There is a lot to unpack in this episode. Like "The Last Children of Krypton," "Welcome to Earth" functions as a table-setter for what's to come in this season while also introducing what feels like a half dozen new minor characters and fleshing out a couple of others. We know a little more about the man in the Kryptonian pod. There's even the re-appearance of Lena Luthor after being absent for one episode. And it's an episode that is rife with using Kara's status as an alien refugee living on Earth in hiding as a metaphor for what the United States is built on. 

 

 

It's a fine tack for the show to take, since many stories in the Superman mythos simply focus on Superman saving the people of Metropolis. Here, most times, it's Supergirl saving the people of National City. While the Fort Rozz criminals don't make an appearance, they factor into the philosophy the episode is trying to present. The President of the United States (Lynda Carter) comes to National City to advocate for her controversial alien amnesty initiative, which has its upsides and downsides. Alien refugees who are just trying to make a simple living while hiding amongst humans would be guaranteed rights and protections similar to what Americans have. The bad guys, criminals like those who were in Fort Rozz, would also enjoy, and probably abuse, those same rights afforded to them by the amnesty.

 

Throughout the (rather busy) episode, there is debate over the righteousness of the initiative. Some humans want protection from those aliens who might prove to be dangerous. What helps in advancing that idea is the immediate threat of the President being attacked just as she lands at National City to be greeted by Supergirl. Since the alien in the Kryptonian pod recently escaped DEO custody, it's presumed that he is behind the attack. Complicating matters is the presence of Detective Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima), investigating the alien attack for the National City Police Department. There's always one hardcore believer who is seemingly the only person who investigates the strange things that happen in one particular place.

 

 

The main provision for the protection of humans from dangerous aliens is Lena Luthor's creation of an alien fingerprint scanner.  That Kara finds out about such a tool while writing a profile on Lena Luthor invites more debate about both sides of the amnesty initiative. Lena does make a good point that humans want to identify those aliens who are living among them in hiding, but that viewpoint also carries with it a stigma that won't go away any time soon. In fact, this unsettlingly blurs the line with reality a bit, as US citizens have had to deal with months and months of a Presidential nominee who wants to ban large groups of immigrants from entering the country. It should be interesting to see what Lena will bring to the table in the future.

 

Over the course of the episode, we're shown an unexpected expansion of the show's world, as Maggie (and we find out later, Hank) goes to a bar populated by alien refugees to get some information on the attack. The show could easily have devolved into a mess by introducing so many new characters and viewpoints, but it stays clean and to the point. The DEO finds out that the man from the Kryptonian pod is actually an alien from the planet Daxam, which was a sister planet of Krypton, and engaged in a years-long bloody war with Krypton. Kara, naturally, doesn't particularly like or trust Daxamites, pinning the assassination attempt on him until the actual assassin is revealed. It's a nicely hidden surprise to see Scorcher (Nadine Crocker) first attack the President again, then kidnap Sawyer in the chaos of battle with Supergirl. The show can still deliver on its action sequences even when there's little variety to them beyond Supergirl punching someone really hard. That tactic isn't so effective with Scorcher, so we get to see a cool visual of Kara creating a vortex in order to deplete her fire-based abilities of crucial oxygen.

 

 

The series doesn't sit still for very long, which lends to some solid character and plot development in the meantime. While the metaphor can lack some nuance and land with a blunt thud at times, the episode works at a solid clip and pace. Even the little subplot of a business conflict between James and Snapper Carr was entertaining, even if the conclusion of James asserting his confidence as interim CatCo CEO turned out rather predictable. At this point, Carr is much like what Cat Grant was at the beginning of the series: One-note and abrasive towards everyone in his orbit. Maybe he can get a bit of development in future episodes. It would definitely round out an already solid-looking series right into shape.