Supergirl season 4 episode 10 live stream: Watch online

Supergirl and Colonel Haley once again find themselves at loggerheads in tonight’s midseason premiere. Here’s how you can watch “Suspicious Minds.”

It’s been precisely 40 days since Supergirl last aired a new episode (the “Elseworlds” crossover notwithstanding), but it feels like even longer. Time nowadays just seems to move at a different pace.

So, while it is difficult to imagine anyone forgetting the game-changing events of the midseason finale, a refresher is in order. Most importantly, after a tense standoff with Manchester Black, the anti-alien extremist Agent Liberty was at last unmasked as professor-turned-conservative pundit Ben Lockwood and arrested. In a stomach-churning twist, the news led to a rise in public support for his agenda, including from his wife. To make things worse, the growing anti-alien sentiment created a rift between Supergirl and the DEO, as she decided to part ways with the agency rather than reveal her identity.

Part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Can Supergirl possibly stick the landing on such an ambitious storyline? But in addition to providing a provocative cliffhanger, “Bunker Hill” suggests that the writers are willing to keep venturing to dark places, which gives me hope.

The show returns from winter hiatus by focusing on the conflict between Supergirl and Colonel Haley, who has more or less supplanted Alex as the central authority at the DEO. Below, you can read the official synopsis for the episode, titled “Suspicious Minds,” courtesy of The CW:

"COLONEL HALEY IS DETERMINED TO FIND OUT SUPERGIRL’S IDENTITY — Colonel Haley (April Parker Jones) is upset after Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) responds to a distress call from a Navy ship that turned out to be a deadly alien attack. Colonel Haley reclaims the site as DEO territory and demands that Supergirl step aside. After Supergirl refuses to be told what to do, Haley refocuses her energy on finding out Supergirl’s true identity and begins to interrogate all DEO agents, including Alex (Chyler Leigh). Meanwhile, Brainiac-5 (Jesse Rath) tries to persuade Nia (Nicole Maines) to embrace her superpowers but she misinterprets his motives."

So far, Supergirl has done a fine job of positioning Colonel Haley as an antagonist without outright vilifying her. After all, her problem is less a personal bigotry toward aliens than an unwillingness to go against procedure, no matter how morally dubious. It will be interesting to see whether her attitude changes as the country grows more volatile. (I’m predicting that she will eventually turn against her superiors, but a surprise is always welcome.)

Actually, it’s the Brainy/Nia storyline that makes me nervous. The description has “rom-com hijinks” written all over it. On one hand, I’d love for Supergirl to return to its sillier roots. On the other, there’s a fine line between cute and queasy, and I’d love for Brainy and Nia – a pair of characters I like both as individuals and as partners in banter – to stay on the right side of it. So, it could be fun, or it could be awkward, or it could be awkward fun.

Rachel Talalay takes the reins, becoming season 4’s first female director for an episode scripted by Maria Maggenti and Gabriel Llanas.

"Date: Sunday, Jan. 20Start time: 8 p.m. ESTEpisode: “Suspicious Minds”TV Channel: The CWLive Stream: Watch live on Fubo TV. Sign up now for a free seven-day trial. You can also watch on The CW website or app."

Supergirl airs as part of The CW’s Sunday night line-up.