We’re back! After a week’s break because CW wanted this episode to air the same week as The Flash crossover episode that the end of this episode ties into (which is all I’m really going to mention of it, because that’s more Brian’s domain), we’re back to check on the adventures of Supergirl! Actually, no, it’s more like we’re back to check on the romantic entanglements of Kara and Mon-El. And things aren’t looking great.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into Supergirl‘s “Star Crossed” and trying and figure out when this show turned into a bad romcom. Spoilers ahead!
1. When Supergirl Goes Full Man Of Steel
We’ll get to why I was, let’s say, not exactly thrilled with the rest of this episode in a bit, but I want to start off on something positive for once. I’ve been pretty hard of Supergirl of late and it was nice of this episode’s opening sequence to remind me just how good this show can be. From the genuinely endearing opening scene with Kara and Mon-El apparently binging all the TV in existence since she got fired (which raises even more questions about how Kara affords that apartment) to the Man Of Steel shoutout in how Mon-El’s parents commandeer all screens for their circa-1980s TV static message to Kara’s fight with the ship, this was a great sequence.
That small scene of Kara being trapped in the spaceball only to free herself seconds before landing, a car just narrowly braking before hitting her, and flying off to save the day once more was pure Supergirl. It was action-packed, a great use of visual effects even on a CW budget and full of tension. It was a great sequence and got me really psyched for what I hoped would be a good episode. Alas, it was let down by the usual suspect: Mon-El.
2. Reuniting Daxam; Or How They Almost Got Mon-El Right
I know you’re all sick to death of me complaining about Mon-El, but I tried this time. I really tried. I wanted to give his and Kara’s relationship a fair swing and was going to talk about how that opening scene with Kara talking about Funny Face was actually endearing and how Kara sitting in on an awkward family dinner could go through regular romcom tropes with an intergalactic twist.
But then… CW gonna CW. Turns out Mon-El was prince of Daxam all along (something I forgot wasn’t the case) and Kara got pissed at him for lying to her again so they had an argument about it again and Mon-El promised he’d do better next time because he oh so loves Kara again and Kara finally kicked him to the curb. This would have been effective if it hadn’t been the exact same routine every episode since the beginning of the season. No wonder they talked about Fred Astaire because this feels like a fucking dance number at this point.
Here’s the real problem: Mon-El’s big speech to Kara highlighted my problem with the direction of the character. He mentions that he loves being a “hero” (something we’ve seen him attempt… twice now?) because it means he gets to be near Kara. Big Family Feud buzzer sound there. Wrong. That is the exact opposite reason he should want to be a hero. He should be inspired by her selflessness and her compassion for others, not just want to bang her.
Mon-El exists purely to eventually be in a relationship with Kara and this is all extending the drama in the most obvious CW way and it is killing this show. I wish Mon-El had gone back to Daxam.
3. Making Daxam Great Again
You know, in all the hubbub over last episode with… Jeremiah? Doing… something? I don’t know, that episode was bland as hell. Anyway, I forgot to mention that we’d gotten our first look at Kevin Sorbo and Teri Hatcher as the mysterious Daxamites who have been following Mon-El to Earth. Turns out, they were his parents! Shock horror, I know.
This could have been really interesting, honestly, and they both bring and weird, stilted cadence to Daxam royalty that I found pretty cool. There could have been a real discussion here about progressivism and how what worked in the past won’t necessarily benefit the future and how working with Kara has allowed Mon-El to see beyond the scope of his upbringing and could have tied into the (albeit heavyhanded) political discussions this show’s attempted this season. Sadly, that’s jettisoned for the whole thing about Mon-El lying and Hatcher and Sorbo kind of just chill in the background in their fancy dresses until the end of the episode.
Continued belowPretty disappointing for what could have been a poignant episode.
4. Intergalactic Art Thievery
Hey, where the hell did this plotline come from? Wasn’t this episode supposed to be about Mon-El and Daxam? All of a sudden that became a side story where Mon-El and Kara went through the same routine as every episode (we’ll get to that) only for the Supporting Character Crew to step up to the spotlight. This would have been fine if it had been remotely interesting, but holy hell, this was the most filler plot they could have come up with.
I mean, sure, the whole thing with Lyra actually conning Winn wasn’t terrible (even if it was trite and like number 3 in the list of most overused CW drama stories), but seriously? The Starry Night is just hanging out in National City? And you can just wander in a night and steal it and the only security is one camera pointed at it?
Guys, I expect better from this show after two seasons. This is some bargain basement writing, the kind of hackjob you slap together when you realise you need to start filming in three days.
5. Missing Person, Reward If Found: Answers To James Bartholomew Olsen
Wow, this show needs to sort out what it wants to do with James. He’s barely shown up this season and here he just wanders into the episode unannounced as if he hasn’t been missing in action for weeks to pull some generic Guardian shit and disappear? I know I wasn’t the biggest fan of how James’ relationship to Kara was handled in the first season, but dumping him completely in favour of Mon-El and then trying to reinvigorate his storyline with the Guardian stuff only to drop him almost entirely from the show when that doesn’t work out? That’s messed up, man.
Like, there’s a bit in this episode where James asks Maggie to turn Winn, who has been arrested in suspicion of grand larceny at this point, over to his and Alex’s custody. Guy. You’re the editor of a magazine. I know you moonlight as a vigilante, but jeez. You’re nowhere near the level of Actual Police Detective Maggie Sawyer and Actual Government Agent Alex Danvers to be making demands like that.
Supergirl needs to go back to the drawing board with what they want to do with James in Season 3 because this? Isn’t working.
