When Alyssa asked me to write this Supergirl review I immediately said yes, because friendship, and then I said ugh because I will admit Supergirl and I have been having issues and I haven’t been exactly keeping up with it. I’ve talked about my reasons before here, so I won’t bore you with them again, but suffice it to say, I’m now on a Supergirl high considering I had to do a quick catch-up and when you watch all the episodes back-to-back the feelings are amplified.
All the feelings.
You’ve been warned.
This episode was all about Lena, so it was, of course, all about James, because this show doesn’t know how to give James a story-line without a relationship and they don’t know how to give Lena one without dangling her from the metaphorical cliff of good and evil. Does it feel like we’ve been here before?
Maybe because we have. And, considering how this ended, we’ll probably be again.
Joy of joys.
So let’s talk about the predictable (EVERYTHING), the ridiculous and the friendships in “For Good”:
YOUR NAME DOESN’T DICTATE YOUR LIFE
At this point, Supergirl needs to pick a side. There is such a thing as beating a dead horse. We get it, we do, and in a way, it’s even understandable that Lena has doubts, but she has proven TIME AND TIME AGAIN, that she’s a good person and that she won’t go dark. And yeah, I was the one saying that you don’t fight your demons just once in your life, and I still stand by that, but this is not about that – or, if it’s meant to be, then you need to do a better job of showing it, Supergirl.
I get it, the Luthor name has weight. It means something to anyone even remotely familiar with Superman lore. Since Lena was introduced, we’ve been expecting her to go bad, sort of like we waited for Lex’s descent on Smallville. Except this show doesn’t have to follow that path, no. This show can tell a different story.
And they can do so and still keep Lena’s doubts, because we all have those, we all wonder if we’re doing enough, if we’re good. But we don’t wonder if we’re meant to be good or homicidal maniac. There are a lot of things in between those two, as there should be for Lena.
There’s already a villain this season, and a villain we can relate to, at that, a villain we’d love to see redeemed. Lena doesn’t need to follow that path, and she really, really doesn’t need her villain origin story to have anything to do with her budding relationship with James. I know this is DCTV, and I might be asking for a lot, but please don’t go for the cliché, Supergirl. I’m begging you here.
LIES, LIES, LIES
This show sure loves lies. At this point I wonder if someone is actually being honest with anyone. And yet, everyone, like Sam, claims to hate lying. They all have a good reason for it – including Lena. Except there are no good reasons, not really.
And these are not little lies, either, not white, small lies. This is a cancer in DCTV and boy, is it spreading. And the worst thing about these lies is that it precludes the show from creating lasting, healthy relationships. How can I invest in anything if all relationships are built on a lie?
This episode at least ties Lena’s self-esteem issues, which are present and real, with the fact that she’s keeping secrets from her best friend, it just does a really poor job of showing cause and effect so that the lie doesn’t seem justifiable. Even if she comes clean after.
Did she really need Lilian’s words, of all people, to come to her senses? Is this really who Lena is? Maybe, if the show had delved deeper into her relationship with her mother and her doubts, this pill would be easier to swallow, but as it is, everyone is just too shallow for the lies to go down easy. And no one’s safe from this plot hole – I mean crater.
WHY DID WE NEED THIS LOVE TRIANGLE AGAIN?
Love triangles are the most ridiculous and overdone trope on TV. And yet, we keep seeing them year, after year after year. But think back for a second, to your actual life. Have you ever had a friend who’s been OMG TORN between two men? Have you ever actually come across a situation like this?
The answer is probably no, because love triangles aren’t just a thing that happens every day. I mean, sure, they can happen, but they’re not as common as TV makes them look, and even when they do happen, they’re usually not as messy.
Most of the time people just move on with their lives, find another love and that’s it. Of course, that isn’t the case here because TV and because that was never the story they were going to tell – it was always obvious Imra would be the odd man out in this story, and I could go on a whole rant about perpetuating this stupid idea or pitting women against each other or heck, even why Supergirl is the epitome of white feminism, but if I do we’ll be here forever, so I’m just going to say this:
We know that Karamel is your endgame, Supergirl. You’ve been less than subtle about this. Even when they don’t have all that time together, it’s clear to me that the show is building up Kara and Mon-El again, and that they have no interest in telling any other romance. This is it. The ship. OTP. Whatever you want to call it.
And that leads me to ask …why? What is the point of him coming back married? Is there a point? Or is it just drama for the sake of drama? Because, as I said before, I’m getting really tired of the lies – especially if they all leads to the place we know they’re gonna lead: A Karamel endgame.
Other things to note:
- Mon-El, you really shouldn’t be babbling future secrets to Wynn, of all people. He can’t keep a secret to save his life.
- Katie McGrath’s makeup is so on point I can’t stop staring at her face.
- Have I watched too much TV or was the coffee just suspicious from the start?
- I had a job up in Seattle for a while hahahahaha *bursts out crying*
- Every second with Sam and not Reign makes me wish for a redemption arc for Reign. Wait, even when Reign is the one around, I kinda want that.
- Lena, COME ON – isn’t Kara your friend? Isn’t James your …whatever? Trust them.
- “Don’t grab women, sweetheart.”
- “Keep her busy. I’ve got your back, I promise.”
- Really? James saves Lena, Kara goes to Mon-El, and all is perfectly right with this predictable world.
- The line about friends keeping her good is 100% lip service. Show, don’t tell, please Supergirl.
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8/7c on the CW.