Spoilers ahead!
Supergirl opens in an unusual place this week: Svalbard, Norway. This is where the show introduces us to Dr. Rudy Jones, who gains some unwieldy powers that even Supergirl has trouble stopping. While he ends up as the main bad guy this episode, there’s so much more going on. James gets his suit, Alex comes out to Kara, and Mon-El and Miss Martian both step up in different ways. It’s a full episode start to finish and none of it ever feels like filler.
Before we dive into the serious, it needs to be said that Kara getting drunk is a nice opening for her this episode. The scene at the bar naturally ends with a work call and Kara is unable to assist in any way. J’onn and Alex go check out the situation in Norway and bring back Dr. Jones, who they then allow to leave. Before he makes his way out of the DEO we see a less than pleasing slug come out of his mouth and crawl into his ear. This moment felt a little overdone seeing as not everyone might want to see someone cough up a parasitic slug. It already feels clear that something has chance the doc when he’s the last man standing in Norway.
That aside, there’s plenty to love in this episode. The writers do a great job with the relationship with Kara and Alex this episode when Alex decides to come out. We saw hints of this last episode when Maggie called her out. It wasn’t clear how quickly this would happen, but this is the episode. While it’s quick, it never feels rushed. Alex struggles with it even while telling Kara and later scenes with the two show Alex still trying to figure it out. It feels like a realistic situation and that’s always a plus.
Guardian makes his appearance this episode and while it’s towards the end, it’s a good introduction to the character. It’s also nice that the audience knows something that Supergirl doesn’t: who Guardian is. We know it’s James Olsen, but Supergirl can’t see through his lead suit. While James and Winn feel guilty for not telling Kara, they have a reason for it. It’s nice to see the show continuing to build on these new heroes instead of defaulting to Superman coming in to help.
The episode ends with Mon-El trying to be a better person and it ends up getting him abducted. It’s a nice little twist to cap off what is a good episode all around.
The Good
- Alex and Kara’s relationship staying solid
- James as Guardian with a pretty awesome suit
- Mon-El stepping up
The Bad
- Maggie just wants to be friends with Alex after all that lead up
Favorite Lines
- “Is this about getting you drunk?” “Let’s never discuss that again.” – Mon-El and Kara while they train
- “I’ll go get the alien, you get the girl.” – Kara to Alex
- “Guardian, huh? Not bad, could’ve been better.” – Winn to James while he watches news about himself at CatCo
