OK, this is going to be more of a rant than a recap, so you have been warned.
For the most part, Supergirl hits its mark when trying to display progressive politics. It’s very clear that the writers and producers are not going to be wearing #MAGA hats when off screen as evidenced by the many themes that show up on the show. Of course, Supergirl is already a feminist icon, and has been brought to life well on the small screen within the Arrowverse. Alex, Kara’s adoptive sister Alex discovering her sexuality and coming out as a lesbian has been responsible for some very interesting narratives as well as setting a great tone for her character. Changing comic book redhead with freckles “Jimmy” Olsen to “James” Olsen: a smooth baritone voiced tall and muscular black man is another step in the right direction. As a progressive person myself, this show (flaws and all) is a welcome addition to the Arrowverse.
But this week’s episode absolutely missed its mark completely!
This week hot topic issues that would be addressed on the show was gun violence and gun control, and it completely came out of left field. It feels as though the Parkland shooting happened as the writers were thinking about what to do, they sat and watched CNN with horror like the rest of us did, and then they decided to scrap whatever they were writing and do a “very important episode” centering on gun violence that really felt like an after-school special rather than a superhero TV show. Arrow tried to do the same thing last season, and although they stumbled with their gun episode too, Supergirl really fell on their swords for this one.
I mean, come on! The World Killer is much more of a threat in this world, yet she only gets like 10 minutes of screen time! The episode begins with the aftermath of last week as Reign managed to break free from Lena Luthor’s containment cell just as Kara and Mon-El arrive from the asteroid with the substance that could defeat her. Lena takes the substance and starts making a remedy to stop her scientifically while Kara and Mon-El fight her. They keep her distracted long enough for an injection to be made which kills the World Killer side, so that only Samantha remains.
Then the show falls downhill from there.
Kara decides to head back to the asteroid and be with her real mother. After a tearful goodbye to everyone at the DEO, and leaving her sister Alex, Kara and Mon-El leave earth. James is to pick up the slack as National City’s hero and keep the streets safe as Guardian. He goes to stop who appears to be a bank robber, and saves a police officer at the last minute, but the suspect is using a high powered military grade assault weapon that is made exclusively for the DEO. From there forward, the show hits all beats related to the gun control debate. James and Lena have a ridiculously brief debate about the right to bear arms. She’s for guns, he’s not. They agree to disagree and resolve their difference over a pizza date dinner. James and J’onn go to the gun manufacturer to see if something was stolen, only to find out the CEO sells the same style gun to regular customers under the guise of “hunting.” It’s sloppy and lazy for the most part. While they catch the culprit, who it turns out was fired from his job for mental health issues and wanted to make his former employers pay, he gets talked down by James and J’onn by telling him that he doesn’t need the gun to feel powerful. Then to even ante up the cringeworthily ridiculousness, J’onn decides that the DEO, a top secret military organization dedicated to protecting National City and the earth from alien threats, will no longer be using guns and only protect themselves with non-lethal weapons. You can’t make this stuff up!
On the Supergirl side of things, it was “OK.’ While she is happy to finally be with her people, she sees something is wrong and as it turns out, there are some Kryptonians who are on the World Killer side of the argument. At first, so none believes her, but then they spring into action and steal her ship back to earth in the hopes of reviving Reign.
Next week, the rogue Kryptonians try to takes Samantha as they want Reign back.
