“Manhunter” is episode seventeen of season one of Supergirl.
The episode opens with Kara lying on her couch, eating and watching the news. The reporter is saying that what was once a symbol of hope is now a symbol of fear. Supergirl arrived at a crime scene at a bank and was met with scepticism and fear, not cheers. The reporter continues, saying that it’s rumoured Supergirl was affected by a mind-altering drug, but she turned against the city once so she may do it again. For, in the previous episode, “Falling”, Kara had been exposed to some Red Kryptonite and had gone totally off the rails.
Cat is also watching the news in her office, along with others. She comments that she knows people are slow to forgive, but this is ridiculous. And that the crime rate is up 40%. Winn asks Cat if Supergirl has lost people’s trust for good. She replies saying that if Mel Gibson can present at the Golden Globes then this, too, will pass.
Cat then calls out for Kara but Winn points out that he told Cat Kara was sick. Cat says that he told her that at 9 AM; he replies that people are generally sick for the entire day. Cat considers this to be unacceptable and asks who will manage the phones. Winn replies that he will, then gets a message from Siobhan – who Evil Kara got fired – asking to meet him at Noonian’s. So he says he has to rush out. Leaving only James behind. When Cat’s phone rings, James eventually picks it up. Even though Cat is actually sitting right next to it.
At Noonian’s, Siobhan tells Winn that Kara has ruined her entire life. No-one will hire her; she has sent out her resume to every media outlet in the city but, as soon as they find out her name, they are not interested. Winn asks why and Siobhan tells him it’s because that blonde mean girl – Kara – ratted her out to the Queen of All Media. To be far, even though Evil Kara did that, Siobhan wasn’t exactly miss sweet and innocence and was plenty mean to Kara.
Siobhan says that has been trying her entire life to be a journalist and in one fell swoop Kara Danvers crushed all her dreams. And that she hates her. Winn tells her this is just a setback, and all powerful people have setbacks. If Siobhan focuses on what she really wants, once she has a goal, nothing will stop her. Looking at Siobhan’s face, Winn’s suggestion may not have been a good idea.
At the DEO, Alex is watching another reporter asking who is this alien, this scary, powerful and potentially dangerous monster. For, in order to stop Supergirl killing Alex, Hank revealed himself to be J’onn J’onzz and got arrested. Said dangerous monster is currently in a cell at the DEO eating Chocos as Alex enters. She comments he doesn’t look that scary eating them.
Hank asks how Alex knew they were his favourite. She replies that he eats them at 3 AM. You only eat your favourites at 3 AM. Hank wants her to stop visiting him, but Alex tells him that she likes taking care of him for once. Hank still wants to protect Alex, and tells her that she has to keep her distance. To claim that he betrayed her. Alex says she would never do that, but, according to Hank, there has to be a reckoning for an alien taking control of a government organisation. The sort of reckoning where people get disappeared. Alex will use everything Hank taught her, but she will not abandon him.
Vasquez comes into the room and tells Alex she needs to come outside. Kara is there too, as are some soldiers and Major Lane – it seems Lucy is back in uniform. She is working for Colonel James Harper of the U.S. Marine Corps (Eddie McClintock, Warehouse 13‘s Pete Lattimer). He has been put in charge of a joint task force by the Pentagon to investigate J’onn J’onzz’s infiltration of the DEO, to find out what he did and who knew about him.
Alex accuses the colonel of being on a witch hunt, but he replies that everything will be done by the book, to identify, remove and ultimately prosecute enemies of the state. Lucy is on the investigation because he needed someone familiar with the major players that could be trusted to cut through the subterfuge. Lucy says that she’s concerned that everyone is compromised. Colonel Harper plans to identify J’onn J’onzz’s confederates, and the interrogation will start with him.
Hank of course knows Lucy, but it seems that he knows Harper as well. As a friend. Harper is really not happy about having an alien in his home. He tells Hank that he knows what he can do, and a stasis field has been set up to stop Hank from shifting or using his powers. There is also something stopping Kara from listening in.
Hank’s interrogation goes back ten years. The real Hank Henshaw is briefing the DEO about how some villagers in South America believe that Supay, the Incan Lord of the Underworld and Lord of Death, as returned to live amongst them. Henshaw tells the team that this actually an alien fugitive, a manhunter, one they have been hunting for so long. He is the most dangerous foe that have ever faced, so they should shoot to kill. Jeremiah Danvers is not happy with this directive. On the mission, in the Peruvian Andes, a snake nearly gets Jeremiah, but J’onn J’onzz stops it.
In the present, Harper does not really believe this. Hank says they wanted the truth, so he is telling the truth. He continues with the story. J’onn J’onzz and Jeremiah are chatting by a fire in the jungle. Jeremiah believes that J’onn J’onzz is not a threat. That he’s actually a refugee, like his daughter – Kara. Then Henshaw appears and shoots J’onn J’onzz. According to Henshaw, Superman believes that J’onn J’onzz is the most powerful being on the face of the Earth. Considering who said that, Henshaw thinks that’s saying something. Henshaw is about to kill J’onn J’onzz when Jeremiah stops him. The two fight, Jeremiah gets stabbed and Henshaw is thrown off a cliff (now, given who the real Hank Henshaw is, might he be back?). Jeremiah asks J’onn J’onzz to take care of his girls, then dies.
Harper is not convinced by Hank’s story, although Lucy doesn’t appear quite as sure. The real Hank Henshaw was Harper’s best friend, who dedicated his life to keeping the country safe, and J’onn J’onzz murdered him. So it looks like the is a substantial personal element to Harper’s investigation. Hank is then carted off.
Alex is also interrogated, under polygraph. It seems she was a bit of a party girl until Hank – J’onn J’onzz – recruited her for the DEO. She passes the polygraph, but Lucy knows she’s lying. So Alex is arrested as well. When Kara asks where they are going, she is told Project Cadmus. It seems James has heard of Cadmus – he says it’s the reason Superman refuses to work with the government. Not a promising sign.
Siobhan takes Winn’s advice, but how she does it is by sending an email to Cat, supposedly from Kara. Not a nice email either by the sounds of it. There are quite a few flashbacks to the past – for Hank, Alex and Kara, especially when the latter first came to Midvale. Not clips from other episodes either, but genuine new clips revealing the past and why they are who they are.