"The House of L"
Although I've been enjoying this season of Supergirl for the most part (give or take a few weaker episodes), there was a constant nagging thought drilling its way in the back of my head since the premiere. "What's with the Russian Supergirl clone and why does it feel like a brushed under the rug subplot?" After nearly every episode's end credits mark, I kept revisiting this same thought until this week's episode finally came in, shut me up completely, and took me by surprise. It's rare that I ever get to utter these following words about the show, but you can be damn sure that it makes me deeply happy whenever I do, "Supergirl was freaking awesome this week!". Here's a brief rundown of some of the highlights that makes this particular entry one of the strongest of the season despite its bizarrely late "a little too late" release.
Surprise Opening Logo
Supergirl opens up with an awesome opening title logo transition getting viewers set and ready for its refreshing new character spotlight. This idea is something that I'm actually used to seeing on other comic book TV shows like Gotham and even Legends of Tomorrow, but I'm not so sure if Supergirl has ever actually utilized this trope before. Either way, I really enjoyed it and would like to see the show toss in some more surprising creative tidbits like this every now and then.
Some of the Series' Best Storytelling
The flashback storytelling utilized here is absolutely fantastic showing glimpses of Lex Luthor’s trial and prison life while also gifting us with what I personally believed to be a strongly developed introduction to the Red Daughter character. Watching how Lex cunningly implemented himself into the Russian Supergirl clone’s upbringing as a father figure of sorts was such an engaging narrative to see play out. I also really enjoyed the way in which the writers nicely fitted Lex and the Red Daughter arc into various corners within Season 4 (the Kryptonite bomb, Kara's time in Smallville during the Elseworlds crossover, Lena's earlier Black Kryptonite experimentations, etc.). It sort of reminded me of the masterful way in which they crafted a similar narrative structure for the Agent Liberty origin story episode. I have to give credit where credit is due and Supergirl very much deserves some praise for its mostly captivating storytelling here.
A Praiseworthy Lex Luthor Adaptation
Jon Cryer absolutely nails it as Lex Luthor perfectly showcasing the character’s manipulative, charismatic, crafty, and narcissistic traits that are well known from the source material. If I may be so bold, with all of the different live action iterations of Lex that I've seen, Cryer may actually be my favorite of the bunch considering that he closely reminds me of the Justice League animated version that I grew up on and loved while still having his own little unique flare given by Cryer himself. With Cryer as Lex on the show, that now makes two characters that Supergirl has successfully adapted into live action including David Harewood's Martian Manhunter. Not many shows can say this, so again, I have to give major props to the show.
The Red Daughter: Worth The Long Wait?
Melissa Benoist does a pretty solid job as the Red Daughter clone making the character both sound and feel legitimately new and unique from Kara/Supergirl. She genuinely feels like a child that has just been brought into the world struggling to find her place while learning about said world through a specially designed prism. For me personally, the highlight of her character in this episode was the moment to where she saves that random child miles away in a far off cabin out of share instinct without ever acting proudly heroic about it. There's just something interesting about that particular scene that really highlighted just how different yet familiar this "Supergirl" was. The way in which she nestled this child in an instinctual animalistic sense when Lex and his men showed up was such an intriguing character moment.
Pair this with her evolution as someone swiftly learning everything from language, a limited outlook of the world, a manipulated and sabotaged look at both Supergirl and America, and her Kryptonian background and powers makes the Red Daughter a character worth getting excited for. Also, I loved the concept of the clone being mentally fixed on Alex's name (perhaps some semblance of Kara's memories being seeded somewhere in there) which Lex himself exploits in the beginning with his own name. It would appear that the Supergirl writers actually handled the idea of using the coincidence of a character's name to push another character in certain direction a lot better than Batman V Superman. Yes, I know the Martha joke is old news now, but this is a rare episode where a lot of praise is being given from me, so I'm throwing it all out there.
Overall Thoughts
Despite a terrible CGI'd opening scene with Lex lifting up the Daily Planet symbol or a randomly placed scene with Otis speaking to a child that led to nothing, this was one of the strongest episodes of the series yet. Supergirl has done an incredible job with its storytelling here finally placing a much anticipated spotlight on a sidelined plot thread successfully delivering all the hype inducing essentials. Jon Cryer more than earns his place as a new Lex Luthor truly bringing the character to life in a more than satisfying fashion as Melissa Benoist shows promise in this new and intriguing role for the series. Consider me legitimately excited for what's to come in the remaining episodes of the season.
Episode Rating: 9/10
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