Supergirl: All About Eve

April 1, 2019 11:29 AM - Season 4, Episode 17

Supergirl and Alex teams up with Lena to find Lex and Eve. J'onn is confused about his identity.

AV Club: Supergirl gets its ducks in a row before blowing up its world

posted by numaner (5 comments total)

Well that was a lot. It really feels like the show is ramping up to the end now, which is great! We'll get that Supergirl vs Supergirl fight soon enough.

I thought there was a bit of unevenness with the way J'onn was acting out his emotions, like it was jarring because that's not how we've seen him. But the catharsis of him accepting himself as the Martian Manhunter paid off well.

I particularly liked Supergirl admitting that Lena was right and was doing good things, it felt like the kind of adult emotional response that I've credited the show with before. I'm glad they haven't lost those character moments in the midst of all the questionable plotting.

This is like the second episode in a row that we haven't seen Nia. What's up with that?
posted by numaner at 11:33 AM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

Lotta good stuff here:

* Lena and Supergirl making up, like you said. I appreciate when Kara admits she's wrong.

* Eve getting the drop on Supergirl. They should've seen that coming, but it's in character that they did not.

* Snowbird and Eve in the tunnels cracked me up:
Snowbird: I speak English better than you do!
Eve: Whatever! It's not a competition!

* Snowbird's attack on the White House was perfect, as was Alex and Lena not believing it. (Bonus points for having Bruce Boxleitner playing basically the opposite of his role on Babylon 5 - the complicit, anti-alien President declaring martial law instead of the guy standing up to that guy.)

I thought there was a bit of unevenness with the way J'onn was acting out his emotions

Same. Something seemed weird about his performance to me. His voice even sounded off? Still, it was good they had him deal with the psychological consequences of both killing someone and of breaking his vow. So points for not glossing over it.
posted by mordax at 6:11 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

I honestly can't care about the sacred whatevers at all or get angsty about a guy who goes by "Martian Manhunter" realizing he has to kill, but it was cute to see his dad back, at least.

Otherwise, it was pretty gripping and didn't focus too much on Eve, which I am fine with because I don't really care about her and her weird crazy lex-girlfriend crush. The ending was pretty traumatic for Supergirl, but I'm glad her true friends realize it wasn't her.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:54 AM on April 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've always had a soft spot for Eve. She's quietly competent, and sadly underestimated because the world thinks she is nothing more than a ditzy airhead, despite the fact she proves everybody wrong time and time again.

I was hoping they were going to expand her role, but I didn't see this as the direction they were heading. I'm really disappointed they turned her into some lovesick-for-Lex groupie, as I think it undercuts her own agency. Given, however, what we know about her capabilities, I'm sure she'll make a solid second-in-command evil villain.

While I enjoyed seeing Carl Lumby back as J'onn's dad, that whole bit about J'onn giving up the sacred symbols and not fulfilling his role as a man of peace really rubbed me the wrong way. There was something off about the whole thing that I can't quite articulate. I suspect it's the fact he's the last green Martian, and he's giving up his culture and his heritage and burying it in the desert, hoping somebody else comes along. That seems somehow defeatist and not hopeful or optimist and it seems to go against what I think of J'onn's character.
posted by sardonyx at 10:02 AM on April 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

I agree that burying the sacred symbols didn't seem to be the right move. I assume that decision is partly to get J'onn off planet because one of the next episodes is the one David Harewood directed.
posted by plastic_animals at 11:24 AM on April 3, 2019