David Goyer’s opinion of the character notwithstanding, Supergirl has done more for the public image of the Martian Manhunter than any other non-comic book media in recent memory. Viewers have executive producers Ali Adler and Greg Berlanti to thank for this, as their direction of the series’ overall story modified the shapeshifting superhero’s more cumbersome origins into a more believable arc. That, and they hired actor David Harewood, whose dual portrayal of J’onn J’onzz and Hank Henshaw brought the Martian to life in a convincing manner. So of course it makes sense that an episode like “Manhunter” would come along to reveal what happened between J’onzz, the real Henshaw, and Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) 10 years prior. Just some good ol’ fan service, no?
Yes, and then some. For much of the Cindy Lichtman and Rachel Shukert-scripted episode concerns setup for the rest of the first season. For example, the arrival of Colonel James Harper (Eddie McClintock) — an investigator from the U.S. Marine Corps — spurs a probe into the Department of Extranormal Operations’ apparent oversight in the matter of J’onzz’s infiltration into the organization. Harper shares a name with the DC Comics equivalent of Captain America, the Guardian, but Supergirl‘s version bears stark differences in origin and temperament. Considering how the decidedly anti-alien Harper is dealt with at the episode’s end, however, enough ambiguity persists to suggest his possible return in another, friendlier form.
And then there’s Siobhan Smythe (Italia Ricci), Cat Grant’s (Calista Flockhart) former assistant. For four episodes now, Smythe has served as Kara Danvers’ (Melissa Benoist) chief rival in the non-super setting of the office environment. After she was fired in “Falling,” Smythe became something of an arch-enemy for Kara — albeit one who never spends too much time in the same room as the person she hates so much. The future Silver Banshee’s loathing grows throughout “Manhunter,” and after discovering something rather startling about herself, one of the main villains for next week’s crossover with The Flash, “Worlds Finest” is born.
But not all of “Manhunter” is mere setup. The real meat of the episode arrives in the form of several flashbacks shared by J’onzz, Kara and Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh). In spite of Harper’s animosity, the captured Martian recalls his first and only meeting with Jeremiah during the DEO’s hunt for him in the Peruvian jungle. Ever since Supergirl first revealed J’onzz to Alex and the audience, only the tiniest pieces of backstory have managed to squeak past the writers’ fingertips. Hints about J’onzz and Jeremiah’s meeting, as well as the understanding the two men came to (albeit via a hokey scene involving a harmless Burmese python), were all fans had to go on. And, of course, the suggestion that the actual Hank Henshaw wasn’t all that great of a person.
Harewood chews through these flashback scenes as Henshaw, portraying the DEO director as an alien-hating, government-sponsored vigilante of sorts who deems the Martian’s death an absolute necessity. Sure he knows Superman — after all, the Kryptonian apparently revealed some pertinent information about J’onzz to the DEO — but that doesn’t make them friends. Considering just how nasty Henshaw is, his apparent death during a scuffle with Jeremiah leaves viewers with a mild feeling of catharsis (and comic book fans with the hope that he may yet become Cyborg Superman). Besides, it was his knife that pierced Jeremiah’s side and supposedly killed Alex’s father and Kara’s adopted parent, so his plunge from the edge of the cliff the two men were fighting on seems justly deserved.
“Manhunter” by definition operates as an episode almost wholly devoted to fan service. Easter eggs were hidden for those in the audience who’d know their referents, story lines promised in previous episodes were finally delivered and expanded, and hints of greater things to come were spread out in equal measure. Yet Lichtman and Shukert weren’t just writing to appease anyone — they were advancing the greater Supergirl story first set in motion by Adler, Berlanti and the rest of the writing and producing team. Hence why Kara’s rescue of J’onzz and Alex doesn’t spell the end of the fugitives’ run from the law. Instead, it opens several doors for things known and — per J’onzz’s revelation after scanning Harper’s mind — things unknown.
