Now, this is more like it! After returning from a three week break with a somewhat lackluster episode that wasted a great guest spot on an undercooked villain, Supergirl goes back to basics with an episode that actually feels emotional! And has an interesting and compelling (if fairly standard) villain! With actual stakes involved!
It’s almost like this show remembered to be a show again and not just the continuing adventures of Mon-El being an utter dick.
1. Supergirl, Putting Real Cops Out Of Business
The opening of this episode actually brings up some interesting points that are often overlooked in Superfamily stories. Over in Gotham, you can hardly find a cop who won’t complain about the existence of Batman or his vigilante ways. Writers tend to emphasise that vigilante bent because we, as the audience, know that Bruce is just a normal (albeit rich) dude behind the cowl.
Yet because we know Supergirl can do things normal people can’t, her vigilante actions are often swept under the rug. Having Maggie call Kara out for the hypocrisy inherent in the fact that she says she stands for help and compassion, but ends up leaving a bigger mess for law enforcement than if she’d just stayed out of it did two things. One, it showcased a pretty hot-headed side of Kara who gets defensive if anyone tries to question here and two, it gave Maggie a viewpoint not linked to her relationship with Alex.
Writing, everybody! I almost though this show had forgotten how to do that.
2. Extremely Teri Hatcher Voice: How Do You Do, Fellow Humans?
Remember when Lillian Luthor was this season’s Big Bad? Remember how we spent all that time setting up CADMUS as the main villainous force for Kara to go up against because it was a metaphor for the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment in recent times? Yeah, whatever happened to that? Because this whole schtick with Rhea swanning around with Lena and giving her the plans to the Transmatter portal… is boring.
Like, sure, it’s fun that you got Teri Hatcher in this show and you want to keep her around for that high profile name (is Teri Hatcher still high profile? people remember Desperate Housewives, right?), but this just feels so out of left field. It smacks of a show being written as it’s being shot, dropping and rearranging storythreads as it pleases and leaves the season feeling scattered and unfocused.
3. Alex Danvers, Damsel In Distress
Alex is routinely the most capable and most interesting character in this show and the writers have somewhat downplayed that since she began her relationship with Maggie. Now, though, we get to see Alex use all of her ingenuity and training the basically save herself with Kara and Maggie run around in circles with frat boy Joker.
I mean, I get it, the point of this was to isolate Alex so that Kara and Maggie are forced to admit that they need each other and they’re methods actually compliment each other when they’re not looking to pick a fight with one another. I’m just glad the show remembered what a badass Alex used to be and showed that she can’t be bested by some bargain basement Reddit dweller.
4. The Heart, Osborn! First… We Attack The Heart!
This episode pulls a move that I love and is basically the trump card to every “Superman/girl is boring and overpowered” argument. How do you make someone who can shrug off a bullet vulnerable? Point the gun at the person they care about most. It’s the kind of obvious story beat that only really works in moderation and most often results in villains who attack civilians to distract the hero instead of attacking the hero directly.
This episode, we see Kara pushed to her limits and her main weakness exposed. Sure, she stands for kindness and compassion, but that compassion can be exploited especially when it comes to family. And it put her in a position where she couldn’t easily solve the problem in order to ensure Alex’s safety without compromising her position as Supergirl and letting everyone know how easily manipulated she is when it comes to family.
Continued belowPlus, it gave us a fantastic moment between Kara and J’onn as he reveals that he’s just as scared as she is, something that’s been missing for a good part of this season.
5. Not The Dick You Remember
This was a pretty solid episode minus the side story about Rhea and I think it’s largely due to a back to basics approach to Supergirl. Focusing on the emotional connection between Kara and Alex and using a character from Supergirl’s history in the comics to exploit that connection, it felt like a good Season 1 episode. Hell, it even uses flashbacks from the first season to bring back a minor character and recontextualise his relationship with the Danvers sisters.
Rick Mulvane even speaks to the kind of sociopolitical commentary Supergirl used to enjoy, exploring how society always seems to emphasise the pain of men over how they hurt women. This feels like the Supergirl I remember falling in love with way back before she fell in love with Mon-El. More like this.
