Martin Carr reviews the sixth episode of Supergirl season 2…
There is some multifaceted meaning flying around in Supergirl this week. Alien parasites which bring to mind Carpenter’s classic horror team up with Kurt Russell, as well as a little Matrix homage and global warming pedestal preaching. Throw in a lot of coming out heart to heart conversations and the need for reliance on others and Supergirl remains more than the sum of its parts.
Written by Greg Berlanti and engaging in a thematic avenue he is adept at exploring, we get an invader which is more Invasion of The Body Snatchers than that rampaging thing which shows up near the end of Ed Norton’s Hulk interpretation. Spouting dialogue about protecting the planet, stopping people from making matters worse and then cracking some heads.
Kara and Mike still have a combative relationship while Winn and James Olsen remain at loggerheads until all other options have run out. Alex and her revelation towards the end of episode five continues with subtlety. Leigh handling the plot and emotional beats with believability and Berlanti never stepping over the line into cliché. Kara’s reaction is tinged with understated emotional honesty and it is just another element slotted in alongside others of equal importance.
For me the training sessions between Mike and Kara were a reminder of how good the original Matrix really was, while their homage to The Thing hit an equal amount of nerves in terms of nostalgia. What is becoming obvious however is how important CADMUS may potentially be in terms of setting up a big bad capable of representing a real threat to the DEO and Kara. Similar in certain ways to the ‘Organisation’ which is currently creating problems for Gothamites, CADMUS lacks substance but seems adept at kidnapping key players. And for the moment is little more than a distraction. Other than that my only criticism is the lack of loose ends allowed in Supergirl right now.
I understand that writing for television requires a concise approach and skilled story telling which is never lacking. However having tangents which are not neatly tied off are sometimes beneficial and ultimately intriguing. Examples from Gotham include the disappearance and immergence of Fish Mooney from obscurity, as well as the appearance and departure of the Penguin’s father. I appreciate Gotham is somewhat darker tonally but what brings the subconscious depth is the sense that this world lacks boundaries. Whereas Supergirl does seem finite irrespective of whether Barry Allen turns up through a time rip or not. There are so many things to recommend this programme but story line ambiguity is not amongst them. Entertaining, thought provoking and definitely high end production are in attendance but breadth is lacking. However with the multiple DC cross over episode coming soon that is all sure to change.
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Originally published November 17, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
