This review contains spoilers!
Although this review of the newest “Supergirl” episode is a little late, the episode itself was amazing, because we got to see a lot of the new characters that we were teased about before season two even started, some great action sequences, some ass-kicking with words from James’s part and the trials and tribulations of being a new reporter in the Kara Danvers story line this episode. There was a lot going on this episode, so let’s just jump right into the review.
First things first, I have to talk about all the new characters that we finally saw in action this season, because in my opinion that was the most exciting part of the episode. Firstly, we finally saw Chris Wood’s Mon-El awake and being as snappy and witty as they come. Although at first it seemed like he is a villain as opposed to a hero character, it turned out that he is just like Kara and Clark, a refugee who had come to another planet, because his own was destroyed, and who just wants to go home. And I really liked how they ended up making him the good guy, not bad, because it seemed that at the end of the episode he was developing quite the chemistry with our very own Supergirl, even despite the fact that at the beginning Supergirl directed some pretty nasty comments towards him, just because he came from Krypton’s sister planet Daxam, with who Krypton had beef with. Secondly, we also met Floriana Lima’s Maggie Sawyer, who is a detective with the Science division that investigates alien related accidents. I really loved Maggie’s character, because she was fun and a badass and because she had some serious chemistry with Supergirl’s sister Alex. I guess now we know which character will soon “come out”. Let’s get the ships going. #Malex maybe? Thirdly Wonder woman herself Lynda Carter made an appearance, too, as President Olivia Marsdin, who seems to have secret alien identity herself, by the looks of the scene when she left the DEO. No wonder she pushed so hard for the Alien Amnesty Act. And lastly we also met Sharon Leal’s M’gann M’orzz aka the Last Daughter of Mars, after J’onn J’onzz visited the dive bar where aliens hang out and can be themselves. So it turns out that the Martian species is not extinct after all, because now there are two of them.
Speaking of the alien bar, it was a really cool idea for show’s writers to introduce this type of place, because it opened the door for viewers to see the other side of the aliens and see that not all of them are bad. In season one we mostly saw Supergirl fight aliens that are bad, but now we finally that not all aliens that live on Earth are. On top of that, it and the Alien Amnesty Act plot line also lets the show cover a topic that is very current in our society, too, the topic of refugees and do we give them citizenship and full rights or make the hide in the shadows, just because they fled their home in search for a letter life. I think it is integral that even a show about aliens and superheroes finds a way how to make it line up with the real world, because not only it makes the viewers relate more to the show, it also lets the show be an educational medium, that can tech people what is the right and the wrong way to address these types of topics.
And lastly, there also was the storyline with Supergirl’s human alter ego Kara Danvers and how she still continues to learn how to be a good reporter. In this episode we saw her getting her first assignment, she had to get an opinion from Lena Luthor about the Madam President’s policy of letting aliens live openly in their true form and of them getting full civil rights. I have to say I really grew to like Katie McGrath’s Lena Luthor, because she is charming and straightforward, and was very nice towards Kara, a young reporter without any experience, so I hope we will be seeing her more and not in a villain capacity. But what I didn’t like was Snapper Carr and his dictatorship on the reporter staff at Cat Co. He just seems like a sad, angry man, and luckily James was able to stand up to him at the end and finally get a grasp on his new responsibilities as the Director of Cat Co. But I have to wonder if Snapper Carr won’t turn into a villain in the upcoming episodes, because he seemed to be really angry at James after Olsen rewrote Snapper’s article, and we all know what happens to angry people on “Supergirl”, they turn into villains that Supergirl has to fight.
Highlights of the episode:
• Seeing and meeting all of the new characters
• Mon-El, Maggie Sawyer and Lena Luthor’s characters
• Reveal of the alien bar
• Supergirl being excited about Madam President
• Alex being a badass
• Kara and Mon-El’s chemistry
• Alex and Maggie’s chemistry
• James standing up to Snapper Carr
Let-downs of the episode:
• Snapper Carr’s character in general
• Kara’s initial bias against Mon-El, just because he is a Daxamite
• The questionable fashion choices of the show’s villains
Quote of the episode:
Supergirl: She called me Supergirl (talking about Madam President)
Alex: That is your name.
Supergirl: Well, yeah, I know that. But… When she says it, it just sounds better!