Supergirl season 3, episode 2 recap and review: Triggers

Supergirl follows up its season premiere with an episode that feels messy, but explores some intriguing ideas. Here are our thoughts on “Triggers”.

In “Girl of Steel”, season 3 of Supergirl began with a bang – literally. Kara saved National City’s waterfront from a missile and, in the process, salvaged her sense of humanity. Although her grief for Mon-El lingered, she resolved to give life beyond super-heroism another chance.

This week’s episode returns to more familiar territory. A small-time villain upsets order, forcing Kara to confront a side of herself that she struggled to repress. Alex and Maggie discover another difference between them. James gets sidelined again, both in and by the narrative. Still, there are enough noteworthy moments scattered throughout “Triggers” to prevent it from being a complete letdown.

Mind over matter

Nice to see you, Yael Grobglas! The Israeli actress, whom viewers might recognize from fellow The CW series Jane the Virgin, appears here as our villain-of-the-week. She plays Gayle Marsh, aka Psi, a bank robber who induces intense fear in the people around her, leaving them paralyzed while she escapes.

As much as I enjoy watching Grobglas strut and smirk, Psi feels thinly drawn. She has no motive besides greed (“You see, money equals happiness”) and power-hunger (“Fear is the only weapon that matters”). It makes sense that Supergirl wouldn’t want to spend a ton of effort developing a one-off character. But the most compelling villains, whether they last an episode or a season, feel less like obstacles to overcome than people with stories. Considering her abilities and backstory in the comics, Psi had potential to be one of those villains. Instead, she barely registers, failing to intimidate or charm. It’s a shame.

It isn’t a waste, though. Even if it fails her as a character, the episode uses Psi in an interesting way thematically. Namely, it explores the idea of connection. Kara’s encounters with the psychic aren’t just traumatic because they involve reliving upsetting events; the very act of having one’s mind invaded is its own kind of trauma. As Kara laments to Alex, Psi stole part of her. Yet, if she sees Supergirl as a symbol of strength, it’s also a symbol of detachment, like a shield. The deeper Kara buries herself in her caped persona, the more distant she grows from her teammates, family, and friends. Really, then, Psi doesn’t steal part of her so much as reveal that part of her is already gone (or at least very well-hidden).

Krypton

“Triggers” lacks the technical audacity of “Girl of Steel”, except for one crucial sequence. When Psi attacks Kara’s mind, director David McWhirter conveys her disorientation with a flurry of blurry images and off-kilter camera angles. Then, suddenly, it’s calm. Kara finds herself back on Krypton, at the moment when her parents sent her away in a pod. Fixed in her perspective, we fly over the decimated planet and escape through its dusty atmosphere, bursting into the stillness of outer space. The pod collides with an asteroid, which sends it spinning wildly – until Alex’s voice snaps Kara out of her reverie. The sequence is comprised of one apparently unbroken shot.

However, it’s more than an artistic flourish. In fact, it’s the emotional core of the episode. Later, Kara tells Winn how the vision felt:

"Psi put me back in that pod, completely trapped and alone. It was so quiet. The silence was the worst part."

Like the white noise in the premiere, this scene encapsulates Kara’s isolation. The point-of-view shot literally puts the audience in her body, immersing us in the claustrophobia and vastness and silence. As the pod drifts through the void, the shot lingers, stretching seconds out to an eternity. It’s peaceful and terrifying.

The cinematography serves a second purpose: it conceals the point-of-view character’s identity. When she experiences the vision again, Kara realizes she isn’t remembering her journey from Krypton, but imagining Mon-El’s journey from Earth. Her greatest fear centers on someone else. You could argue that this is another example of Supergirl devaluing its heroine. On the contrary, though, I think it’s a poignant illustration of Kara’s empathy. Far from alone, she is connected to Mon-El, as if by psychic means.

Distress call

So, depending on who wields it, telepathy can be an act of strength or vulnerability, violence or love. One more instance occurs at the end of the episode. While nursing a beer at the bar for National City’s alien denizens, J’onn sees M’gann sitting across the table. “You have to come to Mars,” she insists. And before he can gather enough of his wits to ask questions, she vanishes.

Based on the preview for next week’s episode, we won’t have to wait long for answers. For the purposes of this week’s episode, the scene reminds us that Supergirl already introduced a healthy psychic relationship, in the form of the mind-meld between J’onn and M’gann. Their rapport was among my favorite elements of season 2, and it’s satisfying to know that they haven’t lost a step despite existing planets apart. More than any alter ego, it suggests, our bonds with other people – or aliens – toughen us, allowing individuals to transcend their physical confines and reach across impossible distances. Hopefully, Kara will figure this out soon.

Bullet points:

The opening montage song is “California” by Grimes. Mitski’s “Thursday Girl” closes the episode.
We finally see Alex and Maggie have sex! Yay! The cinematography is kind of weird, even by network TV standards! Hmm…
Sorry, J’onn, but band > DJ (unless it’s that ‘80s cover band in La La Land)
I didn’t have room to get into the Samantha storyline, but I kind of dug it. Plot-wise, it felt a little disjointed, but it worked on a thematic level. Samantha’s love for her daughter literally gives her powers – or so Ruby thinks.
Ruby is a goner, right? Supergirl doesn’t seem like the type of show to kill off a kid, but that’s the easiest explanation for Samantha turning villainous.
Yeah, I’m still pretending the J’onn/M’gann kiss didn’t happen.
Winn unable to resist Alex’s death stare: “I’m just going to go ahead and tell you everything.”

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

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