He's been missing since the end of season 2 and producers have been teasing that his return would herald a new and different Mon-El as well as be show-altering! Now, Mon-El is back and he brought some friends with him. The ship trapped underground/water has finally been identified and boarded! For those that thought it was the remaining World Killers, not this time. It was indeed a Legion of Superheroes ship! Of course, that wasn't all. Carl Lumby reprized his role as J'onn's father, M'yrnn and just by watching the sneak peeks, you know Betty Buckley joined the show as Sam's adoptive mother and deviously hid secrets from her. In an episode that explores origins and re-origins, here are the elements that stood out to us:
- The Legion of Superheroes Arrived: 12,000 years ago! Or at least that is how long the ship appears to be embedded in the rock under National City. Additionally, a metal that is not on a periodic table is a statement that is pretty amazing, not just for Earth today but the DEO has access to Krypton's knowledge. We'd have to imagine they know more about the periodic table that we do, so that metal is even beyond Krypton's knowledge!
- Mon-El is Different: From the first time Mon-El speaks, he is literally speaking a different language! From there you can tell the changes have really cemented. While at this point we don't know how long he's been gone, it's clear that what was seven months for Kara was much longer for Mon-El. He felt older and more seasoned from the get go. We are already enjoying these changes.
- Sam Visits Her Adoptive Mom: Already the second line of out of Sam's mom's mouth is that she hasn't met Ruby or even remembers her name. We hear that Patricia kicked Sam out of the house as soon as she was pregnant. It sounds terrible. Also, Patricia seems to know more than she is letting on. After some prodding, Sam is finally shown her ship! The parallels with the Kal-El legend are really well done with Sam. Adopted, farm house, but the exact opposite of Kal's growing up happened. Sam's mom wasn't the Kents, she kicked Sam out. We really loved this whole scene!
- This Brown Water: We mentioned it on Twitter earlier, but there is just something so adorable about how Carl Lumby plays M'yrnn. He's clearly an alien on Earth and doesn't know what Co'ff'ee is, but he approaches things on Earth with the wonder of a child. That makes his scenes incredibly joyful to watch and more heartbreaking when you let him down.
- Winn and Mon-El: Early in season 2, Winn and Mon-El did have some great bro-down moments that were some of our early favorites. It seems that friendship grew and Mon-El pleads to Winn to let him out and return him to the Legion ship. It felt genuine, but there was a part of us curious if he was just playing on Winn's love for Kara to get him to help.
- 7 Years: Kara has been worrying and missing Mon-El for 7 months. However, for him it's been 7 YEARS! He confirms he's been living in the future aka the 31st century on Earth. He even notes that L Corp develops a cure for his lead poisoning 400 years from now! It's clear he will always have a place in his heart for Kara, but how he reacts to Saturn Girl shows he's tried to move on as well.
- Fortress of Reign: Continuing with the parallels and opposites of the Kal-El legend, Reign seeks out a place in the desert to create her fortress rather than the arctic. Just like the arctic, it's pretty lifeless but unlike the arctic, it's hot! The same but different again! Love it!
- J'onn & M'yrnn: They get a place together to live and to make a life. As the only two members of their race left, they find a way to have a life and not just live a life on Earth.
Final wrap up moments. The time difference between Mon-El's departure and Kara is what made for this difficult situation and while it's not ideal for Kara, it's clear that Mon-El still has a place in his heart for her as he became the man he is today because of her. But seven years is a long time and he needed to move on. That ultimately is what we believe Kara would have wanted for him given the circumstances.
Than there's REIGN! The new sets they made for this season are amazing! J'onn has a home now but more importantly, you have the fortress of Reign! It would seem that the only thing that paused Sam's awakening was Ruby. Now that the delay is over, Sam awakens as Reign! What her powers are and will be are very exciting and she already feels stronger than Supergirl giving us a villain we can really worry about/be entertained by!
Let us know what you thought about the episode in the comments below and in the forum! Longest trailer for the crossover is here. Finally, if you like Supergirl.tv and we are your first go-to after or even during an episode, help us keep it that way and visit the support page!
Comments
I have watched that scene so many times and I'm dying to know more details. Did they do it in one take? Just a single camera-man walking ahead of them? As usual, Melissa plays it perfect, especially the spin wind up!
My hope is that they go with the comics, and Kara stays single...she'll possibly have a little fling with Braniac 5, or they may play it as he's just a love sick little puppy and she isn't all that interested...that is how I hope they play it, but in the end, I hope that she ends this season happy and single.
Kara and Mon-El is not over. Remember the other legions are guest. Mon-El is a regular on the show.
Now you know Winn probably used his genius to figure a way down there. Lol.
Also how did they get back down to the ship without J'onn's help?
ADVENTURE…4.0
WRITING…3.5
EFFECTS…4.0
POLITICAL PENALTY…0.0 (none)
BONUS…The scene where Patricia takes Sam out to the barn to show her the pod she came in, almost reminiscent of Superman The Movie (1978)…(0.5). I wanted to also give a bonus half point for the STM reference about where Supergirl wanted to spin, but Jonn stopped that to do his cool thing.
SCORE…16.0/20
The pod Sam came in was almost like the one Kara came in so that has to be cool, along with the security system way of opening the pod and then finding a shard of crystal which turned black. The new fortress of Reign’s solitude was pretty cool as was the inevitable revealing of Reign. Another effect in this episode is the music by Blake Neeley. What drama and tension it adds as an extra element to the show, including in all the scenes of Kara and Mon-El and Sam and Patricia.
The show is directed by Chad Lowe who played the demented cult leader in “The Faithful.” This is his first attempt, at least on Supergirl to go behind the camera, and he does an admirable job. Writing the episode is Gabriel Llanas and Anna Musky-Goldwyn. Lowe was able to make so many things flow with so much put into one hour.
But my favorite part of this was the unexpected moment of Jonn finding an apartment so he and Myrnn can live as father and son. Carl Lambly plays Space Granddad with warm wisdom and child-like wonder. He is a delight to have on this show and I would gladly have him for a grandfather, even with his quirks.
When Sam (Odette Anable) tells her mother about getting these powers, it’s like Sam is thinking she is human and not a strange visitor from another world whose mission it will be to become the worldkiller. While heading out into the desert, her SUV overheats. But out in the desert, Sam walks with the shard of crystal getting closer to perhaps her destiny. As the earth opens underneath, rocks pop out forming a new stone version of the Fortress of Solitude. Instead of ice, it’s made of rocks and called the Fortress of Sanctuary as opposed to Solitude. Its revealing was eye popping.
Seeing the underwater ship, which turns out to be the legion’s is very cool and sci-fi creepy given how there are two of three pods full. One of them is supposed to have Brainiac 5, who is the opposite of the more evil Brainiac and in the comics was one of Supergirl’s lovers. The heat vision and everything are good as always.
Another cool effect was early in the show when Kara, Winn and Jonn find the ship, Kara wanted to do like Christopher Reeve did in Superman The Movie, but Jonn stopped her (SPOILSPORT!)