Supergirl S01E19 “Myriad” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on Sky 1, new episodes every Friday
Writers: Yahlin Chang and Caitlin Parrish
Director: Adam Kane

Essential Plot Points:

• National City is on lockdown, and Non has its inhabitants under his control, and everyone apart from Kara, Max and Cat are affected by Myriad.
• Using the situation to his advantage, the episode opens with Non asking for all the prisoners in the DEO to be released and given to him to act as his subordinates.
• After Kara manages to foil Non’s plan, he and Indigo decide that they need to do something to show Kara who is running the show.
• When Kara arrives at CatCo and meets with Cat and Max in the hope of coming up with a plan, Non arrives to show the power he has over those in National City – making James, Winn and Kelly jump out of different windows for Kara to save.
• She only has the chance to save two people, in this case James and Winn, and Kara quickly learns the hard way that she can’t do this all on her own.
• Max suggests that they use a Kryptonite bomb to kill Non and his crew, which would also adversely affect Superman and Supergirl and kill 30,000 innocent people. Kara struggles to decide whether this is a good plan, or if she should try to do something else to save National City.
• Alex and J’onn, meanwhile, have arrived at Alex’s mother’s house. While they’re on the run from those in National City, after they discover what has occurred they decide to return there. While J’onn tries to dissuade Alex from returning since Myriad will affect her too, she says that J’onn can use his mind control powers to stop her from being put under the spell.
• When they arrive Myriad’s force is stronger than expected, and when Indigo comes to fight J’onn he struggles to use his full power against her. He quickly loses, and is left wounded as Indigo brings Alex, now under Myriad’s control, to Non.
• Non decides to use his new plaything against Kara. Cat, Max and Kara arrive at an old television studio for their alternate plan to Max’s bomb idea. After feeling a presence Kara leaves to find Alex in a Kryptonite suit under the influence of Myriad, and Non pits the pair against each other.

Review:

The day has finally arrived: Myriad has been unleashed on National City. All humans have been made into Non’s mindless drones, and there is very little that Kara can do to stop it. Try as she might, people simply won’t snap out of their trance and even Superman is taken down by the force. Things are serious and it’s clear that Kara can’t stop this on her own. Luckily there are two humans who have been able to avoid being brainwashed: Cat Grant and Maxwell Lord. When Kara arrives at CatCo to find Cat busy with work and completely oblivious to the fact that all her employees have become slaves to Myriad, she is able to breathe a sigh of relief. But when Maxwell Lord turns up with a plan to stop Non which would mean the sacrifice of 30,000 innocent people in National City, Kara has a moral dilemma on her hands.

For the penultimate episode of the season, “Myriad” feels like a fizzle more than a bang. While the episode has its moments, for the most part it feels like a set-up for something bigger in the finale. So much time is spent with characters wondering what they should be doing while mindless drones work quietly in the background. Although moments like Cat’s rousing speech to Kara work really well, having the majority of episode play out this way means that Myriad didn’t seem as catastrophic as it could have been. For the most part scenes didn’t flow well from one to another and this means that it takes a long time for the episode to find its rhythm.

Speaking of Cat’s pep talk, the scene was a shining moment in the episode. As Kara is down on her luck, and feels like she has no choice but to accept Max’s plan of bombing National City, Cat comes in to remind Supergirl that there is always a way if there is hope. By reminding her that all the world needs is for Supergirl to be herself, Cat is able to lift Kara from her despair and bring her back on the right path. Melissa Benoist and Calista Flockhart have always had great chemistry together on screen, but this scene was one of their best together and was certainly the moment that the episode needed.

While the episode did have problems with its flow, there were two excellent fight scenes towards the end between J’onn and Indigo, and then later Kara and Alex. The former was as exhilarating as it was upsetting since it was the first time that J’onn was at a disadvantage in a fight. Since the only way to protect Alex from Myriad was to use his mind-control powers to shield her from it, it meant that he was unable to detect or really defend himself in the face of Indigo. As a result their fight was one of the most intense of the series… and we don’t even know the outcome. The most shocking moment in “Myriad”, though, was the climax of the episode which saw a brainwashed Alex go head-to-head against Kara. While we only got to see this dilemma for a few minutes, it was an excellent way to lead into the finale.

The Good:

• Let’s be honest here, that cliff-hanger is awesome and is probably the best end-of-an-episode this series.
• Cat and Kara’s heart-to-heart was brilliantly executed. Melissa Benoist and Calista Flockhart have had an incredible dynamic together throughout the series, and Flockhart’s monologue was the icing on the cake. Incredibly delivered and given at the right moment to help Kara through her moral dilemma.
• Indigo and J’onn’s fight is a definite highlight of the episode; it was interesting to see him struggle to fight her and fail to defeat her since he’s been a very strong opponent.
• Having Non speak through James, Winn and later Alex was a nice touch. It makes the reality of the situation really sink in, and is a harrowing experience for Kara who feels defenceless in the face of the threat.
• “Kiera, call Harrison Ford and tell him I’m flattered, but once and for all, I do not date older men, especially when they’re married.”
• Supergirl: “You’re not a mindless drone.”
  Cat Grant: “Uh, no. No, I learned that lesson when Demi Moore and I wore the same dress to the premiere of Ghosts. Never again.
• The Man of Steel brought to his knees all because he went to kindergarten and watched “Sesame Street”.
• Supergirl: “This doesn’t look like victory to me. And all you’re doing is betraying her. I was with Astra in her final moments. We forgave each other, we paid respect to our blood bonds. She didn’t want this.”
  Non: “Of course she did. It’s what everyone wants, is it not? Peace on Earth. Goodwill towards men.”
  Cat Grant: “It’s a lot less like Christmas out there and more like Dawn Of The Dead.”
• “So, mind control is the answer to global warming? Why didn’t I think of that?”
• “Why am I not surprised that your brain is intact, Max? What is it they say? Only cockroaches will survive the apocalypse.”

The Bad:

• There are moments in the episode that don’t flow well into each other, such as Non arriving at CatCo to reveal his thinking behind Myriad only to then disappear after Kara saves James and Winn from plummeting to their deaths.
• There is a lot to cover in this episode in order to set up the finale, so it takes a while for the whole thing to find its rhythm.
• Max’s plan is pretty bad – who would honestly think it was a good idea?
• We know Superman has been on Earth a little longer than Kara, but she has lived most of her life on Earth so why isn’t she at least a little affected by Myriad?

And The Random:

• Maxima, who makes her debut in the beginning of this episode, first appeared in Action Comics in 1989. Like her character says to Kara, she does spend the majority of her time trying to persuade Kal-El to be her mate but is ultimately turned down by him.

Written by Roxy Simons

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