Supergirl Episode 303: Far From The Tree

Supergirl season three, episode three, titled 'Far from the Tree', focused on two of the supporting cast's relationships with their fathers. We certainly learned a lot about Maggie and her father in this episode, as we did with J'onn and his.

Both of these relationships are struggling right now. Maggie and her father have been estranged since she came out. J'onn has thought his father has been dead. And now both are trying to salvage a relationship. There are plenty of emotional beats in this episode. And there are very strong performances from both Floriana Lima and David Harewood as they are put through the wringer a bit. And seeing Carl Lumbly, who did the voice of J'onn on the JLA Timm-verse cartoons, playing J'onn's father was awesome.

And there are other moments that shine. I like how Alex and Maggie are heading towards a 'deal breaker' moment. There is a Britney Spears moment with Melissa Benoist which might be my favorite bit for the show as in total as well.

But the big downside of an episode like this is that Supergirl really was pushed a bit into the background. She is part of the J'onn story but she didn't really *need* to be. And I might add that it appears she uses lethal force in the end fight despite saying 'there is always a choice' besides death in combat earlier. That didn't sit well.

Lastly, there are some definite political leanings in this episode's language which stick out rather obviously.

On to the show.

The show opens with a classic 'I am Kara Zor-el' much like the first seasons did and it was a welcome addition. I like character primer's like this, telling us who she is, where she works, and giving us great montages. I don't think we have got that yet this season.

A couple of things stuck out.

We have a reshoot of 'young Kara' in the pod. It's the new actor playing the part Izabela Vidovic!

But Kara's words seem carefully chosen. She describes herself as a refugee from another planet. I suppose part of that is because of how loaded that term is in our current political climate. Perhaps the show-runners want to say that refugees should be welcomed and might be heroes.

If it isn't a political statement, it might be playing up the fact that Kara is still in the 'I am an alien' mode of thinking. Refugee sounds colder than visitor. Maybe that word is meant to distance herself from her human friends. She is an 'alien' in all senses of the word.

The show starts with Kara and Alex giggling over the silly cheesy games Eliza has planned for the 'Lesbian Wedding Shower'. I like that Eliza's overdoing holidays with schmaltz is a character quirk that has moved forward.

The fun is interrupted when J'onn arrives to say he is heading to Mars to find M'Gann who contacted him last week. Kara insists on going with him. His battles are her battles. They head to a garage to climb into his old school roadster which transforms into a Martian spaceship.

I like how J'onn has become this father figure and partner for the Danvers sisters over time. That's a far cry from the overly gruff leader from the start of season one. And the car is a fun touch, reminiscent of Colson's red convertible on SHIELD.

Back on Earth, we see Eliza share a dinner with Alex and Maggie. It is sooooo great to see Helen Slater on the show.

We get a touching origin story for Maggie as she retells being driven to her aunt's by her father when she came out. Her father said she shamed him. She hasn't spoken to him in 14 years. She has no childhood pictures. All this is said with some emotional weight by Lima who kills it this episode.

I do like that Eliza is supportive of Maggie. We need more Mama Danvers!

On Mars, M'gann brings J'onn to her rebel group of White Martians. They have made a discovery. A green Martian is still alive. At an operating concentration camp, the rebels have discovered M'yrnn J'onzz, J'onn's father and primary priest of Hronmeer. M'yrnn has been kept alive because he knows the site of the Staff of Kalor, a powerful psychic weapon the Whites could use to discover who rebels are and destroy them.

The Whites are so close to finding the Staff, they have abandoned the camp and M'yrnn. The rebels need J'onn to pierce his father's mind to find out where the artifact is. They will all die of the whites get it.

This is almost too much for J'onn to comprehend. He finds out his father is still alive after all these years. His father has been tortured by their enemies. Now J'onn's allies want him to potentially kill his father to rip this information from his father's mind. You can feel J'onn's anguish in this scene. Much like Lima, Harewood kills it this episode.

Just as J'onn is dealing with missing his father for years, Maggie is doing the same. Maggie's speech with Eliza was news to Alex. There is still so much unsaid between these two. The writing is on the wall that this is going to pause the wedding.

And Alex is very open about her desire to know everything about Maggie. She wants them to share everything. It is Maggie who seems to be holding back. Alex even thinks the time is right for Maggie to reach out to her parents. The world has changed. Maybe there is room for reconciliation.

It moves Maggie enough that she wakes up in the middle of the night and calls her father. She leaves a message telling him about the shower.

I'll say again that Chyler Leigh deserves Emmy consideration. Even in these small scenes with Maggie, she really does an incredible job.

As always, there are things I see these days that I just never thought I would ever see. So imagine my delight when I saw a face to face of two Martians. Here J'onn tries to get through to his father to learn the whereabouts of the Staff of Kalor. M'yrnn doesn't believe this is his son. He thinks it is a White Martian trick. And he knows his son J'onn would never desert Mars like a coward.

The White Martians think the time has come to perform the 'Rite of Tyagor', a brutal rip into M'yrnn's mind which might kill J'onn's father. Supergirl says there always has to be another choice than a lethal attack ... a bit ironic given the end scenes here.

I have to say there seemed to be new effects here for the facial capture. I think it looked better ... maybe?

Meanwhile, Maggie breaks down and calls her folks and invites them to the shower. We hear the one-sided phone conversation. You can intuit that when Maggie says she is getting married, her father asks 'what is his name' because there is a pause before Maggie says 'HER name is Alex.'

We then meet Maggie's Dad. The shots are done well, with lots of far shots giving a sense of distance to the proceedings.

He talks about following Maggie's career. He carries a picture of her in his wallet, a faded picture of her as a young girl. He seems to love her. But the proceedings are cold.

And then at the shower, when Maggie kisses Alex, her father storms out. Again, nice wide, far shots here.

The father says he cannot bear witness to Maggie's relationship. He worked hard when he got to America from Mexico. He suffered prejudice and earned respect. He didn't want his family to suffer that hate and so he doesn't want Maggie to be hated for her sexuality. He even invokes how the country hates Mexicans (because we are building a wall) and hate gays more.

Whew. He isn't a right-wing religious stereotype who is anti-gay. He gets to be a sympathetic refugee who is afraid for his daughter. So I suppose we're supposed to feel bad for him, feel bad for her, and feel that his experiences have fostered this anger with her. He doesn't say 'I think homosexuality is unnatural.' He says 'I don't want you to be hated like I was.'

It is a very left-leaning scene. And the wall comments obviously plunks this episode in this time. So when we watch this on syndication in 5 years, we'll know just when this was released.

It is well acted. But his motivations seemed weird as if the show runners wanted neither of these characters to be 'wrong'. All the bad thoughts are born from the prejudice they lived through.

The Mars storyline rolled on.

J'onn and M'yrnn talk more about the religion of their people. Hronmeer created two artifacts, a book of symbols for all to share and a staff to be used as a weapon by one. Hronmeer's son Phobos picked the staff, shaming Hronmeer who wanted his sons to help people. Phobos was driven underground and became the first White Martian. M'yrnn was the head priest for Hronmeer.

The White Martian rebels, under M'gann's command, rebel because they fear the use of the staff. They know the ruling Whites are close to finding it. (There is a weird Raiders of the Lost Ark vibe to this whole thing.) They decide to rush in and try to rip the knowledge from M'yrnn. It forces J'onn, Kara, and M'yrnn to flee from their friends.

And then we get a nice scene where Kara talks to M'yrnn. She tells him that the time is come for him to open his mind. He has suffered from prejudice but a new world awaits, ready to be formed by people who want to do better. Benoist sells it.

Finally, M'yrnn does open his mind to J'onn. They share a memory only they could know. They share a time when the M'yrnn, K'ym, and T'ania surprised J'onn. It breaks down the walls. The J'onzz boys finally embrace.

I loved seeing J'onn's kids again. That was fun.

M'yrnn says where the Staff is buried but the Whites have found it on their own. A battle will happen.

And so we get this great scene.

The Whites are all dancing with glee around the half-buried staff, they hear 'Baby one more time' by Britney Spears. Supergirl drives into the cave in J'onn's car, looking for directions, complaining about a wrong turn at Alberquerque (ahhh the famous Bugs Bunny line).

How freaking fantastic! I love it!!!!

The resulting battle is crazy. But in the end, the heroes are victorious and the Staff gets given to M'yrnn.

But in the battle, Kara wields this staff and basically vaporizes a bunch of White Martians. Like disintegrates them. What happened to that 'there is always another way'? I suppose we could 'no-prize' it that the Staff just teleports them away. But this looks like death. And I don't want Kara to do that.

Seriously. If I hate Superman breaking Zod's neck in MoS, I have to hate this.

There isn't much left but the wrap-up.

Maggie has a cathartic meeting with her father. She gives him back the picture of her. She tells him she is glad he came because it allowed her to realize she doesn't need to get his approval. She doesn't need him at all. She is surrounded by people who love her for who she is. And she likes who she is.

But this closure with her parents doesn't change her not wanting kids. There is a scene at the end where Alex again brings it up. This has to be a lingering plot point which will lead to Lima's leaving the show.

Remember, the title of the show is 'Far from the tree', a riff on the old saying 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. Maggie has fallen far from the family tree.

Meanwhile, the White Martian rebels give the staff to J'onn saying it is too powerful to be part of the Martian civil war.  They say it should be brought to Earth. (Perhaps it is being looked at by 'top men'? Or stuck in a government warehouse?)

And there is nowhere for M'yrnn to go but to Earth. He is going to live with J'onn. There is a great scene where we see him marvel over a weed in parking lot, surprised to see such life. Will he become a recurring character?

This was an okay episode for me overall. Supergirl was a guest star in her own show. This gave important back story for both Maggie and J'onn. We get to hear about their dysfunctional relationships with their fathers and how they try to reconcile. And we get a great Britney Spears moment.

But the lethal attacks, the occasionally 'heavier than it needed to be' political messages, and the Staff being found despite all the pre-plot points made it less than optimal.

What did you think?