Kara is back from The Flash Musical Crossover portal, and sadly she has brought Mon-El back with her.
My bar for Mon-El at this point is literally on the ground, but he somehow managed to not dig his way under it this week. He still had too much screen time, and Kara’s storyline was still way too dependent on him, but Kara was starting to sound a little like her old self for the most part. Still needs work but hopefully it’s a step in the right direction.
The first somewhat redeeming thing Mon-El did in this episode was make Kara breakfast, which made her make her excited-about-food face, which is one of her best faces.
Find a girl who looks at you the way Kara looks at breakfast.
Kara can’t stick around long though, because there are aliens to fight, and she takes this one on alone because she can and she should. She even gets some of her Buffy-esque snark back, ending her take-down with a quippy, “Alien clean-up in aisle three!”
At the DEO, they find out that the alien was a bounty hunter, and there’s a price on Kara’s head.
It me!
J’onn and Alex wants Kara to hide, but Kara says she’s the Girl of Steel! She’s not going to hide. They get her to agree to lay low for 24 hours, though she is reluctant at best.
*teenager voice* FINE, Earth Sister and Space Dad.
J’onn tells Mon-El to “keep an eye” on Kara to which I shouted, ET TU, SPACE DAD?!
Mon-El says he will, but first he meets up with his parents at the gaylien bar to ask them if they were the ones who put the bounty out on Kara. They say it wasn’t them, that they’re just waiting for Mon-El to come to his senses and leave Earth (which, same).
The Superfriends try to distract Kara with Game Night, but even though she has surely taken nights off before, the fact that she CAN’T go anywhere is driving her batty. Luckily she doesn’t have to sit still for long, because Mon-El comes back to the apartment and leads a bounty hunter straight to her. The bounty hunter takes over Mon-El’s loaf brain and controls his body, having him attack Kara.
WinnGuardian jumps in to help release Mon-El from the bounty hunter’s clutches, but not before Kara gets some admittedly satisfying hits in.
Back at the DEO, Alex is ready to wrench the bounty hunter to death for trying to hurt her baby sister.
FFS SOMEONE GET THE GIRL A WRENCH
But J’onn goes mind-to-mind with him instead. It doesn’t take long before the alien gives up the Daxamites as the ones who put out the hit.
Alex is ready to fly out to the spaceship herself to fight the king and queen, but J’onn tells her that President Wonder Woman specifically ordered them not to engage with the ship, lest they start a war.
Mon-El and Kara hide out in Kara’s apartment for a bit, and Mon-El suggests they run away together, like Romeo and Juliet. Kara finally says what should be said every time someone tries to romanticize that play: Romeo and Juliet die at the end. Aim higher. Also, Kara is Supergirl. And Supergirl doesn’t just run away when the going gets tough.
Are you NEW?
Instead, Kara wants to do the opposite and run TO the problem. She wants to talk to Mon-El’s mother, try to hash things out, explain why her son is better off on Earth. Mon-El says people don’t change.
*record scratch noise*
Mon-El — who has been BADGERING Kara this ENTIRE SEASON begging and pleading for her to give him a chance because she makes him better and he wants to be like her and he can be a hero too just give him a chance — has the AUDACITY to say people never change?!?!
And then Kara, who maybe has been body snatched, says that Mon-El changed because he’s not selfish anymore, even though he literally just asked her to run away with him and only him, leaving behind her sister and the rest of her family and friends who have loved her way longer than he has.
ANYWAY Kara and Sir Sourdough go see Mom-El in the Fortress of Solitude and even though she’s never anything but rude, Kara treats Mom-El with respect and kindness. Mama stands her ground and sasses Kara right up to the point where she whips out kryptonite daggers.
Mon-El watches his mother overpower Kara and steps in just in time, saying he’ll go back to his parents ship if they’ll leave Kara alone.
Kara flies back to the DEO, hurt, and even though J’onn and Alex and President Wonder Woman tell her it’s a bad idea, Kara begs them to let her save Mon-El, so they work together. Because Kara’s genuinely upset face would make even me want to save the stupid loaf.
Melissa pulled out all the stops for this scene.
Up on the ship, Mon-El tells his father that he wants to help rebuild Daxam to be better than it was, to impart justice and equality. And you know what? That would have been a great ending for Mon-El. It would prove he really changed, that Kara did make him a true hero, but also he’d be gone. And honestly that could still be his arc; I’d love that so very much.
But alas Mon-El’s parents don’t like his reasonable plan so they decide to put him in a cell for the four-year journey back to Daxam.
That is, until Supergirl shows up on the ship.
Supertude
And with the flick of the Queen’s wrist, fighting ensues.
YAAS QUEEN
Supergirl fights the royal guards while Winn unlocks the bread box, but when the Queen stabs Supergirl with a kryptonite dagger she learns it’s just J’onn shaped like Supergirl.
Much to Alex’s dismay, Kara jumps through the gate and onto the ship, too, and fights the Queen herself for real, despite the kryptonite doing a number on her.
Eventually King Hercules says enough is enough and says if Mon-El wants to stay on Earth he can, and everyone goes on their merry way.
President Wonder Woman is mad, and, may I remind you, an alien, so there’s definitely something shady afoot there.
Back at Kara’s apartment, Mon-El correctly calls Kara optimistic and brave, and says that even though she makes it look easy, doing the right thing isn’t always a walk in the park. He’s starting to understand what she sacrifices for other people, and he says he admires her. I still am not clear on what Kara’s getting out of this relationship, but she seems happy and he didn’t do anything TOO awful this episode so I’ll spare you all the ranting this week.
Besides, we’ve got some Sanvers stuff to dive into.
So right off the bat, the first time we see Maggie this episode, is the cutest gayest thing: Maggie dragged Alex to yoga. And Alex hated it, but loves being with Maggie, so they’re still being super cute about it. But Alex had to go and jinx it because as soon as she said that, Maggie’s ex-girlfriend Emily manifests to try to shake things up for the duo.
Things are awkward at best and Maggie and Emily say they should catch up and are ready to leave it as that non-committal promise you make to people you don’t actually ever want to see again, but Alex wants to show Maggie that she’s not a regular girlfriend, she’s a cool girlfriend, so she insists they all have dinner tonight.
I would follow those two through the gates of hell and happily.
But Alex and Maggie are left stranded at the restaurant, with Emily not even texting to bail. Maggie says she’s fine, but it’s clear she’s a little upset by this turn of events, and Alex feels bad for pushing the issue.
“On The L Word everyone hangs out with their exes…”
Maggie explains that they were together for five years, and when they broke up, Emily had said Maggie didn’t deserve to be happy. It hurt, and since they had dated for so long, Maggie couldn’t help but wonder if Emily, who knew her best, could be right.
“Fill your bag with breadsticks and let’s gtfo.”
And now suddenly Maggie’s speech to Alex about deserving to be happy packs a little more punch, eh?
Alex calls for the check to get her girlfriend out of there.
Later, in a move that is truly a rookie mistake, Alex shows up at Emily’s hotel and asks how she could dare leave Maggie out to dry like that, especially after saying those awful things to her. Emily stands by what she said to Maggie, which proves she’s at least part monster; I don’t care what someone did to you, you don’t tell them they don’t deserve happiness and then stand by it years later to their girlfriend’s face, it’s just bad form. I had a toxic garbage fire relationship with a girl when I was 24, and we both did things that were not great, and she said some things I’d like to think she’d take back if she could. You should at least be able to be like, “I was young and hurt.” Even if you’re not sorry.
But then Emily tells Alex that Maggie cheated on her. Running into Maggie again was too painful, throwing Alex’s empathy sensors into a tizzy.
Normally in this situation I would fight you but that doesn’t seem to be the solution…
Emily says she just wants to forget the whole thing. Alex doesn’t know what to say, so she apologizes and leaves.
And apparently I’ve become more jaded than I realized, because I thought for sure Alex was going to hold onto this information for a few tense episodes before finding some paranoid reason to accuse Maggie of. Or worse, break up with Maggie on the spot because she didn’t want to risk being cheated on.
But Alex Danvers surprised even me this night, my friends. She immediately confesses where she went to Maggie, and asks Maggie if she was ever going to tell her that she cheated on Emily. Maggie says it was a long time ago, and she already feels bad enough as it is.
Alex tells Maggie that it wasn’t the cheating that bothers her; they’ve all done dumb things. But why didn’t Maggie just tell her? Alex has been processing this like a good little lesbian and she realized something: Maggie has a pattern of keeping things to herself.
Sad!Maggie was not something my heart was prepared for.
Alex says that maybe when her best friend and her parents, the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally, pushed her away when she came out, Maggie closed part of herself off and stopped trusting the people closest to her. Alex says that she’s not here to judge Maggie for things that happened in the past, she’s here to help her girlfriend heal.
I guess this is the perk of having a real relationship between two full-grown adults.
Maggie is surprised Alex doesn’t think she’s a horrible person, but Alex is giving her permission to let go of this guilt she’s been holding onto for years. Because after all, if Maggie and Emily dated a few years ago for five years, and Maggie is no older than 30, they were so young when they dated. So one of them cheated, the other said awful things, but they’re both older and wiser now. It’s okay to let go.
I DON’T EVEN HAVE A JOKE HERE BECAUSE I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT IT
Maggie can’t believe how lucky she is to find a girl like Alex, and Alex jokes that it’s nice to see Maggie isn’t as perfect as she seems. They hug and it’s cute and even though I still have a lingering sense of foreboding every time an episode goes by without a major issue, I feel grateful these precious girls have each other.
I felt like *I* was also in the middle of this hug.
Later, Maggie and Emily talk it out one last time, while Alex waits nearby. It feels a little fluffy for a five-year relationship that ended in cheating and emotionally scarring words, but the past is in the past and Emily and Maggie part ways with a smile. Sometimes you just need closure.
Maggie thanks Alex for giving her said closure, and says that the last thing her and Emily talked about was how lucky Maggie was to have found Alex. And Maggie’s smile proves it.
Maggie’s smile is Alex’s yellow sun. It makes her stronger, it makes her better.
Alex grabs Maggie by her jacket and pulls her in for a kiss, and suddenly I don’t even care if I’m being set up for heartbreak (and I really don’t think I am!), because seeing Alex Danvers just basking in unadulterated joy is truly a gift.
I’m never wearing anything without lapels again until someone grabs me and kisses me like this.
And just final thoughts on this, I love that we’re getting background on Maggie, and seeing inside Alex’s relationship. (Maggie likes yoga! And has a type! Alex hates yoga! And isn’t naturally jealous!) Their problems are solved quickly, but that’s what happens when you have an ensemble cast on a show with such a heavy focus on Fighting the Enemy/superheroes, etc. I was afraid this relationship would be pushed to the background, but every other week they delve a little deeper into it, and it’s being handled with such care and has so much emotional depth. And Maggie is getting more and more involved in the main plot, and I think soon we could see her even working WITH the DEO (instead of sort of in opposition to them like last week). For as terrible/confusing as the Mon-El/Kara relationship is, Maggie and Alex’s is beautiful and complex, and for that I am extremely grateful.
At the end of the episode, Queen Lois Lane decides her and her husband should split up because of artistic differences; he saw himself as alive, and she saw him dead. So she killed him. Apparently decency is an unacceptable quality in a Daxamite, so she decides she’ll continue her reign of terror on her own.
Unfortunately Supergirl is going on hiatus for a few weeks, but Lena Luthor will FINALLY be back when it returns.
Alex: You don’t like to talk about you. You don’t trust the people closest to you.
Me: I HAVE NEVER FELT SO CALLED OUT
Came in here to give this exact same comment, i see you buddy, i hope we get better at life stuff too!
Me too. I literally winced when Alex said that. I felt like she had slapped me in the face with that line. Definitely hit too close to home…
First things first:
“And then Kara, who maybe has been body snatched, says that Mon-El changed because he’s not selfish anymore, even though he literally just asked her to run away with him and only him, leaving behind her sister and the rest of her family and friends who have loved her way longer than he has.” Thank you SO MUCH for this.
And this: “On The L Word everyone hangs out with their exes…” I always asked myself WHY?
Anyway, I know that we all wish Supergirl will somehow get back on track, but I personally don’t think I’ll be as invested as I was with this. At least for the remaining episodes of this season. What happened during that last Flash episode just destroyed everything for me. I began watching this series for the feminist content implicit in it, but now that the whole story is focused on Kara betting all her energy on the miraculous “change” of a former slave owner who until five minutes ago treated all women as if they were objects (disposable objects in case of apocalypse), I decided that it’s time to focus only on Alex/Maggie or Alex/Kara interaction posted on youtube. I just can’t see myself wasting precious time watching the Adventures of Manoel.
Talking about Sanvers, I absolutely loved how Alex addressed Maggie’s feelings and how she’s being so mature about this whole relationship thing – and it’s like the writes are having their Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde moments, because how come can you build a solid adult relationship with two characters and at the same time destroy your main character with such a problematic relationship representation? But I digress…
Anyway, Alex and Maggie are what I’ve been waiting for in a lesbian relationship on TV…. Just one thing though… if you let them kiss for 5 whole seconds, I’ll stop complaining about the obvious double standards here. I love how Alex and Maggie are growing as a couple, but being a couple who’s obviously in love also means sharing passionate kisses as we all know (and I’m tired of having to talk about this).
And please tell me when Kara gets her show back.
I’ve been doing the YouTube thing for about two months now, and I highly recommend it. Although I don’t look for Kara and Alex scenes because their relationship this season has been completely ooc, and I can’t stand watching Alex push Kara towards such a loser. Also, only watching he Sanvers scenes really highlights how little screen time they get. This episode is probably the most I’ve seen with six minutes. I shudder to think how much the other pairing gets.
Not to mention that Alex pushing Kara toward Mon-El is *so* out of character. If the writers actually knew their characters properly, Alex would be inclined to gently point out to Kara that Mon-El is selfish, entitled and an all-round champion of douchebaggery, and that Kara deserves way better than to be dragged down by a toxic relationship with a former slave-owner. That last bit annoys me most. Mon-El owned other embodied beings and robbed them of their autonomy through slavery. I am not suggesting that persons that have participated in genuine evil can never be redeemed, but my God, what an awful message to send out: slave-owning is fine if you repent later!
I mean io9, the AV Club, even the comments section on IGN, are all picking up on the awfulness of Mon-El. There’s even a funny, yet sad, joke going around that Supergirl should get a spinoff of her show since this is show is now ‘Supergirl Deals with Mon-El and his Problems’. The one good thing about this season has been the Alex/Maggie storyline. But the regression of Kara as a result of Mon-El’s presence, the fact that the show tossed aside her former love interest who was a decent if non-dramatic person (also happened to be a handsome black man) has greatly, maybe irreparably, damaged the show in my eyes.
Good to know that we’re not the only ones stressing the whole Mon-El problem. There’s NO WAY the writers are not getting the message. The question is: are they gonna act on it?
Best case scenario is they’ve been planning him to be awful all along as some “Kara finds her way and realizes what she wants in a relationship” and they’re trying to send a message about toxic masculinity, but any resolution they can give at this point would be too little too late.
Probably they’re just gonna send mono back to his planet as the new king and the message will be “look, he changed! He’s doing the right thing!” without pointing out that he still doesn’t really want to.
I skimmed another article that joked that 90% of the issues on Arrow and 50% of the issues on Flash could be solved if people actually had a conversation about stuff like Alex and Maggie just did.
That made me wonder whether that’s our price for no dead lesbians. We get an adult relationship to squee over. And Kara gets sacrificed on the altar of problematic heterosexuality. :(
That is SO TRUE. It was so nice to watch two grown-ass humans put everything out on the table like that. So refreshing!
I’m hoping we can still have both! I don’t want to sacrifice Kara!!
I mean, while I actually enjoyed the spectacle that was Batman vs Superman (for reasons), I couldn’t get past the male ego that was the sole cause of half the conflict in the show. It was rather tragic.
Like, if Supes and the Bat had sat down for five damn minutes in a coffee shop to air their grievances and clear up some misunderstandings, half the show would have been unnecessary, including the use of their safe word! I’m just saying.
They’re really pushing for this “forgive people for their pasts and trust them not to be horrible monsters in the future”. Am I just a petty person? Because I will absolutely draw the line if you were a slave owner and that your fight or flight response for your people was flight and fuck you. I’m even a bit wary dating someone who has cheated on someone before, though that’s no where near as high on the “extreme awfuls” list for me.
They’ve really written Mon-El into a corner, where they’re trying to redeem him, but at this point him cooking breakfast for Kara in movie romance move, doesn’t begin to forgive his previous life. We saw a great redemption story at the end of last season, but even then that alien astronomy professor was only in Fort Rozz for selling drugs to help his family.
At this point, Supergirl had to work harder and longer to gain the trust of the city again, after the red-k incident. Mon-El has done literally nothing to improve as a general person other than try to help his lover. Which I guess is a move up from leaving a girl begging for protection in his bed while his planet was being bombarded.
I will need to see some actual major sacrifices on his part helping strangers in need before Mon-El will remotely win me over as a love interest for Kara ‘The Best Person In The Damn World Fight Me’ Danvers.
Otherwise, thanks you writers for showing that speaking to each other like adults in a relationship helps solve problems a lot more quickly than jumping to conclusions and holding onto one sided information to use at a time when you’re not thinking just to make a situation worse. Glad to see that they at least understand what a healthy relationship is.
I think it probably says Kara ‘The Best Person In The Damn World Fight Me’ Danvers on her adoption papers.
I totally feel this, and it does make me worry that they seem to be equating “having cheated on your ex” (which, I agree can give you pause but I think is within the realm of like real-world situation that it’s common to have to come to terms with) with….the shitshow that Mon-El is. Like you say, being a (seemingly happy and not questioning it at all) slave owner, war criminal, spoiled asshole who is ok w people being murdered, etc etc is NOT the kind of thing you should have to forgive or come to terms with in a relationship. I love that Alex is open-minded and having good talks with Maggie, but…I worry that we’re supposed to see parallels between the 2 relationships and no thank you, plz go away Mon-El.
The crux of one of my biggest issues with the Mon-El situation: they keep equating his foolishness with less horrendous, more forgivable communications issues like those Alex and Maggie have. It’s a false-equivalence! It sets Kara up to look like a bitch if she hangs on to her honest reservations in the face of some pretty big red flags, and that’s just wrong.
You also touched upon something that’s important, I think. For me, when I’m considering fictional characters, a lot comes down to Xena. She had become a terrible person, pre-show, who did a lot of very bad things. And she spent the X:WP show years feeling terrible and spending her time in a hard-won redemption arc.
So when a character with a weighty, problematic backstory (like Mon-El) comes up, I can’t necessarily write off the character for having done awful things, per se. Not if I can think Xena deserves to be redeemed.
But the thing is, and this is what you touched on, Xena on her show cared that she had done horrible things. And Mon-El doesn’t seem too moved by his mistakes. He doesn’t seem to be seeking redemption. His arc is very selfishly focused on just him and what he wants and the minimum he can do to get that.
Yep. MANY of my favorite characters have done terrible things, but it’s the guilt and/or actual real change and attempt to make up for their wrongs that make for a compelling arc. You don’t need to pull an Angel and just like brood and eat rats for 500 yrs to show you feel bad, but…there is a spectrum, and Mon-El isn’t even on it. His comment last week (or whenever that was?) about, “I’ve been doing research, and at this point in a movie the woman has usually forgiven the man,” I SHOUTED at the tv. THAT IS NOT HOW THIS WORKS. THAT IS NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS.
10,000 points to your Hogwarts house for mentioning Angel and also my favorite gif ever.
You bring up a great point about them pushing this whole forgiveness thing, which has been driving me up the wall because a sizable chunk of the fandom has been arguing that we (and Kara) ought to let Mon-El’s past transgressions slide because of how he was raised on Daxam. “He didn’t know any better! He was a spoiled prince!” can only go so far with me. I can understand if his privileged upbringing makes it so that he’s not naturally tuned into others’ needs or if he’s generally ignorant of cultural norms on Earth.
Not everyone has the disposition to be a selfless hero, but it makes no sense to me that the show and parts of the fandom are trying to argue that he effectively had no clue that it was wrong for his family to keep living, feeling beings as slaves and that therefore we really have no right to hold it over his head. Besides, regardless of whether he knew, he SHOULD HAVE known, and I think there’s a very easy parallel to be made regarding slavery in America. You’ll often hear people say that we shouldn’t judge folks back then because they didn’t know slavery was so bad or that they were raised to think it was okay (well, I hear this often anyway; yay living in the South!), and that is utter BS as well. To borrow and paraphrase from a James Baldwin speech, White people always knew Black people were not animals, that no one wishes to be a slave, that they were not picking cotton out of love, but that they were forced under threat of violence. And that’s why there were plenty of White abolitionists back then–because EVERYBODY knew that owning and treating human beings like property was wrong. Likewise, it’s nonsense to argue that Mon-El bears no responsibility or that he’s already made amends for his past with slavery and with being a coward as his planet and people were in trouble. And regardless of how you feel about James/Guardian or the intentions of the writers, you have to admit that the optics of abruptly ending an interracial relationship in favor of one with a former slave-owning White man whose appalling past behaviors keep getting the hand-wave treatment are very poor indeed.
So far the show has passed up every single opportunity for Mon-El to actually have a redemption arc that they keep telling us he’s already had. Rather than have him come to terms with his shady past independently, his only “changes” have happened because of and for Kara. Last week was a perfect opening for Mon-El to show us how he’s changed by making a real sacrifice by going back to Daxam and using his power as the prince to make it a better place for his people. Earth already has plenty of heroes; his planet needed him much more. He finally came to this realization this week but ONLY after he agreed to go back to Daxam to spare Kara’s life. When has he ever done something heroic that didn’t involve Kara? And if the season ends with both his parents dead and Mon-El as the king of Daxam, it’ll still be the case that it took some external factor forcing him to do the right thing instead of him taking a proactive approach and truly being heroic. Plus, despite the show telling us multiple times that he’s changed, as already pointed out, his first response to crisis this week was to run away and screw everyone else over. Even he himself said that he doesn’t think people can change, so why does the show keep insisting that he’s changed?
The whole thing pisses me off beyond what’s probably normal for a TV show, but people use this poor reasoning to forgive horrid behavior in real life, and so it sucks to see a supposedly progressive, feminist show deal in this nonsense.
“And regardless of how you feel about James/Guardian or the intentions of the writers, you have to admit that the optics of abruptly ending an interracial relationship in favor of one with a former slave-owning white man whose appalling past behaviors keep getting the hand-wave treatment are very poor indeed.” <<< Absolutely. It's actually quite depressing that there are legions of fans that can't see through this.
I am actually feeling really conflicted about Sanvers right now… I understand and think it’s awesome that Alex is so open and forgiving, but I also think she is a little too quick to forgive. Like, this is the *second* time that Maggie has kept something kind of big about her past from Alex; actually pretty much lied about it. I think it would be ok, and I honestly would have kind of preferred for Alex to be a little upset about that; not worrying that Maggie would cheat on her, but that Maggie has kept yet another thing from her and lied about it.
I feel like the writers keep giving us this awesome and heavy backstory for Maggie, only to have it kind of brushed off. If they are going to introduce this messy stuff, I want to see these women having a mature conversation about it; I want to see Maggie open up, like Alex keeps telling her she finally can!
Of course, Vaerlie, you kind of brought me down with saying that’s kind of how things go on this kind of show. But I am still feeling pretty unsatisfied; while I think theirs *is* the deepest and healthiest relationship on the show, I also kind of feel like like it’s still pretty shallow, too fluffy and nice, ya know? It just doesn’t seem that realistic to me anymore. I guess I’m just having trouble reconciling wanting more from Sanvers, while still realizing their relationship is not the main focus of the show. (It could also be that I want more from their relationship because Karamel is so much more problematic for me…?)
Of course, for what they have been given, Floriana and Chyler are fucking brilliant.
At least the writers are consistent, though, because Kara is *also* quick to forgive and forget, as we have seen…
I think Alex was quick to forgive her because she figured out the root of it. And this time she didn’t LIE like last time, she just left out important information; Emily DID say those awful things, yaknow? I think after THIS conversation, if Maggie CONTINUES to lie NOW? Then I think there could be issues. If that makes sense.
I agree, and I also think it’s not really a hard and fast rule whether you have to disclose why you broke up with past partners and if you cheated on them? Maybe I’m wrong, but I tend to think that it’s good if you do open up and express the problems you had, things you learned, mistakes you made, if you cheated *why* you think it was that was that your problems with the relationship manifested that way and what you’ll do instead in the future, etc., but it’s not like LYING if you don’t. Especially if you’ve only been together a few months and are still sort of slowly revealing details from your past.
I totally see what you mean about shallow/fluffy/nice, though! I think I just….find that SOO preferable to them immediately breaking up or one of them dying that I’m like, “Yes I will accept and love this!!”
Yeah, I totally feel you in regards to being all in like that. But because they are so great, I just want more, ya know?
Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe I’m just setting myself up for that, ya know, because I’m pretty weary of the writer at this point…
But also, I feel like Maggie told a half lie; like, someone doesn’t say those hurtful things for no reason, ya know?
SIR SOURDOUGH! THE BREAD BOX! Oh my god please never stop with the bread puns! Reminds me of Riese’s potato puns about Finn on Glee back in the day (before Cory Monteith died and making fun of Finn was not fun anymore).
Also, I’m probably going to be mad forever that Maggie’s ex wasn’t Kate Kane. Such a great opportunity there, since canonically Batwoman has worked for the DEO, but nope, Mon-El’s mommy issues require more screen time. I did mostly like the Sanvers stuff this week, it felt in character for Alex to rush off to Emily to try to protect Maggie, and Alex was spot on about Maggie’s trust issues, I just wish their storylines were better integrated into the rest of the show. Like, you know, Mon-El’s always are.
I don’t think they’ll be able to bring anyone over from The Bat Family any time soon on the CWDCU. Considering the fact about how touchy they were bringing superman into this show last year, I can kind of sort of maybe accept the fact that we will never see Kate Kane on Supergirl.
Yeah realistically I know they’ll likely never bring any of the Bat family into the CWDCU, but like, they could have just called her Kate instead of Emily and allowed us to dream!? I know, I know. Thank god for fanfiction.
They. Are. Not. Daggers. They’re sais – SAIS!!!! I’m sorry, so sorry for losing it momentarily but as someone who collects decorative weaponry and is a diehard Xenite, I just have to point this out. Sais – Blandsome’s mommy wields sais and omg it gave me so many Xena flashbacks I almost passed out from nostalgia.
Other thoughts:
– Maggie and Alex went to yoga and came out in gumboots and raincoats carrying yoga mats. GAY.
– Maggie tooootally has a type – women with stylized unruly reddish-brown hair.
– Mon-El had potential as the show’s comic relief character – he’s new to Earth, probably confounded and bewildered by all the idiosyncrasies, idioms, slang and euphemisms of English (the helicopter parenting line was funny, okay?). If they kept him as the comic relief guy, I could have liked him.
– Alex “I either come back with my sister or I don’t come back at all” Danvers is once again nowhere to be seen. I give up. I just give up on this. I have to accept that Season 1 and Season 2 Alex are completely different entities. I surrender! Here’s me waving my white flag.
– The ending of the episode was not at all surprising. That whole scene between the King and Queen of Daxam I was just twitching because I could practically SMELL the Queen going all Black Widow (the spider, not the super secret assassin agent Avenger) on the King and lo and behold, she shoved a dagger (notice how it’s a single blade and NOT three pronged like a sai?!?! Sorry again….) between his ribs.
FORGIVE ME! I will never confuse daggers and sais again; you are not the only one who yelled at me about it! haha
Oh yeah, also did you guys notice all the mortal kombat nods, like how when supergirl and lois lane fought and the Finish him and the swirly portal things from the mortal kombat movie….or is it just me and my inner nerd thats now showing
I – no lie – SHOUTED “FINISH HIM” alone in my apartment in the Mortal Kombat voice when she said that.
!!!!!!
Oh yea,. I noticed. I went all “KO!” and then proceeded to have flashbacks to all the times I played Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and DOA. God am I showing my age or what? ….
I kind of associate sais with Raphael on TMNT than I do with Xena.
Gabrielle fought with sais on Xena. That was my first exposure to them.
Thank you Valerie, for recapping this episode, I’m impressed you managed to get so much out of it considering it was only about 6 minutes long….
I’m even more pissed off with Manhell than usual, as I missed pretty much all of Queen Lois as I cannot bring myself to watch/listen to anything he does/says.
Sanvers, though. Sanvers. *sigh*
Floriana & Chyler make the most of their allotted 8 seconds of screen time (heaven forfend Manhell may get less than 30 mins an episode), and their chemistry and genuine connection is so beautiful.
Seeing two women in a mature, adult, thoughtful, adorable relationship, one that is healthy and respectful, is such a rare occurrence that it is rightfully celebrated, and to see it juxtaposed with a toxic, unhealthy and disrespectful het relationship, is one of the biggest issues I have with this show at the minute.
I just don’t understand how a writing staff can do certain things so right, and also make such a hash of almost the exact same things. It’s mind-blowing!
I’d like the real Kara back; I’d like the Danvers sisters back; I’d like the Alex that would burn the world for her sister back; I’d like Space Family back. Introduce new characters, yes, shake things up a bit, yes, but don’t do it at the expense of your heart.
I feel that this entire arc is an analogy for a toxic relationship. In the course of their relationship: Mon-El has lied to Kara about who he is, got jealous over another man in Kara’s life, guilted her into liking him, Kara has become isolated from her friends and family, and finally now she has become imprisoned with Mon-El as her warden.
I have to some things to say about the preview, but in case people like to fly in blind, I’ll put it in a response to this.
Everybody’s happy that we see this in the preview.
And let’s be honest, that’s adorable AF. This is going way beyond the gals being pals line. However, there’s something in that preview that scares the crap out of me. It’s this.
Do you see what that is? Throughout the entirety of their relationship, Mon-El hasn’t really intruded on Kara’s professional life. There was the time that they went to Slavers’ Moon, but that was disastrous for Mon-El. He hasn’t been in it since. But now he’s coming back into what might be deemed her professional life. Mon-El has not only invaded all parts of Kara’s life, but all parts of “Supergirl”. There isn’t a single plotline involving Kara where Mon-El won’t appear. It truly has become the Mon-El show.
I totally feel like this is what’ll happen. I don’t know why they insist on centering Mon-El, it’s exhausting. I’ve hit my limit with him long ago, his scenes are getting unwatchable even when he’s not doing anything too sad.
On this episode, too – no Kara and Alex on the couch, it’s Kara and Mon-El. It is sad.
After it was revealed on the Flash that he’d been lying about his identity for 9 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!! I was ready for him to just be dead. It’s just so cartoonishly beyond anything remotely forgivable at this point, it’s exhausting to be asked to care about him.
The thing I don’t get it why they fixed the Mon-El and Kara relationship on another show. It was a major plot point of this show. It’s the main character’s relationship. And they chose to break them up on Supergirl, but fix them on The Flash. Imagine how confusing that’s going to be for someone binging this in a few years on netflix. No previously on or anything to set it up. Just Kara saying she deserves better, going into a trance/coma, then waking up in her bed the next day with Mon-El making her breakfast. How confusing. What were they thinking?
I ABSOLUTELY HATE defending anything Karamel related, but in a blink and you miss it opening they did show a ‘previously on’ segment which showed kara ‘forgiving’ mon-el, as terrible as that was bleh they did do it
Yes, but they won’t have that on Netflix.
Love the Chicago reference. Love evil Queen Lois. I’m a sucker for a lady villain in black.
“At the end of the episode, Queen Lois Lane decides her and her husband should split up because of artistic differences; he saw himself as alive, and she saw him dead. So she killed him.”
I appreciate the little nod to ‘Cell Block Tango’ here :)
I laughed out loud at that :D
1. I rooted for Teri Hatcher Space Queen of My Heart the whole time, loudly and with enthusiasm. I was hoping she’d win, truly. I think this means Mon-El is no longer a viable path of narrative tension for me. Not even sad Kara could sway me, I was all ‘You’ll get over it and be better for it, just let him die sweetie, trust me.’
2. Mon-El it’s great you’re making breakfast but like… is that breakfast for a baby bird??? The running joke re: Kara and food doesn’t work if the quantity isn’t right. Someone should’ve caught that on set. No way Kara eats two eggs and a muffin, come on.
3. The wardrobe people do such a great job normally but they’ve gotta step up their homo fashion game. Also feel like while Chyler and Floriana are doing pretty good at gaying it up generally they still need to work on the ‘this is what casual intimacy looks like’ body language. Is this how straights are on tv and it’s just obvious to me because they’re gay? Comparing it with Sense8, a high water mark for convincing gay relationship casual intimacy body language, I don’t think so.
4. I am also so relieved to finally have someone not be weirdly jealous of an ex on tv for once! MY PEOPLE! Representation at last.
5. Can’t believe Kara’s unemployment is being so cheerfully disregarded.
6. Excited for Teri Hatcher to chew more scenery and murder Mon-El in a tragic accident that allows Teri Hatcher to chew even more scenery and for Melissa Benoist to bring her best sadness game, too (she’s maybe the best at being sad currently working in tv, agreed?).
Concerning the body language issue, I’m totally with you.
OK FINE one last Mon-El feeling: am I the only one weirded out that he’s not even slightly sad about them being such shitbags? He literally never expresses any affection for them. Given what Space Queen Lois Lane says about him as a kid we know there was normal bonding and yet he just doesn’t seem to even remotely love his parents or care about them or care what happens to them.
WEIRD.
If Teri Hatcher accidentally murders Mon-El in a tragic accident during a Space Nun/Supergirl standoff Kara and Mommie Dearest could argue about it forever, blaming each other. Lots of nemesis potential. Alex, Superfriends and Lena could help Kara through the tough mourning times. Kara could eat many pancakes in Mon-El’s memory.
Writers, are you listening.
A healthy and happy lesbian relationship on tv scares the shit out of me. I’m just waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under us.
I think the show is going to keep Sanvers safe but play with your emotions with SuperCorp that’s why I refuse to invest in shipping them.
What have they done to us, that we can’t even enjoy a beautiful thing at face value! D:
I’m so happy I have you to tell me what the scenes involving Mon-el was about. I’ve stopped paying attention any time he’s speaking. So thank you for that.
Maggie and Alex. Just thinking about them and their scenes makes me so happy. Like you, I thought Alex was going to overreact out about Maggie cheating on her ex. I thought the writers would have used that to create conflict between them. I’m still in shock over how they went the opposite route and made it something wonderful. Gave Maggie someone she could trust and depend on to see the good in her. I love their relationship so much. (I hate that I’m nervously waiting for the other shoe to drop)
How Sanvers is on the same show as Kara and Mon-el’s toxic relationship is something I can never get my mind around. Maybe they’re purposefully creating these parallels? Shit’s weird
Also! I would like to point out that season one Kara would not be so nonchalant about being unemployed and not having a cover. When Cat Grant found out about her being Supergirl and threatened to fire her so she could focus on keeping the city safe, she was DEVASTATED! Spent an entire episode freaking out about it. Now she just doesn’t care anymore? Is it because Cat Grant isn’t there anymore so there’s no reason to want to be there? ? It can not be because whatshisface is enough
when did Kat ever find out she was Supergirl? You’re not the 1st person I’ve heard this from but I cannot remember this happening. Did it stick or was Cat’s mind wiped after learning this?
Hank appeared as Supergirl while Kara was there to show Cat that she was wrong.
Okay but people, that scene between J’onn and the bounty hunter was SO SEXUAL, I felt like they needed some privacy?
#sexualtensionaward
oh also a long time ago when they were both veiled for no reason, you called Mon-El’s parents the Space Nuns and I loved that so I yell about it every time I see them
TAKE HIM HOME SPACE NUNS TAKE HIM HOME
Once a desperate housewife, always a desperate housewife.
I hated every Kara/Mon-El second of this episode my body shook with utter disdain. I don’t know what I am watching anymore. The only thing that resembles reality is Sanvers and as previously stated they are on screen for a total of seconds and kiss like they are about to be caught at a girl scouts meeting. I am almost done with this show. Mulling through Kara not being the feminist she formerly was [CAT] for 50 minutes is not worth watching Sanvers be in a functional relationship.
This show is rapidly dropping down my list of shows I’m interested in.
Also, a bounty large enough to buy a planet and Lobo didn’t turn up? Wasted opportunity for certain.
I feel like the writers tried to do more with Moan-El, without knowing exactly what “more” entailed. They went from using him as comic relief/character development for Kara to forcing them into a relationship to trying to turn him into a bad guy to going for the Daxam: A New Hope angle, then heaped relationship drama (read: him being an incorrigible liar and all-around shitty person) on top. His character ends up feeling half-baked at best, and it’s getting old.
Also, the mess of storylines means that they’ve had like 4 separate chances to get rid of him, and maybe even redeem himself a bit in the process! But no, he keeps sticking around like a piece of gum on Kara’s shoe.
/rant
As for the Sanvers thing, I feel like Alex took the whole situation a little too well. Maybe she’s just trying too hard, or sacrificing her feelings for Maggie’s sake. Which certainly wouldn’t be out of character for her, but this could’ve been a great opportunity for a mature adult conversation in a healthy relationship. That would’ve been a great relief from the Karamel bullshit.
(By the way: Valerie, your recap was amazing and your captions are glorious.)
All things considered, the fact that this show somehow stumbled (I say stumbled because this was most certainly not intentional) into depicting a stable homosexual couple who help each other live meaningful and engaged lives alongside a dysfunctional heterosexual couple who are constantly engaged in unhealthy emotional behavior is kind of amazing.
I’ve read that Chyler Leigh really took the Sanvers storyline seriously from the moment she learned of it and I sense her influence in creating and maintaining the stable, healthy relationship between Alex and Maggie. Some YouTube videos have done a good job of showing the (intentional, I think) parallels in how they support each other. The scene where Alex breaks down in Maggie’s arms after letting her dad escape parallels somewhat to the scene on the couch in this episode.
I’ve read that they have been trying to bring these characters into a more balanced relationship, where Alex is no longer the less experienced partner but more of an equal to Maggie (who is also learning how to be in a healthy long-term relationship). It’s pretty amazing what they have managed to do in so little time in each episode. I’m still waiting for the “I love yous”, which I think will come in episode 19.
“I still am not clear on what Kara’s getting out of this relationship”
Kara Zor-El hasn’t met anyone else since puberty that she could safely bang who wasn’t evil, a relative, or an evil relative, so she talked herself into settling for Mr. Meh and her sweet, idealistic heart has mistaken it for Love.
This is my head canon and no one can convince me otherwise.
Seems accurate
The world makes some sense now
Yes
Yep. There is an advantage to being able to knock boots with someone who won’t break in half during, I guess. You might put up with a lot. To a point.
Yes I agree and I think I said that at some point but I wish she would SAY THAT. I wish she would have a conversation with her sister that was like, “He can be annoying af sometimes but man is it nice to not have to worry about smashing someone’s teeth in when I want to kiss them.”
I really have nothing more to say about the Mon-El story than what Valerie said here but… “WinnGuardian jumps in to help release Mon-El from the bounty hunter’s clutches,” you mean Winn stopped the bounty hunter with a stapler and Guardian got his clock cleaned for the umpteenth time thinking that he (a human in a lead suit) can fight aliens with super powers.
Speaking of powers, I was under the impression that Daxamites had the same powers as Kryptonians but apparently not because when Mon-El broke the window of the ship releasing the cabin pressure the Daxamites had to hold on as opposed to flying like Supergirl and J’onn.
And speaking of J’onn and his powers, wasn’t there something in season 1 that he had to use them sparsely because he lost a little power each time especially shape shifting?
Sanvers:
So we’ve met 3 of Maggie’s exes. The bartender girl (did she die in the explosion) the girl she broke up with before Alex and now Emily. Is she the Arizona Robbins of National City where we’ll find out that she’s dated half the precinct too?
Anyway, here’s what I deduced about Emily, she was Maggie’s 1st girlfriend/1st love. 14 year old Maggie was outed and kicked out so for the next few years she had to put the pieces of herself back together. Now 18 year old Maggie, freshman in college finally meets other people like her, maybe joins a LGBT club where she meets Emily who might be a year or 2 older and definitely more experienced. They were together 5 years and Maggie cheated, because she had only been with Emily and probably because she wanted to explore what else was out there.
Which is why when Alex came out she was hesitant to get involved with her because she didn’t want to be cheated on if 5 years down the line Alex wanted to see what else could be out there. I think you could tell by the awkward encounter that Maggie did regret cheating and knew that she let Emily go for no reason.
And I am so glad that Alex confronted Maggie right away on her bull and didn’t let it fester. It is amazing how they let this couple unfold but TPTB have created a monster because I want so much from them. I want more Sanvers intimacy (not necessarily a rip your clothes off sex scene) but like how Kara and Mon-El on MULTIPLE occasions have cuddled under a blanket and had conversations we saw a glimpse at the beginning of last episode but not enough. But then again I want to see Maggie being incorporated more in the action of the episode. Last week was cool but she was still on the outside. I want it all I am greedy.
1 last note I have to say, okay 2 1-WTF is going on with President Wonder Woman, and 2-So Alex got called in an emergency to the DEO that Supergirl was hurt so she rushed over, but apparently had time to change into her DEO uniform, what’s up with that. If my sister was in an accident and I had to rush to the hospital I don’t do a costume change first.
Daxamites have different powers. Pretty strong. Jump/fall safely from great heights (like Jessica Jones). No flying. Very allergic to lead. I don’t think they have freeze breath or laser eyes either.
That was something that Winn found out when they started testing Mon’El’s powers: he had no laser eyes, couldn’t fly or had the freezing breath but he had superstrength though.
they kind of explained Mon-el as Supergirl/Superman light. Not as strong, not as indestructibly, jumps really far vs flying, no specialty stuff like the cold breath / laser eyes. Plus, lead allergy, which seems really lame for someone who is supposed to be “super”. Kryptonite is hard to get…who can’t get lead?
Valerie, I think you’re really going to enjoy an upcoming episode (episode 19, I believe). Very mild spoiler here in the form of a quote from Kreisberg: “Then there’s what’s probably my new favorite episode, that [Chyler] doesn’t even know about yet, that is a Kara/Alex/Maggie story, that’s sort of a ticking-clock story. Alex is in serious trouble, and it’s up to Kara and Maggie to save her. It becomes a story about the sister and the girlfriend [who] both love her and are debating the best way to save her. It’s a really great story. We’re really excited about it.” Source
Hopefully after a couple minutes if those three women on screen Mon-El can run in and save the day! You know, in keeping with the rest of the season. ;)
Though more seriously, I do worry that we are being set up for disappointment with that description. Imagining an episode that focuses on those three, and end up either being 100% more dudes involved than we we’d been led to believe, or tons less screen time for the Danvers sisters and Maggie than we’d hoped.
I read this a while back it then when the Valentine’s episode didn’t really turn out to be as Sanvers heavy as 1st revealed I’m on the fence about this one. Is Alex MIA for most if this episode then or is 1/2 SuperDimples and the other 1/2 Alex giving her captors the business. Then my other thought is that when the save happens most likely after an intense fight I really want a Sanvers I love you and a I can’t lose you or a I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. I know cheesy stuff but Sanvers is all about the cliche.
I don’t think this show gives enough weight to the large scale emotional impact of the storylines they push. They just add conflict, think that is great, have it solved, think that is your story. Which is okay in 11-year olds writing stories (if you remember Jane from Anne of Green Gables writing in Anne’s story club), but rather silly in adult showrunners.
I mean think about it:
1. They have subverted the lady president thing: So, now the lady president is shady and an alien taking the place of a human; even if she turns out to be on Kara’s side, she is still an alien posing to be a human and taking the role of the leader of US.
2. Climate Change folks have turned into eco terrorists, not once, but twice. First Astra, then this time with the parasite.
3. Turning down a black guy, sidelining him, writing him shabbily, so a lot of fans are actually asking for his removal and then, setting up the lead with the white guy, while also looking at it as a growth arc for the white guy. (I mean, folks can say lack of chemistry etc. but what is the subtle impact of these stories on the audience; it reinforces stuff). It’s also amazing as someone upthread said, that the white guy is a former slave owner who just wants to love Kara now.
4. People of the same genetics should hang out together: Kara-Mon El (obvious), J’onn, M’gann (romance implied, black, Martians), and Alex/Maggie (humans). Racism is subtle, but when you think of story impact, I think this part will have the most impact on folks who watch. It’s racism. (Science folks can talk about species and all, but Superman doesn’t do that. And besides, this is a story, in a story, almost everything is connected to something living for the audience, and what this same genes thing connects to is racism).
And yet, people are ready to give this show kudos for being progressive? Because of the gay relationship? Or, because of the few throwaway lines about nasty woman and such, which are eminently forgettable and low in impact when compared to overarching themes?
I mean I like this show. But, I don’t think Mon El Kara is the only place where they have problematic content. I even didn’t mind Mon El so much this episode. Liked him because while he is no hero, it is clear he loves Kara. And, if that is where they are going with it, I would rather there be indeed be a redemption arc for him and like him, and then, continuing to hate it and him.
But, it’d be great if people other than gay folks and some feminists, acknowledge that there are a whole lot of things that are problematic on this show.
I absolutely agree with you! But I don’t think it’s lazy storywriting, looks like intentional misdirection. It will work on the general audience, who will get the ‘message’ they are sending, which is far from progressive as you aptly outlined.
I think Kara will forgive Mon-El over and over again many times until she loathes him and loses interest in dating, like Belle’s disgust with the Beast in Once Upon A Time. It took forever, but after way too many seasons she realized he was manipulating her all along despite having some genuine romantic feelings for her (hopefully she will never turn back).
after wanting her son back with her so badly she even murders daddy daxam, mom-el flies back to earth and unleashes her reign of terror. the dude tries to convince his mama to gtfo, but she keeps insisting so hard that after a long couple fight against mom-el, she accidentally kills her son too at the end of season 2. we mourn like 0,5 nanoseconds and only because kara will be sad about her loser-nothing-to-give-douchebag gone forever and we don’t want to be that cruel to her.
in season 3 grieving kara is in cynical mode denying love will ever approach her again so we don’t have to worry about any more pseudo hero dudes creeping and manipulating their way into national city, because supergirl is not up for romantic rushes. BUT there is lena luther left and the chemistry between her and kara which gave us one than more goosebump femslash moment this season. with not having cat grant back the show needs its hard bitch in charge so lena is totally up for it and boggles for new shady adventures both in corporation stuff and with kara. i know the femme fatale trope is ringing the bells like 100 years of christmas but it has so much potential for this show going back to character depth and development like season 1. because kara knows it all when not brainwashed into heterosexual oblivion and plays along with lena’s game to see what big L is up for. maybe we’ll get extra lucky when another female super hero arrives and can’t decide which romantic universe to crush first.
i bet the writers have that all figured out by now.
Do you think Lena is up for the HBIC role? Her character seems too worried about being seen as a bad guy due to her family name for that to be convincing. At least compared to Cat Grant, who really didn’t care what most people thought of her (as long as it didn’t hurt circulation).
It will be interesting to see how they expand her role, though.
I think the Alex DEO costume change has become a running gag. It is really gonna get goofy if she runs over to the DEO to get her paycheck in a jogging suit only to be seen in the next scene in full DEO uniform to save the day.
I appreciate that they had a nice, sweet, Very Adult storyline. It was a little strange and kind of boring… but I love it all the same.
Meanwhile, re: Kara’s storyline, I think it was the great Ancient Booer who once said, “Boo! Boo!”
I’ve decided that I’ll give Kara the benefit of the doubt in this cause she is in love, and when we’re in love we get really dumb and numb for a lot of things.
I realised that when she said to the BlendsomeLoaf “the good thing about not working at CatCo is to spend more time with you”. She is so head over hills for being with someone like her that she cannot see things straight.
I just hope that he can really change for her sake and if he doesn’t, that she’ll be able to do what’s best for her regardless of her love for him.
*BlandsomeLoaf
I couldn’t quite bring myself to watch another episode where every word Kara says is about Mon-El. So I watched the Sanvers scenes all cut together in a youtube video and you guys, with only their scenes it’s such a touching episode. Not even six minutes long but it was so good. Highly recommend. I#ll drop back into the full episodes when they come back.
Hi, me again. With probably an even *more* unpopular opinion: I think that Alex actually overstepped a little in going to see Emily by herself.
While I understand that Maggie needed closure, I also don’t think it was Alex’s place to reach out to Emily. I think she should have talked to Maggie about doing that herself…
I agree, but I think they addressed that. When Alex realized she went in half-cocked and quickly scurried away, and when Maggie said “this isn’t a problem you can fix.” She’s an eager little beaver with a skillset in battle strategy, she’s still working on relationship strategy!
Good point
Continuing my weekly tradition of quoting you in the comments to applaud my favorite part of the recap:
“That would have been a great ending for Mon-El. It would prove he really changed, that Kara did make him a true hero, but also he’d be gone. And honestly that could still be his arc; I’d love that so very much. ”
If I could will anything into tv existence….
I also have to mention “I’m never wearing anything without lapels again until someone grabs me and kisses me like this.” because seeing Alex go from vulnerable unsure baby gay to standing on the sidewalk pulling her girl into a kiss by her jacket is the most fulfilling character development I’ve ever seen and it makes me feel happy in a way I can’t put into words.
Comment 2: Okay… So, I have processed this episode… (beyond the “My Lady President is a two-faced pretender” thing :) ) and I am going to give what is going to be a very unpopular opinion here.
Disclaimer: Since, there is a tendency, among the best of us, to say “but, look at them, it is worse”, let me tell you that I am no fan of Mon El-Kara romance. I find it cliched, and even for a cliche, the writing is very bad (compare for a well done growth arc, Lucifer); and worse, I think the writers are adding stuff for drama (Yay! Daxam was a hedonistic society (whatever that means); yay! Daxam was slave owning planet), without really understanding the underlying themes and consequences. No reflection at all basically. And beyond that, I do find Mon El boring (and it is not that I don’t find men interesting; because I find, well, Lucifer interesting; Danny in Blue Bloods interesting; I like Winn). All the same, I have decided to like him from this episode on because he is clearly in love with Kara and Kara likes him. So, basically, I am choosing to see him as how he could have been written, rather than how he has been written.
Note: I don’t think he is a hero though. And, it doesn’t mean I don’t think this story is not problematic. But, all his problematic elements have been talked to death; people are at an impasse here. And, I don’t want to beat that dead horse any more. At least, not in this way (more on that later).
Okay… onto my subject now (in the next comment). :)
I don’t think Mon-el is Kara’s Mr. Right, just her Mr. Right Now, so I’m trying to just wait to see how his story arc plays out.
Comment 3: This is going to be a very unpopular opinion, but I don’t think the show has done well with the Sanvers storyline at all. Yes, the Sanvers relationship is a positive reinforcement to the gay folks, esp kids and teens out there. And I do appreciate that.
I also do appreciate how much it means to a lot of gay folks.
However, this is not a relationship based show. This is a Superhero show; and not just that, this is a superhero show where the said gay character is only a secondary character. The lead is Supergirl. This is her story.
Maggie Sawyer should have been written into this story as a part of Kara’s arc first and then Alex’s. (I think I have said this before).
Okay, that has not been done, fine. But, why is it being still treated as something completely different from the main story of the show?
Instead of bringing Maggie into Kara’s story, what they have done is take Alex out of Kara’s story. So, we have almost the entire cast with Kara doing one thing, while we have Alex going off to solve her relationship problems.
How in character is it for Alex to try and deal with her girlfriend’s ex when bounty hunters from all over the universe is after her sister’s life? And, I don’t buy the stupid database argument; database search (or any IT stuff) has never been under Alex’s purview anyways. She is a geneticist and a field agent. She should have been the one keeping an eye on Kara. Keeping her occupied… Not just that, but realising that while they are doing their “database search”, aliens are still going to come looking for her sister; her sister would still be in danger. Would still be attacked.
Wouldn’t any agent worth her salt have known this? (J’onn did; that is why he asked Mon El to keep an eye on Kara). Wouldn’t any decent sister have cared a little bit about the life-threatening aspect of this situation combined with the said sister’s tendency to go off half-cocked, to put the ex-girlfriend plan on hold?
If this is in character for Alex, if this is character growth for Alex, I am starting to not like this growth. (Basically, the show is saying, just like Mon El, that sacrifice and love and heroism means, putting your love interest ahead of everything else; because they are clearly on Alex’s side here). Also, I don’t even remember the last time Alex cared about anyone else other than her immediate circle.
And you know, they could have had both if they really wanted that relationship aspect.
They could have done it in a genre compliant way. Alex could have asked Maggie to come over to Kara’s house. They could have changed plans and asked the ex to meet her there too. They could have had some fun time with a bit of teasing Maggie about her ex, her ex not turning up, all of the group sympathising and Maggie being all don’t care about it, and then, Mon El’s telepathic puppet master turning up. Then, they could have had a small scene of Alex pulling Maggie apart and sympathising; and after, once this guy has been put behind cells, or, preferably, at the end, when Kara is safe, Alex could go and talk to the ex if that is what she wants.
I think the writers are getting too much praise for writing a show within a show and bungling a superhero show in the process. And… I don’t think they would have gotten any praise if Maggie had been a man and the entire situation had been played out just this way.
(I thoroughly dislike jealousy; consider it as lack of trust rather than love, so I am glad, with the story we had, that Alex dealt with the ex matter in such a positive manner).
Oh… and I have more; not on Sanvers, but on Alex.
I think there’s been criticism of the Sanvers storyline here specifically for how detached it’s felt from the rest of the show. But it also finds itself in this weird void space where we used to have Danvers sisters, Space Family (Kara, J’onn, Alex), Superfriends (Kara, Win, James). Instead of those things, that heart of the show, we’re given these romantic storylines that work to actually take up all of that previous space.
This season, we get Sanvers and Mon-El, which seem to be written and produced by entirely different teams. It’s confusing. It also staves off Sanvers criticism, because what even is reality anymore when Kara is content to let Kara Danvers go and be only Supergirl because she has Mon-El?
On the one hand, based on what we’ve seen on screen we have Sanvers, which successfully executed one of the most deft coming out stories of a popular adult character that I’ve seen. But is interfering with Danvers sister time.
On the other hand, based on what we’ve seen on screen we have the epitome of a toxic heterosexual relationship between Kara and Mon-El, and have to ignore all sorts of red flags and fill in a lot of off-screen blanks in order to keep it from destroying not only Kara’s character, but Alex’s as well.
So, the Mon-El romance becomes the lightning rod. We’re used to het romance on screen. There’s a billion examples. We can be critical. We don’t get happy homo romance very often, and this one is above average in execution, so we go a little softer even though it’s not perfect.
Doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I totally agree that it’s weird how apart Sanvers has been. I miss Kara and Alex interacting in a non-DEO capacity. Well, really I miss Kara interacting with anyone (but Mon-El) in a non-DEO capacity. This season has shown her life to be pretty one-dimensional (two, if you count boinking Mon-El).
More sisters! What the heck, show?! You’re killing me here.
Comment 4: Let us using violence gratuitously to get information here. Both in the previous episode and this one, what Alex has done is use violence to get info or threaten that anwyays. And it has been played for laughs.. The wrench thing is the use of torture on a prisoner.
(I have disliked this from episode 3, when Alex used force on an unarmed alien in the bar, and it has gotten only worse).
Either Alex has started liking violence a bit too much and this is the start of her descent into darkness and eventual redemption; or the writers are yet again being cavalier with basic human rights issues. (Well, being rights issues I should say, since this is an alien).
It’s nice legs we stand on, when we applaud (or at the least accept/tolerate/laugh at) use of force and violence on a show (when it is a favorite character) that does it and then march to protests on police brutality and use of armed forces in the Middle East (and Africa).
How is it different than how the Mon El fans are treating/defending Mon El–there are lefties there too?
Alex has issues. I’m pretty sure Valerie called her out. I wasn’t so uncomfortable with her roughing up the recalcitrant alien to find Maggie, though in retrospect she could have eased in a bit more. She was definitely way over the line recently in the cell. I can’t even believe it was her agreement to go get info for Jeremiah versus her beating a prisoner that got J’onn to suspend her! His entrapment then wasn’t even effective, because she could have handled it any number of ways once she got to the DEO as far as signaling her fellow agents/team. But the violence was completely out of control. This isn’t 24. That’s not even an effective interrogation technique! It’s just a short cut one they use on TV.
But, Alex already has established love and trust from the fandom. Mon-El is a new character they’re asking us to like just as much (he’s taken up most of the Alex/Kara time after all), without showing us much reason why. He doesn’t add anything that any other character didn’t already provide except that Kara finds him mildly attractive. Certainly not the trust and respect we’ve built up with Alex to allow us to look “past” a couple of violent infractions. He’s given us enough to be accepted as a member of the team, but not as a love interest for Kara who takes up as much screen time as she does.
I was not talking about Valerie Anne here at all. I like these reviews; else, I would not be coming here to read them. :) I actually considering adding that to my comments just to be sure these didn’t come off as an attack, and I think I should have done that. So, just to be clear. These points are not a criticism of the reviewer. These are just a few thoughts and discussion points that I am using this forum to express. I do not intend hurt or abuse. If I have done that, please tell me, and I will try to express myself better. (But, I do think that it is up to us to critique ourselves too; and I am sure you folks would agree.)
I was just talking about the generic tendency to consider these things as badass and hot in the gay women fandom; and I have seen a lot of that both in tumblr as well as in general forums. It’s the same thing that happens with male cops in the het fandom, and I admit that. But, it is still bad; whoever does it.
And no, I don’t think that just because we have had Alex for a season longer, we should be look past her issues.
Well, I think at least some of the fandom is already doing that with respect to how she treats Kara (thinking that spending time with her is a sacrifice or that she is doing that just out of guilt–as in she just feels guilty about not spending time with Kara; there is no feeling of inherent joy; no want, just obligation; never taking any of Kara’s own feelings into count; willing to even call her an outsider and then acting as if it never happened). I am willing to give her a pass on this myself; hey, not everybody cares about their sister and spending time with her when they have a shiny new love interest (look at Kara herself), and there is no law written that they should. That, as far as messages go, is not harmful. It just is a fact of life. And at least, it is not all bad. There is the Winn-Alex friendship–Alex would still go far for friends.
I know that the fandom is not quite so willing to forgive as far as Alex pushing Kara towards Mon El is concerned, but I think it more because of the dislike for Mon El than because of the wish to hold Alex to account. I am okay either way, really.
The violence thing is harmful; and very few people are talking about it, except to say “look at how hot she looks.” or, at best “look at how far she is willing to go to protect her people”; neither of which justifies it one bit; and that is why I wanted to put it out there as a thing that matters and deserves discussion.
And, I stand by it… Mon El or no. :)
Yeah, turning Alex into a fan of prisoner torture is one of the worst things the show has done. (And the way it plays out, the telepath competition between J’onn & the bounty hunter feels violent too.)
You can really feel the difference between season one, which for all its clunkiness had some real feminist ideals, was centered on a progressive understanding of optimism, focused on a sister relationship, etc., and this season, which is basically Superthin White People in Love and keeps pushing ideas that black people don’t deserve love and that all women in authority are evil super villains.
Comment V: James, the Guardian. Well, I just wanted to put it here. The fact that he is willing to go against people who are so much more powerful than him, and risk life and limb in the process, and do it for a varied number of folks, makes him a hero in my book.
Yes, he does seem to like the glory, but well, if that was all he cared about, he wouldn’t continue to do this. So, yeah… Hero! Oh and Kara loves the glory too. (An interesting difference from Alex; Alex doesn’t care about what general public thinks about her. She only cares about and wants the approval of people closest to her–parents/parental figures and Kara, and I guess, Maggie).
(Just like with Mon El and his “character growth” and Alex’s apology to Kara, I will pretend that James and Kara had detailed conversations and apologised to eachother about their treatment of eachother).
My biggest problem with James doesn’t even come anywhere near whether I think he’s a hero or not. It’s how running Catco Worldwide apparently takes up none of his time. I recognize that it’s the writers having no idea what to do with him. I actually like his and Winn’s buddy time, but I don’t like his lying to Kara, nor do I know why they thought that would be ok to the audience. I liked the original set-up where he was going after the non-super stuff Kara was bored with. But without any supporting “NCPD needs help” storyline, he still seems kind of like a petulant glory-hound, or a dude going through a mid-life crisis. Particularly because he kept it a secret from Kara and the way he fought with her about it.
Look. It’s Supergirl. If you’re pissing her off, we probably don’t like you. Add in his presumably running Catco into the ground, or neglecting it, and all of us missing Cat as a strong female presence on the show, and he’s got a lot of strikes against him.
Kara loves “glory” because it helps her feel closer to the humans she’s protecting. It helps fuel her purpose, particularly when she’s always felt kind of like an outsider.
Alex works for a secret agency. But she’s a good comparison to James. If she started dressing up and going vigilante, I think we’d all have the same problems with her unilateral actions that we do with James’. Hey, how about he joins NCPD or something instead, if journalism is no longer fulfilling for him?
It’s lazy for a show–*especially* a genre show where fans pay unusual attention to details–to expect us to be ok with stuff because we assume it happened off screen. If they want to use that to paper over the cracks, they at least need to mention it.
It’s cool to enjoy the show in the absence of that. I rather envy that more detached/entertainment-oriented watching approach. There are shows I can do that with, but they’re usually procedural shows. Maybe I should shift how I watch superhero shows.
Hey! So, I never expected such detailed and respectful replies. Thank you for that. :)
What you say about James is true. And I have been feeling much the same irritation until Luthors I think. After that, when Kara and James hugged, I got the idea that the show is never going to deal with it. And hence, the only options I had was to either go along with it, or to dislike the show for myriad reasons (and I already disliked it for its focus on romance); and I just chose not to do that.
Also, I am really uncomfortable with the fact that the general fandom (not here) is kind of okay with Mon El, but finds James so terrible. They say stuff about chemistry, but other than his rather weirdo treatment of Lucy (I thoroughly disliked it), I never felt James was particularly bad.
About his keeping the fact from Kara. He wanted to stand on his own two feet first (well, with Winn’s help, since Winn caught him on the act); so, I don’t really blame him for it. Also, to be honest, I really don’t think it’s Kara’s place to demand truth from him even if she is Supergirl. I think, whether you say the truth to someone is based on trust, and it is on the person to whom the truth is revealed to build that trust. It’s not one-way of course; but, still, the best of us take time to reveal secrets about ourselves to the folks closest to us.
I do blame him for blackmailing Winn, and there is nothing to be done there. Because other than Winn calling him out on it briefly, no deep discussions have happened. But, considering Winn is okay working with him, I am willing to give James the benefit of the doubt. Especially since the past few episodes have been him teaming up with Winn and Alex to deal with issues.
Also, there is no question that his entire arc was written badly. I’d have so much preferred him being a news person.
And, I really don’t want them to write out the one black character they had (of Kara’s age-range, who is not a dad person to her); I don’t want him to go the way of M’gann.
You have no idea, how much time I spent on mainstream sites, writing essays about why Mon El is problematic, or James arc is disliked by many but liked by others, or why Supercorp shippers are being so angry with Kara-Mon El shippers. Not much resulted out of that other than me feeling I was talking into a void. (And I don’t even ship Supercorp).
Supergirl is the first show, after Harry Potter (which I admit is not a show :D ), that got me really emotionally invested in it, its characters and its outcomes. So, I don’t consider it detached entertainment. But, I also, since things have been hashed out and talked about in the fandom, am exhausted with all the dislike. There are times when I wish that I had never watched Supergirl at all.
And, I don’t want to feel like that; which is why I am just willing to fill in the colours on all of these relationships with missing details, and just get on with it. It’s rather sad, to me, that this show is no longer my favorite.
i love getting all meta about shows! But I’ve been there on getting burnt out on fandom. it giveth and taketh away. And “ship” wars are the worst, particularly when the canon half is heterosexual and has on screen elements that would be truly problematic in the real world. Theres just something about that that creates a very toxic atmosphere where on the one hand you have women defensively trying to justify stuff they’ve perhaps accepted at times in their own relationships, and on the other women accustomed to being in the minority struggling for representation of not only same sex relationships, but of strong women whose stories don’t automatically revolve around men. There’s not much room for compromise there.
I went through it with Glee and Once Upon a Time. My own sister would scream at me because there were elements of an on screen relationship that reminded her fondly of an ex-boyfriend, and I guess her wish fulfillment fantasies got in the way of acknowledging that he was an ex for a reason, or that other fans were lashing out for similarly legitimate personal reasons. It’s exhausting! And endemic in shows that are somewhat “loose” in their writing and production. There’s just a lot of lazy writing in Berlanti productions. Perhaps as a mirror to the scattered and retconned world of superhero comics?
Good for you for trying to find some peace in which you can watch the show.
Ps the double standards in how they treat James and Mon-El or Winn (the other two Kara beaus) is uncomfortable.
I haven’t been watching Supergirl this season, out of some pseudo-noble sense of duty to my thesis and senior year, I guess.
And yet I read every recap, because in my questionable mind-logic this takes zero time and watching the show takes all the time? But I think the real reason is that your recaps are magical. *applause emoji I can’t actually put here since my phone is broken*
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