Finally, this show is close to getting back on track with some semblance of an overarching focus for the season as CADMUS comes back in to the picture. And not a moment too soon because we’re well into the latter half of this season. With the triumphant return of Dean Cain as Jeremiah Danvers, this should be a great episode, right? Well, close.
Read on below for our Five Thoughts on Supergirl‘s “Homecoming”.
1. This Is No Longer Kara’s Show
I am sorely tempted to fast forward through every scene with Mon-El in it, I swear. I think, more than anything, the opening of this episode shows that this show is no longer concerned with Kara’s perspective. This whole plotline about Mon-El and their finally dating isn’t about her, it’s about his conquest of her. It’s about his finally able to achieve his prize of claiming her as his own after barely doing anything to earn it.
I am so very much done with this straight people bullshit. I’ll get into this more in our final thought, but this episode was categorised by Kara explicitly telling Mon-El something only for him to not listen and then get sad when she gets mad at him for it. Then he sulks for a bit until Winn gives him the most basic communicated advice and suddenly everything’s peachy keen even though we’ve been through this same arc in what feels like a dozen episodes already. Oy.
2. Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
Probably the highlight of this episode for me was Kara and J’onn’s takedown on CADMUS’ convoy. It was simply great just to see the two team up once more, something I don’t think we’ve really seen in this fashion for most of this season. This scene showcased a great mix of stuntwork and visual effects that stretched a CW budget as far as it could go for a brief, but fantastically put together action scene.
I know the rest of this episode was all about inter-character drama, but it actually really annoyed so I wanted to talk about something nice for a change instead of just shitting on this because, boy, these past few episodes have been rough.
3. Jeremiah Comes Home
As much as Jeremiah’s turncoat “twist” was obvious, I did like this episode for the most part. Especially allowing Kara and Alex and Eliza and even J’onn to just enjoy the moment of Jeremiah’s return. This episode really focused on the family aspect that played such an important part in the first season, but has been downsized for this season for more of a relationship focus.
I think one of the reasons it was so frustrating that Jeremiah’s betrayal of the DEO was so obvious was that Dean Cain otherwise did a fantastic job of portraying how difficult yet gratifying it would be to return home after so many years. His scene with Helen Slater around the dinner table where they have to be realistic about starting their marriage over was heartbreakingly bittersweet.
I know it would have been too simple to just have Jeremiah return home with no complications, but the show did such a good job with realising what his return would mean that I was sad to see it dashed so soon.
4. This Is Really So Frustrating
What was most frustrating about how obvious Jeremiah’s deception was was how the show needed to pad it out by having it revealed in the most obnoxious way. Going back to my earlier point about how this season has really been Mon-El’s show, he gets to be the first one to suspect anything, letting his bullshit actions at dinner be validated in the episode’s plot. He never gets his comeuppance for acting like a wee shite outside of being told to leave because, well, he was right, wasn’t he?
For that kind of shit to snowball through the episode was really frustrating, especially having Alex not question why Jeremiah would hack into the DEO’s mainframe just to read casefiles? I don’t know what the crossover appeal is between people who read these Supergirl reviews and my Star Wars: Rebels reviews, but I remarked that honour is for cowards. To me, it’s basically a way of writing characters to be stubborn without extrapolating any further.
Continued belowThe same thing happened here with Alex and family and it was really frustrating. It was largely in character, sure, but it seriously undermined her status as a DEO agent to blindly believe family over any kind of protocol.
5. Once Again, Mon-El Learns The Same Lesson Over And Over
And as everything wraps up and with CADMUS on the run again and the only thing accomplished by this episode being that Jeremiah Danvers is now a villain, we return to the same final scene for the last I don’t know how many episodes: Mon-El apologises to Kara for not listening (again), promises he’ll do better next time (despite continually messing it up) and being comforted by her anyway.
This is why it pisses me off that his narrative and his “development” has overshadowed Kara’s perspective this season: the show has him running in circles and he never actually develops. The show rewards him by throwing Kara into his arms despite the fact that he’s still the same overbearing asshole he was in the beginning. No matter how much he wants to try to be better, the writing throws him down the same pitfalls each episode.
Compare and contrast with Alex and Maggie. Sure, they’ve had their fair share of arguments over miscommunication, but that’s because Maggie was struggling with opening up about her trauma not because she’s incapable of learning what communication was. When Alex needs her comfort in the final scenes, she’s there for her willingly and unconditionally. In Mon-El and Kara’s case, his comforting her is still About Him because it’s about how he’s finally learned his lesson about listening to what she says even though this is the umpteenth time we’ve gone through this.
Jeez, guys, I don’t want to be this mad at a show I otherwise really love. But Mon-El is killing all my enthusiasm.
