WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "Reality Bytes" and "Alex in Wonderland," the previous two episodes of Supergirl.
On the recent Supergirl episode, “Reality Bytes,” Kara and Alex received some tragic news. After finishing a training session with J’onn, Alex received a call from her mother revealing that the sisters' father, Jeremiah, was found dead. Information Alex then passed along to Kara.
We haven’t seen Jeremiah since way back in Season 2, so some viewers, even long-time ones, might not remember all the details about the character. Let’s take a deep dive back into his history, both before and during the timeline of the show. We’ll cover his connection to Kara, his family, the D.E.O. and Cadmus Labs.
Played by former Superman Dean Cain, a clever nod to fans of the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which ran from 1993 through 1997, Jeremiah Danvers first appeared in the series' very first episode. The character was shown in flashbacks where Kara was taken in by the Danvers family after her arrival on Earth.
Jeremiah proved to be a warm and caring father who helped Kara understand the need to keep her powers under wraps, since, in his words, “the world already has a Superman.” He helped Kara and Alex forge a bond as strong and permanent as biological sisters, and even provided Kara with lead-lined glasses like her cousin's to help control her enhanced visual powers.
Unfortunately, the happy times came to an end after a youthful indiscretion. One night, Kara convinced Alex to go flying with her, which she loved. The pair are spotted returning by Jeremiah and their mother, Eliza, and get a lecture about why they need to follow the rules on Kara's use of her powers. Unfortunately, the Danvers parents weren’t the only ones who spotted the flying girls, the D.E.O.'s electronic equipment picked up on it too. Later that night, D.E.O. director Hank Henshaw appeared at the family's door, and forced Jeremiah to work for the organization in exchange for leaving Kara alone.
Later, in “Manhunter,” the seventeenth episode of the first season, the show revealed the story behind J’onn J'onzz taking over the identity of Hank Henshaw and his role at the D.E.O. Henshaw and Jeremiah pursued the fugitive Martian to the jungles of Peru, where they cornered him. Henshaw saw J’onn as a threat and wanted to kill him, but Jeremiah realized he was just a refugee.
Jeremiah defended J'onn against Henshaw, apparently sacrificing his life in the process. As he lay dying, J’onn promised to watch over Jeremiah's daughters. In order to fulfill that promise, he took the form and identity of the also apparently dead Henshaw. This also enabled him to infiltrate the D.E.O., reforming it from within into a much more benevolent organization whose goal was to help aliens rather than persecute them.
Years later, in "Homecoming," the fourteenth episode of Season 2, during a D.E.O. operation to secure a Cadmus Labs weapon, Jeremiah was found alive. He reunited with his family and was given his old position with the D.E.O., but it soon became apparent that all was not right. Mon-El expressed reservations about letting him back in the D.E.O. so soon and Jeremiah began acting suspicious once he was there.
When he was discovered stealing information from the D.E.O. mainframe, it was revealed that he had been turned into a cyborg by Cadmus, who also used him to resurrect a cyborg version of Hank Henshaw. Due to his new nature, he held his own in a fight against J’onn, exhibiting super strength and durability, as well as resistance to J’onn’s telepathy.
It turned out that Jeremiah had stolen the location information of all aliens in the country so that Cadmus could deport them to their home-worlds. Given many aliens’ status as refugees, this was unacceptable to Kara and the D.E.O. When Lillian Luthor, head of Cadmus, started the launch of the ship that would remove the aliens, Kara convinced Jeremiah to help them stop it. After a brief fight with Hank Henshaw, Jeremiah was taken by Cadmus again and disappeared.
Nothing more was heard of him after that, until the news of his death. Jeremiah Danver's complicated legacy, especially Alex's challenging feelings towards him, were explored in Supergirl's latest episode, "Alex in Wonderland." During the episode, Alex articulated some harsh truths about the impact of his leaving and what it meant to her.
Now that he's gone, Jeremiah Danvers will be remembered as a complicated, flawed man who tried his best to protect his daughters.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.