On Supergirl season 5, episode 15, viewers finally got a peek at the virtual world that Andrea Rojas, Kelly Olsen, and Obsidian North have been working on all season, as Alex enters to save a missing man.
What was teased to be Supergirl‘s Black Mirror season has been, well, disappointing thus far. (And with only five episodes left of the 20-episode season 5, it’s a major failure on the writers’ part, in my opinion.) Of every story introduced, the show’s take on technology and advancement of the Leviathan/Obsidian North story has been basically non-existent.
But, finally, after waiting almost all season (other than a few brief glimpses, like Andrea having an allergic reaction to seafood), we got an episode that, for Alex, took place in the virtual reality world for a decent portion of the episode. And from what we saw, it’s clear that this virtual world has so many possibilities.
Talking about tech
So far, the virtual world on Supergirl hasn’t been treated with the same preachy point of view we’ve gotten with other technology, like cell phones. While there are dangers, it’s an incredibly intricate world that Obsidian North has created, and it’s enormous.
The virtual reality world has been created to mimic life. From what we’ve seen, Kelly’s job at Obsidian North has been helping Andrea develop the real-world experience, including feeling temperature and experiencing pain. It’s not just a game; this is a world where you can have anything you want, and it’ll feel like real life.
So much of the season has been the characters — mainly Andrea — talking about virtual reality, but we’ve never actually had a chance to see where the story was headed. And now, it’s clear there was no real reason for such a long wait before virtual reality could be used as a way to tell important and meaningful, even fun, stories. So, why has half of the season been so boring when this was at the writers’ fingertips?
Endless possibilities for storytelling with the virtual reality world
Regardless of all we’ve missed out on with virtual reality, going forward, there are so many possible routes for the writers tell tell new, unique, and inventive stories, since real-world perimeters don’t necessarily apply to the world created by Obsidian North.
On the next episode of Supergirl, as seen in the trailer below, Alex is entering the virtual world and getting her chance to shine as Supergirl, which was teased to be one of her mind’s greatest hopes.
With this episode, it’s sure to give Alex a chance to reflect on her life and what she offers to the real world as herself, which is such an important story with a creative way to explore it. This wouldn’t really be possible without the virtual world.
Exploring the characters’ hopes and dreams through the virtual world, where they’re made possible, is such an excellent way to get even more options for storytelling. While Alex may not be at the place in her life where she can have a baby, she can experience it in virtual reality, and decide whether or not it’s even the right path for her.
While Kara got to see other realities with magic, where she told Lena her secret, Lena could explore the same or different other realities to see what her life would have been like if she’d been in on the secret sooner. Like, there’s literally no better way for Lena to reflect on what’s happened, other than for Mxyzptlk to visit her himself, which seems unlikely.
Hell, I’d even be okay watching everyone (Nia, Alex, Kelly, Lena, even Andrea) get their time to shine as their own version of Supergirl. That sounds like so much fun to watch, and hopefully it would end with each understanding a little better what exactly Kara experiences as a hero and the pressure she’s always under. And they’d get their chance to experience having her powers, which would be so cool!
There aren’t many rules with virtual reality, so almost anything is possible. No show has ever had the capability to tell as creative stories as Supergirl has right now, and it’s tragic and criminal that we aren’t really seeing that used (outside of this coming episode with Alex). It’s such a waste of such a brilliant storytelling vehicle.
It’s clear that getting all of your heart’s desires in virtual reality isn’t healthy, but why isn’t that story being told? Everyone in Kara’s life could be living it up with the virtual world at their disposal, and she could recognize how dangerous it is and work to show her friends and family that.
She could use her Paragon of Hope status to tell the world that life is worth living, and even if you don’t have everything you want, that’s just part of what makes life beautiful… because the things you want that you actually get mean more. As someone who grew up, for the most part, on a more advanced planet, it doesn’t make any sense why this virtual reality world hasn’t gotten more focus from Kara.
(Well, it does because the writers have all but forgotten about it until this last episode, but you know what I mean.)
Considering this story is likely wrapping up at the end of the season, I’m just all-around let down by how season 5 has ignored this wonderful opportunity and instead told stories that just weren’t that interesting or exciting (and definitely weren’t anything that new, for the most part).
It felt like the show actually shined on Supergirl season 5, episode 15, for the first time since the premiere.