The Adventures of Supergirl

"The Adventures of Supergirl" is the first episode and premiere of the second season from The CW television series Supergirl, which aired on October 10, 2016. It is the first new episode of Supergirl to air on the CW since moving from CBS, and the first to feature a prominent appearance by Superman, portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin.

Plot
Kara and J'onn discover a male inside the crashed pod. They take the alien to the real headquarters of the DEO atop a skyscraper. While he is examined, Kara returns to work, where Cat insists she decide what she wants to do with her life. The spacecraft Venture's engines explode during its maiden flight. Kara rushes to the scene and receives aid from her cousin Clark Kent (Superman). Successful, the pair return to the DEO, where everyone except J'onn is cordial. Alex learns of a past argument between the two involving J'onn discovering kryptonite and keeping it to use against rogue Kryptonians instead of destroying it.

Kara and Clark are suspicious of Lena Luthor's absence during the maiden voyage and decide to investigate, given Luthor Corp, now under her management after her brother Lex Luthor's imprisonment, partially built the Venture. A man purchases drones and kills the supplier with one of them, before reporting to his contact that he hadn't killed the target yet, due to appearances from Superman and Supergirl. Lena wants to publicly rebrand Luthor Corp to atone for her brother's crimes. As their investigation turns up no results, Kara starts to believe Lena is sincere.

Alex and Winn discover the Venture was sabotaged because Lena was supposed to be there. In fact, the bomb was housed under Lena's seat: Seat 23B. As Lena prepares to take off in a helicopter, a series of weapon drones arrive to kill her, but are thwarted by Supergirl and Superman. Winn determines the attacker to be a terrorist named John Corben. J'onn speaks to Superman to settle their differences, but Superman states that he cannot be involved as long as the kryptonite in the DEO's possession can potentially be used against him or Kara. Kara gets a lecture from Cat at work about her decision. Lena comes under attack at Luthor Corp's rebranding ceremony into "L-Corp." Supergirl and Superman save the Luthor Corp building from collapsing as Alex catches up with Corben, who is posing as a police officer. He overpowers Alex and takes her hostage, revealing Lex hired him to kill Lena, but Lena non-fatally shoots him, saving Alex.

Afterwards, Clark shows Lena the Daily Planet headline of Corben's capture, and Lena thanks him for identifying her as Corben's shooter, believing it will reduce the risk of further attacks by Lex. Kara finally tells Cat that she wants to be a reporter and Cat gives her the job. Kara and James agree that they should remain friends. J'onn makes Winn an official member of the DEO and Clark decides to stay and help Kara. At Project Cadmus' secret headquarters, Corben is being experimented on by the organization's leader, who redubs him "Metallo."

Ratings
The episode attracted 758,000 viewers for its British premiere, making it the 3rd most watched programme on Sky One for the week.

Critical response
This episode received excellent reviews.

Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode an 8.7/10, stating "Any fears that Supergirl might suffer from the transition to The CW were immediately put to rest this week. The show's innate charm remains in full force. If anything, that charm has only increased now that Kara is finally joined by her cousin. Despite a few missteps in this episode (the poor handling of the Kara/James romance, the lack of focus on Mon-El), the new season is off to a very strong start."

Caroline Siede of the AV Club gave the episode an A, citing the outing as the best way to kick off the second season.