Season One, Episode Nineteen — “Myriad”
©2016 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
By Molly Jane Kremer. With last week’s happy-go-lucky trip to Friendship Town with The Flash behind us, this week’s “Myriad” gets us back into the season’s overarching plot. Nearly every character introduced this season shows up, which means a tangible resolution is undeniably approaching. (Only one week left before we enter The Great Supergirl Drought of 2016. *sigh*) We discover what Non and Indigo have been getting up to, which leads to a devastating cliffhanger. (Seems to be a lot of those going around these days.) This is some well-earned, fate-of-the-planet kind of drama, and the suspense never lets up — but then again, neither does our hero. It’s time to recap Supergirl.
WHAT WORKED:As we ramp up to the season finale next week, “Myriad” was one of the most ambitious Supergirl episodes we’ve seen so far, a suspensefully-paced culmination of a months-long setup, not to mention a rich and satisfying display relationship building. The ramifications of Astra’s death are still being felt by everyone involved, giving the events here (and the events that came before) substance and weight.
The writers have set up a massive throwdown next week between Kara and a mind-controlled, Kryptonite-armored Alex, but we at least have the comfort of knowing that it’s only happening because one of them is being literally forced to do it. And, at least, the certain knowledge that neither of them is going to throw a sink into the other’s face.
And, though it’s not exactly significant to the plot, the first ten minutes of the episode have only ladies doing the speakin’ parts. Even the extras! This is the kind of thing television (and movies and comics and all media forever) could use more of.
WHAT DIDN’T: In a mostly solid (if crammed chock-full) episode, there were only a few instances of bad acting that pulled me out of the action. Sadly, Helen Slater is still intolerable as Kara’s adopted mother, Eliza. At one point she recited a string of scientific jargon at J’onn, and wow — did it sound ridiculous. As Max Lord, Peter Facinelli still lacks the presence and motivation to elicit from us either fear as a threat or sympathy as a tenuous possible-ally. Indigo still looks goofy as all get-out, and her relationship with Non is still, well, gross.
BEST LINE(s):
“Ugh, Kira, call Harrison Ford and tell him that I’m flattered, but once and for all I do not date older men, especially when they’re married.” – Cat. IT WAS INEVITABLE, GUYS.
“Killing is never the solution.” – Kara. (Funny how Kara DIDN’T have to murder someone in order to figure out it was wrong, innit? Like she’s a superhero or sumthin’.)
“So mind control is the answer to global warming. Why didn’t I think of that?” – Maxwell Lord, who is probably correct in this instance.
“There was only a 25.6 percent chance that you would turn up. Once again defying the odds.” – Indigo, who is like an even worse version of C-3PO at this point.
BEST MOMENT: While our esteemed editor-in-chief let out what could only be described as a squeak when he saw a distant glimpse of Superman on screen, my favorite moment was a little more complex and edifying, with Cat giving Supergirl some inspiration after hearing of Maxwell Lord’s casualty-laden plan to “save” National City. In an exchange that feels like a big ol’ middle finger (both verbally and contextually) to the dour slugfest that was Batman v. Superman, Cat tells Supergirl she “can change everyone out there. Not with violence, not with fear. Just be Supergirl. That’s all anyone’s ever needed from you.” Pretty gratifying for a superhero’s parental figure to say something besides, “This world doesn’t owe you a thing.”
EPISODE’S MVP: An incredible amount of characters flitted through this episode, but I still have to go with Kara as my MVP (the same thing I do every Monday night, Pinky). Spending most of the episode’s full-crisis-mode duration in her cape and boots, Kara deals with all sorts of mayhem and the complicated emotions that come with them: loss, fear, hope, strength, all of the tangible emotions that make a hero great were plainly evident on Melissa Benoist’s face. I am going to miss this show when it’s gone.
©2016 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
HEAT VISIONS:
– Sorry this recap was late! DoomRocket ran over to Seattle for a week. (You might have read about it.)
– Maxima! Lady Maxima! And she’s already made a pass at Superman! *sigh* Not a great character, but it’s nice to see another reminder that Supergirl comes from a fully-realized world.
– Speaking of Maxima, she made her first appearance in Action Comics #645 in 1989, created by Roger Stern and George Perez.
– Non’s “son of Jor-El has kneeled before me” line is yet another Supergirl nod to the Richard Donner Superman movies. I’m not complaining!
– Non’s plan of attack includes Metropolis (which, sure), Opal City (makes sense), and… Central City?! *dun dun dunnnn* Does that mean we’ll be seeing an Earth-3 Barry Allen zipping around sooner rather than later? Probably not. But hey!
– What is… is Max hitting on Cat? Oh, that — that we do not need to deal with.
– More Fortress stuff this week. Kelex looks like it never got finished rendering, and the entire space still looks like it was shot on a tiny-ass set. I hope Supergirl‘s budget swells next season; we deserve a fully-realized Fortress of Solitude.
8.5 out of 10
Next: “Better Angels”, soon.
Before: “World’s Finest”, here.
