Welcome back all you Supergirl fans! TV is a very talky medium, especially network TV, and especially especially The CW shows. They fill every minute with as much dialog as they can and filling the background with as much piped in music as possible. Silence is anathema. Sometimes this is good. Other times it reminds me of this quote: “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.”
Tonight, I felt the latter far more than I should have.
As always, spoilers ahead.
1. Are you a Zulian Metatarian?
Goooooooodddddddddddddddddddddddddddd was this stupid. Putting aside how the script at times felt redundant and patronizing – that line right before the opening stinger about the Phantom being loose? God was that a waste of a David Harewood line – everything about the Phantoms is some bullshit.
Last week, I questioned the history of the Phantoms of the Phantom Zone and it was pointed out to me in the comments that Smallville had Phantoms of some kind (thanks Mary!) and “Phantom Menaces” established that the Phantoms of the Phantom Zone were, in fact, prisoners themselves that also acted as jailors since they were a parasitic race of…ghost…aliens?? And that…souls…are quantifiable? And…they escape in visible ways to go…to the nest of these alien…things…who eat? them? I think? But they also do that to multiply and I just…why?
Why did these creatures need to be here to provide conflict for the cast? What purpose do they serve that couldn’t have been accomplished in other ways and without needlessly complicating the narrative? Why bother introducing them as this intractable part of the negative zone only to then backpedal and give them a whole explanation away from the zone?? Like…this wasn’t information that was hard to find and was probably common knowledge in the 31st century, so why the mystery and the “we didn’t know they could do this?”
Moreover, why introduce Silas, a dull character with the most rote, cliched backstory, only to shuffle him off after an episode for…pathos, I guess? Not to mention they introduced a new gay character only to uncerimonious send him off after giving him a tragic backstory about his dead husband.
I know I’m being a little facetious and could generate a couple no-prize worthy answers for their presence but at the end of the day, they failed to engage me and instead generated resentment and, more crucially, boredom. I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything surrounding the Phantoms and that’s even with M’gann being taken out by one. I think I’d rather take the LOST smoke monster versions over this one anyday.
2. This is Getting Out of Hand. Now There are Two of Them!
Who thought it was a good idea to make the phantoms an infectious disease analog? I need to know because I gotta tell you, even with my sleep deprived mind running at 10% capacity, I clocked that shit from a mile away and was none too pleased. I may not have the cognitive function to do a proper breakdown of the pros and cons of this analogy, or the reasons why shows reflecting our reality but in distanced ways can be therapeutic, but I do have enough juice to make my frustrations clear.
Essentially, it doesn’t feel like the show is going to fully commit to drawing parallels in a meaningful way and so instead of being an exploration of this strange, horrible year+ we’ve been living in, it’s a bit of disposable plot that is subservient to the other arcs of the show, ones which, frankly, aren’t that interesting. Alex & Kelly’s relationship and M’Gann & J’onn’s are fine, I guess, but honestly feel like we’re exploring well-trod ground..and I like Alex & Kelly together. Don’t love how Kelly continues to be a 3rd tier character with fuck-all to do each episode, and that goes double for M’gann, but I clocked out enough this episode during their 2 minutes of screentime that I don’t have much more to add.
I don’t even know if I wanted to see a pandemic-style storyline develop! But here we are and that’s what we’re gonna get, I guess. At least in this universe I know that any problem can be solved with a strong enough speech and a healthy dose of self-righteousness.
Continued below3. Now This is Petty Revenge
We all knew Lex was evil but I did not expect this season to have him be “send a goon to set a children’s wing of a hospital on fire” evil. Kudos, I guess, but most of the enjoyment I get out of watching Jon Cryer be just…The Worst™ is tempered by having to watch Lena get Veronica-ed. Lena giving up the company feels wrong and I hope this means we see more of her rather than less. I get that they wanna send her to rock bottom so they can build her back up again but they already did that last season and poorly, I might add.
Katie McGrath deserves better and no amount of pitch perfect Lex Luthor-ing will change that.
4. You Were Right About One Thing, Princess. The Plotline Was Short.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about the wayward princess from the 5th dimension in future episodes. She seems like she’s going to either be an important ally or a classic example of a “curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.” For now, I’ll stick to how bored I am by the entirety of the Phantom Zone despite her best efforts to make it interesting. I think it’s because the whole thing is so cyclical without that feeling like the point. It’s like Kara’s adventures in CGI land & paper mache cave set is biding its time until it’s allowed to move forward rather than developing anything interesting. Like, Princess Nyx talks alot about how lonely the Zone is but we’ve never really been shown it. Kara found her dad and was with him until he’s captured for…food or something, I dunno, and then Kara is saved by Nyx almost right away.
We never got to experience the hardships of the Zone, either with Kara or Nyx, and all of Nyx’s problems are solved in this one episode! It all feels too easy and begs the question of what was different about this interaction. I’ll admit, I didn’t pay close attention to some of these scenes to get what spurred Nyx to try to break the bracelets after all this time, so I could have missed some very vital dialog, but it doesn’t change the greater issue of Supergirl not taking the time to properly let problems develop. Most issues are resolved in one episode, even when they could’ve lasted two or more and been more effective upon resolution. It’s ultimately a minor quibble, the bracelets, but it stood out.
At least we got some fun finger snapping out of it.
5. Fear is the Path to the Dark Side. Fear Leads to Anger. Anger Leads to Hate. Hate Leads to Suffering.
While it’s true there were two big heart to hearts this week, only one actually succeeded at being meaningful. Sorry J’onn & Alex but your whole thing rang false from the start but the other one? Oh man. I was tearing up. Jesse Rath & Kaite McGrath absolutely crushed it. It was the only time in the entire hour of Supergirl that my full attention was on the screen. What made the scene work so well is that the writers had successfully gotten me to buy into the emotions of the characters prior to the catharsis of the scene.
The frustration against Lex is one that I share and so there is a connection between me and them. The seeds for Brainy’s explosive hatred at Lex, while a bit rushed – I’d have loved to see this stew over a few more episodes, – were laid out subtextually throughout the last season, culminating in Lex’s betrayal. Moreover, his extreme reactions are tied to him struggling with his emotions, a through-line that he’s shared with Lena and the toxic mentality she helped foster. This is the moment of repudiation for her past actions and it feels meaningful as a character beat.
Lena is no longer the person she was. She is not filled with the same hate and anger and mistrust. She realizes, too, that denying one’s emotions and compartmentalizing is not a positive trait but one that can lead to irreparable damage to one’s psyche. While I have major misgivings for the path we took to get here, as well as the impetus for her descent, these are the kinds of moments that make me forget about that for just a second and appreciate the work being done to justify it all.
Continued belowThat about does it for now! What did you all think of the episode? Do you like our good friends the Phantoms in this portrayal or are you as baffled by their presence as I am? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you in a week for a Jail Break from the Phantom Zone. Until then, stay super y’all.
Best Line of the Night:
Brainy: “My rage, it’s always there, under the surface. Burning out, seeping out like acid.”
