Jeremiah Danvers returns in this week’s episode of Supergirl – but can he be trusted? We’ll give you two guesses…
Despite ‘Homecoming’ sharing a title with the upcoming Spider-Man movie, it actually had more in common with another Marvel film: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Both see old friends return from years of being imprisoned by the bad guys only to – surprise surprise – turn out to be on the dark side themselves. Jeremiah Danvers even has a Bucky-like cyborg arm!
Seriously, though, it’s hard to argue that this was a particularly original and unpredictable episode, but the fact that we knew how things were going to play out didn’t stop the emotional beats from hitting home. In particular, Alex was once again the show’s MVP as Chyler Leigh completely sold the character’s total devotion to her father and then heartbreak at his eventual betrayal.
It is, however, hard to believe that the rest of the cast would be so blindsided by him – in particular, Kara and J’onn. Still, at least Kara eventually saw sense but J’onn, as the head of the DEO, should really have had some suspicions about Jeremiah sooner, even if they are old friends. On a side note, this episode also brought to light how difficult it is to handle Martian Manhunter’s immense power set. It’s slightly annoying when J’onn fails to read Jeremiah’s mind or gets knocked out in one punch, but it’s forgivable as there would be no plot if he was operating at full power.
On the up side, there was some good stuff for Kara and Mon-El fans to get their teeth into, in particular the cute opening scenes and the touching closer. Once again, Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood help steer us through some rather contrived relationship drama. At least, Mon seems to have finally learned that he should listen to Kara. Plus, Jeremiah’s hint that Mon has a dark secret has got me interested in Mon’s backstory again. I’d assumed it was as clear cut as him being the real Daxam prince, but now it seems he has done something terrible that he fears Kara finding out about. Any ideas?
All in all, ‘Homecoming’ had its moments, and did a good job of ramping up the threat of Cadmus, but it was a little too predictable to be a great episode. In terms of both borrowing from genre tropes and its stiff adherence to a familiar Supergirl structure (Kara and Mon happy, Kara and Mon fight, Kara and Mon reconcile). If the show can keep aiming for this level of drama but also surprise us in the process, then it will be onto a winner.
Krypto-Notes:
- That’s another episode without James. It seems a dead cert now that he will be written out by the end of the season. Despite becoming Guardian, there just isn’t a place for him on the show anymore.
- Loving the hints that Jeremiah will become the true Cyborg Superman. Of course, Dean Cain previously played the Man of Steel in Lois and Clark: The New Superman Adventures.
- Best exchange of the episode:
Winn: “Last time I tried to play darts, I stabbed fishhead dude. I mean, he was nice about it…”
Mon: “Yeah, Kevin’s awesome.”
Ratings:
Fandom Factory 