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Supergirl: The Darkest Places

“What's the word for a male floozy?”

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I don’t read comics and there were a lot of comic references this week so please let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything or gotten anything wrong!

Yet again, my biggest complaint about the episode was pacing. They threw everything and the kitchen sink into this episode. Kara at Cadmus should have been front and center with Maggie and Alex’s relationship (or lack thereof) as a B-story. Guardian’s problems should not have even been in the episode. It was well done but it was just filler it didn’t really add anything to any character involved. Calm it down, Supergirl writers. Step away from the caffeine.

My other big complaint about the episode and the show’s direction: DO NOT HOOK KARA UP WITH MON-EL. DO NOT. You broke her up with James (I still don’t get why) don’t attach her to a guy who is clearly very wrong for her. I don’t dislike him as a character, but as a potential romantic interest for Kara it’s a total mismatch. He and Kara have different values. They just do. Mon-El had to be cajoled into heroism whereas James, sans superpowers, is putting himself at risk nightly. Mon-El seems like a nice guy but in kind of a frat boy way? The first thing he did when let out of the DEO was go binge drinking with Winn and get into a bar fight. He hooked up with Miss Teschmacher after knowing her for less than a day and Kara describes him here as a “floozy.” Again, no offense intended to Mon-El or his fans, but this isn’t a relationship that seems like it could possibly work. Unless they’re planning them to be a terrible couple only to have Kara realize it was obviously James she was intended to be with all along.

And I say this as someone who doesn’t ship James and Kara together. I just…breaking them up annoyed me. The only reason I could think of doing it was to keep Kara single and not tied down which…Is this an Oliver and Felicity thing? Like they’re the endgame couple but they don’t want to get there too fast so they break them up unnecessarily? A lot of people I’ve seen on social media seem to be attributing their breakup to the CW not wanting sweet blonde Supergirl in a relationship with a black man. I’m not saying I think that, but it has raised questions for me.

Okay that’s enough negativity for now. Onto Kara’s adventure at Cadmus, which I really loved. Cadmus somehow (?) contacted Kara to bait her into a trap. I’m not really clear on how they projected their message into her mind. Did I miss something in a previous episode? It doesn’t matter. They did and she showed up at Cadmus only to run smack into Hank Henshaw. I probably should’ve guessed Hank Henshaw would come back (see Billie’s Rule of Television #10) but it did take me by surprise. The first time Mon-El saw him I was totally “How did they get J’onn!?” It has to be great for David Harewood too. I mean getting to play the Giles of a group is nice but getting to play a psycho killer cyborg has to be fun too.

This is what I could find on what Hank called himself, “Cyborg Superman.” If you’re totally spoiler-phobic I would be careful because you never know where they’re going to take things. Anyway, I can see where the “Cyborg” part of the name comes from but the original Cyborg Superman had…how do I put this without spoilers…a biological connection to Superman? Does that make sense? Anyway, that part of Cyborg Superman has yet to be realized and thus far he’s only a cyborg which bothered me a little. Why call yourself “Cyborg Superman” if you’re just a cyborg?

Cadmus’s reason for wanting Kara was that they needed blood from her to access the Fortress of Solitude and try to obtain information about something called “Medusa.” After some googling, I found that the only Medusa in the DC-verse is the Medusa of Greek mythology. I don’t think Supergirl is going there. I’m guessing Medusa is a code name for something sinister.

Also: JEREMIAH DANVERS! I don’t have a lot to say about his reappearance but it was important so I felt like I should mention it. I was actually really happy to see him again because I was half worried he’d been forgotten. The end of season one was all “Let’s save Jeremiah!” and then…they haven’t done that yet. But he’s still around and, surprisingly, still himself and not brainwashed or amnesiac or anything else dramatic. So that’s good.

Finally, Maggie and Alex. (I told you there was a lot in this episode. And I haven’t even discussed Guardian’s doppelgänger or what’s going on with J’onn!). I really like how they’re writing this. Maggie isn’t the bad guy for rejecting Alex and Alex isn’t the bad guy for ignoring Maggie. Both characters’ points of view are being treated respectfully while all the time they’re making clear that they care about each other A LOT. So mature.

Bits and Points

What was Mon-El going to tell Kara about Daxam?

More DCEU references: the cages Kara and Mon-El were kept in were Thanagarian, and Batman may have been mentioned (see quotes).

Quotes

Kara: “My cousin worked with a vigilante once. Tons of gadgets, lots of demons.”

Mon-El: “What’s your favorite baseball team? That’s the one with the hoop and the tall guys bouncing the balls, right?”

Alex: “I know six different very painful ways to get you to tell me who Guardian is, using my index finger.”

Mon-El: “Any courage I do have I learned from you.”

three and a half out of four comic book references

sunbunny

5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this episode but like you said, sunbunny, they're trying to do too much. I like Mehcad Brooks a lot, but this Guardian thing isn't working for me at all. And honestly, I never thought James had a lot of chemistry with Kara. I do think she has some with Mon-El, whom I find adorable. But you (on the third hand, I'm moving around a lot here) absolutely have a point about the Olicity vibe, as if they're moving James and Kara apart because the show is going to run for awhile.

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  2. I wasn't wild about Jimmy/Kara so breaking them up was okay, although abrupt. She does have chemistry with Mon El, but I don't think they will actually work. My unspoiled guess is that Mon El is actually the Prince of Daxam, who did not nobly stay behind to die with his people, but who booked. If they want to make him worthy of Kara, his bodyguard will have thrown him into the pod to keep him from sacrificing himself. If they want a big redemption arc, he will have just cut and run.

    I enjoy Winn and James working together, so the Guardian doesn't bother me.

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  3. I guess medusa is something that jumpstarts the crossover or did they remove Sueprgirl form that event? Can't wait for next week. :)

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  4. we saw an alien sending a message through a high frequency that only Kara can hear in the pilot, but i have no idea how Lillian Luthor was able to hear her.

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  5. James and Kara had ZERO romantic chemistry..Also having things in common or being the same does not necessarily equal a good relationship..Especially on TV..When the characters are the same and have the same compass you get Steroline.
    Also the reason for Mon-el's behaviour is likely that he was about to tell Kara he is the Prince of Daxam.
    Arrows Mistake was shelving and then killing the actual endgame which was Laurel...Admittedly Oliver and Felicity had more chemistry but the showrunners caved to the children on twitter/tumblr and completely made everything about Felicity when they should have been working on Laurel's character(Not to say they should not have taken advantage of the chemistry Ebr and SA have but they also decided to kill Laurel which makes Olicity endgame). There is no coincidence that Arrow began to fall hard when Olicity was being primed and when they were together,,,and coincidentally is better now than in a long time now they are apart.

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