Supergirl: Human for a Day

"Human for a Day" is the seventh episode of season one of the superhero action series Supergirl. It was directed by Larry Teng with a script written by Yahlin Chang and Ted Sullivan. It first aired on CBS on Monday, December 7th, 2015 at 8:00 pm.

Synopsis
Kara discovers that her battle against the Red Tornado has drained her of all her powers. In addition to her recent anger management problems, now she feels that in addition to not being able to live a normal life, she also feels helpless. This feeling intensifies as an earthquake ripples across National City, and she knows she can do nothing to help. As she is now bereft of Kryptonian powers, Kara is now susceptible to human frailities, such as the common cold. A single sneeze at CatCo Worldwide Media causes a stir with her impossible boss, Cat Grant, who immediately sends her home before Kara's millions of micro-killers causes the collapse of the entire company (in Cat's mind anyway).

Meanwhile, at the D.E.O. underground compound, Hank Henshaw shows Alex Danvers a high-profile alien prisoner named Jemm, who has strong psionic abilities. The earth tremors rocking the city causes a power outtage, which shuts down the containment field keeping Jemm prisoner, and he is now free. Henshaw passes out neural inhibitors, warning people that if Jemm can get within proximity of them, he can take control of their minds.

Alex is now doubly cautious, not only because of Jemm, but because she does not trust Hank Henshaw. She suspects that Hank might be responsible for the death of her father, Jeremiah Danvers.

Maxwell Lord is out on the street helping people during the earthquake, but by and large, he is mostly using this as a photo-opportunity. Kara and Jimmy come upon him and try to help out, and Jimmy has to push Kara out of the way from some falling debris. The impact results in breaking her arm. A woman is in distress over her dying husband, and Kara begins to tear up, knowing that there is absolutely nothing she can do.

Back at CatCo, Cat Grant has Winn (whose name she never correctly remembers) cobble together some cable feeds so they can get a broadcast out. Cat gives a passionate speech to the people of National City, expressing support for the heroism of not only the absent Supergirl, but for regular heroes as well.

Kara can no longer stand idly by and do nothing. When she hears about a robbery taking place at a convenience store, she goes to help. Jimmy warns her that the criminals have guns and that she is no longer bulletproof, but Kara reminds him that nobody else knows about that. Donning her Supergirl costume, she goes to the store, and uses her humanity to convince the looter to surrender her weapon. Jimmy captures a photograph of the emotional event.

They return to CatCo, which is still in the midst of suffering structural damage from the earthquake. People from an upper floor are trapped and cut off, unable to use the elevator to evacuate the building. Jimmy scales the interior of the elevator shaft to help lower them down to a lower floor, but he falls and begins to plummet to his death. Fear and Adrenalin prompts a sudden return of Kara's powers, and she swoops down the shaft to save him.

Back at D.E.O. headquarters, Hank Henshaw instructs his team to seek out Jemm. Alex is frustrated that he is leaving her behind, and separates himself from the group. He later reports that two agents named Tsung and Reynolds have been taken out, and their neural inhibitors were destroyed. Alex disobeys orders and leaves the command center to find Jemm. She comes upon the bodies of Tsung and Reynolds and finds that their head-pieces are still operable. Henshaw lied to her.

Along with fellow agent Donovan, she scours the catacombs in search of Jemm. They are separated and Alex runs into Hank Henshaw. She pulls her gun on him and handcuffs to him a steel pole. Jemm meanwhile, manages to take control of Agent Donovan and he is out of the game. Alex is all alone now.

She returns to the containment area and takes a perch on the upper scaffolding, waiting for Jemm to enter the room. Jemm appears and Alex unloads her rifle on him, but the bullets do nothing. A sudden flurry of activity occurs as Alex watches a shadowy unknown combatant take down Jemm with a series of quick physical blows. The combatant turns out to be Hank Henshaw.

Now that things have quieted down, Hank realizes that he owes Alex an explanation. He tells her that the real Hank Henshaw is dead. He died on the same mission as her father, which involved retrieving an alien life form found in Peru. During the mission, Jeremiah Danvers realized that the alien was just an innocent creature that Henshaw intended on terminating. He sacrificed himself to save the alien. Henshaw died moments later. The alien was a shape-shifter and the last son of the planet Mars. He assumed his form and committed himself to honoring Jeremiah's memory by protecting his family. As Alex listens awestruck, "Henshaw" assumes his true form, that of J'onn J'onzz - the Last Son of Mars.

Later, Supergirl has a rooftop meeting with Cat Grant. She thanks her for the kind words that she said in her broadcast and told her how she helped to inspire people, including herself. She flies off, but as she's zipping across the skyline, something barrels into her, driving her to the ground. Supergirl rises from the dust to see her wicked aunt, Astra, and two Kryptonian henchman standing over her.

Crew

 * Joanie L. Woehler - Co-producer
 * Jennifer Lence - Co-producer
 * Carl Ogawa - Co-producer
 * Michael Grassi - Producer
 * Ted Sullivan - Producer
 * Michael Cedar - Producer
 * Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - Consulting producer


 * Yahlin Chang - Co-executive producer
 * Sarah Schechter - Executive producer
 * Ali Adler - Executive producer
 * Andrew Kreisberg - Executive producer
 * Greg Berlanti - Executive producer
 * Curtis Krick - Associate producer
 * Blake Neely - Composer

Notes & Trivia

 * Supergirl was created by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, and Andrew Kreisberg based on the comic book superhero featured in titles published by DC Comics.


 * This episode is production code number 4X7607.


 * This episode had a viewership of 7.665 million people.


 * This is the first episode of Supergirl directed by Larry Teng.


 * This is the second episode of Supergirl written and/or co-written by Yahlin Chang. Yahlin also worked on "How Does She Do It?".


 * This is the second episode of Supergirl written and/or co-written by Ted Sullivan. Ted also worked on "How Does She Do It?".


 * Actor Peter Facinelli is given a "Special Guest Star" credit in this episode.


 * Actor Charles Halford is also known for playing another DC Comics character. He played Chas Chandler on the short-lived TV series Constantine.

Comic connections

 * Jemm is a DC Comics character, more popularly known with the combined honorific, "Jemm, Son of Saturn". He was created by writer Greg Potter and artist Gene Colan and first appeared in his own twelve-issue limited series, Jemm, Son of Saturn, which was published from September, 1984 to August, 1985.


 * J'onn J'onzz is a DC Comics character, who is also known by the code name, The Martian Manhunter. He was created by writers Joe Samachson and Jack Miller and artist Joe Certa. He first appeared as the third feature in Detective Comics #225 in November, 1955, making him the very first Silver Age era costumed superhero (pre-dating the first appearance of Barry Allen, The Flash, by almost a year). J'onn J'onzz has also made appearances in episodes of Smallville, where he was played by actor Phil Morris, and was one of the main characters on Justice League, where he was voiced by Carl Lumbly.


 * Jeremiah Danvers is referenced multiple times in this episode. He made two appearances thus far in the series, both of which were in flashback. He appeared in the very beginning of the pilot episode, and also appeared in "Livewire".