Originally published March 28, 2017. Updated November 29, 2022.
Martin Carr reviews the seventeenth episode of Supergirl season 2…
Who would have thought we might get little flashes of Shakespeare in amongst all those comic book shenanigans this week. What ‘Distant Sun’ shows us is that these writers and show runner are up on their classics and not afraid to steal from The Bard. Mirroring Romeo and Juliet by switching out Montagues for Daxamites and Kryptonians for Capulets is slick and concealed with care inside this latest episode.
As the King and Queen were told in ‘Star Crossed’ that Mon-El was unprepared to follow them back to their home world, we open ‘Distant Sun’ with the royal barge still in orbit around Earth. Something that only begins to be relevant after Kara puts the slap down on an alien bounty hunter. Discovering shortly afterwards that there is a contract out on her life by parties unknown, leading to Kara under house arrest, attacks on the apartment and finally the apprehension of a telepath.
Following along parallel to this are the continuing trials of Alex and Maggie as we get interspersed bonding sessions between them, which revolve around trust, truth and being honest within relationships. Both actresses continue to create a believable couple on screen which does more than appeal to the target demographic and in fact broadens dramatic potential considerably. Combine that with the Kara and Mon-El dynamic which makes up a majority of this episode’s emotional meat and we have another good piece of television.
What the arrival of an alien royal family has also given us is a sense of theatre. Teri Hatcher is clearly having a ball playing against type as the evil queen, while her sense of betrayal is palpable throughout moving beyond established comic book roots into darker territory. Harewood, Jordan, Brooks, Woods, Benoist and Leigh have created a tight unit of actors over the course of these last two seasons. And such is the level of emotional honesty on display that Supergirl is able to do anything and we will follow without question. With the reappearance of Lynda Carter’s President we also get some throwback nostalgia, cunning underhanded power plays and neat set ups for a future finale.
As we move into the final leg of season two it is already clear that CADMUS, Carter and Lillian Luthor are going to be on team up duties if Kara is to have a realistic threat. If Berlanti and co had any sense they might consider splitting the final episode in two. More like a feature film than feature length episode, I believe there is the audience, villains and interest enough to warrant just such a move. Let us hope when the time comes they do just that.
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