Supergirl has a really bad few days in “Falling,” and so do a lot of her supporting cast. One of the challenges of the show is that Superman exists, and has been around for a while, but at the same time they are having some classic Superman elements appear for the first time on Supergirl. That makes sense, you don’t want a lot of, “Oh, this happened before with Superman,” but it also makes those of us who know the comics a bit confused from time to time. When she fought Reactron, he’d been around a while and has clashed with Superman before. The Bizarro idea was new to this show, for example.

There are some familiar faces in new roles, as well as a few surprise reveals along the way in “Solitude,” this week’s episode of Supergirl. After the many problems with last week’s episode, this one is a lot better in my opinion. They are doing a good job of building Supergirl’s mythos up separate from Superman’s, while still including him. That’s a fine line to walk but I think they are doing it well.

The writers on Supergirl continue their tradition of borrowing phrases from Superman’s long history. “Truth, Justice and the American Way” was another part of his famous tv introduction back in the black and white era. The “American Way” now is possibly a bit more ominous phrase in some lights, as they demonstrate this week.

Maxwell Lord continues to play supervillain for never specified reasons in “Bizarro.” Any fan of Superman, and most comic fans in general, know what’s coming from that title. Max has created his own faux-Supergirl, mentally conditioned her to hate the real Supergirl, and turned her loose.

Supergirl has to deal with “Childish Things” in this week’s episode. Since I first learned what Winn’s full name was, I was pretty sure this was coming. Winn’s father is Winslow Schott, the Toyman, usually a Superman foe. Here, he kills several guards as he escapes from prison.