Martin Carr reviews the fifth episode of Supergirl season 3…
Morgan Edge is a nasty piece of work. Portrayed as a cutthroat industrialist with business savvy and media moxy, this sharp suited villain is giving Supergirl some gumption. Channelling malevolence through a polished people friendly facade we see a face-off with shared history, supreme confidence and untapped levels of destructive business acumen. It links into the climax of season two and uses that to undermine Lena through a completely manufactured scenario.
What we get for our forty minutes is self-doubt, regret, near disaster and sick children. Peppered in amongst this heady mix is a relationship slowly being taken apart from inside. Maggie and Alex have come to an impasse which is non-negotiable and most definitely a deal breaker. Lima and Leigh play it straight aiming for emotional honesty rather than fake tears and mood lighting. These scenes are given the right amount of reverence, necessary emotional heft and kept real without drifting into cliché. What is happening there mirrors the disintegration of Lena in the eyes of a disapproving world, who tar her with Luthor levels of disapproval. Assassination attempts not only bring home the National City malcontent but also harbour an interesting by-product for CFO Sam.
Elsewhere the attraction between James and Lena is becoming more obvious but still played for subtlety. It will doubtless lead into another storyline further on but for the moment at least it merely gives Brooks something to do. Benoist meanwhile binds things together with a naturalistic performance in between saccharine soaked moments of bonding and incidental music which are thankfully few and far between. More importantly we get more of a continuation rather than self-contained episode, in which characters are allowed a degree of continuity without moving things along very far. Packed with decent dramatic moments, logical set pieces and a stand-off which makes you want to cheer for the bad guy, Supergirl has once again struck an ideal balance between short-term thrills and deeper emotional moments.
As for Sam and her subtle transformation we get slight hints, knowing nods and under the radar reaction shots when she is alone. It seems important to establish an almost unbreakable bond between herself, Kara and Lena just so it can be torn down later. Only in the seconds prior to her complete role reversal will the pay-off come in spades. Irreversibly changed, formidable yet flawed and more than a match for Kara, it will be interesting to see the Reign comes down.
