Supergirl Review: In Plain Sight (Season 5 Episode 4)
Supergirl Season 5 Episode 4, “In Plain Sight,” says goodbye to one character and reintroduces another one. In this episode, James Olsen says goodbye, for now, to National City and William Day explains his reasons for coming to the city.
Although both James’s exit and William’s big reveal are surprising due to the season’s lack of focus on them thus far, these moments still pull on the heartstrings and pique the viewer’s interest for what’s to come.
James Olsen is an integral member of the Super Friends, and now he is taking his fight for and pursuit of truth and justice home to Calvintown, the town James and Kelly moved to after their father passed away.
James’s newest mission of buying the Calvintown Gazette is brave and bold, and it is perfect for him. After all, James declares, “Journalism is about fighting for the little guy.” Now James can give back and help a town that does not have CatCo and Supergirl backing it, like his mentor Nelson points out.
James’s connection to Simon Kirby is organic and shows James’s genuine desire to help those in need, with or without his Guardian suit. It is hard not to get choked up when James passes his father’s camera to Simon, giving him that same hope James was gifted earlier in his life.
This scene and James’ line, “Don’t call me chief. It’s Jimmy,” feel like the perfect combination of passing the torch and bringing James’s story full circle.
However, it would have been nice had Supergirl taken more time to ease us into James’s exit on screen. All viewers know is that James quit his job at CatCo and moved Kelly away from danger.
Losing James Olsen is a hard pill to swallow as he is one of the last remaining OG characters from the first season of Supergirl, but it would have been a bit easier to process had it not seemed so out of left field. Even though it is common knowledge that Mehcad Brooks would leave Supergirl early in the season, James’s ending is still abrupt.
This could have been resolved had Supergirl focused on James and Calvintown’s existence more than in just “In Plain Sight.”
It would have been great to see James go back to Calvintown after leaving CatCo and before he went there with Kelly. Viewers could have seen James explore that space on his own, and Supergirl could have developed that more in this episode.
The scene in the bar at the end of the episode is full of so much heart; everyone in the scene is clearly holding back tears. It’s even more heart wrenching that the scene starts with a declaration of “always being together” before James breaks the news to his friends that have become family.
It is odd that Lena Luthor, one of his closest friends and ex-girlfriend, isn’t at this family gathering. Yes, Lena says earlier in the episode that she has things to take care of at L-Corp, but she doesn’t get to say goodbye to James.
Supergirl has spent quite a lot of time building the relationship and larger bond between James and Lena, so it is extremely odd that they do not get to share one last moment together on screen. Maybe there will be a line in next week’s episode that hints to an off-screen goodbye between those two.
On the other hand, Kara and James have a very special moment in the episode. James tells the story long-time viewers of Supergirl know well, that he came to National City to watch over Kara because Clark wanted someone to look out for his cousin. James lowers his eyes at his best friend and tells Kara, “You’re the one who kept an eye on me.”
Supergirl fans probably identify with Brainy in this scene, as it is very difficult to hold back the tears. It’s goodbye for now to Jimmy Olsen. Hopefully, Jimmy will come back and fight alongside the Super Friends again in the future.
Elsewhere in National City, William Day reveals that he is investigating Andrea Rojas and her potential criminal activity. This is another plot that comes out of nowhere, as Andrea has hardly been a focus this season.
It is still early in the season, and there are surely more twists and turns to come with Andrea Rojas. It may be the case that William didn’t tell Kara the truth. He hasn’t given anyone much of a reason to trust him.
He compliments Kara in saying, “You articles are honest and smart. I could never write the way you write,” yet his actions have yet to reflect that. William does apologize. Should he expect immediate forgiveness after creating a toxic workplace for one of his female coworkers?
William’s behaviors have been anything but kind and generous. He feels that to remain undercover, he must demean Kara and her work, which should damage his reputation with her. Kara should not be subjected to dismissive and rude comments to enable William to continue his investigation.
William’s presence is sure to increase as his investigation logically progresses. Hopefully, this means William can move away from being a jerk and lean into being supportive and kind. Like he says, he may even find an alliance in Kara if he is telling the truth.
There is still time and space for William to change for the better and form a team to expose the potential corruption of the Rojas family. If he does make these changes, it would be interesting to see Kara and hopefully Nia team up with him and write an honest story.
What did you think of this episode of Supergirl? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Supergirl airs Sundays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Shelby Elpers
Shelby is a TV enthusiast and pop culture writer. She's an avid podcast listener, green tea drinker, and soccer fan. Her brand can be summarized in rom-coms, superheroes, teen dramas, and workplace comedies.