Supergirl Episode 305: Damage

Supergirl episode 305 aired this week, another strong episode focusing on Lena, the mini-boss Morgan Edge, and the evolution of Reign. It also marked the end of Floriana Lima's run as Maggie Sawyer on the show, and therefore the end of the Alex/Maggie relationship. That is a lot to put into one episode but somehow the writers and director Kevin Smith gave each story enough space to breath and progress nicely.

For me, the Lena storyline was the best. All last season, this shroud of 'is she evil?' was on the character. I was waiting to see the heel turn. It never happened. Now in this episode, Lena is suspected of doing something harmful, albeit accidentally. All her doubts about herself, all those 'nature vs. nurture' (or in her case 'nature AND nurture') questions come back. It makes Lena a compelling character.

Lena's antagonist is again Morgan Edge, played with delicious slime by Adrian Pasdar. Edge is everything Maxwell Lord wanted to be, oozing his way through scenes with this superiority complex. For me, there is one big head scratch about his methods in this episode but otherwise Pasdar is spot on fantastic.

The Sanvers dissolution is handled well, perhaps a bit heavy. This show is now into its third season. Most of what Alex says here is fine. But some of her words sound weird when put in the context of 2+ seasons of characterization.

Finally, I do have to say that I needed to suspend my medical disbelief a bit here. The concern is that Lena has made lead poisoning occur in children. And lead poisoning does typically present so acutely. I suppose that ultimately makes sense.

On to the show.

Supergirl Episode 301:

The season premiere of Supergirl Season 3 aired earlier this week. It was incredible. It nailed it. I was floored. This was just the sort of strong start that you want a show to have.

The episode was aptly named 'Girl of Steel' as it dealt with Kara dealing with her grief over losing Mon-El by becoming hardened and denying herself any feeling at all. She forsakes her humanity. She embraces her 'alien' nature. But she seems to be protesting too much as every so often Kara shows she is hurting. I probably sound like a broken record but Melissa Benoist is incredible. From subtle intonations of lines to facial expressions to body language, you know just what her characters are feeling. Remember, Kara sent Mon-El to possible oblivion. This was her decision. And she is hurting.

We get to see most of the supporting cast interacting with Kara, trying to help her in any way they can, but mostly worrying about her. They see she is hurting. They are giving her space. But eventually, they have to intercede.

And while, for me, these character moments were the high points of 'Girl of Steel', the episode also does a great job of setting up the season. We hear about Cat and Snapper. We see Alex and Maggie together again. We get to see how James and Lena have grown in prominence. We meet one of the big bads in Morgan Edge. We get a hint of the bigger bad Reign. And, as usual, we get action sequences and great effects.

Overall, this was a brilliant episode, especially with showing just how Kara has to work her way through her feelings. Incredible.

Supergirl Show SDCC Trailer And News

Last weekend was the San Diego Comic Con and most of the Supergirl news revolved around the upcoming third season of the show. Search YouTube or Twitter and you'll get snippets of the many interviews and panels the cast did.

The big release for me was the sizzle trailer for the third season. That is available on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaI6dcoRRQQ

The trailer makes it seem as if the season starts out in a dark place. We hear in a voice over say:

The decision I made, he couldn’t have made that sacrifice. But me, I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t. I will always make the decision I made. I am not a human. I tried to be but I’m not. Kara Danvers was a mistake.

It is clear that Kara is grieving over losing Mon-El, a decision she made. And her defense is to suppress her emotions, to deny her humanity, and become perhaps a colder, more calculating 'alien'.

And the scenes we see in the preview do a nice job of echoing that.

Perhaps with too many screencaps I break down the trailer.