Supergirl 2.08: Medusa
Jessica Queller and Derek Simon
Stefan Pleszczynski
It's really sort of pointless for me to keep
mentioning that Supergirl has to
hammer out its themes for each episode in such obvious ways. This is, after
all, a superhero show that has to be earnest, has to leave its heart on its
sleeve in a metaphorical way. Unlike all of the other superheroes in the DC TV
Universe, Kara Danvers is largely unencumbered by any sort of past traumas
(though, more on that in a second) that drive the others to do what they do. As
a result, she's a beacon of light and goodness who doesn't wallow in darkness
and gloom. The show has already established that point through the run of
almost thirty episodes so they should feel free to move on to other things, or
perhaps expanding on that central theme.
Of course, it's
hard to escape a theme like the bonds of family when this episode opens on
Thanksgiving dinner at Kara's apartment, a quintessential time for family
gatherings. Like the Thanksgiving episode from last season, "Medusa"
is used to show how much Kara's family has changed over the past year. She's no
longer romantically pursuing James, which serves to also magnify her growing
relationship with Mon-El, who obviously still harbors a crush on Kara despite
whatever protestations he musters to anyone who notices (including Kara
herself). The show used to blow through plot at warp speed, so I wouldn't have
been surprised if someone amongst James, Winn, or Alex revealed the big secret
that James has been moonlighting as the Guardian. Alas, it seems the show is
either learning from that past mistake, or intentionally saving that revelation
for after the winter hiatus.
Nevertheless,
the Thanksgiving dinner allows for Eliza to have a much larger role in the
episode than is normally allowed for her character. Lilian Luthor unleashes the
(modified) Medusa virus on the patrons of the alien bar, the effects of which
have the DEO stumped. Eliza is conveniently an astrobiologist, allowing her to
diagnose exactly what the problem is, cure both Mon-El of the sickness from his
contracting the Medusa virus and J'onn of his White Martian transformation
affliction, and she also figures out how Lilian Luthor plans to weaponize the
virus. She also gets to be an amazing mother in understanding Alex's coming out
as a lesbian and even casually calling Supergirl a term of endearment whilst
working in the DEO.
All around,
Eliza is the MVP of the episode. She needs to be so because Kara finds out some
rather extreme revelations about her parents here. She visits the Fortress of
Solitude in order to gather more information about the Medusa virus, only to
have the projection of her father Zor-El reveal to her that he created the
virus as a brutally effective protective measure for Krypton (it only affects
non-Kryptonians, though I would assume that Lilian made some modifications to
the virus in order for it to not affect humans. If not, that is a rather large
and lingering plot hole throughout the episode).
So, to recap,
Kara's mother Alura tried to save Krypton by enacting several measures to save
Krypton from ecological disaster, in rather futile fashion. Now, her father so
hates everyone who isn't Kryptonian that he engineered a virus to kill anyone
who isn't one. But Kara has spent more than enough time on Earth, among humans.
Her human family, Alex and Eliza and (to a small extent) Jeremiah are all that
she knows now. Well, aside from her superpowered cousin. They have more of an
influence on her than her biological parents did, and it shows in her actions,
trying to save all inhabitants of Earth, not just aliens.
It's a rather
pointed way to fit into the season-long running theme of a struggle between
accepting all races and basically exploiting human xenophobia to rain down
hatred on any and all aliens. That conflict is given a direct personification
in the form of Lilian Luthor going against (adopted) daughter Lena. They have a
mother-daughter relationship that isn't exactly unfamiliar. Lilian clearly has
favored Lex, and was stuck with Lena once Superman imprisoned Lex for his
crimes. Lena, of course, discovers that her mother is the head of Cadmus and
ultimately responsible for the unleashing of the Medusa virus (even though
Cyborg Superman deployed it in the alien bar) and has to struggle with this new
revelation.
- Eliza gets a much bigger role in this episode than she ever has before
- The show is doing better about slowing down plot revelations
- The concept of the virus doesn’t seem all that well thought-out
- The moral themes are still being delivered with an utter lack of subtlety
Danger Mouse
11/29/2016 11:18 AM
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