Kyle’s Thoughts

“Survivors” may have ventured from the season’s big bad Cadmus, but this week’s Supergirl delivered a solid villain-of-the-week episode because of its auxiliary character development.

Agent Danvers’ new partner Maggie Sawyer and their intergalactic buddy cop routine could have legs and keeps Kara’s adopted sis relevant. Winn going out with Mon-El could be a welcome dynamic, although I fear that win leaving the CatCo News Group has made his character little more than a Cisco-Felicity type rather than a fully fleshed out character. Snapper Carr continues to shine as the tough as nails editor. He pours water on Kara’s ideas and forces her to do her job correctly. It’s refreshing to see CatCo function like a legitimate news outlet. Arrow has merged the jobs of mayor and vigilante, and Flash has—for the most part—forgotten that Barry’s a crime scene investigator, but Supergirl shows Kara’s struggles to be a competent reporter.

Love mists Supergirl’s air but doesn’t dominate the storylines and episodes, and “Survivors” is no exception. I like how Supergirl doesn’t saturate its episodes in relationship drama like the other Arrowverse shows. “Survivors” pumped in a few potential love interests and they were handled with a gentle hand. Even so, I could do with a little less near miss romances. Every one of the crushes has an obstacle, most real, some imagined. It’s not a big issue now, but could become one should Supergirl enter a rut of unrequited love.

The villain-of-the-week was less of a fully formed character and more of a vehicle with which to drive recurring characters’ relationships with the main cast. Roulette didn’t have much time or space to be more than a fight club coordinator, but her story thread complicated Miss Martial and Martian Manhunter’s relationship, Lena Luthor got to weigh in on her feelings about aliens and aliens’ rights, and the intergalactic buddy cops had a case to crack. Roulette was a by-the-numbers weekly villain, except that she was freed after capture. She may have a future with Cadmus or could already have ties with them. Even if Roulette is nothing more than a weekly villain, she served a purpose beyond filling the villain role for one week and that’s a step in the right direction.

“Survivors” is a step in the right direction for Supergirl—not that it fell too far last week—and the show continues to outshine Flash and Arrow so far this season. I could see Cadmus bringing characters back to life as another issue further down the line, but until it becomes an issue, I trust that the consequences presented in Supergirl to carry more weight.

I’ve avoided spoilers—for the most part—so I’ll end with a spoiler. If you haven’t seen “Survivors,” avert your eyes. You’ve been warned.

Miss Martian is a white Martian in disguise as a green Martian. I’m not sure if I buy that a white Martian would take a delicate approach to hunting a green Martian, but this big reveal could have as long and interesting complications as Lynda Carter’s big reveal last week: the president isn’t all she appears. This thread also affords J’onn J’onzz a meaty story, and that’s a good thing.

I remain pleasantly surprised with Supergirl. I never followed the character as much as Flash but the show is holding my interest. Thanks for reading.