Supergirl delivers one of its all-round strongest episodes to date in this thrilling Cadmus-centric installment…
Supergirl continues its recent upswing in quality with an episode that does something the show rarely manages: it fires on all cylinders. Just about every member of the cast gets a chance to shine and each of the week’s subplots hit their mark.
For starters, Supergirl season two has frequently played with an ‘aliens = immigrants’ metaphor but it really came into focus this episode, as Cadmus tried to forcibly jettison the alien population of the US back into space. It was perhaps a little heavy-handed – Alex’s speech about how the aliens have escaped war and famine could have come from an actual pro-immigration informercial – but it was an effective and timely area to explore all the same.
It is the Danvers sisters who are front and centre of the episode and each confront a tough conundrum, both of which are well-handled and not tied up in neat bows. Alex is on the edge after Jeremiah’s betrayal and, when she is suspended from the DEO by J’onn (great fakeout there, by the way), she decides to go and confront Cadmus herself. I’ve been really impressed with Chyler Leigh this season and this was another strong performance from her, as Alex either does what she believes is right or foolishly endangers her life, depending on your viewpoint.
Meanwhile, Kara wants to get the story about what Cadmus is up to out there but Snapper Carr won’t let her without proper sources – which leads her to go rogue and release the story herself. The CatCo sequences this year have been generally lacking, to say the least, so the fact that Snapper fires Kara is an interesting and welcome twist. And Mon’s pep talk about her having more to offer the world suggests that she won’t just get her job back next week.
Speaking of which, pushing Mon-El back into the background was also welcome. He works much better as a cheeky yet supporting boyfriend for Kara. Though sadly next week looks to switch the focus back to him again (though at least we will have former Lois Lane Teri Hatcher on board to soften the blow). Jimmy was also back this week, and got a brief moment as Guardian. He didn’t do much, of course, but it was nice that the writers still remember he’s around. Better still was a decent-sized role for Lena Luthor – including being carried in Supergirl’s arms which will please “Supercorp” shippers no end.
‘Exodus’ also offered a terrific climax as Kara had to use all her strength to stop Cadmus’ spaceship from entering the atmosphere. Amazing feats of strength and willpower are always what we want to see in Superman/Supergirl stories and this is one of the best the show has yet delivered. For once, it felt like there was a possibility of failure and the Danvers sisters touching hands through the window was a very emotional moment.
Let’s hope that the Supergirl team will look to this episode in future as an example of how to do the show right. It handled the sizeable cast expertly, it treated the villains seriously instead of making them cartoonish and there was a nice tonal balance – there were moments of lightness (Kara whooshing in and out of costume during Supergirl’s interview) mixed in with lots of drama. Can’t every episode be like this?
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Supergirl will return in two weeks on Monday 20th March.
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