Supergirl S2 Ep. 9 Thoughts

"Supergirl Lives"

This week's episode of Supergirl was a well directed and visually appealing return for the currently solid and altogether entertaining 2nd season. The science-fiction elements of this season were definitely at its strongest here visually speaking being that we get to see an alien slave planet lit by a red sun for the majority of the episode. The imagery of this alien planet felt like a refreshing change of pace for the show's traditional cityscape or newsroom backdrops. It also reminded audiences of the more cosmic angle of this series which rightfully makes it stand out from the several other titles in the genre.

As far as storytelling goes, I really enjoyed the direction taken in making this an episode that surrounded the presently significant character pairings on the show. We have Kara and Mon-El venturing through the slave planet on a dangerous rescue mission, Alex and Maggie's shaky relationship standing on Alex's feelings towards her history of happiness, and Winn's first near death experience in the field with James. It's a great episode set up for watching each character grow with the aid of someone else by their side expanding on themselves and their relationship simultaneously.

Seeing Kara having to struggle with the fact that her powers were completely non-existent on this planet due to the red sun was interesting. However, what's even more interesting was her relationship with Mon-El during this time being that her seemingly impossible rescue mission seemed outlandish to him. I've stated in the past how much I haven't bought into the Mon-El character's significance, and although I wouldn't consider this episode a perfect selling pitch, I did find myself genuinely invested in his position and development this time around. We get to see him finally understand the idea of being a hero through Kara's show of self sacrifice which made for a satisfying and pretty heartwarming ending between the two.

Speaking of heartwarming moments, it was nice to see Alex and Maggie officially kickstarting their relationship while also running into a major speed bump on Alex's side. This is one of the rarest romantic relationships in a comic book TV series that I'm surprisingly fine with being that the performances and situations never feel forced or cringeworthy. Did Alex's reaction to losing Kara resulting in pushing Maggie away felt abrupt? Sure. However, the ending scene showing the two patch things up completely made up for it as it shows a side to Alex that felt perfectly grounded with the character. Keep in mind that this is someone who has a terrible track record surrounding happiness, so it made sense that she'd come across as being resistant when handling the pressure that comes with it.

It's nice to see a TV series that doesn't turn their love relationships into a constant storm of depression and unnecessary break ups, but instead a logical progression of situations. In the same vein as far as character development goes, we see Winn going through a traumatizing and life altering situation after being damaged during a Guardian mission. Similiar to Mon-El's evolution after being in the field with Kara, Winn is given a moment to face his fears directly on the alien planet eventually becoming a hero in his own way. This was yet another great character arc as we see Winn fully transformed in the end realizing his role as the galaxy's Guardian as James would be exclusive to the streets of National City.

In the end, Supergirl makes a pretty decent return with a solid science-fiction and character arc spotlighted episode delivering on both the imagery and emotions altogether. I look forward to seeing what comes next as the two mysterious aliens shown previously continues to hunt the galaxy for Mon-El with Earth now on their radar. I'm curious to see just where this plot point leads to as we haven't truly been given a more than satisfying season villain this time around. If this episode is any indication, perhaps we just might get a more galactic direction with the series moving forward with its antagonists.

Bonus Content

1. The Dominators of Earth 38

In an awesome easter egg for fans of the "Heroes Vs. Aliens" crossover event, we get to see Supergirl's version of the Dominators. What's interesting here is that one of the Dominators alludes to Mon-El being valuable and actually bows to him. What does this mean? Hopefully we get to find out soon.

2. Mon-El's Mysterious Hunters

Still no word on who these mysterious hooded characters are but they seem to take a huge interest in Mon-El giving his character a lot more significance in this season. I do like their design overall making them a much anticipated new antagonist to explore.

3. Cool Science-Fiction Imagery

Alien planet settings and dimensional portals that looks like something right out of Stargate (which is referenced by Winn in the episode) makes this episode one of the more visually appealing entries of the series. 

Episode Rating: 8/10