Last night’s episode of Supergirl was a lot of things. It was the best of times, it was the most infuriating of times. To help keep us from getting feelings whiplash, I’m going to split the plotlines up so we can focus on all the Sanvers all at once (since there wasn’t nearly as much as I was expecting). While my instinct is always to not mention any of Mon-El’s storyline, unfortunately Kara is tangled up in his web of nonsense, and I need your help reconciling the words Kara said and the things Kara did, because they’re not gelling for me. If you really super don’t care, scroll down until you see “OKAY NOW ON TO THE GOOD STUFF” and it will be Sanvers-City from that point forward.
First up is Winn, because his storyline is the shortest: Winn is no longer an insufferable manbaby whining about the friendzone because he found a lady of his own. An alien woman named Lyra who saves his butt from a mean alien in the Dollywood bar and is pleased he doesn’t care she’s an alien. (The language sounded a little like they were trying to make comments on interracial relationships, but considering they dropped the Kara/James storyline before it even started, I’m gonna slap a big ol’ “no” stamp on that one.) Now, it’s possible Winn is Xander and everyone he dates is going to be a she-mantis underneath, but only time will tell. They’re definitely setting Lyra up to be…something.
Next up is Kara’s storyline. This week, Kara has toxic masculinity washing over her from all sides. On one hand, she has this new big bad to contend with, Mr. Mxyzptlk. We pick up with him where we left off, interrupting Mon-El’s kiss. Mxy snaps his fingers, and suddenly Kara’s apartment is full of candles and flowers and he says he loves her, but Mon-El gets in his face and says, “She’s with me.” Which… isn’t true. But fine. Mxy calls Mon-El “Blandsome” and snaps his fingers to send him to the DEO without his clothes on, and call me naive, but I thought Mxy was here to show Kara that she could do better by showing her how ridiculous it is when someone tells you you’re supposed to be with someone when you don’t really feel it. Alas.
Mxy is a fast-talker with a lot of pet names and plans to marry one Kara Zor-El.
*Hm, Lena would look good in a white tux…*
She eventually regains her balance and tells him to gtfo. He says she’s playing hard to get, making everyone’s skin crawl, and she stands her ground, saying “No” again. He insists he’ll win her over in time, despite starting this wooing process by coming into her apartment uninvited.
Back at the DEO, they say that Mxy is a fifth dimensional being, meaning he can warp reality, which on Earth tends to be referred to as “magic.”
Mon-El takes this time to ask about Valentine’s Day and Kara says as much as she wants to get back to talking about their relationship, she’d much rather fight bad guys, so she’s going to do that for a bit first.
First up are some regular, run-of-the-mill bad guys, and Supergirl is about to take them down when Sir-Mxy-a-Lot appears and turns their guns on them. Supergirl then has to save the bad guys she just stopped, because killing is not her M.O. She shoos Mxy away again and heads back to the DEO to figure out how to stop this, since a restraining order surely won’t be enough.
Mon-El wants to slay him once and for all, but as she just tried to tell her stalker, and shouldn’t have to tell this lump of mozzarella, she doesn’t kill people. Mon-El says he’s just trying to protect her, but as she’s told him time and time again, she can take care of herself.
Have you listened to a SINGLE thing I’ve ever said?
Another fight in the streets, another bad guy, and Mon-El is quick by Supergirl’s side. Someone dressed like Superman comes in to save the day, but it’s just the not-super-at-all Mxyzptlk. Mxy and Mon-El puff out their chests and try to out-macho each other, but Mon-El is just getting in Kara’s way, interrupting her and diminishing her authority/autonomy, so she sends him away.
Kara asks Mxy point-blank how to get him to leave her alone, and he says the only way is to marry him. Because if she doesn’t, he’ll destroy the city. Charming.
Back at the DEO, Mon-El is so mad, because he interpreted being sent away as Kara choosing Mxy over him. He’s yelling at her and insisting he was doing the right thing, to protect her, but she yells back saying she’s not a damsel in need of saving. She’s SUPERGIRL, fuckdammit!
I AM A BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL FISH, YOU ARE A RUSTY BICYCLE
And more importantly, even if she wasn’t Supergirl, she said she was handling it and she told him to stay out of it and he defied her wishes. Mon-El accuses her of not knowing what she can and can’t handle and Kara says that’s not his place to decide; and besides, he was the one withholding the fact that if Mxy says his own name backwards, he’d be (safely) banished from Earth.
As he rambles, Kara recognizes his ire as jealousy, and can’t believe he’s acting like this. It’s like a guy getting mad at his girlfriend for getting an unsolicited naughty picture on Twitter, except somehow MORE ridiculous, because Mon-El and Kara aren’t. even. dating.
Kara is furious and can’t believe she thought Mon-El was evolving from the egotistical brat she hatched out of that pod and says that whatever almost happened between them was a mistake, now that she has been reminded of his true colors.
Rawr!
And because he’s NOT ALREADY IN ENOUGH TROUBLE, Mon-El takes the tool J’onn found that might help stop Mxy and goes off on his own to confront the imp.
Mxy and Mon-El decide, on their own, to fight to the death for Kara’s hand, even though Kara herself has now said to both of them, very explicitly, that she is not interested. But still they fight, and Mxy appropriately dresses them up as Hamilton and Burr so they can have a proper duel. I say appropriately because both of them are so full of pride they can’t see what’s right in front of them, and see each other as obstacles to their goals when their only obstacles are their own damn selves.
They fight until Supergirl flies in, annoyed.
“I’M NOT HERE FOR YOU.”
She tells Mxy she’ll marry him, tomorrow at noon at the Fortress of Solitude. The dude buys it (it’s been established he’s not the CLEVEREST being across five dimensions) and agrees. Mon-El swings by for one last attempt to talk Kara out of it, because he also believes it?? Like, his ego is so fragile that he is legitimately threatened by this man who appeared out of LITERALLY NOWHERE and thinks Kara has actual feelings for him? It’s honestly insulting. To Kara, to me, to women, to feelings, to humans and Kryptonians alike. But Kara says she’s doing it to stop Mxy from hurting anyone and that maybe they’ll make a good team someday, but Mon-El’s values are too far gone from her own and she can’t imagine ever aligning them.
Just because you’re here and you like me doesn’t mean I have to date you!
So he leaves, tail between his legs.
Mxy shows up at the Fortress of Solitude, and Supergirl flies in, sipping a glass of OJ like Kermit sips tea. You see, Mxy can bend reality, but he can’t make people fall in love, kill themselves, prevent them from killing themselves, or, strangely enough, drink OJ. So just to regain some semblance of control in this wackadoodle episode, Kara Zor-El Danvers chugs a nice, tall glass of Tropicana, just because she fucking can. She says that forcing or blackmailing someone into marrying you isn’t love; love is putting someone else’s needs before your own. Really she brought him here to banish him from Earth, so she seals the Fortress and sets the room to self-destruct. He can’t stop it, since technically that would be preventing her from killing herself, because Kara IS the cleverest being in five dimensions. (Well, one of them.)
Mxy tries to call her bluff, but she won’t budge, and he can’t figure out the letters on the keys to type in the code, since it’s in Kryptonian. He gets on his knees and begs her not to kill herself, because the world needs Supergirl, and since he seems juuust desperate enough, she helps him type in the code.
The code?
Kltpzyxm. His name, backwards. She tricked him and now he’s banished and the day is saved. Before he vanishes, he calls her a nasty woman, but she bears the mantle proudly, as do we all. “You can’t force love,” she says.
We’re in an ice castle, so this feels appropriate; “You can’t marry a man you just met!”
Back at her apartment, Mon-El comes over and is impressed by her quick thinking. He apologizes for being a butt and says his feelings are new and messing him up. And then, despite everything everyone said during this episode, despite everything KARA said during this episode — like the fact he never listens to her, he doesn’t value her, they’re too different, you can’t force love — she kisses him.
haha did you think I was going to screenshot the kiss? Just the soft glow on Kara’s face.
And…I just genuinely don’t understand this storyline. They keep having Kara say things like, “I don’t need to be saved,” and “I can make my own decisions” but she’s going against all that by just jumping into Mon-El’s arms. ESPECIALLY after this episode, where he DIRECTLY disobeyed her and ignored her wishes and was just as showy/braggadocious/obnoxiously and invasively persistent as Mxyzptlk.
Why? WHY? Please tell me they’re going somewhere with this. Please tell me they’re going to address how bad of an idea this is. Please tell me that a few episodes down the line, when Mon-El is still putting civilians at risk to save her when she doesn’t need saving, she’s going to be like, “I thought I could fix you but that’s not how relationships work, that’s not my responsibility.”
Or something? As much as I’d rather Kara be single, I get that they’re on the CW now so they have to have her have some kind of romantic storyline. Fine. But last season, James was the love interest because he was patient and kind and gave her the inspiration she needed when she needed — and asked for — it. Mon-El is annoying at best and toxic at worst. And they seem to know it — the dialogue this episode literally screams it at some points. So while I trust this show to do the right thing, I would really like to know their long-game for this one, and stat. I don’t want another Ezria situation on my hands, aka a horrible relationship lauded as the show’s #otp and rarely if ever held accountable for the terrible example it set.
*internal screaming*
OKAY NOW ON TO THE GOOD STUFF.
Before we get into it, I do have a bone to pick with Entertainment Weekly because they called this episode “Maggie/Alex-centric” and said their storyline would “take center stage” and neither of those things were true at all. While the scenes they did have were great, I feel like my expectations were set too high, and I can overshoot expectations all by myself thank you very much.
That said, it’s hard to stay mad when the first time we see Alex and Maggie it’s at Alex’s apartment, where they’re having breakfast together on Valentine’s Day. Maggie plucks a card out of Alex’s hands and reads it aloud — and it’s from Eliza Danvers, mother of the century. Testing the waters, Alex offers up a declaration that Valentine’s Day is dumb, and Maggie enthusiastically agrees, going on a rant about it being materialistic and how it makes her want to puke. Alex agrees but sips her coffee guiltily because maybe that’s not the whole truth.
Guilty puppy!
Alex takes this concern to Kara, who offers her one of Mxy’s bouquets to take to Maggie, and then gets VERY EXCITED when she realizes it’s Alex’s first Valentine’s Day with her girlfriend.
LOOK I PICKED OUT THE BEST BUNCH FOR YOUR GIRLFRIEND WEEE
So Alex explains her dilemma. The truth is, maybe she DID always hate Valentine’s Day, but this is her first time being in a relationship for one, so she kind of wanted to start to like it, but Maggie made it clear her feelings about the holiday are the same as her bagel: dry and double toasted. Kara says that maybe Maggie only hated Valentine’s Day before because she didn’t have Alex to spend it with; she asks what Maggie likes and Alex gets all starry-eyed talking about guns and scotch and tiramisu and bonsai trees.
SHE’S SWOONING
Kara looks at her like she’s speaking another language and says that maybe if she makes the day more like a Sanvers Celebration Day, she can get Maggie to like it again.
Kara ships Sanvers.
And as well-intentioned as that plan is, it doesn’t go so well. Alex sets out all of Maggie’s favorite things, including herself in a chemise, but Maggie isn’t having it.
“But…I mean…LOOK at me.”
She says that her pet peeve is not being heard, and she said she doesn’t like Valentine’s Day, so how dare Alex do all this romantic stuff for her. Alex is like, “You called it a dumb holiday, you didn’t say you were personally traumatized by it, what the heck is going on?”
And since Maggie told Alex she wasn’t allowed to run away from hard conversations, Alex won’t let Maggie, and Maggie lets her have it: She lied. When Maggie told Alex her parents were supportive when she came out, that was just so Alex wasn’t scared back into the closet. In reality, she left a Valentine’s Card in her best friend’s locker when they were 14, asking her to the dance, and the card made its way back to her parents, leading to her being kicked out. She lived with an aunt until she was old enough to move out.
:feelings overload:
Alex feels understandably blindsided by this confession, and watches, overwhelmed, as Maggie leaves.
*tries to reach through time and space and hug teenage Maggie*
At the DEO, Kara and Maggie run into each other while they’re both looking for Alex. In case it will get the message to Alex faster, Maggie confsesses that she needs to apologize to her girlfriend. Kara is pretty overwhelmed by the men making her life a living hell at the moment, so she just sounds kind of…tired, when she tells Maggie that she might hate Valentine’s Day, but Alex was really looking forward to it, so it might not kill her to try to enjoy the holiday with her girlfriend. Make a few changes, for Alex.
I see intelligence runs in the family.
So when Alex comes home, she finds a box with a note that instructs her to put on the contents of the box and go to a mystery address. When she gets there, dressed in red and looking like a dream, Maggie is in a suit, in a room filled with red balloons and flowers. Maggie says it’s a belated Valentine’s prom just for Alex, corsage and all.
RETURN OF THE DIMPLES
Maggie apologizes; before she talked to Kara, she didn’t realize what the holiday could mean to someone fresh out of the closet and falling in love for the first time. She was focusing on the pain of the past instead of focusing on the good of the present. She looks at her girlfriend’s perfect face and says that Alex deserves an amazing romance, and that if anyone could make Maggie Sawyer love a cheesy, love-drenched holiday, it’s Alex Danvers.
Maggie asks Alex to dance, and they hold each other close and make new Valentine’s Day memories for both of them.
“Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon’s sparkling.”
And I know it wasn’t a lot, and I know it was as cheesy as Valentine’s Day itself, but juxtaposed with the shitshow that is whatever’s happening to poor Kara right now, it’s nice to see two people in a relationship having conversations, acknowledging each other’s feelings. I know technically Mon-El apologized for being selfish, but he’s apologized for that like twice an episode for the past five episodes and hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. And frankly I will never understand why Mon-El spent the entire episode proving he’s not good enough for Kara and he got a fall-back-on-the-couch kiss and Maggie went above and beyond to set down her baggage to be the kind of girlfriend Alex needs and she got a quick peck, but that’s another issue entirely.
Maggie and Alex are growing; they’re learning more about each other, they’re running into each other’s walls and working together to bring them down. They’re just trying to make each other happy, and hitting some ordinary road bumps along the way. It may not be revolutionary on paper, but it is, in its own way. This relationship isn’t being given enough time on screen to flesh itself out yet, but it’s getting there.
I mean think of what we learned about Maggie in this episode: Maggie was fourteen when she realized she liked girls, and before she could even realize she was in a closet, she was dragged out of it and kicked out of the house entirely. I realized I like girls when I was fourteen, too, but I locked the closet door from the inside. Maggie asked a girl to the school dance. At fourteen! Her supposed best friend! And it backfired in such a huge way. So no wonder she was so careful with Alex when she was trying to reject her and just be friends. Of course she encouraged Alex to come out on her own terms. Of course.
Right now Sanvers sort of reminds me of Imagine Me & You. It’s kind of cheesy and sometimes feels like everything’s heightened or happening at warpspeed, but it’s the kind of head-in-hands romance usually saved for straight couples. And in these dark times, don’t we deserve a little sugar-sweet softness?
Sometimes it’s like the light shines just for them.
We’re just past the halfway point in the second season of Supergirl — the first season on its new network, the first season without Cat Grant. We’ve tipped a little too far into the relationship zone on all fronts, and that’s not what this show is about. Well, it is about relationships, but not relationships necessarily. This episode, frankly, almost felt like filler; it didn’t involve Cadmus and the Luthors, or James/Guardian, things they’ve been dutifully setting up all season. So I’m hoping the back half of this season brings us a few things: Kara fighting Cadmus because they stand for an evil she can’t condone, and getting people like Lena on her side. Mon-El revealing who he really is and why those space nuns are coming from him and finally decide who he’s going to be: someone worth being on the SuperTeam or someone who can go back to whatever cookie cutter planet he came from, and commit to that and not have to be lectured every five minutes. Maggie and Alex to just be crime-fighting girlfriends. I want to see them working together in the field, and I want to see them debriefing over scotch and tiramisu. I want to see them coordinate a perfect take-down then dominate at Scrabble on Game Night. I want to see them fighting side by side, then I want to see them race to the bathroom for a bubble bath. I want to see them train together, then tumble into bed asking, “Where’d you learn that move?”
Okay I got a little carried away there, but you know what I mean. Though down the line I do want more deep conversations and Maggie’s backstory, and hell even fights, I want to see what they are as a couple. I want to see what their day to day is like. I get that it’s hard on sci-fi shows, especially for a relationship involving a secondary character like Maggie. But I’m not going to stop wanting it.
I am so disappointed in this show you guys. It was supposed to be better. It was supposed to be a feminist beacon. It just did real, active damage to a lot of impressionable, vulnerable young women and also to young men. They character assassinated Kara to force her into this horrendous storyline and sucked my enjoyment out of one of the few actual good things in the world right now. They need to get a new crop of writers I guess because the ones they have just completely shirked the responsibility they had to being feminist and empowering women. What a total failure.
And also someone needs to explain to them the meaning of the word “centric” because it doesn’t mean Sanvers gets less screentime than Winn and the woman he just met!
Winn’s new girlfriend looks like a vampire from Buffy. Can we get SMG or Eliza to guest star for an episode?
Totally said this to the room at large: she reminds me of Darla.
I had the exact same thought!
Firstly, thank you Valerie Anne, for another eloquent, fantastic recap.
Secondly, where the hell has my show gone?
Where is the Alex who either comes back with Kara or doesn’t come back at all?
Where is Space dad J’onn, with his quiet strength, support and love?
Where is James, with his gentle and kind friendship?
And more than all that, where the hell is Kara Zor-El? The hero of the whole damn thing?????
I know change has to happen, and some of the changes are good – Winn becoming a likeable character – some of the changes are amazing – Alex’s various coming out stories – and some of the changes are toxic, damaging, insufferable, and dangerous – Monorail and the fact that it seems to be HIS show now.
I love Maggie, and Floriana Lima was outstanding in the 2 seconds she was given, and I love Sanvers, it’s positive, mature, refreshing and beautiful, and Chyler Leigh is never less than breathtaking, but I’m sick of having to fast forward through my show, ‘cos I just can’t bring myself to watch the character assassination of Kara, the dismantling of the characterisations that made the first season such a joy, and the complete obliviousness of the writers who make it obvious Mxyzptlk is a toxic arse, then have Kara throw herself at a toxic arse.
I’m as salty as hell, and I want my Supergirl back.
100% hard agree
Once again, thank you for the BtVS reference (maybe saying that every week is my role on this comments board). I really like the idea of goofy little Winn just being Xander. This is made all the sweeter though by the fact that Lyra’s alien makeup looks disconcertingly similar to BtVS vampface. It was very distracting. The asshole aliens also just looked like Buffy demons and now all I want is to find out that the gaylien bar is home to rousing games of kitten poker. (Would that be too much to ask?)
On wanting to see Maggie and Alex as a couple in day to day life: yes! thank you! This show is bizarrely church-and-state about its relationships (romantic or otherwise) versus its bad guy-fighting plots. Like, there are scenes that are superhero plot scenes where the characters are just in action mode (J’onn as exposition guy, Alex as shooting guns chick, Kara as standing dramatically with her hands on her hips) and there are scenes where they are themselves. I’ve noticed this with Kara and Alex’s relationship as well. It’s one of several things that I think makes the show quite formulaic in its storytelling. That said, Maggie is a cop, for god sakes, you’d think they could find more action-plot-relevant things for her to do.
And lastly, on Kara and Mon-El: THE WORLD IS ON FIRE WHAT IS HAPPENING. It was a decent episode about how relationships need compromise and mutual communication and understanding! Everything was (more or less) on theme! And then at the end there was a scene tacked on where they made out????? What????
“Once again, thank you for the BtVS reference (maybe saying that every week is my role on this comments board).”
Your name IS Slay. I think now I have to be sure to MAKE a BtVS reference every week, just for you! (Though frankly they tend to come naturally and often.)
I just… am a little baffled as to what they’re setting up here? It’s just so weird! Why isn’t Kara articulating anything about why she likes Mon-El? It seems like the show knows that Mon-El’s behavior is Red Flag 101 so like… why is it being rewarded? Is this setup for something? It’s so baffling I’m going to just withhold judgment for now. They’ve gotta be going somewhere with this, right?
That being said if you find yourself in a real life situation with someone acting like Mon-El did in this episode (delusional, paranoid jealousy, willingness to murder over it) that person is The Most Likely Personality Type to beat or murder you, so… run. Also – it seems a little irresponsible to me to reward 50 Shades of Red Flags this way but it’s too early to tell if they really are doing that. Kara is too dang smart and wonderful, this has to be a trajectory of some kind for her, right?
Anyway – Chris Wood (Mon-El’s real redeeming feature is his performance and nothing else) and as per usual Melissa Benoist are acting the hell out of the material they’re handed. I want it to work out for Kara so much and I recognize that that’s entirely because of the wonderful performance and not in any way the writing right now. I can’t wait for Melissa Benoist to become the next Meryl Streep, basically.
But yeah, I am so confused about this episode because this was just extremely out of character for the show itself. They have my trust still, I hope they don’t squander it by not going anywhere with this.
“Why isn’t Kara articulating anything about why she likes Mon-El?”
I’d even settle for something dumb like “I just have something for that kind of person” if it was consistent and in-character. Cisco, from “The Flash” has a thing for villainous women, and he acknowledges it. It’s in-character for him. But this….
At this point it’s so glaring that I’m half-convinced it’s a setup. I mean, there’s theoretically lots she could be drawn to. Off the top of my head: he knows about Krypton to the point where they can banter about it, he’s bad at being an earthling which maybe makes her feel less alone, he’s someone who she doesn’t have to be so careful with because he’s superpowered and alien and from the same space quadrant. There’s stuff there! But her inability to articulate a single positive thing about Mon-El is pretty weird.
(And not flattering for her either, I mean if you think this poorly of someone you shouldn’t date them! People are not projects for improvement, all you’ll do is erode all of their self-confidence, it’s Not Nice.)
Chris Wood is killing it as a Vampire Diaries villain. Definitely one of their better ones. He would be very convincing as a backstabbing Daxamite.
This is kind of where I find myself too. After Kara being all badass this episode, and solving all the problems while also having to deal with male ego, and being very clear but also listening (so patiently) to apologies…
I don’t know, I almost expected them to kiss after the argument in the DEO. All of the things you’ve listed as reasons she’s drawn to Mon-El are things we’ve seen and can pretty easily assume. If they want to set it up as a problematic relationship for the drama, etc., I don’t mind that. At the end, I actually felt empowered for Kara. Maybe she recognizes the problematic aspects (as she’s articulated), and just wants some. Sometimes you don’t want to think about consequences, and you just want to live in the moment. That’s her prerogative…as long as they show consequences in the future.
I agree that this is a bad example of a good relationship. It’s like they think they need this for us to care enough about Mon-El that the space nun pay-off will be impactful. As if being a part of the Scooby Gang isn’t enough for us.
I’m still taking a wait and see approach. Shoe-horning Mon-El in is annoying, but the actors are working the hell out of it.
Oh, I agree that this smacks of ‘heightening the feeling of betrayal for when the space nuns arrive’, totally. But like… part of that appeal would surely be that we aren’t actually rooting for the space nuns to murder Mon-El, right? Because right now I’m honestly at a place of ‘meh, no great loss’ if they kill him which doesn’t seem like how I should feel about someone Kara cares for? If they killed anyone else up to and including Eve Teschmacher I’d be so sad for Kara/everyone else also, but with Mon-El I’d be like ‘well, that’s a relief’ you know?
“50 Shades of Red Flags” made me spit my drink out at my computer. Well done!
– I actually enjoyed Mxy. Especially as his storyline was played as not serious.
– I wish that they had shown Kara in her mother’s dress.
– Maggie finally getting some backstory.
– Maggie left Alex’s fireplace going when no one was home? Maggie, are you trying to burn her house down so that you two can U-Haul together?
– I like how Kara defeated Mxyzptlk. And it even drew a reference in from the beginning of the episode.
– I really enjoyed the Winn/Liira storyline.
– This episode highlighted everything that was wrong with Karamel, and yet they just expect us to embrace the couple with open arms without fixing any of it. Sanvers had a fight over an event or item if you will, but Karamel’s fight was about deep seated personality differences. You don’t say “Sorry” and just paper it over.
– Some people timed the Sanvers interaction, and it was 4m31s. 7m14s if you count Alex & Kara and Maggie & Kara talking about it.
I enjoyed Mxy to the point where I was ready for more hijinks. Preferably more goofy romance hijinks (which he promised! Liar!) and fewer murder hijinks – Supergirl doesn’t need any help with the murder hijinks, Mxy!
Also – I can’t believe he didn’t fill he house with heart-shaped chocolates for Valentine’s, no wonder she didn’t wanna marry him, he doesn’t understand what she wants at all! If anyone would be delighted to receive their romance tokens in edible form it would be Kara Zor-El, come on.
I was so excited for this episode after I watched the initial sneak peak where Mxy sent mayo-hell to the DEO in his underwear. I thought maybe we’d be teaching Mon-el a lesson in humility? No, instead what we got was a rehash of every episode Mon-el has been in, including Kara literally telling him he is a bad person, and him commenting that it would be easier if he could just own and objectify Kara. And calling her his weakness? He literally says “You Are My Kryptonite” as his excuse for his bad behavior, like a woman makes a man weak or some shit.
Just last week (1-2 days in showtime?) Lena told Kara “You are my hero” after showing that she is a good person, and partly because Kara believes in her.
And I get that Kara is supposed to be this person who just believes in people in general, but Mon-el hasn’t given her anything – anything for her to believe in.
Kara should spend more time with the person who basically says “you bring out the best in me” and stop running back to the person who says “you bring out the worst in me”.
It’s painful to watch Kara’s storyline, and see her fall for that immature lying arrogant mysoginistic fratboy, she is completely out of character. I really hope that some episodes in advance this whole situation gets reversed and give the audience an explanation about why is so wrong. We know he’s being lying from the moment he got out of the pod, he is the prince of Daxam, and I’m expecting one of these two things: or the ones looking for him are his allies and all of them are villains, or they’re after him because is guilty of something and they take him away. But I don’t want to end the season with Kara near him.
For a moment I believe her when she says that they’re not a match. Is the only moment she is genuine.
I don’t know what are the writers thinking, but the left some lines and details around the episodes that make me thing that they’re not trilled with the situation either. In my mind I picture them forced to write this nonsense.
Maggie/Alex is definitely the worst thing lesbian TV has produced since Clexa, y’all.
Clexa still got more screen time and the main treatment at that. Can shows stop screwing up the good thing they create by killing or diminishing the screentime for poor storylines or toxic het romance? WLW deserves better in media. I wonder if the season would have been any different if Supergirl hadn’t been moved to CW.
“Now, it’s possible Winn is Xander…” YES. Not that that was my big takeaway from this, but I said YES out loud when I read it so I felt the need to acknowledge it.
This is another episode in a long string of them where it seems like the final Kara/Mon-El scene was written for a whole different show than all their other scenes together. Like, how does she get from “you are an arrogant, egotistical frat boy, your jealousy is stupid and annoying, you never listen to anything I say, and your patronizing paternalism is going to get people killed” to “I didn’t mean any of that, let’s make out on the couch”. Like, WHAAAAAAT!? Kara, are YOU listening to yourself!?
The best part about Mxy was how he called out everything terrible about Mon-El that we’ve been saying all season. But when Kara ended up getting together with him anyway, it just felt like those call outs were more of the stupid Ryan Murphy/Bram/”lesbian blogosphere” fake call outs meant to mollify an enraged fanbase, rather than actually own up to the problems with their storyline.
GAHHHHHHHHH. The Sanvers stuff was so lovely, and I even enjoyed Winn’s C plot, but the Mon-El stuff feels like it’s a totally different show and it’s dragging everything down with it.
I just want game night and Danversisters movie time and family dinners back.
Maybe a nice big old rounded out Superhero plot or two.
Lena could come to game night!
After giving up her family for goodness (and let’s be honest, Kara) she deserves a break once in a while.
Seriously, though, by shoehorning Kara into that relationship with Mon El we’re missing out on a lot of quality time with the team!
i would pay so much to see lena be really awkward but then increasingly competitive at a kara and friends game night. yes pleeeeeease PRONTO.
I, too, was disappointed in the ep not being Sanvers-centric. I kept waiting for more and hoped the prom/dance scene was going to be epic given the small crumbs we got earlier in the ep but it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it was sweet but I think we deserved something on the Mr. Mxyzpytlk type woo level minus the creeper stalking.
Very unpopular opinion…. Though I agree that Mon-El and Kara are a bad idea, I don’t think Mon-El is worth the hate he gets. Is he a macho egoistical, entitled, selfish dude bro? Yes, but can you imagine what a nightmare adult you would have become had you grown into adulthood in a place where anything goes and in fact is encouraged, reinforced and practiced by everyone? His behavior makes me cringe sometimes but I always have to remind myself of where he came from and how all of is so very new to him. He is trying and failing a lot but he is trying. Maybe I like works in progress…I dunno.
Yes, but that’s the point. He is all those things so there’s ZERO reason the show should force Kara to be with him and show that behavior being rewarded by giving him almost literally, the most perfect woman in the world.
Understood but shouldn’t the hate be directed at the writers not the character?
I get that we can idealize on-screen relationships and people (though Kara is demonstrably the best), but I’m uncomfortable with putting people on pedestals in the context of interpersonal relationships, a lot of which are governed by illogical emotions.
Perhaps there are things about Mon-El that Kara likes that are unique enough to him that she thinks the risk (or at least the immediate rewards) are worth it. Given her cleverness this episode, and her articulated concerns regarding this relationship, I have to believe she’s thought through this. As long as there are consequences of misbehavior in the future…I can kind of understand her grabbing what’s in the offing just because she wants to without her having to justify it to me. She’s kind of earned that.
The writers and producers are on notice, though.
ok but like, show don’t tell. if she has things she likes about mon-el, let us see it so that the relationship makes any sense at all. right now it’s just like what???
“Supergirl” IN THE TRUMP ERA:
“You are an arrogant, egotistical frat boy, your jealousy is stupid and annoying, you never listen to anything I say, and your patronizing paternalism is going to get people killed.”
“Kara, everything that you just said is fake news.”
“I love you, Mon-El.”
Everyone else here in the comments has pretty much expressed my feelings re: Mon-El and Sanvers, so side note: I did some research on Lyra and while her specific name didn’t come up, her planet (Starhaven) did. Apparently it’s home to two DC heroes, metahumans who are descended from Anasazi/Pueblo Indians who were abducted by aliens and brought to the planet. So, having a blonde, white woman play her seems to be what feels like strike 243 for this show. Unless that’s not where they’re going, in which case, why mention the planet at all?
I now have the image of Lena in a white tux in my head and I just wanted to thank you for that.
I’m also disappointed by the 5 minutes we got of Sanvers in that entire episode. I mean the moments were meaningful, but…I need a lot more than that.
I’m beyond over this Kara/Mon-El storyline. The fact that Kara laid out every reason he’s not good for her but still wanted to be with him at the end of the episode is just…
I know I say his every time but I’m ready for Cat to come back now. Kara shouldn’t need someone to remind her of her worth but I think Kara (and all of us really) could use a Cat Grant pep talk right about now.
In macho-overload episodes like this, we need some real talk from Cat or Livewire.
Cat would never stand for this.
“Hell yes!” to basically your entire comment but especially the first and the last sentences. I think we all could use a Cat Grant pep talk right about now.
And I can only imagine the gloriousness of Valerie Anne’s recap and this comment section if Lena ever were to appear in a white tux on the show.
Also, the particular face you’ve got Kara making in the screencap plus the caption of her saying “I AM A BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL FISH” is killing me because goddammit now she looks like a fish to me
Also also, I think the superficial solution to Maggie not liking stupid consumeristic Valentine’s Day should have been just giving her all the flowers in Kara’s apartment. It would have been adorable and a show of aggressive indifference towards the manly wooing AND wouldn’t be consumeristic because nobody paid for them!
as a fan of comics the Sir Mix alot’s downfall was already known. He was a constant thorn in Superman’s side. I think he may have been played in some of the other Superman series as well. I know I saw him on a few cartoon versions of it.
You forget one major thing about Mon El. He is a survivor as much as Kara is. Both of their worlds are gone. They are all they have. So its in his best interest to really get better. He knows this, of course his Daxomite upbringing is getting in the way. But you forget Kara is the personification of Hope. She believes their is good in him and he can change. She understands this and that is why she fell for him. Hey, its like they say why do good girls fall for the bad guys. Because they like the bad boy attitude. But they are a work in progress. They want him so they can change him to what makes them happy. Kara sees honest to goodness change in him and is willing to give him a try. Plus she wants to change him. And plus having a fellow partner to beat up bad guys with you makes for a fun date night.
I personally would be fine with a storyline about this douchey guy overcoming the messages of toxic masculinity he internalized throughout his life and learning to be Good and Not Misogynistic. I’d even be fine with Kara (being made of Hope and Justice and, supposedly, Feminism) helping him with that. But if she’s going to date him, shouldn’t it be AFTER he’s learned how not to be a douche?
I think it’s ok to date as long as he’s trying. I mean, how do you even define the “not douche” point? As long as Kara doesn’t drop the criticism just because they’re dating.
Honestly, with as much interest as she’s shown in him so far, this onscreen thing translates as “He’s pretty. I’d like to actually date and have my life together, let’s try this and see where it goes. Also getting some with someone I don’t have to be scared to crush to death in a moment of intense joy sounds like a decent idea.” from Supergirl’s side of things for me. Not “eternal romantic love, forged by a common destiny.” kind of vibe.
They really did not develop this enough for me, although they totally could have with everything you mentioned!
The point, I think is that “inspiring” someone needn’t be about romantic love. However, everything something like this happens in shows or movies, it is about…. Oh, you are so inspiring, I am in love with you and want to be with you.
People can be friends and be inspired. (J’onn keeps getting inspired by Alex as well as Kara. Alex is constantly inspired by Kara.)
And.. where has it been shown that he is trying? The fact that instead of flirting with all the girls (or just Eve), he is drinking club soda and pining after Kara?
Besides… this is not even a new story. This is a story that has been shown so many times. I think a lot of folks’ issue is that.
And it gives the message to young men and women and probably gender-non binary people and kids that hey, if you are basically uncaring, not listening, non-respectful and so on now, you will be forgiven, and you can still date the best girl. In fact, apparently, you are owed that feeling of love because “Didn’t you say you will be good? Didn’t you apologise? Shouldn’t that be enough?”. And worse, Kara seems to go along with that for the exact same reason. That he confessed his love for her, and is pining for her.
As folks in tumblr said, this, coupled with that “You are my kryptonite” line is the very definition of abusive relationships. a. You are owed attention because you promise to be better. b. All your bad actions are owing to your “love” for the other person.
And young folks (and many older folks) as well are learning from this; and it is also reinforcing this idea in them. To people who watch, Mon El is a straight white man from a rich family (only people inside the show would not know that he is the prince), who thinks he can get anything. And then, he is touched by Kara and decides he likes her. He tries to do better he says, but we get to see only one scene of that (when he gets abducted); it was so fleeting that most people will not remember it. What they will remember is that he keeps on denigrating Kara and then, when he apologises, she forgives him. Again. And Again. And then, he blames his worst impulses on her. And she glides over it. (And folks think, as per forums, that is romantic).
How would you feel if Draco Malfoy tells Hermione that she should date him because the way he is is a result of his upbringing (which is true) and he will try to do better? Before, let me add, before he has proven beyond all doubt that his intention to be kind and not racist is not fleeting.
What is sad is that it is almost as if the hate for the writing is spilling onto the character and the actor. And, I think that is sad because neither of them deserve that. Most definitely not Chris Wood.
James is black and Mxy’s and Adam Foster’s actors are Hispanic, so that’s three POC that Kara has rejected. The only guy she wants is the white guy?
Ok so disappointed in so much but can I ask these important questions:
– Why don’t Alex or Maggie wear jackets? The scenes with Supergirl outside had people in scarves. Does Alex’s apartment have a extra cloak room we don’t know about?
– Maggie totally has a key to Alex’s apartment. Not a question, I’m just happy about it.
– Did anyone else laugh that because Alex’s bedroom doesn’t have walls she had to hide out in the bathroom?
– Who in their right mind eats dry toast?!
– I have appreciated that twice now in 2b we have seen people at home in sweatpants (Alex and Kara).
– Who do we have to pay to get a well-lit kiss? Did they use up that budget on the morning after scene in 2×09?
– So Alex and Maggie both wear the same Henley in this episode. Who’s do you think it is? My guess is Alex.
Rewatched…not the same Henley but they’re both super cute ;)
Great recap of a more than frustrating episode.
When Kara told Mxy: “You can’t force love, Mxyzptlk, you have to let it find you.” I really thought she had had some sort of epiphany and would draw a parallel to her situation with Mon-El. But then she pulls a 180 and falls right back into Blandsome’s arms.
Their relationship to me looks nothing but forced… and not at all nuanced and subtle, like the phrase “being found by love” suggests.
Also, Mxy’s overenthusiastic gesture of filling Kara’s apartment with roses to impress her reminded me of something. Seems like not even the writers can come up with something more blatantly romantic than a room full of flowers.
Gratitude and friendship… yeah, right.
“You can’t force love, Mxyzptlk, you have to let the writers decide it for you.”
The ONLY tiny hope I have right now is that Lena makes a pass at Kara “the reporter” and Mon-El is with Kara as “Supergirl”, at the same time. Lena doesn’t know about Kara’s alternate identities and Mon-El (despite his douchery) is open to open relationships. However that is a long shot and a complete hail mary as far as my little fangirl heart goes.
Also, if there’s a Sanvers wedding episode somewhere in our future lets just hope it’s not one-upped by a Mon-El wedding proposal.
I am right there with you, totally wondering if Kara with Mon El AND ALSO with Lena is the ultimate end game. Particularly after Mon El said, “the more the merrier” talking about Daxam relationships. I was so impressed with the writers and the, well, guts to write the Alex coming out so nuanced and excellent, that the minute Mon El made that comment I thought hmmm…
I, like many others, won’t be happy if merely Mon El is end game. The writers raised our standards by having strong women, some diversity, a gay relationship, and, briefly, a bi-racial relationship; enough that I’m wondering if an open relationship is the next frontier.
I actually liked Season One James with Kara, so it’s not like I just want more gay…lol. The way Mon El treats her had bothered me for a while, but it does make him a stark contrast to Lena. I see that deep difference between Mon El and Lena as a good point in the possibility of Kara really liking them both and having a very interesting time realizing this, communicating it, and navigating her feelings and these relationships. Again, Mon El’s alleged attitude about this (“the more the merrier”) is very interesting.
It’s ALMOST like she is initially more physically attracted to Mon El than Lena (obvs) while being, already, more emotionally attracted to Lena (obvs), and I think that juxtaposition will be tough for Kara. I hope we get to see her kind of weigh these things while her emotional closeness with Mon El improves while her physical closeness with Lena evolves.
Kara can be with Mon El and still, theoretically, not only start navigating her relationship with Lena but also actually be supported in it by Mon El.
I was wishing this episode would just end so I could watch jane the virgin :/ though, I also just watched 10 hours of White Nights on netflix, so my tolerance for rewarding “poor man feelings” is extremely low. That show gave zero rewards to guys and/or their feelings. None. Not even for the guy she liked back. Also, it’s the gayest-non-gay-surely-someone-is-gay show that I’ve ever seen (even if parts of that would be me being from a different culture.)
If you want to read what the Sanvers storyline last night SHOULD have included I highly recommend fan fic by @queergirlwriting
She includes actually follow up conversation to Maggie’s big reveal (imagine that), some Kara/Maggie bonding and a little smut for good measure.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/9122290/chapters/22108244?view_adult=true
http://archiveofourown.org/works/9122290/chapters/22116287
http://archiveofourown.org/works/9122290/chapters/22116968
http://archiveofourown.org/works/9122290/chapters/22117529
As frustrating as this episode was I have to say I thought about changing my handle to “kara danvers’ well tailored pants” afterwards so I guess there’s that
RIGHT?
They were totally stealing the scene!
Sanvers-centic Valentine’s Day episode? Pfft. Yeah, right. Yeah, we were so baited and we fell for it…again. This whole episode was about two stray dogs circling each other, sniffing and growling, huffing and puffing, and making a play for the prize without taking said prize’s feelings or opinions into consideration. So color me surprised too when at the end of the episode, Kara kissed “Tall, Dark and BLANDSOME” (Stray Dog 2’s only positive contribution to this mess of an episode). I mean sure, this is tooootally normal. A girl who spent an entire episode ranting and raving and scowling about how Stray Dog 1 was disrespecting her feelings and opinions and wishes suddenly falls into his arms…lips first. *rolls eyes* Ridiculous. This whole storyline is ridiculous.
You know what else is ridiculous? That Kara and BLANDSOME got to get frantic, heated near make out kisses while Maggie and Alex got a chaste peck. Seriously? Are we still on this nonsense? I thought we were past this. I thought shows like Supergirl were past this, better than this. Then again, I barely recognize this show anymore, especially when I compare it to Season 1. I think the network change hurt this show. Everything is just…wrong.
Sidenote: when Stray Dogs 1 and 2 were outside the alien bar huffing and puffing, their breaths were smoking hard and yet they were pretty much dressed like it was a cool summer night. When my breath starts smoking that visibly, I turn into a walking sleeping bag. Just sayin’…these guys were inappropriately dressed for the weather and it’s such a pet peeve of mine when I notice this on movies and shows. It’s bad enough that the media so inaccurately represents expectations of beauty, height, size, weight etc.; can they at least try to dress the characters appropriately for the weather?!?!?!
Are the writers still based in Los Angeles? If so, they may not know how to write for weather conditions 1000 miles to the north. Perhaps they have no concept of cold weather, among other things…
I don’t know. I’ve noticed that you’ll see your breath in the Pacific Northwest at a much higher temperature than I ever would growing up in the Midwest (where you had to approach freezing). I’ve always chalked it up to greater humidity in the air. As an observation.
Your recap was like a so much needed glass of water. Thank you. I was so upset last night after watching the episode. The double standard in the writing it’s starting to get pretty annoying. It is just like you said: why would Kara go against everything she said about Mon-El and kissed him anyways? It’s quite patronizing, if you ask me.
I get this show is not about romantic relationships and, furthermore, it is not a queer show per se, but the heteronormativity they’re shoving down our throats is unbelievable. They have constructed this amazing story arc for Alex, and the minute the show falls into the risk of being percive as too queer, too progresive, they put it aside and go fully into a plot line that has no head nor feet.
When Mon-El first appeared, I didn’t dislike him. Actually, I found him quite refreshing, like he could be a good comic relief. But nowadays… I’m joining the Mon-HELL troops. The dynamic between Kara and him being set by the writers is unhealthy -to say the least-. I know that sometimes feelings can be confusing, and coherence between what we say and how we act is not easy to follow through. But, c’mon! Kara deserves soooo much better. We, the fandom deserve so much better. And last -but not least important- Alex and Maggie’s storyline deserve a better developement. Last night we got to see what really happened with Maggie’s coming out (I bet we all understood a little bit more why she encouraged Alex to come out herself to her family) and the traumatic implication of being exposed at such a young age was dimminished and trated like it is an ordinary bad experience. I know, I know, it isn’t Sanvers show, but it could’ve been explored in a more sensitive, deeply way.
When you sum all the pieces, all the storylines, you get to see how contradictory and conflictive is the narrative the show is pursuing.
I’ve been annoyed overall at Mon-El, and this peaked when Alex of all people was telling Kara she should give him a chance. I forgive Alex due to hormone-addled “newly paired” syndrome, where she wants everyone to be so happy. But the way we are supposed to love Mon-El, and forgive Mon-El, and realize how hard he’s trying just seems like they’re leaning too hard on conventional “he’s an attractive white man” tropes.
That said, there is a lot about him that could make him attractive to Kara. So at this point, I feel like we (the audience) are the best friend who only hears the bad stuff through bitch sessions, then wonders why their friend dates this person at all.
A previous poster created a pretty good list of the Mon-El attributes that make him both a sympathetic character, and could make him attractive to Kara as a romantic interest. I’m a little annoyed that they are never said (or written) in the show, but rather we have to see his actions and infer them from what we know of his past.
I love that Kara keeps calling him on his problematic stuff. I’m completely annoyed by the straight white male privilege in action we’re seeing on our screen. I also think that you can have a good relationship with an imperfect person, and that given Mon-El is an alien, I have to side-eye the writers and producers more than the character for the privilege piece of things:
Please stop thinking we can make assumptions and leaps in logic just because he’s an attractive white male.
Meanwhile, I totally noticed the double-standard between Maggie and Alex having a romantic peck of a lip-lock, and Kara and Mon-El getting a full-on, fall-back couch make-out session. From what I know it’s the networks and censors rearing their ugly heads.
Maybe we need more activism to change established TV/media decency norms, because it hits same-sex relationships (particularly those on a broadcast network at 8 PM Eastern) hard. :(
Also…can we talk about how Mon-El, after accepting the terms of the duel, just straight-up went and shot Mxy without a warning?! Such douchy moves are usually reserved for egotistical villains who couldn’t give two sh*** about honour or fairness.
Doesn’t matter if the antagonist is an imp or trickster and has no real intention of playing fair either – the “hero” usually never stoops this low. Kara sure as hell wouldn’t have. But I guess when it comes to Mon-El’s behaviour there’s not much that surprises me anymore.
There are a few other reviewers who were as put off by Mon-El’s patronizing jealousy and reversal to his fresh-out-of-Daxam-self (not that there really was that much of a positive, non-superficial development in that department anyway, if you ask me) as a lot of us were. Over at the A.V. Club for example… am I allowed to reference that here? If not I’ll edit.
But the majority was just A-ok with the episode, swooning over how romantic everything was, how head-over-heals Mon-El is for Kara, and how these little fights apparently make them grow as a couple.
Glad that Valerie Anne is recapping for us.
My stomach totally just lurched reading that second to last sentence. I just don’t want this to be romanticized at all. And your last sentence, yes, I’m so glad that Valerie Ann is recapping.
All I have to say after all this BS with Kara and Mon-El is that I’ll only keep watching it for Sanvers and I’m praying for them not to screw their plotline, too!
I really wish this episode wasn’t “aired” AT ALL.
Nah, it could have been a fun episode… Like Buffy-Halloween*-fun, which was getting its more serious message across but candy wrapped.
Mxy had his moments, particularly when commenting on Mon-El– But Q he ain’t.
I agree with some of the previous commenters that sometimes you fall for the problematic kind of relationships, against your better judgement (continuing the BtVS thread, e.g. Buffy*Spike).
BUT I just don’t get the appeal that Mon-El supposedly has – romantically. He just can’t cut it, in all his glory blandness. Or maybe I’m #TooGayForThisShit.
Worst thing is really that there hasn’t been any interesting story arc for a while. Bits of Cadmus here and there, but other than that, nothing to keep you on your toes…
Except for Sanvers, of whom we have seen criminally little. They are adorable together, every damn single time they are on screen. It was good to get a glimpse of Maggie’s past– And Alex not letting Maggie run away from it/her, because ‘this is a relationship’. So grown up!
Fingers crossed that Supergirl takes off again in the latter half of S2.
* http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Halloween
On the positive side of things, Maggie looked super comfortable sitting with her knee up at Alex’s table for breakfast. I like that between this scene and the one where she’s in Alex’s shirt the morning after her first sleepover, I can just decide that Maggie doesn’t put on pants at Alex’s until she absolutely has to leave for work.
As this episode drew closer I realized it wasn’t going to be like EW said it was as a Sanvers-centric episode, so my expectations lowered little by little. Usually episodes without James are just better but this one was just confusing.
Winn and Lyra, that just came out of no where and seemed very rushed that it had me thinking that Winn was under a spell for pretty much the whole episode. This is because I used to watch Lois and Clark and they too did an episode featuring Mxyzptlk (played by Howie Mandel) and I remember it being a Christmas episode and I think Mxyzptlk put a spell where adults acted like children. I’m like 78% sure that’s how the episode went but then again the episode was on about 20 years ago (yikes) so I could be wrong. Anyway yes, maybe there is something to Lyra and I love the analogy of Winn being Xander.
I know it is the unpopular opinion to like Mon-El but I do. And I think he and Kara have chemistry which is important. You watch a show like Grey’s now and Shonda doesn’t give a shit, she’ll pair who she wants to pair together chemistry be damned. They have that Moonlighting thing, or perhaps a show from this century like Brennan and Booth, they butt heads but deep down there is a connection. But I get what you’re saying about how Mon-El keeps doubting Kara and thinking he knows best or he has to protect her because he’s the man but that also could be due to the customs he had on Daxom and he’s not used to the Earth customs that he’s still learning. I mean consider him to be the 6th PLL, No matter how many years have gone by they still walk into dark buildings they shouldn’t, touch evidence without gloves and just make all around bad decisions, but we still love them, right?
As for James, “last season, James was the love interest because he was patient and kind and gave her the inspiration she needed when she needed — and asked for — it”, WHAT!? And this season James turned into a jerk thinking that Guardian is better at fighting crime than Supergirl. I honestly think James needs off this show, I don’t care about him when he’s there and I don’t miss him when he’s gone (which is like every other episode).
OKAY NOW ON TO THE GOOD STUFF.
Maybe I’m being greedy but even though we got good Sanvers, I still wanted more. I feel like they are stalled, it’s like we’ve gotten the morning thing already and we’ve seen their domesticity but I want to see them on an actual date where it doesn’t just cut them off after they’ve kissed.
What we got tonight even though it wasn’t as much as we thought or were promised if you watch it all together on one of the Sanvers YouTube channels that have taken out the rest of the bullshit episode it’s much more enjoyable.
From the beginning they just had a weird vibe, I think I get where Alex is coming from where since she is all new to this she doesn’t want to blurt something out that might be a deal breaker for Maggie. But I find it hard to believe that Mama Danvers who is #2 Sanvers shipper after Kara would send Alex a Valentine card and not write inside something like “Happy Valentine’s Day Sweetheart, I hope you have a wonderful day planned with Maggie.” and Maggie would’ve read that and been like “whoa, sorry Danvers but I don’t do Valentine’s day” and Alex would’ve been like “Oh yeah sure no problem, silly mom” and the same story line could’ve grown from there.
Also why wasn’t Alex eating anything for breakfast? And she just made something for Maggie? My theory is that Maggie was working a case late and so Alex got up the next morning and had her breakfast and then Maggie got up a while later still drained from working the night before so Alex made her something and just let Maggie sit there in her t-shirt and no pants reading the paper before she probably bombarded Maggie with V-Day plans.
I liked the thought behind Alex’s eventually Maggietine but I didn’t like the presentation of it but also Maggie was a little harsh to just shut Alex down like that. I was interested in Maggie’s coming out story, whether it was originally planned or just thrown in, it made a few of her previous speeches to Alex (the I want you in my life) resonate more.
The meet up between Kara and Maggie was good but here’s the thing, why does Maggie have to change her feelings about Valentine’s Day to make it special for Alex? Don’t get me wrong it was nice and romantic and I will get to that but it was a really traumatic moment for Maggie but I guess we don’t know Maggie enough to care how that effects her. Chandler Bing hated Thanksgiving because that’s when his parents told him they were divorcing and his father was a drag queen but none of the Friends ever forced him to like Thanksgiving because they were all together. Even when he was with Monica it wasn’t until the last season that he finally had a new memory of Thanksgiving with her.
And finally the Sanvers prom which looked a hell of a lot better than my prom but probably on par with Zack and Kelly’s prom. But was anyone else confused why the prom theme? I feel like something might have gotten cut out of this episode (or another episode) that would’ve explained this better. Maggie said her friend rejected her to presumably a Valentine dance but she said it was the prom Alex deserved (????). And yes more romance, more kisses, more everything for them.
Last bits, how cute was Alex rambling Maggie’s likes to Kara. I’m sure Maggie could do the same because she’s a detective and detects what Alex likes. Which is why I hope Alex liked that dress, I am never one to be told what to wear so even though it was cute and romantic for Maggie to leave the dress for Alex, I’ll never know if Alex really wanted to wear it. Additionally Maggie’s pantsuit gets the Bette Porter seal of approval.
I have another tiny gripe with Sanvers. In the beginning the whole Hey Danvers/Hey Sawyer salutation was cute but Alex has started calling Maggie Maggie but Maggie still calls Alex Danvers. And when they are at work it’s fine but when they are at home in relationship mode being all sweet it breaks the moment for me to hear Maggie say Danvers instead of Alex. When Maggie says Alex there is a softness behind her word like when she asked Kara if she’s seen Alex because she was looking for Alex her girlfriend not Danvers the agent. Does that make sense? I don’t know I’d just like if Maggie said Alex when they were alone instead of Danvers.
At first, I was amazed at how Kara consistently called out Monorail BS throughout the episode, but when Sanvers Time ended and that last scene with Kara and…Mon-El began to stretch, I went into “Wait…no. She wouldn’t…” mode.
And while the theme of the episode initially seemed to be that Kara ain’t no damn damsel, *I* felt like one when they started edging closer for that weird kiss. Terrible as it is…am I wrong for wishing that Barry would portal himself in yet again to save *me* from that scene?
I literally said, “Barry. Barry. Come on, dude. Flash in. You gotta do it.” out loud in the hopes that he’d pop in and steer things back to where they should be.
Also: Winn was…cool? They weren’t lying when they said this episode would be weird.
Did everyone see the major shade the commenter ‘Sanvers’ made on the “Centric” Entertainment Weekly article Valerie linked above?
There were shots fired at Entertainment Weekly, CW & their Writers. ‘Sanvers’ FTW
I’ve only read the recap (not watched the episode) but I’ve got two thoughts
1) I bet Superman never had to deal with this kind of bullshit when he was trying to save the day and
2) I think it’s safe to say that this episode’s lesson is “men are the worst” (or it would be if Alex hadn’t kissed Mon-El wtf).
Oh, but Alex didn’t kiss Mon-El. Kara did. Though I realize that may have been a typo but just in case it wasn’t…
yeah sorry i meant to say Kara !
The difference is, no one knows Clark is Superman but it seems like everyone knows that Kara is Supergirl.
Lyra: that was Tamzin Merchant under there! [Dang, I *knew* I recognized her, but had to go to imdb to find out who.]
ITA w/ everything said about the colossal disappointment that was this ep (inc the de-sexing of Sanvers *relative* to the passionately-tumble-to-horizontal Kara & Snore-El got)
“And frankly I will never understand why Mon-El spent the entire episode proving he’s not good enough for Kara and he got a fall-back-on-the-couch kiss and Maggie went above and beyond to set down her baggage to be the kind of girlfriend Alex needs and she got a quick peck, but that’s another issue entirely.”
That was what bugged me most. This blatant show of unequality between hetero and homosexual couples. We have never! seen Alex and Maggie make out like Kara and Mon-El, and the ladies have been together for a while. Just like the episode where they supposedly had sex for the first time. If they were a hetero couple we would have seen indisputable proof, like seeing them wake up next to each other (not even making out or nakedness). This show is one of the best portrayals we currently have and i love it but it also infuriates me.
Thanks Valerie and everyone who’s really disturbed with what’s happening to the main character of this show, there MUST something ahead that we’re not foreseeing, otherwise I really don’t see the point of Kara wearing any more “power to the girls” t-shirt anymore. I’m truly exhausted with this romantic plot and I can NOT get over the fact that the line “things were a lot easier on Daxam when I objectified women and didn’t care about anything” was actually said out loud AND that he managed to kiss Kara at the end of the episode.
And talking about that kiss, I decided to the math here (I know, I know… I shouldn’t even bother…): Kara and Mon-El’s kiss in 2×13: 18 seconds. ALL of Alex and Maggie’s kisses in 2×06, 2×08, 2×09, 2×11 and 2×13: 18 seconds. I rest my heteronormativity-is-a-disease case.
Great recap as always! Love your spin on it.
One thing that has recently started to bother me (besides Mon-el’s storyline) is the disconnect between Supergirl and her code of ethics. (All the way from big stuff like destroying the alien ship on the slaver planet, to using Supergirl as a source.) She tells Mon-el flat-out “We don’t kill people” in this episode, and then five minutes later she literally says to Parasite, “I thought you were dead?” Yeah, cuz you killed him. Oof.