Well then! That was certainly an episode. As the weeks go one, this show gets better and better, honestly. With one of the biggest and most emotionally charged episodes yet, Supergirl proves that you can be goofy, earnest and a little bit over the top and still bring it home thanks to real, honest performances and well written characters.
Without further ado, let’s dive into our Five Thoughts on “Solitude”. As always, beware of that spoiler warning
1. Cat Grant Tackling The Real Issues
Okay, so that transgender Republican line kind of got under my skin, but I do appreciate the show using the fact that CatCo is actually a modern journalistic hub to tackle relevant. I mean, sure, the Ashley Madison hack was from last year and in internet time that makes it practically ancient history, but it’s still well within the public consciousness.
I like how the episode used that to actually give some character to Siobhan here. While her sudden spilling of her entire backstory on Winn seemed a tad… convenient for the plot, it was still a nice way of pushing her out of the mould of having her be mean to everyone because she’s going to end up as a villain. Having the audience sympathise with her before she goes all Silver Banshee is much more interesting.
2. Age Of Chaos
No one told me Mystique was in this episode!
I’m definitely not the only person to have made that joke, but I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised by how Indigo turned out in this episode. Despite looking like a hilariously low budget Mystique, the episode treated her like a genuine threat and actually made her out to be one of the most formidable foes Kara has faced so far. Sure, the Stretch Armstrong shit was entirely too goofy to work, but having her straight up launch nukes at the city really raised the stakes.
I am a little worried, though, because I feel like now they’ve had a villain go with the whole nuke plan it will be hard to raise the stakes past that on a regular level. Is every villain after Indigo going to pale in comparison? Well, maybe not in the costume department, but I hope they can keep the tension up without going ludicrous.
3. The Fortress
This was the best part of the episode by far. Sure, it’s a moment that’s once again hampered by the fact that the show can’t use Superman (can you imagine how much better this moment would be if it was Clark giving her the tour?), but it was still nice to see such an important part of the Superman mythos included in the show.
It was also a haven for references to the comics. From the big gold key that was both shaped like the Silver Age key, but was made of dwarf star matter like “All-Star Superman” to the big statues of Jor-El and Lara, it felt like the Fortress ripped right out of the pages of a comic book. Hell, even Kelex a cameo. But it was when the Legion ring showed up that I could feel our very own Brian Salvatore just explode with joy.
This show really is amazing sometimes.
4. Olsen & Lane: The Will They/Won’t They? Couple of 2016
Yikes, man. Yikes. Jimmy Olsen grew up and he still doesn’t understand women.
Honestly, this guy is the actual most cringeworthy thing in this show, not Indigo’s makeup. How he genuinely thought that being like “Hey! So you know the really cute girl you think I’m in love with? She’s actually Supergirl! Who… you also think I’m in love with…” would go well in the slightest. Honestly, when Lucy just shot him down I burst out laughing because I can’t believe he thought that was going to go any differently.
Can’t wait for this to be drawn out into an episode-long angst fest next week.
5. The Truth
This was a moment I wasn’t sure the show had the guts to do this episode, but I’m so glad they did. They’ve been teasing the emotional split between Kara and Hank and Alex for a couple of episodes now and this episode focused on Kara’s decision to walk away from the DEO which, funnily enough, didn’t exactly last very long.
But that last scene, with Alex’s confession, was honestly heartbreaking. Between Chyler Leigh’s performance leaving everything up on screen to Kara’s hesitation before comforting her sister to that last shot of the three of them linked, it was one of the best moments the show has had so far. That’s powerful writing right there.
