Kyle’s Thoughts

“Crossfire” offers some new love connections and a serviceable weekly villain. The biggest issue I had with this week’s Supergirl is its focus on budding romances. There’s a whopping three of them and while I understand romance can be a great element in a show, building three romances was a little overkill.

The villain-of-the-week was forgettable. They were thugs with alien weapons, but tying them to the season’s big bad Cadmus was a great touch. Sure, they’re weekly villains with little character development but they fleshed out the lengths Cadmus will go to discredit or defeat Supergirl. Alliances are taking shape that could provide some interesting twists and turns. We’re headed into spoiler territory if I say anything more. I’ll stop short and say that I’m digging Lena Luthor and Supergirl’s partnership. Those two could get into some trouble in the not so distant future.

A discussion of “Crossfire” isn’t complete without addressing its three growing romances. To be fair nothing too concrete has happened with these couplings, but it’s clear Supergirl plans to explore relationships between these characters. Full disclosure: I may be jaded when it comes to the CW and romance. I’ve seen this network tear down characters with all-consuming relationships. Likeable characters have turned to unwatchable jerks with the touch of one bad romance. Supergirl’s first season avoided romance for the most part, and I was grateful for that, but I knew the show would dip its toe in those waters, and the love connections Supergirl introduced could be interesting.

Kara and Mon-El are destined to be together—Winn and James (Jimmy) Olsen believe so and aren’t afraid to share their thoughts—but Supergirl has made them obvious polar opposites. Opposites attract, I get it, but the idea that these two are destined to be together makes me not want to root for them. I like both characters, so I’ll give them a chance.

Alex (Kara’s adopted sister) and Maggie’s growing relationship might have the most promise. Because Supergirl’s intended audience is younger than Arrow and Flash’s, I trust the show will handle this relationship with grace. It also helps that Alex is discovering who she is. We should see a nice character arc. The only issue I can foresee is that Supergirl could go the route of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and kill off a lesbian lovebird after a season. While Maggie’s death—Supergirl won’t kill off Alex—could fuel some interesting storylines, it’s a Hollywood cliché to kill one half of a happy, gay couple.

Winn and Lena Luthor are the third, surprising coupling. Okay, they aren’t a real couple; they were caught under a platform, saving the day, and other characters think something else was happening. I’m okay if this moment was a one off and Supergirl doesn’t make them a couple, but if the show chose to make Winn and Lena an item, they could be fun.

I know, that’s a lot of discussion about potential romances, but love was in the air in “Crossfire.” I’d be remiss to not mention one last point. This week’s Supergirl introduced the idea of James Olsen wanting to be a superhero. He needs to stop it. I like the fact that Supergirl has one main superhero and two superheroes (Superman and Martian Manhunter) who could chip in. Arrow and Flash suffer from bloated superhero ranks and I like Supergirl’s focus on Supergirl. It makes sense Jimmy wants to be a superhero—he was one for a time in the comics—but one of the few things the Arrowverse needs is more superheroes.

While not one of the season’s best outings, “Crossfire” is a solid episode. We’ll have to see how things shake out in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading.