Supergirl 2×11, “The Martian Chronicles,” featured the team dealing with a shape-shifting White Martian inside the DEO.
I’m a bit bemused by this episode. I really enjoyed the bits in the DEO where the team was fighting White Martians who had taken on the forms of their friends. Villains pretending to be the good guys is a trope I often enjoy in science fiction, and this episode was no exception.
It did feel like it missed an opportunity for the White Martians to attempt to weaken the heroes by using their disguises to poke at the heroes’ weaknesses (like Alex missing Kara’s Earth Birthday for a concert with Maggie), but such psychological tactics might not be up the White Martians’ alley; they seem more focused on brute force.
But I’m a bit confused by the choices made in terms of the characters’ personal lives. After J’onn makes a lovely declaration of love to M’gann and she kills her former mate to protect J’onn, she decides to return to Mars? It feels more like a case of not knowing what to do with her character — or not being able to afford the budget of two Martians — than one made for story purposes.
J’onn has slowly been opening his heart up to new people, starting with Alex and Kara and now expanding to encompass M’gann. It seems particularly cruel to have M’gann leave now that J’onn took a risk with his heart. It also seems odd to have her disappear for a run of episodes while she was a prisoner in the DEO, have her return for a couple of episodes, then leave again.
The narrative choices surrounding her character don’t make a ton of sense to me. I can only hope she’ll return toward the end of the season with a group of ragtag White Martians who also want to atone for their sins to help fight Cadmus.
Another area I’m frustrated with is Mon-El. Shocking, I know, as I’ve been so neutral on him up until now. (That was sarcasm.) But I continue to find the EP’s insistence that Kara’s budding romance with James wasn’t organic ironic considering how connect-the-dots the dynamic between Mon-El and Kara feels.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised since the Berlanti-verse writers have not proven themselves adept at writing romances in any of the shows, but the whole thing remains a continual source of frustration for me. It also irked me that Kara mentions that things don’t work out well when she puts herself out there, yet she initiated her last break up.
If Kara was going to break up with James, it would be best if she spent the season focusing on herself. She says as much in this episode, but it comes across as an excuse not to pursue Mon-El rather than a legitimate reason not to date, and that rubbed me the wrong way.
Mostly, I miss the Superfriends dynamic of Kara, James and Winn from season 1. I know the show needs to evolve in season 2, but I remain continually frustrated by James’s sidelining this season (as I’ve written about before). Not only does he appear significantly less since he’s stuck over at CatCo while the narrative is focused on the DEO (how often does Kara go to work these days anyway?), but he’s been distanced from Kara due to her view of Guardian.
At least there was a bit of movement on that front in this episode, as she seemed to give Winn her blessing with helping James out. I’d like to see her talk to James about it, though. Since they had an actual argument about it in the previous episode and all.
And, of course, Alex loving Barenaked Ladies makes me happy because I adore that band.
On the plus side, the relationship between Kara and Alex remains the heart of the show. Kara feels like Alex is abandoning her for Maggie, especially when Alex makes plans with Maggie on a day special to Kara. Kara, though, genuinely wants her sister to be happy after making sacrifices for Kara’s sake for so long. But she’s also not used to having to share Alex. I can understand how her feelings on this would be mixed and messy. She tries to keep her hurt to herself because of that messiness, but she’s not a good liar and Alex notices immediately.
It seems especially important that the core relationship of Supergirl remain between Kara and Alex. I’ve always appreciated that the show is exploring the relationship of adult sisters since that is so rarely seen on television. And now Alex finding a partner complicates things — but in a good way since it’s a natural development to face. I believe the Danvers sisters will always come out of any conflict they face stronger than ever, and I appreciate that we see them doing the work needed to keep their relationship healthy and strong.
Watch a promo for the next episode
