Oh boy, here we go. After last week’s episode ended with Kara breaking things off with Mon-El because she felt betrayed and lied to that he would hide who he was from her, this episode… has them back together like nothing happened. Confused? Go watch last week’s The Flash.
Yeah, that’s right. They got back together in a different show. It’s going to be one of those episodes.
Spoilers below, as usual.
1. Resetting Kara & Mon-El
I feel like I’m in an infernal Groundhog’s Day style loop of bad television. Weren’t we just here last week? With Kara and Mon-El all lovey dovey only for Mon-El to fuck it all up by lying (again) and then Kara gets mad (again) and breaks up with him (again) only for them to… reset the whole thing in an episode of The Flash? So now… none of that matters? Awesome.
Likewise, I feel like I’m saying the same things in all of these breakdowns, but can you blame me? This show is literally going round in circles, presenting lukewarm plotlines and character development only to recycle similar elements in the very next episode. They went through all of that in the last episode to set up this grand break up between the two to essentially hit the reset button off screen so they can be all sweet and milennial at each other.
I’m just tired. I don’t even want to get mad at this because it’s not worth it.
2. President Wonder Woman Returns
You know, I almost forgot that the stinger of the two-part opening episodes with Superman and the President (notice how long ago that feels?) was that President, played by Lynda Carter, was secretly an alien. It’s always been at the back of my mind, but every since it became clear that using Superman was a one time thing, I expected that just be another thing this show has quietly dropped.
But no, we get another appearance by President Olivia Marsdin via Skype, apparently, to repeatedly tell J’onn not to engage the Daxamites only to be kinda chill about it when he eventually does? I don’t know, this subplot felt like it only really existed to say “Hey, remember how Lynda Carter showed up that one time? I guess you should remember that for now, huh?”
I just hope that it turns out to be more interesting than “Our President seemed like a cool, liberal but is secretly a human hating monster!” or whatever dumb thing Supergirl can pull out of its ass next.
3. Supergirl: Arkham Origins
So, this episode started with an interesting concept that it kind of just… dropped part way through? The idea of an intergalactic bounty being placed on Kara’s head could have lead to some interesting action scenes and some new and interesting characters, but instead we got one of each before Kara was actively sidelined by the story.
This is sort of bugged me. I get the idea that they wanted to minimise collateral damage, but did they really think the bounty hunters would just give up if they didn’t see Supergirl flying through the air? This could have been an interesting crux to the episode, a gauntlet for Supergirl to tough it out against until the mastermind stepped out behind the curtain and revealed themselves.
Instead, she was told to stay at home by the men of the show (Hi, James, nice to see you for all of one scene) and then the focus switched, once again, to Mon-El and his family issues as he nobly sacrifices himself for Kara or whatever. I just wanted Supergirl to be the star of the show again, not Mon-El.
4. Family Feud: Daxam Edition
But, alas, this is the Mon-El show also starring Wonder Lady or whoever, who must always, without fail, forgive our main, wonderful boy for all his misdeeds no matter what even though he’s basically a walking cardboard box. It’s funny that we get to see Mon-El’s parents in these episodes, though, because between Teri “I’m going to fire my agent for talking me into this” Hatcher and Kevin “DisapPOINTEEEEED” Sorbo, you can really see where Mon-El’s lack of personality came from.
Continued belowSeriously, this whole thing sucks. It’s all designed to show how much Mon-El has changed, I guess, because he suddenly wants to turn Daxam into a communist utopia? But, like, who the fuck cares? Mon-El’s mother is the new main villain because she’s so short sighted and stubborn she’ll murder her husband for letting her son be happy? Oy.
Remember when this show was about Supergirl? When it was about being a hero? And not about intergalactic family drama between boring, pretty white people?
5. If They Can Get Maggie & Alex Right, What’s Up With Kara & Mon-El?
So, I actually liked how they handled this subplot even if it didn’t make any logical sense for it to come up. For one, the setup of Maggie recognising her ex and talking to her on the street only to kind of tense up and just block her out was kind of… weird? The scene flipflopped between whether Maggie was actually happy to see her or embarrassed for running into her and could have used some tightening up.
However, the rest of the thread played out pretty nicely. It was yet another round of “You didn’t tell me something now I’m mad at you” bingo that the CW just loves to play each episode, but Alex’s reaction in particular read as very mature. She didn’t freak out and break it all off on a whim, but instead saw the root cause of why Maggie remained so closed off and encouraged a healthy conversation about it. You know, like adults do.
I find it continually surprising that Supergirl will use Alex and Maggie as a showcase for a healthy and stable and adult relationship only to have Kara and Mon-El do the exact opposite. Almost as if their relationship is actually really toxic and unsupportive and they’re only in it for the fun, cute times and not ready to commit to the work of a relationship. Almost…
