“Stronger Together” is episode two of season one of Supergirl.
In the first episode, “Pilot”, Kara revealed herself to the world and discovered that her sister, Alex, was actually an agent for the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, Earth’s first line of defence against aliens. When Kara’s pod left the Phantom Zone, it brought with it Fort Rozz, where Krypton had sent criminals from all over the galaxy. Sent there by Kara’s mother, Alura. So they have a bit of a grudge against Kara’s family. Well, not all of Kara’s family, for one of the supervillains is Kara’s aunt, General Astra. James Olsen had revealed to Kara that he knew who she was, as he was told by Superman, and she had revealed herself to her friend Winn as well. Supergirl’s first operation with the DEO did work out successfully, as she defeated Vartox, who killed himself willingly.
This episode opens with Kara saying that, when people see the red cape, they expect to see a certain someone. It’s been a week since Kara revealed herself and she’s thinking she might have a handle on things. Then she nearly gets hit by a missile.
The DEO is firing missiles at Kara and Director Henshaw is asking Alex if that’s as fast as she can go. Kara asks Henshaw if everyone has to go through these tests or whether he’s just picking on her. Before Kara can finish the sentence, Henshaw says that it isn’t because she’s a girl; all his field officers have to go through rigorous mental and physical training. Kara, however, was going to say ‘alien’ not ‘girl.’
Kara does manage to go faster and breaks the sound barrier. So, faster than at least some speeding bullets, but not all of them yet. Alex tells Kara that she had to go through a full year of training before she was allowed in the field. Alex is also happy that Kara now knows the truth, as she hated keeping her real job a secret from her. Kara tells Alex she though Alex was a bad liar when they were growing up; Alex tells her that’s how good liars behave. Winn then calls Kara and tells her there’s a fire at the port, so Kara decides to go help. Alex tells her that she still has limits.
When Supergirl arrives at the port she asks the fire chief how she can help. He tells her that there are a million barrels of oil on the ship and they are going to blow if the fire isn’t out. One of the firemen comments that Superman would have blown the fire out by now so Kara tries. And fails. Then she decides to move the ship instead and succeeds. Unfortunately Kara also breaks the front end of the ship, causing oil to pour out into the bay. Not an unqualified success.
This point is made on a news report as Kara arrives at work, as the question is whether Supergirl is a miracle or menace. She comments to Winn about having gone from superhero to ecoterrorist. Also on the news is a Maxwell Lord (who is probably going to be important in the future) who has pledged money to clean up the oil spill. Lord says never mind Supergirl’s lack of experience, he’s worried that she’ going to bring trouble to National City. Pointing out that, since Superman’s arrival, Metropolis has become the site of a virtual super bad guy war.
Kara’s superhearing has always allowed her to tell when Cat Grant is arriving at the office and now Winn says that at least he now knows how she does that. Cat is annoyed that Supergirl is the lead story on the Daily Planet home page, as she branded Kara. Although Cat is not impressed with how she’s doing; hasthtag terrible girl is her phrase.
James comments that even Superman made mistakes in the beginning and that at least Supergirl is saving lives. In the sloppiest way possible is Cat’s opinion. Cat also wants an interview with Supergirl so that she can take control of her narrative. Given James’ relationship with Superman, she expects him to arrange an interview by the end of the week. After the meeting, Cat tells Kara she knows what’s going on. Well, actually she doesn’t, nor does she care; Cat simply wants Kara to get her head out of the clouds and back behind the desk where it belongs. Kara tells James that she doesn’t want to do an interview with Cat, because surely she’ll recognise her own assistant. James says Cat won’t – Cat doesn’t even see her now. And gives her a pep talk.
At Plastino Chemicals, a security guard sees a man messing around with a tank, and asks him to identify himself. The man turns around and his mouth opens impossibly wide, and it’s not a human mouth either. Okay, he’s not a man. The whatever is it chases the guard down and attacks him.
The DEO is on site and so is Supergirl. Henshaw wants to know why and Alex tells him that the attack was done by an alien and now they have an actual alien to work with. Kara has a flashback to Krypton, and tells them that the guard was killed by a Hellgrammite. Essentially a giant insect, but one that can disguise itself as human. Back at the base, Henshaw tells Kara that he wants her to prove that she can handle herself without being killed. Kara says she’s ready enough so Alex takes her to a room – and punches her in the face. The room has Kryptonite emitters which weaken Kara, so Alex is able to wipe the floor with her. Alex tells her that most of the Fort Rozz escapees have powers, and that they have both surprise and time to master them (and there are at least a few Kryptonians who will have exactly the same powers as Kara).
At the office, Cat says she’s sick of hearing about the Man of Steel. She also mentions to Kara that any woman knows they have to work twice as hard as any man to be half as good. So Kara asks Cat what advice she would give Supergirl if Supergirl was standing in front of her. Which she is. Cat says she would tell Supergirl to calm down. She’s trying to do too much too fast, causing an oil spill and leaving a plane in the river. There’s a learning curve to this. Cat started out as Perry White’s assistant and had to start small and work her way up. Supergirl should take a page out of Kara’s book.
Kara actually listens to this, so she meets with Winn and James. Both knew she was Supergirl, but neither knew the other knew. Kara says she needs to practice and needs their help. Which is by doing little things first. Well, comparatively little. Such as armed robberies, rescuing ambulances and rescuing something called Fluffy from a tree.
The Hellgrammite is brought before General Astra and he tells her that he needs to eat. She thinks he will serve as bait for Supergirl. Henshaw things the Hellgrammite has enough chemicals to build a really big chemical bomb, because he has hit plants all over the country. However, an analysis of the alien’s DNA shows that might not be the case. It has a chlorine foundation; the Hellgrammite is attacking chemical plants because he eats DDT. Which is banned and the stockpiles of it are being destroyed. Making it harder for him to find food.
Cat talks to James about Supergirl. She tells him that the ‘S’ on Supergirl’s cape is a team logo, so there is a connection to Superman, whether Supergirl is his sister or girlfriend. So she wants James to use his connection to Superman to get an interview.
Kara and Alex are still working on their new, and changed, relationship. Something is revealed about Henshaw, and the full something can be guessed if you recognise the name. And it looks like General Astra is either not solely in charge of the Fort Rozz prisoners, or is actually working for someone.