Supergirl: Medusa
November 28, 2016 9:35 PM - Season 2, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Eliza comes to town for Thanksgiving, which seems like the perfect opportunity for Alex to come out to her mother. Meanwhile, Winn and James consider telling Kara the truth about the Guardian; and Kara wants to team up with Lena Luthor to combat a deadly virus unleashed by CADMUS. Finally, the Flash and Cisco arrive to ask Supergirl to come to their Earth to start the big 4-show crossover event.
This is one of my favorite Supergirl episodes to date. I know this was the first of the "Invasion" crossover episodes (though we really didn't see anything about it until the end when Barry and Cisco showed up), and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the crossover plays out over Flash, Arrow and Legends.
Kara and Mon-El make such a cute couple. I hope they stick together for the long term.
Lena surprised me in this episode. After giving her mother the element she needed to make the CADMUS virus work, I was afraid she was turning into a female version of Lex. But then she turns the tables on her mother by making the virus actually inert and contacting the police. It's a little surprising to see a Luthor (adopted or otherwise) using their intellect and abilities for good rather than evil.
posted by Roger Pittman at 4:00 AM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Kara and Mon-El make such a cute couple. I hope they stick together for the long term.
Lena surprised me in this episode. After giving her mother the element she needed to make the CADMUS virus work, I was afraid she was turning into a female version of Lex. But then she turns the tables on her mother by making the virus actually inert and contacting the police. It's a little surprising to see a Luthor (adopted or otherwise) using their intellect and abilities for good rather than evil.
posted by Roger Pittman at 4:00 AM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not onboard the Mon-El/Kara ship; I just can't get past how perfunctorily they dropped James/Kara. I wasn't even that into James/Kara or the various love triangles they kept attempting to create, but dropping a black love interest for a new just-as-badly-written white love interest has a real ick-factor. (As for those aliens searching for Mon-El's capsule, I guess he was actually the Daxom prince and not the bodyguard?)
Loved everything Alex & Maggie though. I think the fact that Maggie's change of heart came from being shot shows the writers are well aware of the trope. Knock on wood they'll let them be happy and give someone else the tragic love story - my money is on Mon-el.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:32 AM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Loved everything Alex & Maggie though. I think the fact that Maggie's change of heart came from being shot shows the writers are well aware of the trope. Knock on wood they'll let them be happy and give someone else the tragic love story - my money is on Mon-el.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:32 AM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I enjoyed this episode, but I found the ending a little pat and convenient. "Oh look nothing bad happened from the virus AND it solved J'onn's problem, how helpful!" I mean I get that complaining about deus ex machina endings from a superhero show is stupid, but here I am. The family stuff was handled well as usual and I am such a sucker for Martian Manhunter being stoically heroic that any episode in which he vows to die alongside his alien brothers will get like a B+ from me on the strength of that alone. Plus, no Guardian plot! Good times.
I am curious to see where the season goes from here. Cyborg Superman is still out there,* but he's an not a super compelling villain, I assume the focus is still on Cadmus, but without Mrs. Luthor? I guess a focus on finding America's Worst Celebrity Cook in the Cadmus facility, but it feels like it needs something else (beyond people looking for Mon-El about which I do not yet care in the slightest).
I do hope they don't kill Maggie. They're handling this really well, I think, and I'd hate to see them undo that good will. If they need her gone just send her to Gotham or something.
*Please stop announcing your name, Cyborg Superman. Please.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:33 AM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
I am curious to see where the season goes from here. Cyborg Superman is still out there,* but he's an not a super compelling villain, I assume the focus is still on Cadmus, but without Mrs. Luthor? I guess a focus on finding America's Worst Celebrity Cook in the Cadmus facility, but it feels like it needs something else (beyond people looking for Mon-El about which I do not yet care in the slightest).
I do hope they don't kill Maggie. They're handling this really well, I think, and I'd hate to see them undo that good will. If they need her gone just send her to Gotham or something.
*Please stop announcing your name, Cyborg Superman. Please.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:33 AM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
I was impressed/depressed by how quickly and easily Cisco crushed Barry's/my heart with one casual line of dialogue.
Forget alien invasions, FIX THE BARISCO FRIENDSHIP.
posted by nicebookrack at 11:03 AM on November 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
Forget alien invasions, FIX THE BARISCO FRIENDSHIP.
posted by nicebookrack at 11:03 AM on November 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
Anyone wonder why "Medusa" is a name Kryptonians, without any Greek myths, would have named anything?
I think Maggie will be fine, as long as she doesn't get an offer for another TV show.
Mon-El seems like a nice enough frat dude, but I just don't see him and Kara as a couple. She wants to be a super hero and he...wants to get drunk in bars, pick up on ladies, and throw bad guys around for money.
Yay Lena, still on the side of good ... for now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 AM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think Maggie will be fine, as long as she doesn't get an offer for another TV show.
Mon-El seems like a nice enough frat dude, but I just don't see him and Kara as a couple. She wants to be a super hero and he...wants to get drunk in bars, pick up on ladies, and throw bad guys around for money.
Yay Lena, still on the side of good ... for now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 AM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I would love for Mon-El to be forced to spend time on Team Arrow or Team Legend with people who have no interest in coddling him. The Mon-El/Mick Rory team-up alone would be amazing.
I'm going to be genuinely sad when/if Lena turns evil now. Stay good, Lena! I don't know if Lena is adopted or even exists in the comics, but her being adopted here brings an odd determinism to her character development: if Lena goes villainous, it's like "oh well those Luthors are always evil;" if she turns good, it's like "oh well she wasn't a REAL Luthor." I hope her uneasy place as an adoptee is given more storytime as the series goes on; it was used to interesting effect in this episode.
posted by nicebookrack at 12:08 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm going to be genuinely sad when/if Lena turns evil now. Stay good, Lena! I don't know if Lena is adopted or even exists in the comics, but her being adopted here brings an odd determinism to her character development: if Lena goes villainous, it's like "oh well those Luthors are always evil;" if she turns good, it's like "oh well she wasn't a REAL Luthor." I hope her uneasy place as an adoptee is given more storytime as the series goes on; it was used to interesting effect in this episode.
posted by nicebookrack at 12:08 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I linked to it in an earlier recap but in an interview one of the producers said that they have no intention of killing off Maggie.
Mon-El, on the other hand, looks to be dead meat given that search party is out looking for him.
posted by plastic_animals at 4:36 PM on November 29, 2016
Mon-El, on the other hand, looks to be dead meat given that search party is out looking for him.
posted by plastic_animals at 4:36 PM on November 29, 2016
I enjoyed that, for once, I got to experience annoyance with the crossover that was just a tacked-on unrelated event without having paid $2-5 for the privilege.
posted by phearlez at 5:02 PM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 5:02 PM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
Bulgaroktonos, I am with you all the way on the "MM being stoically heroic" thing. I may or may not have done a little fist pump at that moment. As for Cyborg Superman, he either needs to stop saying his name or start saying it in every sentence so that it stops being tiresome and comes around to hilarious.
phearlez, I totally agree on the red skies crossover. I was hoping we'd see a lot more interaction between Barry and Kara, given that the two of them together are as cute as a basket of puppies.
Apart from the crossover business, I thought it was a pretty solid episode. Kara and Mon-El aren't really working for me, and I thought the resolution to J'onn's dilemma was too pat. They should have stretched that out for a bit longer, just to amp up the conflict. But the Luthor family dynamics were fun, and I loved the bit of business in the beginning with Alex taking the bottle from the freezer and sneaking away. That sort of funny stuff in the background reminds me of NewsRadio, and they pulled it off perfectly.
posted by MrBadExample at 8:29 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
phearlez, I totally agree on the red skies crossover. I was hoping we'd see a lot more interaction between Barry and Kara, given that the two of them together are as cute as a basket of puppies.
Apart from the crossover business, I thought it was a pretty solid episode. Kara and Mon-El aren't really working for me, and I thought the resolution to J'onn's dilemma was too pat. They should have stretched that out for a bit longer, just to amp up the conflict. But the Luthor family dynamics were fun, and I loved the bit of business in the beginning with Alex taking the bottle from the freezer and sneaking away. That sort of funny stuff in the background reminds me of NewsRadio, and they pulled it off perfectly.
posted by MrBadExample at 8:29 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I liked this episode a lot.
There was a really well-staged long take at the Thanksgiving get-together. When Alex comes over to talk to Kara after Mon-El has come in, it's the beginning of a continuous shot. Kara takes Alex's beer, they walk to the kitchen, Kara puts the beer in the freezer (next to a bottle of whisky), then continues to the kitchen island and talks to Eliza (leaving Alex in the background). Alex goes to the fridge and gets the whisky, not her beer, and then crosses through and out. It was remarkable for being kind of unremarkable. They didn't really call attention to it. There was another shorter one in the DEO, where normally there would have been cuts they used blocking and camera blocking instead.
Katie McGrath is great as Lena, so fun to watch her and Brenda Strong go at it.
Both Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers are adopted, but they both look incredibly similar to their adoptive mothers.
Alex: Beer?
Maggie: Sure. Where do you keep it?
Alex: Just offscreen.
Alex reaches just out of frame, then pulls her hand back holding two beers.
Kara's apartment is a couple blocks from where I live. The exterior they show is really the exterior of the actual interior space they use for her apartment.
I think Mon-El is charming, but the whole Kara Must Find Love thing is not very interesting, it feels forced. Alex's love plot is great. Kara's just seems contractor grade, default.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:59 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
There was a really well-staged long take at the Thanksgiving get-together. When Alex comes over to talk to Kara after Mon-El has come in, it's the beginning of a continuous shot. Kara takes Alex's beer, they walk to the kitchen, Kara puts the beer in the freezer (next to a bottle of whisky), then continues to the kitchen island and talks to Eliza (leaving Alex in the background). Alex goes to the fridge and gets the whisky, not her beer, and then crosses through and out. It was remarkable for being kind of unremarkable. They didn't really call attention to it. There was another shorter one in the DEO, where normally there would have been cuts they used blocking and camera blocking instead.
Katie McGrath is great as Lena, so fun to watch her and Brenda Strong go at it.
Both Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers are adopted, but they both look incredibly similar to their adoptive mothers.
Alex: Beer?
Maggie: Sure. Where do you keep it?
Alex: Just offscreen.
Alex reaches just out of frame, then pulls her hand back holding two beers.
Kara's apartment is a couple blocks from where I live. The exterior they show is really the exterior of the actual interior space they use for her apartment.
I think Mon-El is charming, but the whole Kara Must Find Love thing is not very interesting, it feels forced. Alex's love plot is great. Kara's just seems contractor grade, default.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:59 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm not onboard the Mon-El/Kara ship; I just can't get past how perfunctorily they dropped James/Kara. I wasn't even that into James/Kara or the various love triangles they kept attempting to create, but dropping a black love interest for a new just-as-badly-written white love interest has a real ick-factor.
This. On top of that, I'm still irritated with the matter because Mon-El, (as presented here), is pretty clearly sidekick material: he's a less experienced, less mature person in Kara's care with a limited version of her power set. He's even already been kidnapped and endangered repeatedly, which is classic.
He should be wearing an undignified version of her costume and chafing at getting no respect from major villains, not being bumped up to 'new love interest.' So far, the only character on the show I'd accept as 'legitimately viable love interest' right now is Lena Luthor, (see below).
Other stuff:
* They killed Kelex! Those bastards!
(On a more serious note, I was amused to see that the Fortress of Solitude's security was even worse than expected, letting in Henshaw and then trying to stop Kara.)
* The Alex/Maggie stuff continues to be great, and I'm glad. The sole exception was Alex insisting on James and Winn holding off on talking about Guardian, but that's more a case of 'the whole Guardian thing wasn't very well thought out.'
* I love Lena Luthor. She has my favorite quality in a fictional character: she's complicated. I appreciate that she keeps trying to do good, but insists on doing it her own way. It comes across as believable in a way that Maxwell Lord never was - he always read like 'this is what a dumb person thinks a super genius would be like.' Lena's a lot more believable as a well meaning brilliant egomaniac with something to prove.
* Man, Henshaw. I completely agree with this:
As for Cyborg Superman, he either needs to stop saying his name or start saying it in every sentence so that it stops being tiresome and comes around to hilarious.
I'm really hoping for the latter, honestly. (Also, 'Cyborg Superman' isn't the kind of character you can just drop into a story with no explanation - he has a whole array of powers that Metallo didn't have, so he really needs a little more backstory on the show.)
* The alien lady taking a picture of the bioweapon raining down on her made me laugh.
* Eliza fixing the whole White Martian thing was a lazy wrap-up, but I didn't like the plotline, so...
Overall, a pretty great episode despite displaying some of the show's recurring weaknesses.
posted by mordax at 1:37 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
This. On top of that, I'm still irritated with the matter because Mon-El, (as presented here), is pretty clearly sidekick material: he's a less experienced, less mature person in Kara's care with a limited version of her power set. He's even already been kidnapped and endangered repeatedly, which is classic.
He should be wearing an undignified version of her costume and chafing at getting no respect from major villains, not being bumped up to 'new love interest.' So far, the only character on the show I'd accept as 'legitimately viable love interest' right now is Lena Luthor, (see below).
Other stuff:
* They killed Kelex! Those bastards!
(On a more serious note, I was amused to see that the Fortress of Solitude's security was even worse than expected, letting in Henshaw and then trying to stop Kara.)
* The Alex/Maggie stuff continues to be great, and I'm glad. The sole exception was Alex insisting on James and Winn holding off on talking about Guardian, but that's more a case of 'the whole Guardian thing wasn't very well thought out.'
* I love Lena Luthor. She has my favorite quality in a fictional character: she's complicated. I appreciate that she keeps trying to do good, but insists on doing it her own way. It comes across as believable in a way that Maxwell Lord never was - he always read like 'this is what a dumb person thinks a super genius would be like.' Lena's a lot more believable as a well meaning brilliant egomaniac with something to prove.
* Man, Henshaw. I completely agree with this:
As for Cyborg Superman, he either needs to stop saying his name or start saying it in every sentence so that it stops being tiresome and comes around to hilarious.
I'm really hoping for the latter, honestly. (Also, 'Cyborg Superman' isn't the kind of character you can just drop into a story with no explanation - he has a whole array of powers that Metallo didn't have, so he really needs a little more backstory on the show.)
* The alien lady taking a picture of the bioweapon raining down on her made me laugh.
* Eliza fixing the whole White Martian thing was a lazy wrap-up, but I didn't like the plotline, so...
Overall, a pretty great episode despite displaying some of the show's recurring weaknesses.
posted by mordax at 1:37 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm not onboard the Mon-El/Kara ship; I just can't get past how perfunctorily they dropped James/Kara. I wasn't even that into James/Kara or the various love triangles they kept attempting to create, but dropping a black love interest for a new just-as-badly-written white love interest has a real ick-factor.
This also really bothers me. I feel like someone got cold feet about having an iconic white superheroine (like, really iconic; top three, at least) have a black boyfriend, which I probably wouldn't feel if their decision to not date after all had seemed organic. James becoming Guardian could illustrate a motivation for him to break it off with Kara -- like, if he just felt he wasn't on the same level with someone who has godlike power, and had to prove himself -- but the show doesn't seem to be going there exactly. It's more like the writers decided it would be cooler for a guy to become a superhero in his own right than to become a superheroine's boyfriend, which...oh, jeez, maybe this is actually sexism? Whatever it is, it's not great.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:13 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
This also really bothers me. I feel like someone got cold feet about having an iconic white superheroine (like, really iconic; top three, at least) have a black boyfriend, which I probably wouldn't feel if their decision to not date after all had seemed organic. James becoming Guardian could illustrate a motivation for him to break it off with Kara -- like, if he just felt he wasn't on the same level with someone who has godlike power, and had to prove himself -- but the show doesn't seem to be going there exactly. It's more like the writers decided it would be cooler for a guy to become a superhero in his own right than to become a superheroine's boyfriend, which...oh, jeez, maybe this is actually sexism? Whatever it is, it's not great.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:13 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I will personally help those faceless aliens find Mon-El. I will share GPS coordinates, his cell phone number, his address, and give them a DNA sample. I'll pay for their Uber. (I actually shouted "NONONONONO" when they put their faces together and covered the screen with my hands.)
If Kara (plot-wise) needed a "do over" for her missed opportunity with Clark, why didn't they make Mon-El a kid? Melissa Benoist has chemistry with all humans, metahumans, and probably plants and animals, so sure it'll be kind of baseline charming but maybe Kara doesn't need a romance?!?!?! Maybe she could be defined by what she does and not who she does?!
Yes: Drunk!Alex and especially Alex sneaking bourbon out of the freezer. Maggie's heart-eyes when Alex was stitching her up. Maggie + Alex 5eva. Lena, you're doing so well! Mama Luthor, you baaaaaad and are an excellent villain.
No: Mon-El exists. (I kid, mostly. It's a fun fish-out-of-water story, but that's about it.) Helen Slater's acting is so...well it's sure something.
Bonus: Alex looking through the peephole to see Maggie made me snort as I flashed back to Mulder through the peephole in the Small Potatoes episode of The X-Files.
posted by komlord at 8:31 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
If Kara (plot-wise) needed a "do over" for her missed opportunity with Clark, why didn't they make Mon-El a kid? Melissa Benoist has chemistry with all humans, metahumans, and probably plants and animals, so sure it'll be kind of baseline charming but maybe Kara doesn't need a romance?!?!?! Maybe she could be defined by what she does and not who she does?!
Yes: Drunk!Alex and especially Alex sneaking bourbon out of the freezer. Maggie's heart-eyes when Alex was stitching her up. Maggie + Alex 5eva. Lena, you're doing so well! Mama Luthor, you baaaaaad and are an excellent villain.
No: Mon-El exists. (I kid, mostly. It's a fun fish-out-of-water story, but that's about it.) Helen Slater's acting is so...well it's sure something.
Bonus: Alex looking through the peephole to see Maggie made me snort as I flashed back to Mulder through the peephole in the Small Potatoes episode of The X-Files.
posted by komlord at 8:31 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Alex: Beer?
Maggie: Sure. Where do you keep it?
Alex: Just offscreen.
Alex reaches just out of frame, then pulls her hand back holding two beers.
It turns out that Kara lives in the Tapeheads universe.
OMG I want to see Fishbone performing at the re-opening of the alien dive bar.
posted by phearlez at 9:06 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Maggie: Sure. Where do you keep it?
Alex: Just offscreen.
Alex reaches just out of frame, then pulls her hand back holding two beers.
It turns out that Kara lives in the Tapeheads universe.
OMG I want to see Fishbone performing at the re-opening of the alien dive bar.
posted by phearlez at 9:06 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Thing I learned watching this episode: the only thing worse than Rob Thomas and Santana's Smooth is a cover of Rob Thomas and Santana's Smooth.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:10 AM on November 30, 2016
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:10 AM on November 30, 2016
Short as it was I thought the crossover scene was really great. First Barry introduces Cisco as his friend, but Cisco breaks everyone's heart by demurring that they just work together. Then, when Barry asks Kara for help, she does the superhero thing and unhesitatingly asks what she can do to help.
posted by plastic_animals at 1:19 PM on November 30, 2016
posted by plastic_animals at 1:19 PM on November 30, 2016
I've decided I don't mind the weakness of the Supergirl part of the crossover specifically because she lives in a totally different universe and would need to be brought over, and it would just be weird to haul the cast of three other shows over there, or make the relatively newbie fans of Supergirl have to watch all these CW folks they may or may not watch elsewhere.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:06 PM on November 30, 2016
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:06 PM on November 30, 2016
Heads-up to Winn fans - tickets are on sale now for the Fathom-event of Disney's Newsies on Broadway, featuring Jeremy Jordan as the lead, in theaters February 16th, 18th, and 22nd.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:45 AM on December 29, 2016
posted by oh yeah! at 9:45 AM on December 29, 2016
So, watching this on DVD, so I'm late to the party, but… I worry about Cadmus and the quality of their science. I mean medusa is supposed to kill all non-kryptonians, right? Why doesn't it affect humans? Isn't Ms. Luthor aiming to kill everybody except Supergirl and superman? That seems like a flaw....
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 PM on September 4, 2017
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 PM on September 4, 2017
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posted by pjsky at 9:51 PM on November 28, 2016