Director Kevin Smith delivered in giving us an immensely fun episode of Supergirl this week.
Since we last saw Kara on her adventures with Barry and the other heroes on Earth 1, it would seem that her life has been a bit less exciting. After stopping some jewel thieves, she is upset about Guardian stepping in on her rescue. Alex is able to sense that something else is up due to the “Kara crinkle” on her forehead. Kara admits that she feels a bit like she’s stuck in a rut, spending more time saving jewels than saving people. Of course, this all changes when she hears about a missing girl, Izzy Williams. In true Supergirl fashion, she becomes determined to find the girl and return her to her mother. Against Snapper’s wishes, Kara decides to investigate the story. She starts by talking to Maggie, who gives her what little information the NCPD has about the case. It’s a bit bizarre to see them alone together without Alex, but it was actually nice to see Maggie have a role outside of being Alex’s love interest. It’s a short scene, but I suspect that this is just the first of many times we will see Kara seek out Maggie’s help with investigating stories.
Mon El also decides that he wants to assist Kara on this mission, accompanying her to the place where faux doctors have been taking people’s blood, and discovering a portal to another planet, Maldoria, also known as Slaver’s Moon. Something tells me Kara sees Mon El as more of a hindrance to her mission than a help, but she allows him to tag along anyway. They end up traveling through the portal, landing on a red sun planet. Of course, Kara would manage to end up trying to rescue someone from a planet where she has no powers. Being the hero that she is though, if Izzy Williams is on that planet, Kara is going to find her no matter what the circumstances are, and bring her back home. Things get a bit tricky when they realize that the planet is home to an alien slave trade ring, run by none other than Roulette, who has been bored since her fight club got shut down. Against all odds, Kara goes into the fray anyway, and Mon El follows despite his reservations about going to the “murder castle.” He may think she’s crazy for looking for trouble, but he’s not going to let her go it alone. This episode is very similar to last season’s Human For A Day, in the respect that it essentially proves the point that Kara does not need super powers to be a hero. Her words and actions are inspiration enough to make people want to fight for themselves and be their own heroes. We see this played out in full when Kara gets Izzy and the other prisoners to fight back against their captors by putting herself in the line of fire and refusing to back down, despite being in physical pain.
Since we last saw Kara on her adventures with Barry and the other heroes on Earth 1, it would seem that her life has been a bit less exciting. After stopping some jewel thieves, she is upset about Guardian stepping in on her rescue. Alex is able to sense that something else is up due to the “Kara crinkle” on her forehead. Kara admits that she feels a bit like she’s stuck in a rut, spending more time saving jewels than saving people. Of course, this all changes when she hears about a missing girl, Izzy Williams. In true Supergirl fashion, she becomes determined to find the girl and return her to her mother. Against Snapper’s wishes, Kara decides to investigate the story. She starts by talking to Maggie, who gives her what little information the NCPD has about the case. It’s a bit bizarre to see them alone together without Alex, but it was actually nice to see Maggie have a role outside of being Alex’s love interest. It’s a short scene, but I suspect that this is just the first of many times we will see Kara seek out Maggie’s help with investigating stories.
Mon El also decides that he wants to assist Kara on this mission, accompanying her to the place where faux doctors have been taking people’s blood, and discovering a portal to another planet, Maldoria, also known as Slaver’s Moon. Something tells me Kara sees Mon El as more of a hindrance to her mission than a help, but she allows him to tag along anyway. They end up traveling through the portal, landing on a red sun planet. Of course, Kara would manage to end up trying to rescue someone from a planet where she has no powers. Being the hero that she is though, if Izzy Williams is on that planet, Kara is going to find her no matter what the circumstances are, and bring her back home. Things get a bit tricky when they realize that the planet is home to an alien slave trade ring, run by none other than Roulette, who has been bored since her fight club got shut down. Against all odds, Kara goes into the fray anyway, and Mon El follows despite his reservations about going to the “murder castle.” He may think she’s crazy for looking for trouble, but he’s not going to let her go it alone. This episode is very similar to last season’s Human For A Day, in the respect that it essentially proves the point that Kara does not need super powers to be a hero. Her words and actions are inspiration enough to make people want to fight for themselves and be their own heroes. We see this played out in full when Kara gets Izzy and the other prisoners to fight back against their captors by putting herself in the line of fire and refusing to back down, despite being in physical pain.
With Kara off world, a worried Alex takes on a mission to bring her sister back home. Once she makes it to Slaver’s Moon, we get some badass fight scenes between her and the alien guards, one of which results in her acquiring a pretty awesome laser gun. “Oh. I got dibs.” That might be my favorite Alex line ever. We also get the sweet sister reunion when Alex finds her sister and the other prisoners. “You found us?” “Always.” J’onn, unable to accompany them on the mission, sends along a yellow sun grenade, which Alex uses to give Kara her powers on the red sun planet. That was actually really awesome. I enjoy the pure comic book-y-ness of that moment.
“Agent Schott, he protects the stars.” To actually get over to Slaver’s Moon, Alex has to enlist the help of Winn. Unfortunately, Winn isn’t all too excited about the prospect of going out in the field, seeing as how when he tried to assist Guardian with the Jewel thieves, he landed himself with a black eye and a gun to his face. Needless to say, the poor guy is a bit traumatized by this. Alex goes big sister on him again, giving him a pep talk about not running away from things that seem hard or scary…at which point everyone was thinking “listen to your own advice” in regards to her abrupt dismissal of Maggie (more on that later). Alex and Winn’s relationship continues to be a highlight of this season, and I thought it was great to see her take the time to understand why Winn was hesitant, and to give him the confidence boost he needed to willingly come and help them save Kara. Winn does find that he is capable of holding his own when necessity arises after an alien ends up catching him in almost the exact same position that he was in at the beginning of the episode. How convenient. Only this time he has a rock to defend himself. From a storytelling perspective, I understand the mirroring of the two scenes, but I do have to say that it was a bit obvious. Regardless, Winn saves himself and gets everyone back to Earth. Including Joe the alien, who refers to humans as carbon-forms. Joe was a fun character. I hope that we see more of him. I have actually immensely enjoyed Winn’s role in the show as of late. I was under the impression that the Guardian story was supposed to be about James, but Winn is actually getting some great character development out of it. It’s not doing James any favors. He continues to appear selfish and dismissive of his friends. Like when he shows no empathy towards Winn after he gets injured, expecting him to immediately jump back in the action.
By saving Izzy, Kara successfully gets a story to deliver to Snapper, proving to him that her instincts were right. While Snapper is still the tough boss figure, he continues to grow on me. They have toned down more of his edges with each passing episode, making his gruffness more of a charming character quirk than a negative personality trait. In a way, they’re doing something similar to what they did with Cat last season. While Snapper doesn’t initially agree with Kara’s pursuit of the missing girl story, I think it’s because he honestly believes there’s nothing there. Snapper does actually want Kara to succeed as a reporter. Even though he won’t openly admit it, he’s starting to feel some pride in her tenacity and determination to find and write stories that matter, and that she’s passionate about. “Atta girl, Danvers.” His gruffness, rather than deterring Kara, has pushed her to be assertive and confident in her new job and what she wants to get out of it. I also immensely enjoy the bit of Snapper’s annoyance at Kara and James disturbing him before he’d had a chance to drink his morning coffee and eat his danish. “What’s more important than a mother finding her daughter?” “My coffee, my Danish and the 5 minutes of peace and quiet that you stole from me.”
“It’s called being happy, Danvers. Get used to it.” Happiness is a new look on Alex, and it suits her. I continue to be thrilled with what we are getting with the story of Maggie and Alex’s relationship. Their first scene together was straight out of fan fiction fluff, in the best way possible. Maggie stays over, and the next morning, Alex finds her wearing one of her shirts, and making coffee, and adorableness ensues. Seeing the way that Alex soaks up every little thing about the moment, not wanting to let it end, is so sweet. She deserves this, and as a viewer who has been heavily invested in Alex since the very first episode, I’m grateful that they brought Maggie into Alex’s life. New love is beautiful. Here’s to hoping that someday I’ll know how they feel. Equally as adorable as Sanvers themselves is Kara’s reaction to this new relationship. She is so happy for Alex, and takes great pleasure in the fact that Alex has now become almost as giddy and puppy-like as she is. “You look like you got shot with a love ray.” I had to laugh when Alex tells Kara that Maggie slept over, and she goes “Do you think anyone can tell?” Um, yes, Alex. Anyone with eyes can tell that something is different with you. You’re lit up like a Christmas tree.
Unfortunately, when Kara goes missing, stuff hits the fan, and Alex goes a bit crazy. It is totally within her character to feel guilty, toss her own happiness aside and break up with Maggie. Seriously though, the girl has got to learn to cut herself some slack. I get that Alex is Kara’s ultimate protector, and that she’d sacrifice herself in a heartbeat to keep her little sister safe, but this kind of sacrifice is self-destructive. Not to mention the fact that this self-destructive behavior doesn’t just affect her anymore. Maggie is getting caught in the line of fire as well, which is not fair to her. You also know that Kara would be a solid mix of angry and heartbroken if she believed that Alex threw away her own happiness because of her. It’s a good thing Alex manages to resolve the situation on her own, as otherwise she’d probably be looking at swift kick in the butt from Kara for almost ruining her relationship with Maggie. From a story perspective I do think that the break up drama was a bit forced and unnecessary. The timing of it was rushed and something about the way it played out just didn’t sit right with me. I do, however, see what they were going for, so I can kind of forgive the structural weirdness.
“I want to be happy. With you.” Even though I wasn’t super thrilled with the events leading up to the final Sanvers scene, I do think the scene itself was fantastic. Part of portraying a healthy relationship is showing moments of dealing with conflict through honest communication. Alex opening up to Maggie about her issues in an attempt to explain why she reacted the way she did was a positive step in the right direction. The acknowledgement that she made a mistake and that she needs to work on allowing herself to be happy, as well as her ability to talk about her feelings instead of drowning them in alcohol, was a great moment for Alex. That said, Maggie has every right to be upset and wary of continuing this new relationship after what happened, and her warning that she’s only giving Alex this one freak out is well warranted. It’s not fair to her to be yanked from one emotional extreme to the other constantly. I think it’s pretty clear that Maggie cares about Alex a great deal, which is why she keeps sticking around, but ultimately, Maggie has her own heart to protect too.
“Because Supergirl is your sister.” The other important thing that comes out of this scene is the fact that Maggie knows that Kara is Supergirl. The detective deduced the heroine’s true identity, meaning that Alex no longer has to keep the secret from her girlfriend. I like the way this unfolded for a few reasons. Firstly, keeping Maggie in the dark about Kara’s identity for any length of time would have been tedious, and would have almost guaranteed unnecessary drama between her and Alex. Also, by having Maggie figure out the secret on her own, Alex is prevented from having to betray her sister’s confidence (though I have a feeling that Kara would have happily granted Alex permission to share that information) and Maggie’s skills as an NCPD detective are validated, making her look like the intelligent woman that she is. What makes me the happiest about the way that Maggie finds out is that her reasons have almost nothing to do with Kara herself. Maggie is able to figure out Supergirl’s identity almost strictly from her observations of Alex. This just goes to show how much attention Maggie has been paying to Alex, and how well she already knows her despite the fact that they haven’t actually known one another all that long. It’s a great character moment that emphasizes how much Maggie cares about Alex. As much as Alex is loved by her family, given the circumstances surrounding Kara coming into her life, I don’t think Alex is really used to having anyone place that kind of focus on her. There is seriously so much to love about this relationship. I cannot get enough of it. Sanvers owns my heart.
Another cool visual observation that I made for this episode was that Alex’s apartment has, once again, quite literally become a metaphor for her emotional state. In her happy, giddy state, we see it bright and cheerful, almost as one would normally expect Kara’s apartment to look. In contrast of course is the final scene, when she finds herself in another emotionally vulnerable moment with Maggie, and the darkness has returned. The fireplace is lit in the background, as if to say that the light is still there, Alex just has to give herself permission to let that happiness come back out. We also see Alex wearing white in her final scene with Maggie, and as I pointed out in previous episodes, white, where it concerns Alex and Maggie, is a symbol of emotional confidence where their feelings and sexuality are concerned. As such, I think that Alex wearing white in this scene is representative of the idea that she is now fully confident in her feelings for girls, and specifically her feelings for Maggie. Whatever other issues Alex may have, she is sure of the fact that she likes Maggie and wants to find happiness with her.
Mon El and Kara also have some cute scenes together. From their chat at the bar about Kara feeling “betwixt and between,” to their adventures on the red sun planet, to their discussion about Mon El wanting to become a hero, there is always a charm present with their interactions. This is especially clear in their last scene, which also made it pretty obvious that Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood have insane chemistry. They made that scene feel incredibly natural and almost unscripted. The running gag of Mon El’s constantly cycling jobs continues to provide some funny moments. “I took the day off.” “It’s your second day.” “Yeah, didn’t wanna overdo it, so lunch?” His fascination with Highlight’s magazine and the comparisons between him and Goofus and Gallant were also great from the standpoint that Highlight’s is a children’s magazine and Mon El is essentially a man-child. On the more serious side of things though, Mon El’s time with Kara is actually making him want to be a better person than he was on Daxam. He wants to be a hero like her. This newfound sense of nobility has done wonders for making his character more likable. Mon El is never better than when he's sharing a scene with her, and as such, this was a good episode for him. Based on his commentary about the prince and things he did not like about him, I think they’ve pretty well implied that Mon El was/is that Prince of Daxam. Evidence to support that theory also comes when we see the aliens on Slaver’s Moon spare him from harm as the prisoners try to escape. It’s worth noting that one of the aliens was a Dominator, which was the alien species responsible for the events of the 4-show crossover in December. It was interesting though that they didn’t even make a single reference to the fact that Kara left the universe to go help Barry. The only hint is just Kara saying “I hate those guys” which doesn’t say much considering she deals with bad aliens all the time. Regardless, Mon El’s interactions with these aliens, and his importance to the aliens searching for him, will likely be a source of complication for his relationship with Kara. For now though, he’s ready to take on the mantle of superhero, promising to listen to Kara as she guides him on this new journey.
Supergirl Lives was a genuinely enjoyable episode. I think it flowed better than some of the recent episodes have. It didn’t feel like there were unnecessary subplots. All the parts fit together into one cohesive central story. There were plenty of fun comic book moments, beautiful Sanvers scenes, and Karamel was charming throughout. While Roulette’s role in the episode was minimal it was nice to have that carried continuity, and we’re also starting to see new and interesting interactions between characters, like Kara and Maggie. The CW is doing an awesome job with Supergirl this season. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
“Agent Schott, he protects the stars.” To actually get over to Slaver’s Moon, Alex has to enlist the help of Winn. Unfortunately, Winn isn’t all too excited about the prospect of going out in the field, seeing as how when he tried to assist Guardian with the Jewel thieves, he landed himself with a black eye and a gun to his face. Needless to say, the poor guy is a bit traumatized by this. Alex goes big sister on him again, giving him a pep talk about not running away from things that seem hard or scary…at which point everyone was thinking “listen to your own advice” in regards to her abrupt dismissal of Maggie (more on that later). Alex and Winn’s relationship continues to be a highlight of this season, and I thought it was great to see her take the time to understand why Winn was hesitant, and to give him the confidence boost he needed to willingly come and help them save Kara. Winn does find that he is capable of holding his own when necessity arises after an alien ends up catching him in almost the exact same position that he was in at the beginning of the episode. How convenient. Only this time he has a rock to defend himself. From a storytelling perspective, I understand the mirroring of the two scenes, but I do have to say that it was a bit obvious. Regardless, Winn saves himself and gets everyone back to Earth. Including Joe the alien, who refers to humans as carbon-forms. Joe was a fun character. I hope that we see more of him. I have actually immensely enjoyed Winn’s role in the show as of late. I was under the impression that the Guardian story was supposed to be about James, but Winn is actually getting some great character development out of it. It’s not doing James any favors. He continues to appear selfish and dismissive of his friends. Like when he shows no empathy towards Winn after he gets injured, expecting him to immediately jump back in the action.
By saving Izzy, Kara successfully gets a story to deliver to Snapper, proving to him that her instincts were right. While Snapper is still the tough boss figure, he continues to grow on me. They have toned down more of his edges with each passing episode, making his gruffness more of a charming character quirk than a negative personality trait. In a way, they’re doing something similar to what they did with Cat last season. While Snapper doesn’t initially agree with Kara’s pursuit of the missing girl story, I think it’s because he honestly believes there’s nothing there. Snapper does actually want Kara to succeed as a reporter. Even though he won’t openly admit it, he’s starting to feel some pride in her tenacity and determination to find and write stories that matter, and that she’s passionate about. “Atta girl, Danvers.” His gruffness, rather than deterring Kara, has pushed her to be assertive and confident in her new job and what she wants to get out of it. I also immensely enjoy the bit of Snapper’s annoyance at Kara and James disturbing him before he’d had a chance to drink his morning coffee and eat his danish. “What’s more important than a mother finding her daughter?” “My coffee, my Danish and the 5 minutes of peace and quiet that you stole from me.”
“It’s called being happy, Danvers. Get used to it.” Happiness is a new look on Alex, and it suits her. I continue to be thrilled with what we are getting with the story of Maggie and Alex’s relationship. Their first scene together was straight out of fan fiction fluff, in the best way possible. Maggie stays over, and the next morning, Alex finds her wearing one of her shirts, and making coffee, and adorableness ensues. Seeing the way that Alex soaks up every little thing about the moment, not wanting to let it end, is so sweet. She deserves this, and as a viewer who has been heavily invested in Alex since the very first episode, I’m grateful that they brought Maggie into Alex’s life. New love is beautiful. Here’s to hoping that someday I’ll know how they feel. Equally as adorable as Sanvers themselves is Kara’s reaction to this new relationship. She is so happy for Alex, and takes great pleasure in the fact that Alex has now become almost as giddy and puppy-like as she is. “You look like you got shot with a love ray.” I had to laugh when Alex tells Kara that Maggie slept over, and she goes “Do you think anyone can tell?” Um, yes, Alex. Anyone with eyes can tell that something is different with you. You’re lit up like a Christmas tree.
Unfortunately, when Kara goes missing, stuff hits the fan, and Alex goes a bit crazy. It is totally within her character to feel guilty, toss her own happiness aside and break up with Maggie. Seriously though, the girl has got to learn to cut herself some slack. I get that Alex is Kara’s ultimate protector, and that she’d sacrifice herself in a heartbeat to keep her little sister safe, but this kind of sacrifice is self-destructive. Not to mention the fact that this self-destructive behavior doesn’t just affect her anymore. Maggie is getting caught in the line of fire as well, which is not fair to her. You also know that Kara would be a solid mix of angry and heartbroken if she believed that Alex threw away her own happiness because of her. It’s a good thing Alex manages to resolve the situation on her own, as otherwise she’d probably be looking at swift kick in the butt from Kara for almost ruining her relationship with Maggie. From a story perspective I do think that the break up drama was a bit forced and unnecessary. The timing of it was rushed and something about the way it played out just didn’t sit right with me. I do, however, see what they were going for, so I can kind of forgive the structural weirdness.
“I want to be happy. With you.” Even though I wasn’t super thrilled with the events leading up to the final Sanvers scene, I do think the scene itself was fantastic. Part of portraying a healthy relationship is showing moments of dealing with conflict through honest communication. Alex opening up to Maggie about her issues in an attempt to explain why she reacted the way she did was a positive step in the right direction. The acknowledgement that she made a mistake and that she needs to work on allowing herself to be happy, as well as her ability to talk about her feelings instead of drowning them in alcohol, was a great moment for Alex. That said, Maggie has every right to be upset and wary of continuing this new relationship after what happened, and her warning that she’s only giving Alex this one freak out is well warranted. It’s not fair to her to be yanked from one emotional extreme to the other constantly. I think it’s pretty clear that Maggie cares about Alex a great deal, which is why she keeps sticking around, but ultimately, Maggie has her own heart to protect too.
“Because Supergirl is your sister.” The other important thing that comes out of this scene is the fact that Maggie knows that Kara is Supergirl. The detective deduced the heroine’s true identity, meaning that Alex no longer has to keep the secret from her girlfriend. I like the way this unfolded for a few reasons. Firstly, keeping Maggie in the dark about Kara’s identity for any length of time would have been tedious, and would have almost guaranteed unnecessary drama between her and Alex. Also, by having Maggie figure out the secret on her own, Alex is prevented from having to betray her sister’s confidence (though I have a feeling that Kara would have happily granted Alex permission to share that information) and Maggie’s skills as an NCPD detective are validated, making her look like the intelligent woman that she is. What makes me the happiest about the way that Maggie finds out is that her reasons have almost nothing to do with Kara herself. Maggie is able to figure out Supergirl’s identity almost strictly from her observations of Alex. This just goes to show how much attention Maggie has been paying to Alex, and how well she already knows her despite the fact that they haven’t actually known one another all that long. It’s a great character moment that emphasizes how much Maggie cares about Alex. As much as Alex is loved by her family, given the circumstances surrounding Kara coming into her life, I don’t think Alex is really used to having anyone place that kind of focus on her. There is seriously so much to love about this relationship. I cannot get enough of it. Sanvers owns my heart.
Another cool visual observation that I made for this episode was that Alex’s apartment has, once again, quite literally become a metaphor for her emotional state. In her happy, giddy state, we see it bright and cheerful, almost as one would normally expect Kara’s apartment to look. In contrast of course is the final scene, when she finds herself in another emotionally vulnerable moment with Maggie, and the darkness has returned. The fireplace is lit in the background, as if to say that the light is still there, Alex just has to give herself permission to let that happiness come back out. We also see Alex wearing white in her final scene with Maggie, and as I pointed out in previous episodes, white, where it concerns Alex and Maggie, is a symbol of emotional confidence where their feelings and sexuality are concerned. As such, I think that Alex wearing white in this scene is representative of the idea that she is now fully confident in her feelings for girls, and specifically her feelings for Maggie. Whatever other issues Alex may have, she is sure of the fact that she likes Maggie and wants to find happiness with her.
Mon El and Kara also have some cute scenes together. From their chat at the bar about Kara feeling “betwixt and between,” to their adventures on the red sun planet, to their discussion about Mon El wanting to become a hero, there is always a charm present with their interactions. This is especially clear in their last scene, which also made it pretty obvious that Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood have insane chemistry. They made that scene feel incredibly natural and almost unscripted. The running gag of Mon El’s constantly cycling jobs continues to provide some funny moments. “I took the day off.” “It’s your second day.” “Yeah, didn’t wanna overdo it, so lunch?” His fascination with Highlight’s magazine and the comparisons between him and Goofus and Gallant were also great from the standpoint that Highlight’s is a children’s magazine and Mon El is essentially a man-child. On the more serious side of things though, Mon El’s time with Kara is actually making him want to be a better person than he was on Daxam. He wants to be a hero like her. This newfound sense of nobility has done wonders for making his character more likable. Mon El is never better than when he's sharing a scene with her, and as such, this was a good episode for him. Based on his commentary about the prince and things he did not like about him, I think they’ve pretty well implied that Mon El was/is that Prince of Daxam. Evidence to support that theory also comes when we see the aliens on Slaver’s Moon spare him from harm as the prisoners try to escape. It’s worth noting that one of the aliens was a Dominator, which was the alien species responsible for the events of the 4-show crossover in December. It was interesting though that they didn’t even make a single reference to the fact that Kara left the universe to go help Barry. The only hint is just Kara saying “I hate those guys” which doesn’t say much considering she deals with bad aliens all the time. Regardless, Mon El’s interactions with these aliens, and his importance to the aliens searching for him, will likely be a source of complication for his relationship with Kara. For now though, he’s ready to take on the mantle of superhero, promising to listen to Kara as she guides him on this new journey.
Supergirl Lives was a genuinely enjoyable episode. I think it flowed better than some of the recent episodes have. It didn’t feel like there were unnecessary subplots. All the parts fit together into one cohesive central story. There were plenty of fun comic book moments, beautiful Sanvers scenes, and Karamel was charming throughout. While Roulette’s role in the episode was minimal it was nice to have that carried continuity, and we’re also starting to see new and interesting interactions between characters, like Kara and Maggie. The CW is doing an awesome job with Supergirl this season. I can’t wait to see what comes next.