlin Parrish, and directed by Kevin Tancharoen.

The episode center on Kara and Alex dealing with an emotional Thanksgiving while a DJ seeks revenge on Cat following an accident.

Plot

At the DEO, a hulking humanoid alien attacks the guards before being subdued by Kara. Hank gives her the rest of the day off. At Alex's apartment, Kara worries that their mother, Eliza, will be upset that she has come out as Supergirl. Eliza arrives and is happy to see Kara, but is overly critical of Alex. Kara invites Winn and James over for Thanksgiving, but James already has plans with Lucy. CatCo shock jock Leslie Willis delivers a diatribe against Supergirl. Cat orders Leslie, her former protégée, to stop talking about Supergirl on the air. When Leslie objects, Cat demotes her to the traffic chopper. The helicopter is caught in a thunderstorm, but Leslie stubbornly refuses to cut short her reporting. Supergirl saves the pilot as it spins out of control, but lightning strikes Leslie through Supergirl. Cat visits a hospitalized Leslie, telling her to get up. Eliza refuses to watch the news about the incident, questioning why Alex allowed Kara to put on the costume; Alex leaves, frustrated. After being discharged, Leslie discovers new electricity-based superpowers; she gets a rush from blasting a man with electricity.

At the Danvers' Thanksgiving dinner, the tension between Alex and Eliza is palpable. Kara talks to a bored James, whom she encourages to have fun with Lucy. After Winn asks Eliza about her work, Alex reveals she works for the DEO with Kara. Displeased, Eliza asks if Alex thinks Jeremiah would be proud. Alex and Winn both leave, and Kara asks Eliza why she is so hard on Alex. Cat then calls Kara into work because of a power outage. At CatCo, Kara determines they need Winn's help, before Leslie, now calling herself Livewire, attacks them. She transmits herself through the electrical equipment and attempts electrocuting Cat. Kara goes to get security, and returns as Supergirl to fight off Livewire, but finds Livewire is able to absorb her eye beams. Cat attempts fleeing in an elevator, from which she is rescued after Livewire attacks it.

Having weathered Livewire's attack together, Cat and Kara bond by discussing their families. Cat reveals that her disapproving mother inspired her to become who she is, in order to defy her. She is surprised to learn of Kara's foster mother, only now learning Kara is an orphan. Eliza apologizes to Alex for what she said about her father and for being so hard on her. After Alex apologizes for lying about the DEO, Eliza says there's something she needs to tell Alex and Kara, only for Alex to be called into work. Hank determines that the lightning, which went through Kara, entered Leslie's body, turning her into Livewire. He suggests Livewire can be contained using an energy trap from the DEO's armory. Cat agrees to help by acting as bait, demanding an in-person confrontation; Livewire attacks Cat. The trap is damaged in the fight, but Supergirl opens a water main to douse Livewire, short-circuiting her powers.

The next day, Kara gives Winn leftovers and apologizes for her family drama; he, however, is grateful for being included, revealing his father is incarcerated. As he gives Kara a gentle kiss, she is distracted by James and Lucy arriving. Kara meets with Cat, who announces she is going to run a photo essay on soup kitchen volunteers, instead of the usual post-holiday celebrity gossip feature and tells Kara that she wants to know her better. That night, Eliza reveals to Kara and Alex that Jeremiah worked for the DEO. In flashback, Hank tracks down Kara after she used her powers to take Alex on a late-night flight; to prevent the DEO from taking her, Jeremiah agrees to work for them as an expert on Kryptonians. Eliza explains that when Jeremiah supposedly died in a plane crush, he was working for Hank; she has always been doubtful of the explanation. At the DEO, Hank congratulates Kara on capturing Livewire. Kara and Alex resolve to find out the truth about their father.

Production

Due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, the episode "How Does She Do It?", originally scheduled to air on November 16, 2015 as the fourth episode of the season, was pulled from air, due to content in the episode that was similar to the events.^[1] "How Does She Do It?" was later scheduled to air as the fifth episode on November 23, 2015.^[2]

Reception

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly notes in his assessment of the review, "Thanksgiving’s a bit early this year, or at least on Supergirl it is. Because of the tragic Paris attacks, CBS decided to switch out “How Does She Do It?,” an episode about a series of bombings in National City, with tonight’s Thanksgiving-themed episode “Livewire.” Thankfully, the switch doesn’t seem to have hurt the season’s flow, and it was definitely easy to follow along with everything in the episode. In fact, “Livewire” is definitely one of the strongest episodes of the season so far because it focuses on what Greg Berlanti shows do oh so well: family. "^[3]

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode a 7.2, saying, “Livewire” gives us our first really enjoyable villain in Supergirl, while managing to dig a lot deeper into the depths of Cat Grant. The action is fun, Brit Morgan hams it up as the titular villain, and getting some new insight on the Danvers family added some intrigue to the overarching series. Unfortunately, the flip side is drama with Alex and Eliza while Kara’s journey as a hero gets pushed to the side."^[4]

Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 out of 5 stars.^[5]

References

External links

• "Livewire" on IMDb