“Ace Reporter” is episode eighteen of season two of Supergirl.
Kara arrives at the DEO ready for anything. Only for J’onn to tell her that there is literally nothing to do. Alex says it’s as if someone slipped law-abiding serum into the reservoir. Kara asks if someone did that, is it illegal, she could stop it. Alex, J’onn and Winn all have things they can do. Kara does not. She wonders what she is supposed to do.
So, Kara heads home to do some baking. Mon-El was substantially better at cooking. There’s a knock at the door, and outside is Lena Luthor. She asks if Kara is grief-baking. Well, sort-of; being unemployed is not fun any longer. Kara asks if Lena is okay. Yes, absolutely. Well, there’s something on her mind. Spheerical Industries is having a press conference, unveiling something new. Lena has been invited. She and Jack Spheer, the CEO of Spheerical, used to be close. Just before Lena moved to National City. They were close for two years and running a start-up together for five. Jack is Lena’s Kryptonite, and having Kara along would help. Lena asks what Kara’s Kryptonite is. Well… it’s Kryptonite.
Snapper is there as well, representing CatCo. He pokes at Kara; she pokes back. Far less successfully. Jack comes on stage and mentions three medical miracles of the modern age; vaccines, antibiotics and anaesthesia. He introduces the CEO, Beth Breen (Claudia Doumit, Jiya from Timeless), who is carrying a metal ball. Jack slices his hand open, deliberately, and Beth opens the ball. Things fly out and seal the cut. Lena comments that he did it to Kara; it’s something that she and Jack were working on. Jack introduces the fourth medical miracle, Biomax, a nanobot (those are really big nanobots, if the flying things are individual ones) programme ready to launch across National City. Kara manages to get a question in, overriding Snapper when he tries to override her.
After the press conference, Jack comes over to talk to Lena. Who introduces Kara as one of the best reporters in National City. Kara realises, after a few seconds, that she should probably leave. On the way out a man speaks to her; he has some information for her and wants to meet her in a parking lot tonight. Because she’s the only reporter he can trust.
James is working as Guardian – the lack of crime didn’t last long – and, when he gets back to the van, it is rocking. Winn and Lyra are inside; fortunately, only kissing. Lyra knows that Guardian is James. No, Winn didn’t tell her; humans all smell different. She wants to help fight crime. James is not ecstatic about this idea; after all, she was a criminal. Winn persuades James into agreeing. James is sure he is going to regret saying yes. He does, when Lyra proves to be a little over-enthusiastic on their first outing.
Kara meets with the man in his car; he contacted her because she’s the one who warned the aliens about Cadmus in “Exodus”. He worked as a lab tech at Spheerical, but was fired last month. He was archiving files on their system when he discovered that the files related to the human trials of Biomax were missing from their system. Outside, nanobots are approaching the car. He could find nothing on the human trials in their own archives and thinks they were faked. The nanobots are dangerous. Which is proved when they cause the car to explode, something Kara naturally survives. Albeit in need of some new clothes.
Kara heads to CatCo to see James. She wants him to do a Freedom of Information request, because CatCo will manage it faster. Snapper arrives and asks if James is really willing to destroy the integrity of a media empire. Kara says it doesn’t matter, but overhears Snapper talking to James about a supposed test subject he is meeting with.
Snapper goes to see the man, Derrick Simmons, whilst Kara watches from outside. Simmons says that he technically participated in the human trials, but all he did was sign a form. A nanobot swarm is approaching again, and it attacks. Kara manages to get Snapper out of the way, but Simmons has been dismantled.
When Kara arrives home, Mon-El asks if it went well. Kara tells him a nanobot swarm ate her source. Mon-El informs her that Lena called; she agreed to have dinner with Jack. She hoped Kara would talk her out of it. Kara decides that they are going to the restaurant. Mon-El doesn’t think Lena meant talk her out of it in person. This feels like stalking. Kara corrects him; it’s journalism. Very creepy journalism, according to Mon-El.
Kara and Mon-El arrive at the restaurant and she and Mon-El join Jack and Lena. Jack is explaining how he got the nanobots working; modelling them in starlings, not bees. Linked AI sentience controlled by the mainframe. As Kara and Mon-El leave, Mon-El hugs Jack. And swipes his security pass. So, Kara and he head to Spheerical. There have been human trials. With only one subject, by the looks of it. Jack himself. Who appears to have become a nanobot swarm. There is a twist to this, but it’s one that can be seen coming.
In the previous episode, “Distant Sun”, Mon-El had told his parents he was staying. His father, Lar Gand, accepted this. His mother, Rhea, did not. She considered Lar Gand’s acceptance of their son’s wishes to be a betrayal. And killed her husband. This did not come as a surprise. She’s also not leaving, and shows up at the very end of the episode. Rhea is probably going to cause problems.