Supergirl: Homecoming
February 27, 2017 8:50 PM - Season 2, Episode 14 - Subscribe

 
Yeah, the curse of Good Guy Dumbth turned what could have been a great three-episode arc into one episode of crap.
posted by Etrigan at 4:16 AM on February 28, 2017


-IGN review - Jeremiah's coming home.
-AV Club recap - Dean Cain pays Supergirl an emotional homecoming
-CBR recap - Drama Family Values

What a disappointment of an episode. A plot that relies on everyone carrying the idiot stick, and continuing to elevate Mon-El over all others. Right from the first scene -- I don't expect (or want? dunno) Supergirl to show more than G/PG-rated love scenes, but, if Kara has accidentally broken 4 guys' noses in trying to kiss, presumably she has never been able to have intercourse before in fear of her what her super-orgasm would do to an ordinary dick. So, sleeping with Mon-El should have been a huge deal, and instead of getting something like a Kara/Alex OMG sex talk, we get Mon-El's morning after 'I want to wake up with you' scene, and his breathtakingly obnoxious "we're dating" announcement at the DEO. And then even though Kara has told him over and over what she wants/needs from him, it isn't until Winn says it that he actually hears it?

And, the idiot stick. The idea that there wouldn't be routine security screening at the DEO entrances that would have been set off by Jeremiah's hardware on day one, or that Jeremiah wouldn't have been automatically given a thorough medical exam to confirm Cadmus hadn't made him a Trojan Horse just as a matter of standard procedure. That Alex would let Jeremiah escape at the end, as if her only choice was between killing him and letting him go, instead of shooting him in the leg or tasing him or something.

Ugh. This fucking season.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:31 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


... I'm not able to see it yet (I watch when the DVDs come out). But am I right in thinking I should stick with S1 as amazing and pretend it was never picked up by the CW?
posted by Francis at 10:09 AM on February 28, 2017


I'm really only watching for Alex/Maggie
posted by numaner at 10:17 AM on February 28, 2017


Episodes this season have been hit or miss (but honestly that was true last year too), but I'm still enjoying the show a lot overall. That said, Mon-El is eh, and I do miss Cat Grant terribly. Alex/Maggie is great, most of the other supporting character side plots not so much.

On the other hand, the casting of Superman (who appeared at the beginning of the season for a few episodes) was spot-on--he's way more likable than the current movie incarnation. I'm sure he'll reappear, but I think they're committed to using him sparingly, which is also a good choice.
posted by Pryde at 11:06 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


And then even though Kara has told him over and over what she wants/needs from him, it isn't until Winn says it that he actually hears it?

Well, that's pretty consistent with the bro-ness he's been written with so far. Listen to the woman? Pfft.
posted by phearlez at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Ask us again at the end of the season, Francis. There have been some highlights (Superman, the stunt casting of Lynda Carter as the President, Alex's terrific coming-out arc) and I'm hopeful for the upcoming musical episode. But then the lowlights of the abrupt end of James/Kara and James' subsequent Guardian subplot and dearth of screentime, and the attention showered on Mon-El and the character assasination of Kara in relation to him. Maybe they'll find some way to get back on track if/when Mon-El gets fridged, or just going into the season spoiled with low expectations will make it less disappointing than watching it live.
posted by oh yeah! at 11:49 AM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


On top of all of the other complaints, the one thing that kept nagging at me in this episode (although it has been going on a long time) is that Kara (not Supergirl) is running around the DEO without a care in the world for her identity. I know they're all supposed to be trusted agents and all that crap, but I really thought there would still be some value in not making it really obvious that Alex and Supergirl are sisters and Supergirl has a civilian identity of her own.

We're all working under the assumption that Jeremiah is either a) plotting against Cadmus or b) will have an epiphany and turn against Cadmus right before dying, correct?
posted by sardonyx at 4:54 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I don't have much to add on the substance because, wow, dumb... But did the studio get a deal on filming in that park/renting out that forest? The past week of Flash, Legends and now Supergirl all had scenes there.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:17 PM on February 28, 2017


Even IF Danvers Sr. was his good old well-intentioned, unencumbered self, he'd need training and lots of information review to be better than dangerously ignorant of current DEO technology and situations.


It seems like a lot of these CW shows are at1970s comic book levels of writing/plotting, even lifting ridiculous plots directly from those books. Not great for today's audiences.
posted by amtho at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


This is the second episode in a row with James absent.

There was also a lot of criticism floating around Tumblr for how they put M'gann on a bus to Mars, writing her off the show just when she had the chance to take a bigger role in the story. idk. ugh.



But did the studio get a deal on filming in that park/renting out that forest? The past week of Flash, Legends and now Supergirl all had scenes there.

Funny, I think Supernatural used it too. There is kind of a limit to how many parks you can find around Vancouver that make good shooting locations. There's also a church in Vancouver that gets used for TV shows all the time.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 9:10 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I can't believe no one has mentioned yet, on top of the bad, bad, lazy writing in general, the specific screw up regarding the number of years Daddy Danvers has been gone? Is it 13 (the same number of years Kara is celebrating for her Earth Birthday)? Or, 14 the difference in years of Alex's age when Kara arrived and her current age of 28, which she stated in the last episode. Or maybe it's 15, as Jeremiah said? WHO KNOWS? None of it makes sense. And I really hated that Mon-El got to be the logical, reasonable one. That should have been James trying to talk sense into Kara and Alex. On second thought -- It would have made even MORE sense for it to have been Detective Dimples to be the one who sees the absolute folly of allowing a guy who has been held captive by your arch enemy for < insert # of years here > to be roaming free through the DEO. Ugh.

All I can say is, I really hope Jeremiah made some sort of deal with the Devil in order to save his daughters from a nefarious plan we don't know about yet, and ... thank Rao badass Alex returns next episode. Chyler Leigh is amazing with the emotional depth she brings to the role, but I miss seeing her kicking alien butt.

I hope she gets to beat the crap out of Mon-El one day soon . . . then, maybe, just maybe, having to suffer through his dudebro douchebaggery will have been worth it.
posted by pjsky at 9:55 PM on February 28, 2017


People aren't all good or all bad, so I'm ok with Mon-El being a terrible boyfriend with significant cultural baggage at the same time as he's actually smart and/or sensitive about certain things.

That's not entirely unlike reality. Even the worst human might be good to his dog, or his community, or really innovative at his job. That's one reason some of these behaviors are so insidious, they get mixed up in people whom other people genuinely like. You end up thinking that surely such a good, smart person can change, or surely your friend whom you've known for so long would never really do _that_.

Whether this complexity is intentional or accidental in this show, it's one aspect of the writing that I think might be better than average.
posted by amtho at 10:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


One more recap - Autostraddle recap - A Family Reunion

People aren't all good or all bad, so I'm ok with Mon-El being a terrible boyfriend with significant cultural baggage at the same time as he's actually smart and/or sensitive about certain things.

It's that the writers chose to make everyone else look so stupid to make him be the smart one that makes this episode so problematic. And that I can't tell if they are being purposeful about his terrible-boyfriend shortcomings being so stereotypically sexist, or if they're just doing it blindly.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:04 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I can't tell if they are being purposeful about his terrible-boyfriend shortcomings being so stereotypically sexist

I think they're just making a bunch of examples of what doesn't work in a relationship with a strong, smart woman. Some of those qualities also happen to be a big part of sexist stereotypes.

The set of them is really kind of a good set of examples: you've got Winn who did like her before her fame, but who really lacked courage and self-possession; Jimmy who was really insecure and maybe a little too impressed by her -- and not totally honest with his feelings; and now Mon-El, who might seem like a good match in a lot of ways and people would _expect_ them to be together, and who wants to be a good boyfriend, but who has so much ingrained sexism that he just might not be able to overcome or even understand why it's a problem.

They're all genuinely sympathetic people who are fun to hang out with, not to mention attractive in their own ways. You could imagine a lot of the audience being OK with dating any of them -- and yet, you, or a 13-year-old girl with less life experience than you, can watch the show and see, bit by bit, exactly how these relationships don't work out, and not really need to label any of these dudes, or Kara, as "bad". They don't have to be villains to be unsuitable mates, and I think that's important.

Because if all unsuitable mates are villains, then it would follow logically that any non-villain is a suitable mate. That over-simple world view makes it impossible to say no to a generally nice or good person. If, on the other hand, we accept Supergirl's view that genuinely good people can be terrible choices for companions -- Jimmy is an actual hero now! Winn is the most supportive friend ever! Mon-El is the only one who can physically keep up with Kara! -- that makes it much, much easier for someone like my niece to turn down a relationship with a boy in her school, knowing that she's not essentially telling him that he's a bad person.

This show is doing a good job of showing, in a very pithy way, why relationships with these dudes aren't working out, and that Kara has the ability to explore them and then decide -- decide! -- that they aren't a good fit, why they aren't a good fit, and to make an explicit break with them and stay open for something better in the future, even if they don't turn out to be evil robots, sleeper agents from enemy families, knaves scheming for her fortune, or hidden sociopaths.
posted by amtho at 4:28 AM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


amtho - you make a lot of good points. I think you are willing to give the writers more credit than I am! But I do appreciate your take on Kara And The Very Bad Boyfriend dilemma and the positive message (if handled properly) it can send to young girls about their own relationships.

I initially didn't like Mon-El, then I started to warm up to him, and I actually thought he could become a good match for Supergirl. After his behavior in the last 2 episodes I am ready for Kara (and/or Alex or James on J'onn on Kara's behalf) to punch him into next week. The dude doesn't learn. He makes mistakes, he makes feeble attempts to correct his behavior. He makes new mistakes, he gets whiny and mopey. He doesn't get his way, he laments the long lost days when he could just objectify women and never have to consider their feelings or needs, or worry he might ever have to experience an uncomfortable emotion. Fuck that guy.
posted by pjsky at 7:04 AM on March 2, 2017


I'm not arguing with you, pjsky. I just wanted to work my thoughts on this a little more, below.

I will say that I do give the writers a lot of credit. The dialogue is clunky and there is a lot of dumb stuff here, but I think they are hobbled by some kind of ill-conceived mandate to hew close to the original comics (I have heard this mentioned, but I read a few comics when I was younger and this feels about right), combined with maybe a target audience that's younger and less urbane than usual -- which could be a good thing; so much entertainment is targeted at people who have a completely different context than I would have had pre-college. I'm not saying they ought to dumb it down, just that there might be a lot in the way of their doing their best work. Still, they found a way to put in some important, innovative, great relationship content without being overly preachy.

As you describe Mon-El above:
"...doesn't learn. He makes mistakes, he makes feeble attempts to correct his behavior. He makes new mistakes, he gets whiny and mopey. He doesn't get his way, he laments the long lost days when he could just objectify women and never have to consider their feelings or needs, or worry he might ever have to experience an uncomfortable emotion."
Just looking at those words, I could be described as doing all those things, and I think most people -- men and women -- do. Taking care of people's feelings is work! Of course it's natural to wish, sometimes, that we didn't have to do it. I make horrible mistakes in dealing with people, and my attempts to apologize have, historically, been truly awful. It's fair to say that not knowing how to behave didn't mean I deserved to be removed from polite society forever. Sometimes I truly grew, sometimes I didn't; sometimes I'm self-centered, sometimes I'm not; sometimes I steamroll other people (rarely, now, I hope), but I've learned better. That doesn't mean I was a suitable partner for every person I found attractive back then. Mon-El might actually be a good match for someone who could compensate for, or complement, or somehow enjoy, his weaknesses - but not for Kara.

The precise patterns that make him unsuitable, though, take time to emerge and there aren't concise descriptions of them in English. It's difficult if not impossible to simply describe people in a way that shows which people are inside the line of normal human not-perfect-all-the-time issues and which are outside that line, even more so when you get into not "bad person" assessment but more "bad match for other complicated person".

That's why having this kind of thing presented in an extended, acted story is valuable. A TV series is probably the best way to present this particular kind of information: over time, with humans expressing all the nuances of behavior, expression, tone of voice, physical locations in space relative to each other, showing differences over time before, during, and after individual incidents, days, weeks, and longer. The whole thing is more than a sentence or a word.

One faux-pas isn't the killer. It's that, combined with the way he made a similar mistake in the past, combined with the way he handled it afterward. All that, combined with the intensity -- which we have to really feel -- with which Kara wants the relationship to work, with how cute he is, with how happy he makes her sometimes, with the first-time destined feeling of it all, and that she doesn't lose her mind.

And he'd be a good friend to have, too. He's fun, he genuinely wants to do good and please others, he's capable in some ways. If you can hang out with him without falling prey to the desire to date him, that is. This show is like a bad boyfriend vaccination.
posted by amtho at 9:58 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


That's a really cool and interesting perspective. I don't know if I agree that they achieve that ... It might be my cultural programming, but I feel like the boys get cast as more sympathetic in a way that makes Kara seem in-the-wrong for yelling at them or breaking things off. Like, Winn gets to use the word "friendzone" with no one making a face at him. Kara had no well-stated reason for breaking up with James at the beginning of the season, and Mon-el has a ready-made "he doesn't know better" excuse.

But I sure hope there are girls that get the message you're seeing.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 2:58 PM on March 2, 2017


I feel like the boys get cast as more sympathetic in a way that makes Kara seem in-the-wrong for yelling at them or breaking things off.

She doesn't seem in the wrong, though. I really don't think she's depicted that way at all. Nobody is blinking at her break-up with James or her rejection of Winn. She did those things, and she's still fine, she still has friends, she's even doing meaningful work at her job, and people almost universally like and admire her -- even the boys she broke it off with, which is how we'd like the world to be.

.... Mon-el has a ready-made "he doesn't know better" excuse.

I'm not sure where this is going, really, but I'm pretty sure Mon-El isn't going to get a pass for much longer in the universe of the show. I also think that he's depicted in such a way that the intent is for most viewers to see through his charm, to be practically yelling at their screens, "No! He's so wrong for her! You can do better Kara!" The writers definitely know what they're doing that much.

It's a short show. Actually, all art like this ends up feeling, to its creators, overly constrained by time. Mon-El announcing their relationship in spite of Kara's expressed wishes wasn't put in there because they ran out of other material. It was put there to demonstrate his problematic nature to us, the viewers (and to Kara) -- along with every other time he's been overbearing. It's clear to me that the pattern we viewers see is put there intentionally by the writers, and it's not to show us how charmingly naieve he is. The incidents are too egregious, too sharply presented, and too classically "well-intentioned but sexist man ham".

Of course it still could be messed up badly as a plotline, but I have high hopes it won't be.

It sounds like this is resonating in an unpleasant way with some people's past experiences, which is definitely a thing that happens. I grew up being judged for different things than how nice I was to boys, although I did grow up in the notoriously hospitable South with that kind of acquiescent/tolerant culture around me (I think girls from more actively religious families suffered this more). I'd be surprised if the writers of Supergirl really endorsed that mindset, though. It's possible, but I think Supergirl is built around a female-empowerment core that means their writers are more likely playing a long game than valuing romance and prettiness over a functionally delightful meeting of minds and expectations -- or over Kara prioritizing her own growth as an effective and happy person instead of some guy.
posted by amtho at 5:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, it almost certainly is different cultural programing. A lot of Mon-el's behavior I initially read as "that's how guys are, he's not doing anything wrong", it feels normal, and I keep reminding myself that that kind of behavior shouldn't be normal ... You're probably right about the long game; his prince-of-Daxam status is still secret, and whatever reason those aliens didn't attack him, and all that.

However I think Supergirl's female-empowerment core has really, really fucking wilted this season.

And I think they've also really failed in showing the internal, emotional narrative of their characters. there is so much fucking nuance that they're just leaving on the table it is k i ll i ng me. And I think several of their storylines are already supremely fucked up because of that.

One thing I really did like about this episode was Alex's mother saying, "It's so good to have you back but we're both different people now and I'm not going to just leap into your arms." That's a really mature take and a really, really good thing to demonstrate.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 10:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ugh. This fucking season.

At least it's not Arrow level bad.


Not yet, anyway.
posted by Pendragon at 7:39 AM on March 4, 2017


At least it's not Arrow level bad.

Yeah, but my expectations for Arrow (and Flash) were lowered seasons ago. And the Legends of Tomorrow characters have been dumber than a box of rocks from the start, them overlooking something as obvious as Jeremiah's metal arm and bad intentions despite having a telepath and x-ray vision powers on their side wouldn't even get an eye-roll from me. S1 of Supergirl put my expectations at a level that this season is failing to reach consistently.

It sounds like this is resonating in an unpleasant way with some people's past experiences, which is definitely a thing that happens.

It's resonating in an unpleasant way with my past television-watching experiences. I've seen way too many shows marginalize their female leads in favor of the male leads. Like what Sleepy Hollow did to Nicole Beharie's Abby Mills, and ABC considering writing Stana Katic out of Castle. And of shows taking their core demographic for granted, like sf franchise reboots going "we've got the existing fandom/nerds already, what can we do to appeal to the mainstream fans?". So, in the switch from CBS to CW, was there some "we've got the women & girls already, now what can we do to get more of the male 18-whatever demographic?" directive? What did the change in budget and network mean for the makeup of the writers' room and the process of breaking the stories? (Rhetorical questions, I don't expect anything but positive PR spins from the writers/producers mid-season, but I expect there will be some interesting post-mortem reporting eventually.)
posted by oh yeah! at 10:38 AM on March 4, 2017 [3 favorites]


However I think Supergirl's female-empowerment core has really, really fucking wilted this season.

That's a great way to put it. I'm really feeling the absence of Cat Grant in all this.

It's resonating in an unpleasant way with my past television-watching experiences.

Yeah, this.
posted by mordax at 11:33 AM on March 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Mon-El is so terrible that, if Lex Luthor escaped and made an army of robots programmed to destroy National City, it would not be half so terrible. And the robot army would be less bland.

I agree with the sentiment that Kara shouldn't date anyone. This show reminds me a bit of the first season of Veronica Mars, where they kept throwing boyfriends at her in hopes one would stick, and, ugh, no. Because this show should be about how awesome Kara is, and how much she tries, and what she learns, not about the guys she's glued up on. Also, we have Alex and Maggie for relationship drama, so we really need another couple?
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:21 PM on September 16, 2017


Also, Cadmus is kind of a terrible villain. Once their leader fled a court with the help of a murderous cyborg, they are kind of compromised, no?
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:31 PM on September 16, 2017


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