Supergirl Season 4: 4 Ups & 1 Down From 'Suspicious Minds'

1. The Stakes

Whether it was the emotional threat of Haley discovering Kara's secret or the physical threat of the Morai, this week's Supergirl was full of real stakes. The whole episode was built upon characters protecting something that was important to them. Kara went out of her way to protect life, Team Supergirl went out of their way to protect her secret and the Morai went out of their way to protect themselves. All of this was directly impacted by Haley who was the episode's true antagonist and, as a result, she was responsible for all of these stakes.

The fact that she uncovered the truth about Supergirl mere seconds before the invasion of the Morai was a stroke of genius, as it meant that this proud by-the-book woman had to rely on help from the one person that she was trying to destroy. Moreover, when Kara came through and saved her life, Haley sunk to new lows and effectively told her that her life as Kara Danvers was dead. In that moment, our hearts sunk because all that hard work, all that effort, was for nothing because the Girl of Steel couldn't overcome her biggest foe.

Then, the unthinkable happened and, in the season's most satisfying scene, Alex knocked her boss out cold - allowing J'onn to erase the memory from her mind. However, the fact that he couldn't stop her from trying again meant that, in order to protect Kara's secret, he had to erase Alex's mind too.

From beginning to end, this was an edge-of-seat thrill-ride that just did not stop. A masterclass in how to sell the importance of stakes, it highlighted how much these characters believed in what they were fighting for and how sometimes, the cost is worth it.

Now, for the negative...