This week’s Supergirl brought a very familiar place – and somewhat face – into the fold as Supergirl headed to the Fortress of Solitude to devise a plan to stop Indigo (aka Brainiac 8). This episode was all about continuing the drama from week’s prior, while also setting up some new and unexpected twists. So let’s take a Closer Look at Supergirl “Solitude”.

Secrets To Tell & Who Should Tell Them:

Once again, the theme of ‘secrets’ took front and center. With all the talk about secrets “protecting people” and others not understanding, it’s clear to see this show is part Arrow-verse; but what this episode did with those secrets was give us an emotional conclusion like no other. The theme of course kicked off with Indigo calling upon CatCo to reveal the adulterers from an Ashley-Maddison-like site and continued full force with the ongoing argument between James and Lucy about trust and finding out who Supergirl is. Although in the end, it turned out Supergirl wasn’t the ‘secret’ to be shared, but rather everything else about James in general.

Though it was important for these questions of secrets to come up between James and Lucy as this encapsulated the idea of whether or not it was ‘your secret to tell’. James and Lucy thought the problem of their relationship was ‘keeping Supergirl’s identity secret’ – and in the end Kara would have opened up about that secret – but that’s just it: it was Kara’s secret to tell, not James’s. The actual secret in question that needed telling was James’s life (ie: stories of his father). Much like how Cat argued that they shouldn’t post someone else’s dirty laundry, it was James’s dirty laundry (in this case, trust issues) that needed addressing, not Supergirl’s identity.

This theme reached its true climax though in the final moments of the episode as Alex finally came clean about Astra’s death.  Much like the cheaters cases and Supergirl’s identity, Alex’s role in Astra’s death was something only Alex could tell. Hank tried his best to protect her and cover it up, but it was always Alex’s secret. And revealing this bombshell when she did shows true strength. Everything was covered up and Kara had finally put aside her feelings of Hank because she saw how it almost got the world annihilated. Though the true focal point of this was Kara’s reaction, which had all the intensity of someone scorned, and yet ended with a wonderful embrace of forgiveness. To make matters even more emotional, Kara offered her hand to Hank – the man she previously hated. In this moment, the three of them truly did become family as Kara sees the lengths Hank went through to protect the sisters… SOMEONE GET ME SOME TISSUES!!!!!!

Up, Up & Away – Easter Eggs, Quotes & Other Notables:

• Adding on to the last paragraph, the reason Alex told in THAT moment was because while Supergirl was feeling guilty that her feud with Hank almost caused the world to end, Alex was feeling even more guilty because that feud was misplaced and was all because of her.
• Whereas last episode introduced Siobhan as the workplace nemesis, this episode showed us a much more fragile side of her … and if you were Winn, a more affectionate side. I wanted so much to be happy when Siobhan transformed into Silver Banshee, but now it seems like it’ll be a sad transformation.
• Beyond changing the ‘feelings’ of her upcoming transformation, the mention of her coming from a well to do family is also a set up as Siobhan’s family in the comics was also fairly powerful.
• Seriously though Indigo … Mystique much?
• The Legion rin we saw in The Flash “Welcome To Earth 2”  was apparently part of the Supergirl universe.
• Again, lets take a moment to appreciate the special effects this episode. From the transforming Indigo to showing the steel bending under Supergirl’s grip on the nuke, everything was very well done!
• Favorite Quotes – Winner: Winn
  • “Toyman jr… fix this!” – Cat Grant
  • “I definitely liked it better when she didn’t know who I was” – Winn
  • “Oh thank god we have our own personal Black Ops Unit” – Winn
  • “I could throw her into space, I dream about doing that” – Kara about Siobhan
  • “Tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you” – Siobhan, multiple times to Winn