Supergirl 4x13 : What's So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Supergirl returns with one mouthful of a title. Joking aside this in my opinion is one of the best episodes this season. Partly helped by the ever excellent Manchester Black who brakes out of prison to form his own little super-villain team. The episode begins with a nice little change to the intro that mentions how Alex doesn't know that Kara is Supergirl. Nothing major of course but a nice touch nevertheless. At James's office we see him and Kara talking about how she's been coming up with multiple articles about Ben Lockwood. Alex walks in soon after and asks Kara if she is ready for the plans they've made. Not seconds later Nia walks in and asks Kara is she ready for the plans they have also made. Of course they are plans to go and train along with Brainy so Kara goes with Nia, leaving Alex and the viewer questioning if Kara is juggling a little too much perhaps. So just where are Kara, Nia and Brainy going? well to the Fortress Of Solitude of course. Upon arrival Nia is blown away by the scope and technology on show and totally fangirls out. Brainy clashes with the personalized robot before getting to training with Nia. At National City prison we see John visiting and talking with Manchester Black who is sporting a new haircut. The conversation is short lived however as not moments in John gets hit with a burst of electricity as we're introduced to Hat. A man who has the ability to teleport from one place to another with the help of fifth dimensional energy. He also has the ability to literally pull anything from his hat or take something from someone's hand as we see later in the episode when he takes Brainiac-5's Legion ring. They are joined by the previous episodes villain Menagerie who is still obsessed with jewelry among other things. Supergirl confronts them all outside of the prison and says she will stop them. She is overpowered and retreats back to the Fortress Of Solitude where her and the others watch Manchester Black's social media roll call on a monitor. He says he and the others are going to fight extreme prejudice with even extremer prejudice and start with killing a whole bunch of people. He mentions how Supergirl is probably watching right now with her hands on her hips in the form of hope. And that's exactly how Kara is seen standing before brushing it off a little which was funny. 

Back at the DEO and Lena Luthor arrives to get to work on her project for the government. Taking over Alex's old lab room she gets to work and talks with Alex a bit. The two seem to bond really well throughout, especially towards the end of the episode. Manchester Black and the rest of The Elite as they're now come to be known call out Supergirl who answers the call. They're hold up in Manchester England of course (I mean did you expect anywhere else) and Manchester himself meets Supergirl with backup in tow of course. He mentions how the government and the President have green lit a new satellite that is to be used to shoot down incoming escaped alien pods from crashing into Earth. Kara takes this to heart as that's how she arrived on Earth and goes to see the President himself asking him to shut down the satellite. He denies her request and tells her to leave. Manchester Black is smart though and with the help of an alien who was listening into the entire conversation learns the location of the satellite. This was great as he knew that Supergirl would go right to the president and she fell right into his trap. I can't stress enough how great a villain / anti hero at times he is for this show. He's definitely surpassed Ben Lockwood / Agent Liberty in my opinion. Supergirl's naive behavior was kinda silly given she's been doing this for years now but still I liked this situation a lot. Speaking of Supergirl she goes to pay Alex a visit and asks her for help with the satellite situation. She also denies her but as Supergirl and her superfriends as she puts it take on The Elite at the satellite's base Alex shows up. And it's a good thing she does as Manchester Black manages to launch the satellite. His target? none other than the White House itself. He wants Supergirl and everyone else to see the government burn in a big gulf of flames. Supergirl tasked with a seemingly impossible situation is helped by Alex who throws her the suit from earlier in the season. The same suit that saved her from kryptonite poisoning. With it on Supergirl bursts out of the room and heads straight for the satellite. Manchester Black is not far behind though as he is given the Legion ring by Hat and flys after Supergirl. John stops him and punches him a few times before he disappears with help once more from the Hat. Kara with time running out tilts the satellite so it misses the White House. She doesn't waste no more time on it however as she breaks right through it smashing it to many floating pieces in space. 

The episode ends back at the White House where we see the President once again who condemns Supergirl for what she done. He mentions how the satellite cost over 2 billion dollars and how she could have easily left it there without harming it. Kara says she had no other choice and that it had to be destroyed. Speaking of the president he makes Ben Lockwood apart of his team as an Operator of Alien Affairs. And that's how the episode ends with Ben Lockwood taking his place back as Agent Liberty complete with murdering a man who questions his intentions. All in all though this episode was really impressive. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting much going into it but I really did enjoy this one. Manchester Black was fantastic, the Hat was an interesting if a bit cheesey at times villain and Ben Lockwood looks more unhinged than before. This is Kara almost at her finest. Until next week!

★★★★