Welcome back all you Supergirl fans, to the show that keeps on trucking. Each week I feel like I have to add some sort of running counter for each week this show stays good but I think I’m going to just dive right in this time so I can start discussing the spoilers of this week’s episode. You’ll see why.
1. No. NO. NO! Goddammit, this isn’t what I wanted!
Pretend I’ve written three or four lines of intense cursing here, I don’t have the energy to actually type it up and none of y’all want to read an entire paragraph of swears.
Remember how last time I wrote how I wanted Alex’s decision to want children to have lasting effects on her relationship with Maggie? This is not how I wanted it to go! They’ve been married for, what, one, two episodes? So, a week in universe. It probably was longer but it feels like they literally just got married and now it’s over? UGH! I have a feeling this decision was due to a contractual issue (specifically Maggie’s actress’ choice to become a recurring character instead of series regular) but fucking hell, this just comes out of nowhere.
I sensed it from the first scene and this angers me almost as much as the last Maggie wedding that got screwed over. Taking it as is, the scenes we’re given are all dramatic but, Supergirl, you haven’t earned them yet! The fights literally happened off-screen and were summarized to us, which is the worst possible way to convey this information. They were doing such a good job of pacing themselves with this and there were so many other ways that this could have been handled.
2. Maggie’s decisions
Maggie, what the hell are you doing? Instead of, you know, trying to understand your wife and think about where she is coming from, you just dismiss her wants. This is, Supergirl writers, what is known as a character flaw. Use it as a character point instead of just sweeping it under the rug and pretending that this is normal, we’re getting divorced (or at least separating) talk.
Alex tried to give up her own desires for children for Maggie (again, not for long enough on our end as the audience but that is neither here nor there). The key word there being tried. Maggie doesn’t do any of this and decides that the scorched Earth method is the best method because she refuses to even consider the possibility that in the future she might be able to handle having a child with Alex.
This feels in character for Maggie though, much as I hate to say it. She’s always found that running from hard choices is the easiest but I don’t believe that Alex would end this relationship with Maggie over this one decision.
Or maybe she would. But we have no idea what they discussed. What Maggie’s reservations are, why Alex is so insistent on children and why Maggie and Alex both absolutely refuse to even consider the possibility that they might change their minds one day. Maybe if they had shown this on camera, I’d be less furious with this decision but as it is, it feels like a huge misstep on the CW’s part. If they wanted Maggie in less episodes, just give her an assignment that keeps her from the house and the team. Simple. We still get a great queer couple and the contract issues get solved.
3. The good, thank god the good
Even though the above mentioned development frustrates me, this episode is still better than a lot of last season’s episodes and a lot of that has to do with the rest of the cast. They all turn in solid performances and the multiple plot threads going on are all genuinely intriguing. Sam’s slow transformation into Reign isn’t given too much screen time, which is for the best. This is a plot line that benefits from hiding in the background.
We also get a return of the lead in the atmosphere which, you know, I must’ve missed the explanation for how it wouldn’t affect humans because I was waiting for when there would be some fallout from that decision. Instead, we get a plot from episode one corporate dick whose name escapes me, and I think we have our other, more in your face, villain. I genuinely thought he’d be a one-timer so this was a nice surprise.
Continued below4. Ain’t No Party Like a Lena Luthor Pity Party
Lena, what are you doing? You know that it isn’t your fault that you might have poisoned those children. You weren’t acting out of malice, you aren’t your brother. You did what you thought was best and you acted based on the best information you had. Without your decision, the world would have been lost.
While this development gave us some insight into Lena’s own self-doubt, it felt forced. Like, she’s a smart, smart woman and she’s just going to lay down and get drunk over a decision that she KNOWS was the only possible one? I don’t believe it. She would have been fighting tooth and nail to solve the problem while Kara was off trying to prove her innocence. I believe that she would have blamed herself for what happened but the pity is not believable. You’re better than that Lena.
5. Perpetual side-character gripe
I think at this point the writers have no idea what to do with Winn, Jimmy, or J’onn. They’ve exhausted all plots, especially after the ill-fated Guardian arc, and if that’s all they can think of for Jimmy to do, then him being the plot device for instant, pre-commercial break sympathy is fine. But please, writers, give these characters a little more time to do anything but just be there for exposition.
Jimmy offered some sound words in the newsroom, which, come to think of it, what’s Kara up to? Is she back at CatCo? If she is a reporter as the opening proclaims, then why is she never, and I mean never, shown doing any actual, legit reporting? Even Clark was shown following leads and doing legit reporting with Lois.
I think that in Supergirl’s attempts to differentiate Kara’s story from that of Clark’s, they may have divested her too much from the character they were starting to establish way back in season one. She leans too heavily on Supergirl and Kara suffers for it. Kara as a character is feeling more and more empty in relation to everyone except Alex. They all interact with Supergirl and not Kara, which turns this into just another generic CW superhero show with a big season bad and a bunch of smaller bads & some melodrama.
Shake up the formula some more, please. I want to see more of Kara being Kara. Have episodes where Supergirl isn’t the focus, where she isn’t the focal point, where she is not the safety blanket of Kara. Let the character breathe and this show will be all the stronger for it.
There you have it folks. Are y’all as furious at the decision the writers made as I am? Do you hope for more Kara or am I wrong? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you all next week for a trip to the Danvers family estate.
