Sing a song of joy, raise it up to Rao, for our show has returned to us, its heart fully intact.
You know how when Supergirl uses her powers too much and she burns out and needs to recharge for a bit? Maybe that’s what happened here. The show was on a season-and-a-half run of pure awesomeness, it lost its powers for a few episodes, but it’s back, baby.
I think what made it great (besides Mon-El taking a backseat and James being back, however briefly) is that the episode focused on the women at the helm of the show, with themes of family, trust, and the risks and rewards of doing What’s Right. Plus it felt very relevant and took a bunch of jabs at the current state of things, which felt like old times.
Last we left National City, Cadmus had stolen the alien registry with Jeremiah’s help, and this week we open with Cadmus henchmen kidnapping a family roadtripping. They do it by using cops to pull the family over and claim a broken headlight, then they throw them in a van and take them away. It’s scary and all too real.
Back at the DEO, they are lamenting the fact that they’re up to their 20th abduction and they don’t have any leads. J’onn points out that Jeremiah is an enemy combatant now and that he’ll have to be arrested on sight, which Alex assures through gritted teeth that it won’t be a problem for her.
That’s fine, do what you want but I’m probably gonna stop you.
Meanwhile, the littlest Danvers girl wants to write an article about the alien registry being compromised so she can warn them to be vigilant. She’s so sure, our optimistic ray of light, that Snapper will be happy to run the article, but she is so wrong. He says he can’t risk being accused of being “fake news” (lol) and says Kara can’t have Supergirl as her only source anymore. Kara tries to entice him with an exclusive interview with Supergirl and he doesn’t seem wholly convinced but he agrees to it.
That night, Alex and Maggie are playing pool in the gaylien bar, Maggie coming out on top and ready to reap her rewards: Dinner with her lady, scotch, and a flash grenade. But Alex is zoned out; she can’t stop running the scenario where Jeremiah gets caught by the DEO, sure there will be enough of a struggle to risk him getting killed in the process, knowing nobody but her would take the extra care to keep him alive. She’s the only one who doesn’t believe he’s completely turned over to the dark side. Maggie believes, though, because Alex believes. She looks at her girlfriend and tells her not to worry; Alex WILL be there when they find him, so she can protect him if no one else will. With renewed hope, Alex challenges Maggie to a double-or-nothing game, because there’s no way she’s giving that tiny spitfire a flash grenade.
Though I would CATCH a grenade for ya.
So Maggie heads off to grab another round while Alex re-racks because they’re the perfect pair.
Across the bar, Winn and Lyra are on a date and James is third-wheeling it. James asks how long she’s been on Earth because he’s surprised how well she “speaks Winn” and I thought he was going to question her intentions (because I’m still not ruling out a Veela situation) but he sees how happy the two nerdballs are together and can’t help but beam back at them.
Lyra goes off to get more drinks when suddenly the bar is ambushed. Targeted for being an alien bar, again. Guns are blazing, Alex, Maggie and James are fighting, but Lyra and a bunch of other aliens get swept away in the chaos. Alex runs outside and tries to stop the guy hauling Lyra to the van, but a bald baddie comes up from behind her and pulls a gun on her. Maggie comes out to save her girl, but the bald guy grabs Alex and there’s a bit of a stand off.
MARGARET ELLEN SAWYER YOU POINT THAT GUN SOMEWHERE ELSE THIS INSTANT
And even though I’d like to think Maggie and Alex could have tag-teamed their way out of it, Guardian appears to step in, and usually I’d feel very “women don’t need men to save them!” about a situation like this, but frankly anyone who is protecting our queer ladies on TV is fine by me. Maggie grabs Winn to stop him from running after the van full of aliens and getting himself shot, and they all watch helplessly as their friends and neighbors are carted away.
Back at the DEO, Winn blames Jeremiah for this and takes his frustration out on Alex, pushing her over the edge. She marches into bald baddie’s cell and WAILS on him. It’s heartbreaking to watch because you know she’s falling apart at the seams, but DAMN is it fierce. J’onn pulls her out before she smashes him to death and she promises him that she’s fine despite the steam pouring out of her ears.
In a feat of speed and swiftness, Kara sends Snapper in for his interview with Supergirl, who gives her best stance while he deadpans questions at her.
I miss Cat Grant.
He tries to trick her into giving more information than she feels comfortable with, but she doesn’t bite. She just confirms Kara’s story and flits away. When Kara asks how it went, he says he isn’t sold, and still won’t run the story, making Kara feel frustrated.
Back at Alex’s apartment, where Alex is about to pour from what looks like a milk carton, but knowing Alex, is probably just orange juice she mostly poured out to make room for champagne, when Jeremiah appears. He says he’s pretending to be on Team Cadmus, and Alex wants to trust him, but is understandably a little wary. He begs her for help; Lillian is going to slaughter the aliens and she needs to get him an important magnetic field disruptor from the DEO. He uses classic manipulation: she can’t tell anyone, she’s the only one who can help him, she has to answer now.
She paces a bit and finally starts to say yes when Jeremiah morphs into J’onn: this was a test, and Alex failed. She feels rightly violated and he understands but he had to know. So he suspends her until further notice.
You can take the girl out of the fight, but you can’t take the fight out of the girl.
Before long, Maggie and Kara are over at Alex’s apartment, and Kara apologizes for J’onn’s behavior.
BUT the thing is, while Kara wouldn’t have gone about it this way, she’s concerned that he might be right in thinking Alex is too much heart and not enough head about this particular mission because of the whole punching-out-her-feelings-on-a-prisoner’s-face thing.
I don’t think you understand how much danger you’re in as a queer woman on TV.
Alex’s voice starts to quiver – the one person who always has her back is not on her side. Jeremiah is their father, Kara should know how she feels. And Kara does, but she’s just more even-keeled about it, so she promises to protect Jeremiah; it’s just, letting Alex join the mission could risk putting Jeremiah in danger – or worse, could get Alex killed.
And here’s the thing; Kara loves her Earth family. But she didn’t spend as much time with Jeremiah as she did with Eliza and Alex, and while she has a fondness for the kindness he showed her and the sacrifice he made for her, she’s bound to be quicker to believe it’s possible Jeremiah has been compromised. Or even that maybe the man they remember from when they were younger isn’t who they thought he was; think of Astra, think of the things she’s learned of her Kryptonian parents as an adult. She understands why Alex feels the way she does, but Kara’s heart has been broken enough times for the possibility of betrayal to be something she wants to be prepared for.
After Kara leaves, Alex, shaking with teary-eyed frustration, turns to Maggie and asks if she agrees with her sister. Maggie surprises her by saying no; if Alex wants to protect her father, she needs to protect her father. So she’ll help Alex however she can. “Ride or die.”
But seriously, please don’t die.
Speaking of girlfriends, Kara is surprised to see Lena at CatCo, which hurts Lena’s feelings: they had plans to go get kombucha. Kombucha! But Lena makes the best of the situation, and when Kara explains what she’s working on, Lena offers to be a second source for her story and do some research at L Corp for her. And in fact seems delighted to be working together. Kara thanks her and Lena uses her favorite line, “What are friends for?” and Kara dips her head and blushes. :bites knuckle to keep from shouting about how in love they are:
“There are mountains in our way…”
“…but we climb a step every day.”
Out on the street, Cadmus tries their pull-over-the-alien trick again, but this time Alex and Maggie are on the job. Maggie borrowed Alex’s laser gun and loves it, but Alex tells her not to get used to it.
While Maggie saves the alien, Alex hops in the van and gets the GPS data so she can locate Cadmus. Maggie asks if she needs backup, and Alex says no, so Maggie sends her off with her laser gun and a kiss.
THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANTED. CRIME-FIGHTING GIRLFRIENDS, CASUAL KISSES. HEAVEN.
(The alien says, “I want what you guys have,” which sounds sweet on paper, but the slight grin on his face made the girls tell him to gtfo. It was a cute moment.)
Alex successfully sneaks into Cadmus, ninjas some dudes down, and is eventually intercepted by Jeremiah. He leads her to the center of operations, where he explains that he convinced Lillian to send the aliens back to space instead of executing them. He says he did this all for Alex and Kara, because they’ve been threatening them ever since they took him, but Alex is HORRIFIED. Forced deportation is basically just delayed execution for some of these aliens; so many of them escaped horrors like famine or war or genocide for a better life here. She looks her father in the eye and asks how he could possibly think that she and Kara would want him to hurt others just to protect them.
“Are you NEW?”
Alex even tries to pull the mom card, but he’s confident Eliza will understand.
At her apartment, Kara is trying to decide whether or not to publish the piece Snapper wouldn’t run on her personal blog (which was Lena’s idea btw). She ultimately decides to do it, and is rewarded with a call from Lena.
Lena, true to her word, has been feverishly researching for Kara, but it turns out the assistant she has helping her warned Lillian, who ordered her to temporarily incapacitate her daughter, so while Lena is on the phone with Kara, she gets attacked. Lena fights back with a taser, which takes her attackers by surprise, ending with her falling off the balcony.
But never fear, Supergirl is here!
LOVE LIFTS US UP WHERE WEEEE BELOOONG
And I’m sorry but if you don’t want me to want them to date each other, you can’t keep giving them the most romantic moments ON THE ENTIRE PLANET.
Lillian, worried about Lena and Kara’s interference, decides to just send the aliens they already have up since they’re out of time. But Alex has planted mines and blows a little bit of Cadmus up every time Lillian doesn’t listen to her.
Jeremiah finds himself between listening to Lillian or Alex, and he ultimately chooses Alex and they fight their way out together. Alex decides to stop the spaceship from taking off from the inside – and then, just when you thought Alex couldn’t get any more badass, she runs as fast as she can with explosions going off behind her. It’s action-movie-hero stuff and it’s everything Alex Danvers deserves.
Alex lets one cell of prisoners loose on the ship and puts Lyra in charge of getting everyone to safety while she tries to shut down the ship from the captain’s seat. Where she looks goooood.
Okay, fine, she looks scared.
Autopilot kicks in and the ship takes off and she calls the DEO for help. They try to talk her through it but they need more time, they need to slow the ship down somehow. Never fear, thanks to Lena, Supergirl is here! And Alex is so happy to see her, despite their recent fights. Supergirl brushes off a few missiles then goes to the front of the spaceship to push it back and slow it down. The sisters lock eyes through the glass of the windshield and they both press their hands on the same place of the glass and Alex says, “You can do this.” Because despite any disagreements, first and foremost, they are sisters.
“It doesn’t matter where you came from, or-or how you got here. You are my sister.”
Inspired by her sister’s words, Kara uses all of her might to push and push and saves the day once again. And Alex is so, so proud of her baby sister.
This scene made my heart swell up and I realized I had that dopey grin on my face that I’d been missing the past two episodes and it felt like coming home. I hope this show never forgets who it is ever again.
The next day, Kara goes to CatCo and finds her stuff packed up. Snapper accuses her of being lucky, not right, and that she’s fired for breaking the rules. He gives her one last look, seeming genuinely upset and says, “I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you!”
“That’s a pretty old Tyra reference, Cat Grant would have had a fresher burn.”
Alex finds J’onn at the DEO and says she’s sorry for going against his orders, but stand by her original statement that the way he went about “testing” her was cruel. He agrees, and he’s sorry. He was afraid of losing her, but he almost lost her anyway. Alex says she’s had just enough of father figures in her life trying to protect her by doing awful things, so they agree to stick to doing What’s Right from now on. They hug and it’s beautiful.
Maggie is there to greet her when she’s done hugging her space dad and is glad to hear she got her job back, though Alex will always have a gig as her trophy girlfriend if she wants it.
“So, we didn’t die…time to ride? A motorcycle! I definitely meant a motorcycle.”
And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all.
Lastly, King Hercules and Queen Lois Lane arrive in Earth’s atmosphere to stir up trouble. But we’ll deal with them next week.
Having only read the first line of your review, I think I may differ in POV.
The frustrating thing about Supergirl, is it’s about 3/4ths a great Bechdel-riffic show…
…and then there’s the 1/4th when Mon-El’s around. Kara’s IQ drops about 50 points, and just about the entire plot starts to devolve around HIM.
OK, we get it, Kara’s straight (Sigh. When her CHEMISTRY w/ Lena is So, SO Good!).
But I never had this problem in last year’s ‘ship w/ James—even when they were playing the stupid “Love Triangle” thing w/ Lana Lang. [At least Kara’s IQ didn’t suffer!]
Why, show, WHY? Why must you be SO WONDERFUL (Sanvers, Sisterhood, whenever—too little!—Lena’s around. Even the general DEO vibe. I even like Wynn now), then go down the Mon-El cr@phole? I don’t get it.
Jenna Dewan Tatum played Lucy Lane not Lana Lang. I would love to see her come back. I can’t remember if James was like it last year but this year since he’s taken on the Guardian persona he has become very condescending to Kara/Supergirl. He has said that Supergirl wouldn’t have been able to fight off bad guys without Guardian’s help. Full disclosure, I am not a James fan.
Lucy Lane, Lana Lang—some LL or other. Just not the only LL who matters here: Lena Luthor! Yes, the writers have devolved James this year, compared to last.
OMG Valerie, I want to frame your captions!
“I don’t think you understand how much danger you’re in as a queer woman on TV.”
“LOVE LIFTS US UP WHERE WEEEE BELOOONG” – right now I can’t take that song out of my head! And why are they doing this to us? I mean Kara and Lena, or Katie and Melissa, or the writers. I don’t know. But it’s just cruel to play that card if you won’t invest in it.
And thank you so much for this: “And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all”. YES.
To me, this was by far the best episode of the season. We had:
Danvers sister dramatic bonding scene (best one of the season!) ✓
Sanvers on action ✓
Sanvers kissing (with good lighting!) ✓
Supercorp (literally) rising! ✓
Maggie having more screentime than Mon-El ✓
J’onn proving to be the best father ✓
Chyler Leigh proving to be the heart of season 2 ✓
Plus:
Addressing bad/good journalism (“misreporting could put a fascist in the White House”!!!), the immigration policy (that speech Alex gave to Jeremiah!), mentioning Julian Assange… this episode is born out of a political collective force no one, not even Supergirl, can stop. And I’m so happy when pop culture does these things.
And please, let this happen: Ride or Die, the name of the TV show starring Sanvers and J’onn (because I love him oh so very much), the greatest spin-off of our dreams.
I just hope Teri Hatcher just come and take that blandsome dude away from us asap! BTW, really didn’t get why the producers of the series decided to cast Kevin Sorbo (who’s playing Mon-El father), a well-known homophobic and racist man. I don’t like that at all.
One last thing: despite the fact that all of a sudden Kara is ready to deny she loves her job as a reporter because she has Mon-El (what happened to her character???), I found myself deeply disturbed by that sequence when Alex instead of interrogating the dude from Cadmus, starts beating the crap out of him. I understand that sequence exists to give her another dramatic layer, they’re talking about her anger, her fears. But showing a scene of a government agent torturing during a supposed interrogation (and I know many of us were rooting for Alex at that moment) is cruel in so many levels.
I literally logged in to say exactly what you said, and you already said it all perfectly. A+++ 10/10 Supergirl feelings
Thank you Valerie! I’ve waited the whole day to read your review!!!!!!
I’ve missed feeling like this with this show!!!! It was a good old fashioned episode and it was great!
That SuperCorp samples were so… queerbating! Although I’m aware of that I can’t stop shipping and wishing that the writers will explore this relationship in future.
The end was totally the best!!! I knew Teri would be on the show but Kevin Sorbo was a surprise for me!!! I’m dead curious to see what comes next!!!!
Is it ‘genocide’ though, when aliens are mass murdered? Just out of sheer curiosity… I love your recaps either way
I think it would be a speciescide. That word doesn’t even exist. They aren’t human, they’re all different categories of alien so I don’t think it would be genocide. I don’t know. Just a guess.
This episode was indeed a return to form, first one I’ve re-watched in a while. The pacing worked pretty well, it set up so many plot points and established so many things woo. The music was on point this week as well, my goodness.
Chyler Leigh has been excellent all season and giving her more to do was clearly an excellent choice, woah can she carry a scene.
Supercorp: OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! I love this subtext relationship so much I don’t care. Please keep this going forever and ever writers, I am SO INTO IT. Kombucha girlfriends, balcony girlfriends, lip biting girlfriends YES FOREVER AND ALWAYS JUST YES.
Also, Lena Luthor must know Kara is Supergirl, right?
Anyway, deeply in love with Kara/Lena, not sorry about it at all.
I loved that last scene in Kara’s apartment actually. I thought it was foreshadowing of the least subtle kind and I was like ‘oh, thank goodness, they know where they’re going with this, there’s a setup finally’. Poor Kara! But at least I feel like someone is steering this ship.
ALSO I am SO HAPPY that Lois Lane and Hercules are the Space Nuns. I may or may not have whooped out loud when they came on screen. THE SPACE NUNS ARE HERE TO SAVE US! WOO! WE SUPPORT YOU SPACE NUNS take your prince and go thank you. It’s really a testament to how badly they have screwed up any redemption of Mon-El that I still couldn’t deal with him in this episode, where he was expertly deployed and charmingly performed. He’s almost irredeemable at this point. Save us, Space Nuns. We’re counting on you.
“And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all.” THAT was awesome. Truly LOL. Good job! (and good review)
Amazing recap as always.. Alex’s badassry gives me joy. I gree with u though, they cant keep giving us these sweet #supercorp moments and expect us not to think they are gay for each other. lol
I was good with this episode…
Yes, Alex’s beating of the suspect was highly problematic and made me uncomfortable (and it’s telling that she didn’t get suspended for that), but for the most part, I really loved this episode for all the reasons Valerie’s articulated here.
But then we got to Kara’s apartment at the end and Kara says to Mon-El, “Maybe being Supergirl and having you is enough”…and I wanted to vomit…
We almost had it! We almost had an episode as good as the first season and the writers fucked it up at the last possible second.
Does the first season of this show not count because it was on another network? Because in the first season, Kara Danvers is so insistent on building a life for herself outside the Supergirl-persona. It’s like they’re retconning the history of this show.
Dammit, Supergirl writers, we almost had it and you went and ruined it.
UGH.
I agree. This was one of the best episodes of season 2 so far. Maybe even my favourite. But Kara first confessing how much she loves/loved her job and then suddenly turning off her brain and musing how maybe “being Supergirl and having [Mon-El]” would be enough, left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I just hope that thought of Kara’s will be used as some kind of build up for a CatCo/reporter storyline where Kara gains some introspective and figures out that that initial spur-of the moment sentiment was just wishful thinking.
Up until now she seemed entirely convinced that by becoming a reporter she had finally found her calling as Kara Danvers. She wasn’t always confindent about her abilities and was still learning and improving… but she was sure that being a reporter was what she wanted to be. I hope she figures out soon that she does need her reporter-side after all. That her profession is a part of her.
The girl clearly misses Cat Grant’s guidance.
All in all I can’t shake the impression that what her every-day life is concerned Kara needs to find herself again and all this Mon-El-distraction clearly isn’t helping.
Can we talk about Kara’s lip bite for a minute? The only reason I can see it being in there is because Melissa Benoist is imitating Katie McGrath. But for her to imitate Katie, she’d have to know the connotations there, and be actively inviting those implications. I don’t know if this is queerbaiting, fanservice, Melissa trying to push the writers somewhere, or whether she’s trying to hint at something in the future.
I wait all day Tuesdays for these recaps – they are the best. “And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all” made me giggle indecently.
But here’s the point that I’ve been thinking about all day: a lot of people on Twitter said that the assistant who betrayed Lena was Jess from Survivors but the assistant in this episode is played by a different actress who is credited on IMDB as Alana. Now realistically I know that they probably decided later to have Lena’s assistant play a bigger part as a turncoat, so they cast this assistant with that in mind. But did they recast one asian actress for another thinking no one would notice (which many people did not which is troubling, but Jess had two lines and I’ve rewatched any and all scenes with Kate McGrath because of her face). On IMDB, Jess is actually credited as “Receptionist” so the writers may have forgot that they gave her a name. Or is this supposed to be a completely different character? Like, does Lena Luthor only hire Asian assistants?
My current theory is that Jess was kidnapped by Cadmus, replaced with Alana, but Lena is so tunnel visioned on wooing Kara that she has straight up face blindness for every one who is not Kara.
You wouldn’t believe if I told you how eagerly I was awaiting your recap of this episode (I’ve been refreshing the Autostraddle main page for almost an hour).
And it was everything I had hoped for. I don’t know how you do it Valerie Anne… deconstructing these episodes week by week in a way that constantly makes me either nod along or grin while reading.
Thoughts about the episode:
– Alex finally got show off her off-the-charts level of badassery again, all while simultaneously having some raw emotional scenes. Which was great and still has me cheering.
– Since the show has already established Alex’ new gun as somewhat of a side-character, having the crime-fighting girlfriends casually talk about betting flash-grenades on pool-games does seem like the next logical step.^^
If their shared infatuation with weapons wouldn’t fit so well into the DC universe and perfectly underline their respective characters it would only be half as adorable. As it is now I can’t help myself but be delighted whenever these two lovebirds geek out over weaponry.
– And from all of us who thought they robbed us of the sight of Supergirl carrying Lena “bridal-style” after a rescue during “Luthors”: Well done, writers, well done. *slowclap*
I think the next episode will air in two weeks. And it will be Mon-El-centric. Uuumm… yeah. But at least that will be a step towards bringing this “not-so-secret-Prince-of-Daxam” storyline to an end.
This episode was such a relief.
I was happy to see Sanvers out in the world actually doing hero stuff together and working as a team and basically proving they exist outside their respective apartments and the 10 foot radius of that one pool table. Also seeing Alex be Alex, inappropriate violence included, was so welcome.
Kara carrying Lena should just become their thing from now on in every scene. Just gals carrying pals.
Mon El was annoying, but in a regular “This is an annoying person” way and not a “This is an annoying plot development” way, which is an improvement.
Most important though, the sisterhood saving the world thing. I missed that so hard. That’s the show I want to watch every week.
AND ALSO somebody should give J’onn a hug every week.
I am now considering a supercorp embroidery project featuring the phrase “Just gals carrying pals” so thank you for that inspiration.
Please post a picture of that embroidery when you’re finished! That sounds EPIC!
JUST GALS CARRYING PALS
Is it crazy or this scene kind of refers to every Superman’s movies or series ever made? You know when Lois is in danger and he comes to rescue her? His one true love? Is it a hint? Is it me overthinking? I don’t know but it was too iconic not to think about.
I’ve been on the Lena is Lois train from the beginning. Super smart career woman, relationships with both Kara and Supergirl, complicated relationship with the bad Luther, always getting herself into dangerous situations that Supergirl conveniently saves her from. I don’t think it’s overthinking to say they’re deliberately drawing the parallel with this scene, but I also don’t see it ever moving past subtext.
Best part of this recap was that you-know-who was only mentioned once, and was not relevant to the plot at all. I kind of gave up watching when I read they were making Kara and him a thing (because I cannot deal with compulsory heterosexuality) but maybe there is hope after all?
He was kinda relevant, since he convinced Kara to post her blog when she was wavering. Which got her fired, which I was expecting some complaints about.
I saw a few reviewers who thought Maggie was OOC to help Alex. My thought is- Maggie really doesn’t AGREE with Alex, but she realizes that Alex is going to try and rescue Jeremiah. So, Maggie is there to help her, no matter what. I DID think it was insane that she didn’t go with Alex into Cadmus, but I realize they needed to up the tension.
We were SO CLOSE to an almost perfect episode, but then it was ruined with “Maybe being Supergirl and with you is enough.” WHAT? It wasn’t enough to be with James, but with wonder white bread? Please. I really hope they are going somewhere with Kara’s story because frankly, right now, the dumbing down of Kara is really hard to watch.
It wasn’t OOC. Remember Maggie let Guardian go because Alex asked her to (while withholding information from her). She lied to Alex about how she was outed because she wanted it to be “better” for Alex. Heck, she even courted the thought of planting evidence on Roulette but decided against it because she was a good cop. Producers of SG also hinted at her being entangled in an art heist for 2×17. Maggie has had history of being pragmatic about the way she approaches life and how she defines what the “right” thing to do is. She also tends to bend the rules for Alex.
I totally agree- I didn’t think it was OOC, but there are plenty of reviewers who thought it was. Which means they are clearly not watching Maggie as closely as the rest of us!
I’m sure our hyperawareness on anything Maggie Sawyer is still healthy. Right? Right? Hahaha.
But yeah. It wasn’t OOC.
That said, I still want to learn more about her character please. And also, some role reversal soon. Maggie deserves the world.
How could anyone think it was OOC for Maggie since we barely know anything about Maggie.
Great article. How about writing one on the latest episode of Black Sails and Eleanor’s death. Was the speech at the window about her desire to run away from civilization with Max?
Thanks for the spoiler.
Please don’t spoil other shows in the Supergirl recap- not cool.
ever since i saw kevin sorbo the only thing i can think of is “but what if they get lucy lawless to guest star as wonder woman”
I saw Kevin Sorbo and thought “I thought he was one of those crazy fundamentalist Trump supporters. What is he doing on this show? It stands for everything these people hate”.
Valerie, I agree with you that this episode was fantastic, definitely the best of the back half of season 2 so far. The sisters moment was a great return to form, and I loved all the cute Sanvers moments, and Space Dad moments, and Winn and Lyra were adorable. And I LOVED the political commentary and anti-Trump shout outs. Yeah, it was very on-the-nose, but this show has never exactly done subtle with it’s metaphors. And that Cadmus/ICE raid on the alien family was horrifying. If that helps start a conversation in a few homes, more the better.
What worried me about this episode, however, is what it foretells for the future of this season. Having Kara get fired from Catco (and at a moment when Snapper Carr and his belief in ethical journalism is more important than ever!) does not bode well. The show has been pushing Catco to the background all season, and now they’ve given themselves an out to remove it from the show altogether. Catco without Cat is a very differently place, but it COULD have been good. It’s still absolutely necessary. Without it (and thus presumably with a lot less James) Supergirl is going to be a very different show.
And then. Oh boy. The “nothing” that happened in Kara’s apartment ENRAGED me. First of all, IT SHOULD HAVE BEN ALEX. For what feels like the 5th time in a row, the episode ended with Mon-El appearing at Kara’s door to deconstruct the day’s events when it SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALEX. You’re tell me after that sister moment in space that Alex wouldn’t want to be with her sister? Bullshit.
But then Kara turns into a FREAKING POD PERSON. Like, I don’t know who this person is, but this is not the Kara Danvers we’ve gotten to know. It made NO SENSE.
AND THEN. So Terri Hatcher and Kevin Sorbo are playing Mon-El’s parents, the King and Queen of Daxam. So it looks like the rest of the season is going to be spent on MON-EL’S PARENTAL DRAMA instead of on Kara and Alex’s parental drama. Like, maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll be around for one episode, then leave forever, taking Mon-El with them, but I seriously doubt it. I would put money on them sticking around for a while, and that is NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR. Mon-El is almost fine when he’s used the way he was in tonight’s episode – sparingly, and mostly for comic relief. But I don’t CARE about him, and I definitely don’t care about his family drama, and I definitely don’t care about him lying to Kara, and I definitely don’t care about Kara spending all her energy on HIM rather than at Catco where she belongs.
UGHHHH.
tl;dr This episode was great, but it set up a truly terrible back half of 2B.
I second your words, and just like you, I fear for what’s about to come…
“Having Kara get fired from Catco”
I SERIOUSLY believed Cat was going to walk through the doors *At That Precise Moment* (I mean, isn’t La Flockhart supposed to be on *sometime* this season?).
“Supergirl’s What I Do, Kara—who wants help people via telling their stories, ie. reporting—Is Who I Am”: what happened to that???
I’m actually HOPING Kara’s MASSIVE brain-fart at the end of the ep (w/ he whose name will not be spoken again) is just set-up for a reversal. A he whose name will not be spoken DUMPING. Not because he’s a furkin’ prince. But because he’s “such a prince!” /s (i.e, an @sshat. And—regardless of plumbing—completely WRONG for Kara. He’s in her way—makes her settle, instead of Reaching Beyond. Y’know, the way a certain corporative executive—and I’m generally no fan of corporate executives!—so encourages her. <3<3 )
“The show has been pushing Catco to the background all season, and now they’ve given themselves an out to remove it from the show altogether.”
I wrote a comment last week about how the show lost its balance between the DEO and CatCo and Supergirl and Kara. I compared it to the show Lois and Clark, they were able to have Clark be Clark and Superman be Superman because everyone was at the Daily Planet but no one is at CatCo anymore (not even James who runs around as Guardian now) so it’s hard to have stories centered there. The main set is now the DEO which is probably why they changed it up to be more fancy and less cavey this season. And because nothing happens at CatCo Kara is more Supergirl but they find ways for her to be Kara at the DEO and we assume that everyone there knows that Kara is Supergirl since no one bats an eye that Kara’s always around.
“the episode ended with Mon-El appearing at Kara’s door to deconstruct the day’s events when it SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALEX. You’re tell me after that sister moment in space that Alex wouldn’t want to be with her sister? Bullshit.”
I get what you’re saying but after a traumatic experience like that don’t you think Alex would want to be with Maggie or rather Maggie want to be with Alex? I mean Maggie let Alex go solo into the lion’s den and so if I was Maggie, I would be waiting for any word on Alex and waiting for her to come back and when she did come back wrap her in my arms and not let her go for the night. And we did see them together at the end so we can assume they went off together.
Let’s all pretend that the ending scene of the episode didn’t happen and Kara didn’t just send women back a hundred or so years when she said that being with Blandsome was enough. Totally didn’t happen. Nope. It was all a figment of our imagination.
I don’t think the Mon-El drama will last the rest of the season; I doubt they could afford Herc and Lois that long. But I agree with your pod-person description.it reminds me of Legally Blonde: The Musical. For those of you unfamiliar with the vastly underappreciated songs of that gem: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed before, But each time [Mon-El] walks in the door, your IQ goes down to 40, maybe less.” Hoping she finds that chip on her shoulder again soon.
Despite the insane amount of pink that almost kept me from entering the theatre, I went and saw the musical in London. Bought the CD afterwards. And now I’ve got “Chip on my Shoulder” stuck in my head… and am astounded by how accurate that comparison and those lyrics are when it comes to “KARAMEL”. Chapeau!
Mon-El free Supergirl recaps are my new favorite thing! And your captions are always the best!
Maggie and Alex!! “Ride or die!” “I’m not dating an unemployed slacker, although you would be good arm candy.” I live for their playful flirtation and for them kicking ass together. I want it in every episode. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
The SuperCorp scenes this episode were ridiculous. In the best possible way. Supergirl saving Lena and just hovering in the air with her cradeled in her arms?? Seriously?? Kara biting her lip and Lena giving her Looks. I can’t with them.
And Kara and Alex’s scene. Any time two people place their hands together through glass, I get so emotional. This time was no exception lol. The way Alex put all of her faith in Kara because she knew she was strong enough and the way Kara was strengthened by Alex’s unwavering faith. I cried.
This is the show I fell in love with! I’m so happy it’s back!
I actually can’t wait to rewatch this ep.
I honestly think Alex and Jonn are played quite honestly by the actors that play them. You really feel like they are real to you.
How do we know Maggie’s middle name is Ellen?!
It’s probably comic book canon.
Oh that makes sense! Thanks!
Yeah I just googled it. It might not be this Maggie’s middle name but it felt less dramatic without using SOMETHING haha
Alex and Maggie kicking ass in the bar gave me all the right feelings in all the right places.
Magnificent review, y loved & was accurate to the final dot
Congrats, i enjoyed as muchs as the episode.
J’onn pulled a “JasonRothember/ShawnaBenson”, a very very low, inmoral trick. I think that not in character, he is way better than that. I didn’t like that part.
I think they are setting Kara up for failure with the Mon El arc. As in, her disappointment is going to devastate her; reminds me of Lexie-Jackson arc in Greys where someone (Jackson?) kept saying to the other you are all I need and they ended up breaking or Lexie dying, I don’t remember which.
Her trust in people is one of the core things about her and they are going to test that, I think.
The way they are going about it is bad writing because they are ignoring character growth for big drama down the lane, but well…. Also, I am not entirely sure Kara is actually happy about only Supergirl and Mon El part. She seemed like she is giving in; which she has been doing a lot lately. Which is why I think they need some discussion on that.
About Kara-Lena balcony scene; I don’t think it is queer baiting because honestly, they do have a queer character on show, so do they need to bait the queer? And most everyone knows that Kara is straight and probably isn’t going to have a happy love life ever because this is the CW (do CW girls ever get a happy love life?). I think it is more of a wink at Kara-Lena shippers. Or, it is probably nothing because they had that last season with both James and Cat.
Also, it appears I was wrong about Alex hurting Kara last week because neither of them seem to remember that this episode.
I have an issue with the bar fight. I know it was dark but I very clearly noticed James take 1 swing at someone and disappear while Alex and Maggie were taken the posse down. Lyra too was fending off multiple “snatchers” before being taken (for the record there’s something about her that I don’t trust but good on her for fighting off those guys). And then what James reappears as Guardian, like dude did you have to put on the suit? It reminded me of the new Deadpool teaser that just came out where Deadpool (in his civilian clothes) witnesses a mugging and goes to put on his suit which takes longer to get on than the crime.
And I agree Valerie as unnecessary as it was if he protected Alex than show up any time but come on this is Alex who knows 6 ways to torture a person with her index finger. And the guy barely had her in a choke hold so you don’t think she could get out of it especially with Maggie out there too. Not to mention the whole theme of this episode was that the Danvers girls don’t need saving/protecting.
To me it just seemed like a way to remind the audience that James is still relevant since he’s been gone the past 2 episodes.
I like Snapper, he’s just the right amount of gruff to be the editor, James doesn’t do shit. Yeah it sucks that Kara got fired but I was wondering why didn’t she write under a pseudonym like 50% of people do on the internet. And okay if it would’ve been suspicious since this was a classified story then why didn’t she write it as Supergirl? Or better still and I don’t know the science behind this but couldn’t J’Onn telepathically communicate the danger to all the aliens in National City?
SuperCorp, I get what you all are seeing in terms of chemistry but I’ve been hurt too many times by relationships that I’ve wanted to see happen just never come to fruition so I’ll be over here Sanvers swooning. And also the way Lena stared at that chess piece is really putting a wall up around any SuperCorp happenings.
Now onto Sanvers, Who would watch a crime fighting show of just them 2. RIGHT! I mean I didn’t like Alex going off on her own but I get it was something she had to do. These Sanvers scene were like all I wanted in the Valentine’s episode. They don’t have to be sucking face or whatever all the time, just being together fighting is romantic foreplay for them. And RIDE OR (DON’T) DIE, that is my favorite motto. My sister and I have joke that your ride or die will also clear your browser history no questions asked.
Real quick about Alex’s laser gun, does it recharge or what? And I’m going to assume that the DEO did the necessary tests on it to make sure it was safe for Alex to use.
James suiting up may or may not have been the best decision; it’s a tough call either way. He probably remembers being taken hostage a lot from his “Superman’s Pal” days.
Alex’s gun is cool and all, but the fact that it apparently has a non-lethal setting makes her letting her dad go in the woods even more nonsensical.
Is the show on next Monday because the promo say March 20th. Or is next week just the part 1 of the crossover?
Wikipedia says the 20th, but I think next week is the musical episode of The Flash, so I think we’ll see our Superfriends then? I’m really unclear on how that whole thing is gonna work. BUT I’M EXCITED.
Monday the 13th will have a repeat, I think. Anyways, there is no new episode next week.
I thought we would never get another romantic moment from Kara and Lena now that Kara’s dating Mon-Hair Gel, but hopefully the SuperCorp dynamic continues no matter who Kara is dating or if she becomes single. I’m guessing the writers are trying to get away with as much SuperCorp romance as they can but The CW maybe only allows a certain amount of non-hetero scenes per episode. I feel like the show respects SuperCorp way too much for it to count as queerbaiting. It’s more like genuine feelings on both sides, but they will never be together.
Also, Kara really does need to learn about proper journalism and not let emotions cloud her judgment. This could be an arc that focuses on that.
This was the episode I had been waiting for! I yelled “YES!” at my screen so many times. Alex and Maggie kicking ass! Lena and Kara getting KOMBUCHA together! Supergirl saving Lena! Alex and Jeremiah kicking ass! Supergirl and Alex’s sister moment! And Teri Hatcher! OMG, I loved Lois and Clark so much; it was so much fun to have both the actors in the same episode (every single time Jeremiah is in the show I get super happy). And Hercules was in it! So many 90’s tv flashbacks!
It seemed weird to me that James wasn’t in any of the CatCo scenes, though. You would think that Kara would have gone to him about getting the alien registry story out there. I do miss season one James and Kara (both of their characters have been written oddly this season).
Can we talk for a minute about Alex going all Gabrielle on those Cadmus A-holes who hijacked the dive bar? So. Goddamn. HOT. Alex should be wielding a pool stick ALWAYS. Also, now I really want a Legends/Supergirl crossover so she and Sara can spar. I would watch entire episodes of them just sparring and competing on the salmon ladder.
Can we also talk about how Kara has a VERY SPECIFIC TYPE aka powerful CEOS who have a penchant of falling off their balconies? *laughs*
Other thoughts:
– Lena should wear purple ALWAYS. ALWAYS because OH MY GOD. *fans self*
– I watched Alex stomp on that bald Cadmus minion’s gonads more times than I can count because daaaaamn!, woman! Unhinged!Alex on a murderous revenge fueled rampage is my new favorite thing on the planet.
– Maggie pulling Brian out of the van by his tie – so funny.
– I have forgotten what Maggie does for a living…oh wait, yeah! She’s a cop. Can we have more scenes of her actually doing her job and not just being demoted to being Alex’s girlfriend?
– Maggie’s enthusiastic joy about possibly getting a flash grenade – too cute. Her face lit up like Christmas morning. Alex’s response to that has me rolling. It reminded me of how parents give their kids incredulous looks when they ask if they can play with power tools.
– Why didn’t Alex and Jeremiah knock Lillian into Sleepy Town with their fists when they took out the Cadmus guys? Seriously, Alex ran off to save a ship of aliens and Jeremiah was left at the controls with her. Why didn’t they knock her the F out and hogtie her? At this point, they have more than enough reason and justification to dump her into a DEO containment unit and then throw that unit into some dank, dark hole.
– We FINALLY got a powerful Alex and Kara sister scene! FINALLY! THAT scene was everything. It was what made Season 1 so amazing. I really hope they continue bringing us these scenes that have been so lacking. And call me ungrateful but I wasn’t too pleased that we didn’t get a Sisters on the Couch scene after Alex near ended up on the other side of the galaxy. If it were season 1, it totally would have happened. They would have hugged it out, talked it out and ate a lot of take out.
– I feel that there’s something sinister with Lyra and Winn. He just goes waaay too ga-ga over her when she’s in his vicinity. There’s something off about these two. I want him to be happy but something feels weird. Like he’s all love potioned up when she’s around.
– J’onn rocks. Best space dad ever!
– Any chance that Cat will come back now that Kara’s gotten fired? Even a phone call from “Cat” to address Kara’s lack of judgement will be better than nothing because we all know that Kara getting fired is something Cat will not let slide.
Next week it’s the 90s! We have Hercules and Lois Lane come to reign terror and hopefully kick tall, dark and BLANDSOME off the face of the Earth. All we need now is Lucy Lawless to guest star and I swear my year will be made.
“King Hercules and Queen Lois Lane arrive in Earth’s atmosphere to stir up trouble” <3
J’onn is a good space-dad, but not a good boss. Alex is losing it. If J’onn is too personally involved to rein her in, maybe he’s the one who needs to change jobs.
I still do not know how to feel about this Lena/Kara thing!
I obviously ship them, they have such good chemistry, but I am afraid the writers are going into queerbaiting territory.. I hope this show knows better!
Oh Valerie Anne, I LIVE for your recaps and your genius captions. They always make me laugh. But my most favourite part of this recap:
>> And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all.
THAT. That right there. :D
This episode was indeed a return to form, first one I’ve re-watched in a while. The pacing worked pretty well, it set up so many plot points and established so many things woo. The music was on point this week as well, my goodness.
Chyler Leigh has been excellent all season and giving her more to do was clearly an excellent choice, woah can she carry a scene.
Supercorp: OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! I love this subtext relationship so much I don’t care. Please keep this going forever and ever writers, I am SO INTO IT. Kombucha girlfriends, balcony girlfriends, lip biting girlfriends YES FOREVER AND ALWAYS JUST YES.
Also, Lena Luthor must know Kara is Supergirl, right?
Anyway, deeply in love with Kara/Lena, not sorry about it at all.
I loved that last scene in Kara’s apartment actually. I thought it was foreshadowing of the least subtle kind and I was like ‘oh, thank goodness, they know where they’re going with this, there’s a setup finally’. Poor Kara! But at least I feel like someone is steering this ship.
ALSO I am SO HAPPY that Lois Lane and Hercules are the Space Nuns. I may or may not have whooped out loud when they came on screen. THE SPACE NUNS ARE HERE TO SAVE US! WOO! WE SUPPORT YOU SPACE NUNS take your prince and go thank you. It’s really a testament to how badly they have screwed up any redemption of Mon-El that I still couldn’t deal with him in this episode, where he was expertly deployed and charmingly performed. He’s almost irredeemable at this point. Save us, Space Nuns. We’re counting on you.
wow, i am definitely the only one who doesn’t mind mon el. like, he’s terrible as a love interest and i am bummed that they went there with him and kara, but i feel like all of the terribleness has been intentional on the part of the writers. i genuinely enjoy his bumbling and find him way less offensive than james was in season one because all of mon el’s fuck-ups are called out and are made into much-needed lessons for men who date women. i’m looking forward to the lesson about how kara can’t just be supergirl and his girlfriend which i do believe will be coming. i don’t think they should necessarily date and i don’t really get why they are dating (except compulsory heterosexuality) but if he leaves i will actually miss him.
am i really alone on this?
No, I’ve said it before; if they had kept him as a cousinly figure for Kara and not pushed this “surely you like him! because he likes you! even though you’ve shown literally no interest so far!” thing and had her kiss him literally the same episode he was the very worst, I believe I could have really liked Mon-El’s character. This episode was a great example – up until his last scene, his inputs were cute and adorkable. Being unable to say “anonymous” and calling it “blobbing” – I like stuff like that! But then they go and make Kara say something dumb af and if they don’t address it it’s going to become a huge issue! (Though I did like James S1 a lot). I don’t know how Winn went from being the most punchable man to the best dude (besides J’onn of course) but here we are.
i was also very surprised to like winn so much this season! i can see how forcing mon el and kara to be together put him in the unlikeable category. also him being a daxonite and having all this “racial” tension between him and kara but casting him as a white dude, and after last season’s black love interest was phased out so that kara could focus on herself and not on dating… that was awkward. there’s a lot of baggage that comes with him so i can’t condemn the hate. i guess he just reminds me of anya. i was soooo into him being kara’s bro.
agreed that if they don’t address kara’s “i don’t have to be kara anymore” line there will be a big problem with the show (of once upon a time magnitude).
also, i loved seeing alex kick some ass and give no fucks with those bombs, but wtf this girl needs some major stress leave. every single time she feels emotionally tender she does something destructive–either violence or heavy drinking. i was actually shocked when she pulled orange juice out of the fridge instead of a bottle of something stronger. on top of that, she’s incredibly corrupt as a law enforcement officer–gambling with DEO grenades that she loses to her cop girlfriend? was she this self-destructive and corrupt before she met maggie? i noticed maggie seemed pretty into booze and made some comments about being a bit fucked up and immediately started worrying about dc’s obsession with lesbianism=dark broody destructive.
Yeah, J’onn’s not doing Alex any favors letting her off the hook. Where’s Pam from HR when we need her?
I have a theory (it could be bunnies) about next week. We’ve all assumed from the jump that Mon-El is the prince (and yes they say it in the preview too) but at the end of the episode Lois and Hercules who were running around like space nuns did take on new bodies, so what’s to say Mon-El didn’t just take on this body to look like the prince.
Why do you think that they took on new bodies?
They said it. She was like “I feel different” as he was examining his hands like it was a new body he was in. Like once they enter Earths atmosphere they take “human” form. Then again maybe I’m overthinking it.
I think that was just in reference to how Earth’s yellow sun makes them stronger, like Mon-El.
that makes more sense. this is why I shouldn’t think up comments at 2am (as I write this at 4am).
This is a great and witty recap, and I really enjoyed the episode–it felt like the show managed for the first time in a while to balance its many characters and relationships (the 3 romances & Alex & her two father-figures and Kara’s relationships with Snapper & Lena) and subplots while focusing on a really strong political metaphor that works with the show’s themes. And of course giving Chyler Leigh more to carry the plot worked fabulously, as did the intense dramatic sister-bonding.
That said, there are some very disturbing things in this show.
–It’s way too telling that when they need to drive home how horrifying it is to be forcibly harassed and kidnapped by the authorities, they use a black cop as the bad guy and a white family as the innocent victims.
–Alex wailing on the prisoner and torturing him for information was so horrifying, and it’s even more horrifying that that scene is all about her emotional pain and angst and not about the trauma of the victim. It says something horrific about our society that we let media images like that slide, never mind celebrate them.
–Also, I love the Alex/Maggie relationship and the Winn/Lyra relationship and as for Kara/Mon-El…well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. But watching this show it’s hard not to feel like they are blaring out “NO LOVE FOR BLACK CHARACTERS!” James gets to be the 3rd wheel on a date, J’onn gets to lose his lady-love, and M’gann gets written off the show entirely.
–The only Asian character on the show is evil? Really?
I also felt that both J’onn testing Alex and Snapper firing Kara were more morally complicated topics that could be more fully explored, but I do think that was deliberate. Alex really should have been suspended for abusing a prisoner, and reprimanded further for going off on a crazy one-woman mission that in practical terms would have destroyed the DEO’s ability to shut down Cadmus in an effective way (how many of the mooks running around Cadmus HQ got away, when the DEO could have arrested them all if Alex had gone in with a full team)? But I enjoyed the episode too much to worry about those problems.
I really did enjoy the episode, I just need to acknowledge the problems to celebrate the good in good conscience!
“And then nothing happens at Kara’s apartment at all.”
LOL. Am i wrong because i’m happy you didn’t write anything about Mon-el? And your captions are the best!
Where Alex was running towards the starship with all chaos going on was the EXACT moment I fell in [the TV show fangirl version of] love with Alex Danvers.