Supergirl Review: The Darkest Place (Season 2 Episode 7)

For the first time this season I am both pleased and thoroughly disappointed in Supergirl.

Most plot lines progress nicely this week, but the relationship between Kara and Mon-el is drenched in trope after trope until the audience is practically bludgeoned over the head with this relationship.

After Mon-el is taken by Cadmus, they use him to get to Kara like he’s someone that she loves.

But the thing is, Kara would do that for literally any innocent person.

Kara Danvers isn’t the kind of person to just sit back and watch a villain hurt someone if she can do anything to stop it, let alone if they’re hurting someone because of her. I can’t quite tell if the audience is supposed to take this as an act of love, or if Mon-el is the only one who’s supposed to see it that way.

Take Kara’s self-sacrifice, and combine it with her asking him to tell Alex things if she dies, and then  add in her rescuing him and by the end of it all Mon-el has got full blown heart-eyes for her.

Now this story line can work, but only if Kara doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. At the very least, not right away. Kara just broke up with James. Whether you liked that relationship or not, it’s end was done awkwardly and in a way that didn’t mesh with the end of Season 1 at all.

If Kara is to immediately get with Mon-el, then the show broke up a relationship that made much more sense and served for better representation, just to have her fall for a generic frat-boy style alien.

Kara can thrive with or without a romance, but the show shouldn’t end a perfectly good relationship just to start something that might be more palatable to white audiences.

Now, there are several parts of “The Darkest Place” that actually work really well. Alex’s journey continues to be one of the best things about Season 2. Her frustrations with Maggie and her honesty over their relationship is continually refreshing in how real it is.

Maggie is the one off balance this week as Alex confesses why she can’t just go straight back to being friends with her. I still believe Supergirl is giving this relationship the best and most realistic treatment of any on the show, aside from the relationship between Alex and Kara, of course.

Maggie: I don’t meet many people that I care about, but I care about  you a lot.

The reason that Maggie doesn’t want to begin a romantic relationship with Alex just yet is just as realistic as Alex’s struggles with coming out. Maggie is scared, and she genuinely cares for Alex, more than she does for most people.

She would rather keep Alex as a friend than risk losing her altogether if a romantic relationship didn’t work out.

Maggie: I don’t want to imagine my life without you in it.

Only time will tell if Maggie will continue to let her fear control her relationships. These two have the potential to become something truly wonderful and I continue to be impressed with how the show handles their relationship week after week.

Other Thoughts:

• Alex’s relationship with Winn is truly delightful this season. They have a back and forth that is really fun to watch.
• I am enjoying seeing James find his footing as a hero, but he and Winn can only keep this from Kara for so long, especially now that Alex knows.
• What is Mon-el’s secret about the prince from Daxam? I had hoped he’d been in love with the boy, but I’m not so sure anymore. What do you guys think he wanted to tell Kara before Jeremiah showed up?
• Speaking of Jeremiah Danvers, how has he survived in Cadmus for literal years without being turned into a monster? I’m not saying I don’t trust that he’s still a good guy, I’m just saying it’s highly unlikely that he’d be there that long without having become one of their frankenstein style villains.
• I’ve been enjoying the relationship between M’Gann and J’onn as well, but his discovery of her true identity did NOT go how I expected it to. I know she’s a part of the species that ended his world, but she’s proven time and again to be a friend. Where was the man who wouldn’t fight her?
• Do you think Lena knows her mother runs an Anti-Alien organization? Do you think she’ll team up with Kara to take her down, will she put family over what’s right?

What did you think of this episode of Supergirl? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Supergirl airs Monday at 8/7c on The CW.

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