Episode Two ‘Triggers’ features new villain, Psi, a psychic thief who manipulates her victims by showing them their most distressing fears. At this stage of the season, Psi adds to Supergirl’s current emotional trauma. She becomes entirely focused on being Supergirl that her emotional strength weakens and causes her to fall victim to Psi’s psychic powers.
This episode also begins to follow Samantha Arias, who will become season three’s villain, Reign. As of yet, she remains a mystery but has enough charm and intrigue to make her an engaging and fresh addition to the season.
The relationship between Samantha and her daughter is one of her strongest of the episode. The unique twist the writers have given their relationship is that Samantha’s daughter wants to prove to her mother she is a superhero. But, Samantha remains in complete denial about how she saved her daughter in the previous episode.
It’s interesting to see how Samantha is going to become entwined in Kara’s life now that she is the new head of L corp. Her powers seem to have an emotional trigger which is fascinating about how Supergirl’s powers work.
Networking with Supergirl
Another development which is giving season three a fresh dynamic is Lena buying Cat Co. The conflict which arises between Lena and James is surprising but rather compelling because Lena neglects James’ as a valuable member of the team.
There is no justifiable reason for Lena to ignore his role as she is someone who treats everyone equally. It feels like the writer’s are trying to enforce a conflict between them.
However, there is an undeniable attraction between them which could create some interesting complications between Lena and Kara and Lena’s role within Cat Co. As a character, James is a far more engaging character to watch when he’s at Cat Co and not as Guardian.
The Fears of Supergirl
Psi doesn’t have enough background to make her a formidable opponent to Supergirl but she does give the window of opportunity for Supergirl to experience her worst fears. At first, we see Krypton being destroyed from Kara’s perspective in the pod that brought her to Earth.
But Supergirl begins to see that as a sign that Mon-El is dead because her imagination makes her believe the pod is his. This raises some important questions about how fear affects the mind and can manipulate what is real.
Alex is the strong one of the episode; offering hope and support for her sister as she clarifies Mon-El’s survival to Kara. What we learn from ‘Triggers’ is that Supergirl is Kara’s escapism when it comes to dealing with her emotional problems.
Acceptance is Key
As Samantha and her daughter find themselves almost crushed to death (again), this time it’s Supergirl who saves them. It will be interesting to see how Samantha perceives Supergirl and how that affects her want or disdain towards becoming someone with similar powers.
Samantha’s daughter becomes the catalyst for Alex and Maggie’s conversation about children. It seems very unrealistic that they wouldn’t have discussed the prospect of children before getting engaged.
I wouldn’t have imagined either of them wanting children as it doesn’t feel like a natural progression for their relationship to take. It may have something to do with the fact that Floriana Lima who plays Maggie is leaving and the writers needed to create a story that would give her a reason to leave.
Slowly But Surely
The episode does feature some interesting scenes between Samantha and her daughter and we can only hope the conflicts between them stay complicated and compelling. In terms of Supergirl’s development, she is able to accept how she feels and move forward with the help of her sister.
Psi has some cool powers but she doesn’t have enough dimensions to make her a memorable addition to the season. But, her presence does add nuance and richness to Supergirl’s guilt and isolation.
‘Triggers’ is a mixture of good drama and enforced conflict. The Alex/Maggie and Lena/ James conflicts feel like they are there because of a lack of clear direction.
