The trailer for the latest episode of Supergirl teases a new version of the Parasite - the classic Superman villain who has the power to absorb the abilities of any metahuman or alien he touches. What makes this reveal so interesting is how this version of the Parasite was created and how Supergirl has already used this concept once before.
First appearing in Action Comics #340 in August 1966, the first Parasite was a petty crook named Raymond Maxwell Jensen, who got a job working at a scientific research center so that he could case and rob the facility. Wrongly believing that the center's payroll was hidden inside one of the containers used for storing hazardous materials, Maxwell accidentally exposed himself to strange energies. This transformed him into a monstrous being who could absorb the knowledge and physical properties of anyone he touched. A similar accident at STAR Labs' facility in Pittsburgh in Firestorm Vol. 2 #58 would transform janitor Rudy Jones into the second Parasite.
Related: Supergirl Takes First Step Toward Introducing Darkseid
The trailer for the upcoming episode 'Parasite Lost,' which can be viewed below, reveals the new version of the Parasite that will be plaguing Supergirl. This time the Parasite is Agent Jensen - a rogue DEO agent, who betrayed the agency by helping anti-alien terrorists Mercy and Otis Graves escape custody. Agent Jensen was also responsible for stealing the DEO technology the Graves siblings later used to seed the atmosphere with Kryptonite in the episode 'Fallout.'
Jensen's apparent transformation into the new Parasite occurred at the end of the most recent episode, 'Ahimsa.' It was here that the Graves siblings, their ally Agent Liberty and Jensen attempted to stage a series of alien rampages, using an abducted alien empath named Fiona, a pair of violent convicted alien criminals, some old LexCorp technology and a parasitic alien worm. Though Supergirl and the DEO were able to thwart the scheme, Agent Jensen was able to get away with the alien worm. The episode concluded with Agent Liberty inserting the worm into Jensen's ear canal, assuring him that he was about to 'make something of himself' for their cause.
This alien worm seems to be identical to the one that created the first version of the Parasite in the Arrowverse, which appeared in the season 2 episode 'Changing.' It was here that climatology professor Dr. Rudy Jones became infected by some manner of alien worm, which had been hibernating inside of a wolf's body for thousands of years after becoming trapped in the ice. Much like the symbiote in Venom, the alien repressed Dr. Jones' self-control even as it gave him the ability to drain the life force from other creatures with a touch. Dr. Jones was ultimately transformed into a giant purple monster, similar to the Parasite from the comics, after he attempted to drain the powers from Supergirl and Martian Manhunter at the same time, apparently taking too much power and becoming stuck in a new shape while reflexively mimicking Martian Manhunter's shapeshifting powers.
It remains to be seen if Agent Jensen will undergo a similar metamorphosis in the upcoming episode 'Parasite Lost.' However, the reintroduction of the Parasite suggests that the showrunners of Supergirl realize they made a mistake in killing off the Rudy Jones version of the Parasite after only one outing. Whatever the reason for the return, the battle between Supergirl and this new Parasite is sure to be a memorable one.
More: Supergirl Season 4: Cast & Guest Star Guide
Supergirl season 4 continues Sunday, November 11, on The CW.
Source: The CW
Parasite Supergirl
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Parasite Supergirl Pictures
William Mapother as Dr. Rudy Jones. (Liane Hentscher/The CW)
The November 14 episode of Supergirl introduces another villain from the Superman comics, Parasite. We saw the villain at the end of the previous episode, “Crossfire” and we will learn more about the TV show version of him in “Changing.” While Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kresiberg and the other Supergirl writers often stick to the comic books for the villains, they are going on another tangent with Parasite.
Parasite In the Comics
Supergirl doesn’t look too thrilled about being this close to Parasite. (Liane Hentscher/The CW)
There are two different Parasites in the comics. The first is Raymond Maxwell Jensen, who was introduced in Action Comics #340 in 1966 and was initially wiped out of existence during Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Jensen got his ability to absorb power from Superman by touching him after he was exposed to biohazard materials at a research lab.
After Crisis, a second Parasite, Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Jones, was introduced in Firestorm Vol. 2 #58 in 1987. In the comics, Darkseid manipulated Jones into recreating the origin of the original Parasite at S.T.A.R. Labs by opening a waste container. The material gave Jones the same powers Jensen had.
Jones is the Parasite that appeared in Superman: The Animated Series. Brendan Fletcher played Jones in Smallville.
Parasite in Supergirl
In Supergirl, Jones is played by William Mapother, an experienced television actor who is best known for playing Ethan Rom in ABC’s Lost. He is a doctor and the material that turns him into Parasite isn’t just biohazardous material. According to the episode description, the Parasite is an alien itself and Mapother becomes its host.
In the episode, Jones is obsessed with saving the world from global warming. When his team digs up a wolf thats been buried in ice for thousands of years, they also uncover an alien parasite. The parasite takes over Jones as a host, with Jones giving it a mission: going after climate change deniers.
Mapother is currently only credited for one Supergirl episode. In the final battle with Kara, Mon-El and Guardian (James Olsen in disguise), Kara used plutonium to literally blow-up Parasite. It looks like Parasite’s run on Supergirl will last much shorter than it did in the comics.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/Supergirl2015S4E5ParasiteLost
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Supergirl and the DEO have to find a way to stop Jensen, who has been infected by the Parasite.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Amadei really cut ties with Natalie after finding she was pregnant, or did she keep deliberately do so after learning he was an alien or even getting her pregnant?
- Amplifier Artifact: Amadei's amulet amplifies his healing powers and sustains his life. The Children of Liberty steal it so Lockwood can use it on Jensen, stabilizing his Parasite powers and allowing him to retain abilities indefinitely.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Colonel Haley initially seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure, albeit rather zealous. At the end of the episode, however, she makes it clear that she has no respect for J'onn, demonstrates Fantastic Racism, and becomes quite cold towards Alex when she expresses her own fondness for J'onn.
- Body Horror: The husks Jensen leaves behind are quite gruesome to look at.
- Broken Pedestal: Subverted, as it turns out Amadei did not disown his daughter Elizabeth. It was her mother Natalie that kept him from her.
- By-the-Book Cop: Negative example. Haley insists that Alex should strictly follow the chain of command.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Elizabeth's mother Natalie had a relationship with Amadei that ended badly, so when his name turns up in the media, she leads the Children of Liberty to his amulet in the hopes that they'll steal it and kill him.
- Exact Words:
- Nia told Brainy to find her, not to call her, which lead to the Stalker Without a Crush entry below.
- On a podcast, Ben Lockwood rants about the authorities protecting the aliens who attacked a fair full of families, killing two humans. He 'conveniently' omits the fact that said aliens were being mind controlled and that the two humans killed were wanted criminals who had mind controlled the aliens in the first place. He also, naturally leaves out the little detail of his own culpability in the whole thing (especially that attacking the fair was his idea).
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- From Bad to Worse: Parasite was already a big problem to begin with, but with the amulet the power absorption becomes permanent!
- Healing Hands: Amadei is able to heal aliens by holding their hands. It does not work on humans.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Alex talks Jensen into giving up his racist crusade, only for him to be left effectively brain-dead due to the rapid release.
- Hypocrite:
- Agent Liberty's comment 'humans won't let humans down' might carry a bit more weight if he hadn't used mind-controlled aliens to attack a fair full of innocent people in the previous episode.
- Colonel Haley expresses a preference for the DEO's policies under Hank Henshaw (capture aliens, rather than work with them), but she seems to have no problem working with Supergirl or Brainiac 5 (although she may not be aware that Brainy isn't human).
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- Insane Troll Logic: Elizabeth's mother Natalie; an alien broke her heart, therefore all aliens are bad and the Children of Liberty are great for wanting them off of Earth.
- Karma Houdini: Natalie Hawkings doesn't appear to be arrested for being associated with the Children of Liberty, aiding in the near-death of Amadei and indirectly the deaths of the aliens coming to pay their respects to them.
- Knight Templar: Colonel Haley is willing to trigger an explosion that would kill dozens of innocent people rather than leave a Parasite-empowered Jensen on the loose. Her comments at the end of the episode make it clear that she prefers Hank Henshaw's policies over those of J'onn.
- Legacy Character: Jensen becomes this for Rudy Jones.
- Literal-Minded: When Brainiac meets with Nia Nal, she points out that he never found her. Brainiac disputes that and rattles off a list of personal information about her, including her phone number. When asked why he never called, he says that she said to find her, not call her.
- Mundane Utility: The alien shapeshifter uses his powers to entertain people on the street for money.
- Mythology Gag:
- After helping solve the attack on Amadei, J'onn gets a tip about another client who wants to hire him, suggesting that he'll be acting as a private detective for aliens. In some of the early comics, The Martian Manhunter worked as a detective in his human guise.
- Never My Fault: Natalie Hawkings blames Kara and J'onn for her daughter getting angry at her. She doesn't seem to think that hiding the letters Amadei sent her and misrepresenting him as a callous deadbeat had anything to do with it.
- No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Lena's way of trying to cheer James up, regarding the anti-alien fringe groups that are trying to pervert him into their hero.
- Oh, Crap!: Kara's reaction when she sees that Jensen has been infected with the Parasite.
- Phlebotinum Overdose: When Jensen removes the amulet stabilizing his powers, the rush of all that power leaving him at once fries his brain.
- Playing with Fire: One of the aliens Jensen drains has the ability to generate fire.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Subverted with Colonel Haley, who compliments Alex for her good work, but is shown to be extremely ruthless later on and even has a slight racist streak against aliens herself.
- Red Herring: The last image on Amadei's mind initially implies that his daughter Elizabeth was responsible for the attack on him. In reality, he was just thinking of her because he wanted to meet her. It was her mother Natalie Hawkings who orchestrated the attack, out of hate for him breaking her heart in the past.
- Shapeshifting: An alien uses his powers to entertain people for money. Jensen drains him to make an escape after draining Supergirl.
- Shock and Awe: Another of Jensen's stolen powers, drained from one of the aliens at Amadei's vigil.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is a reference to the poem, Paradise Lost.
- Stalker Without a Crush: Well, sort of. Since Nia Nal told Brainiac to find her, he did exactly that, cataloging her daily routine and personal information. Alex assures her that Brainiac is less stalkery than his list makes him sound.
- Talking the Monster to Death: Alex manages to talk Jensen into giving up the amulet peacefully rather than having to blow him up like a nuke and kill a lot of people in the crossfire.
- Tantrum Throwing: Lockwood tosses the Parasite jar into a wall after Jensen is captured, since without Jensen and the Parasite, his crusade is stalled. Getting a call from James seems to give him a new idea.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Double-subverted. Colonel Haley initially seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure, praising Alex's decisions, but at the end reveals that she objected to J'onn's leadership and how he handled the DEO, and plans to bring it back in line with how it was originally run.
- Unreliable Expositor: Natalie Hawkings was lying about Amadei disowning his daughter - it was her who kept her from him.
- Villain Has a Point: James is understandably annoyed at Ben Lockwood portraying him as a hero of humanity in a racist light and wants nothing to do with him, but Lockwood points out that denying people like him a voice only pushes them further into the darkness. Along with Lena pointing out that James has unwittingly bridged the two sides, he decides to call Lockwood in the hopes of changing minds.
- Woman Scorned: Amadei had a fling with a woman named Natalie Hawkings which ended badly. When he shows up in the news again, she gets mad and points the Children of Liberty to his amulet so they'll steal it and kill him.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Alex manages to convice Jensen that he is still a good man inside and that he shouldn't let fear dictate his actions.
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Index
'Parasite Lost' starts with James and Lena are at a lunch party — the former is upset that nationalist groups are stepping out in support of Guardian. Brainy drinks too many mojitos and ends up drunk. Kara introduces Nia to J'onn and Alex. After a quick nap, Brainy sobers up and notices Nia at the party and the two flirt.
Agent Jensen is doubled over in pain from the parasite Liberty inserted in his head. The two have a metahuman chained up and Liberty instructs Jensen to touch him. Upon the touching the meta, the parasite inside Jensen absorbs the meta's powers, killing the meta but giving said powers to Jensen.
At the DEO, Alex is speaking with Colonel Haley about Jensen. Haley encourages Alex to keep up the good work.
Kara and Nia go to the apartment of Amadei, a metahuman who they've heard can heal injured and disabled metahumans. Amadei finally grants Kara an interview in which he expresses his wants of being able to heal humans as well.
Jensen shows up at the National City Promenade. Instantly, alerts starting going off at the DEO and Alex assembles a strike team to confront Jensen. At the Promenade, a street performer is using his shapeshifting powers, of which Jensen wants to steal. Kara and Jensen begin fighting, but it's too late — Jensen's able to kill the shapeshifter and absorb his powers. Jensen gets away.
Alex briefs Colonel Haley on the situation, who orders that Kara stand down from the fight as a precautionary measure.
The next day, Kara and Nia are reading through the comments section on Kara's Amadei interview and they're full of negative comments, several including death threats against all metahumans.
J'onn's having a support group meeting with Amadei's helper rushes in asking for help. He and J'onn go to Amadei's apartment and find the healing metahuman in ailing health. Kara flies in and J'onn informs her that Amadei is dying.
With
J'onn accidentally bumps into Hawkins' mom, who screams. Elizabeth runs in the room and J'onn/Kara unveil that Elizabeth was the last one to see Amadei in good health. It's then that Elizabeth reveals that she's never seen Amadei because he's her deadbeat father.
James and Lena arrive at the dinner the Mayor of National City invited them to. Immediately upon their arrival, James is approached by Ben Lockwood. James informs Lockwood that he doesn't agree with Lockwood's anti-alien stance but the latter doesn't stand down — he continues trying to convince James that the vast majority of Americans are anti-alien.
Kara lets J'onn know that she regrets writing the glowing piece about Amadei earlier, disgusting about his actions against his daughter. J'onn isn't so sure the Hawkins' story is entirely accurate so the pair does some digging, and finds out that Amadei and his wife spoke more than his wife let on.
J'onn and Kara go back to the Hawkins residence, where Amadei's wife admits that he broke her heart,
Team Supergirl realizes that Amadei's amulet was more than likely sold to Agent Jensen so that he could post as Amadei and still the powers of any metahumans that came to visit him.
The DEO narrows down a possible location of Jensen and converges on the spot. They enclose a several block radius in a dome that Brainy built. They arrive on
At the mayoral dinner, the mayor announces that a mass attack is happening in midtown and Lockwood speaks up, mentioning that James should go help out as Guardian. Jensen cracks a hole in the dome and realizing that he's more powerful than they thought, Alex calls in Kara.
The fighting stops and Jensen finds himself in a standoff with Kara and Alex. Alex tries convincing Jensen to turn himself in but the rogue DEO agent ends up taking out Amadei's amulet, presumably ending up killing himself.
J'onn reinserts Amadei's amulet and the alien is almost instantly healed. He's introduced to his daughter and two make amends.
Colonel Haley congratulates Alex on her work earlier in the day and reveals that Jensen is still alive, but braindead. She then reveals she's anti-alien, saying she helped launch the campaign to remove J'onn from power at the DEO.
Later that night, James and Lena are discussing the day's events. James tells Lena he needs to get to the bottom of the anti-alien nationalist movement. He tells her plans on infiltrating their system.
3commentsKara pitches a new idea to Nia which would feature a different National City alien each week, allowing people to get to know them.
Back at his hideout, Lockwood is upset over Jensen's death. James gives him a call and asks to meet up.