Supergirl S02E05 “Crossfire” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on Sky 1, new episodes every Monday
Writers: Glabriel Llanas, Anna Musky-Goldwyn
Director: Glen Winter

Essential Plot Points:

• Kara starts get Mon-El ready to join the human world. He’s going to adopt the name Mike Matthews and start working at CatCo. He’s struggling to get used to things, since he thinks he should just be using his powers.
• Alex and Maggie are hanging out, and Alex finds out that she broke up with her girlfriend.
• Kara informs James who Mon-El is, but before they get too far into their conversation they encounter some thieves going on a bank heist. One criminal attacks Kara with an alien gun, while James joins in the fight. This seems to be one battle that Kara is unable to win.
• Cadmus sends the DEO a message: aliens shouldn’t be allowed to have their weapons on Earth because of the risk that they will get into the hands of criminals.
• The subject of alien weapons sparks a discussion of gun control and the second amendment in National City.
• Lena Luthor asks Kara to attend a gala. Mon-El asks if he can come along to the party. Lena agrees.
• Alex is thinking about Maggie while at work.
• The criminal group is using alien weapons again to attack innocents and commit bank heists.
• Cadmus confirms that it is trying to make the world afraid of aliens, so it can step in and take control.
• Alex meets Maggie at a police investigation, and asks her to go out for a drink. Maggie says she didn’t realise that Alex was into girls, but after she says this Alex disagrees and leaves.
• James goes to the DEO to meet with Winn to ask about the criminal gang. James starts his vigilante lifestyle. He asks if Winn can make him a suit, but Winn think he’s going to get himself killed.
• Lena Luthor wants to get in touch with Supergirl. The criminal gang wants to attack Lena’s gala.
• At the party, Kara spends time switching between being herself and Kara. The criminal gang crashes the party to steal their stuff. James wants to get involved, but Kara fights as Supergirl.
• Winn helps Lena to use a machine to stop the weapons from working. Although the gang gets caught, the leader of Cadmus kills them before they can reveal anything.
• Winn agrees to help James become a hero.
• Alex goes to see Maggie, and explains how she always felt that dating wasn’t for her. But now she thinks that there was some truth to what Maggie said.
• Lena and Kara (as Supergirl) agree to work together,but  just as she’s about to leave the leader of Cadmus walks into the room.

Review:

The writers behind Supergirl have been upping the ante this season, and “Crossfire” is no exception to this. Kara is helping Mon-El integrate into society, Cadmus is wreaking havoc, and James is determined to be a superhero. There’s plenty to be enjoy, but the best part of the episode was definitely the way in which the writers dealt with Alex and her sexuality.

Her interest in Maggie has been bubbling under the surface for the past few episodes, and while it seemed clear to the audience it wasn’t for her. When Maggie says that she didn’t realise that Alex was into girls she seems confused, and throughout the episode we see her try to grapple with whether or not Maggie is right. Her speech at the end of the episode is particularly moving as Alex comes to terms with her past and how she never wanted to be intimate with anyone, admitting that perhaps Maggie was right about her. It’s about time that we get this sort of development from Alex, she has always been strong and unfazed by things around her so this vulnerability gives her character even more depth. Hopefully it won’t be long before we see her and Maggie get together.

Kara’s friendship with Mon-El is also continuing to be on good form this week. After agreeing to help him integrate into society most of the episode is spent following Kara making her own mini-me in “Mike” and she goes so far as getting him a job at CatCo. It’s safe to say that Mike doesn’t fit in there; he dumps his work on an intern who’s fallen for him and he doesn’t understand why he shouldn’t just use his powers to do these things. It provides some of the funnier moments from the episodes, and it’s great to see their relationship develop in this way.

One thing that is unclear is what James does this episode. Determined to help in his own way with the crimewave that’s hitting National City, he decides to face the bad guys with alien guns head on with nothing but a baseball bat to help him. Not only is this incredibly reckless of the character, it just doesn’t make sense. His reasoning seems less like a rational decision and more like a childish reaction to not being as strong as his friends. Like Winn says in the episode, Kara and Clarke have superpowers and can withstand bullets and brute force. James just isn’t cut out for this kind of stuff right now, but when he gets his armour from Winn then maybe things will change.

An interesting development does come with Cadmus’s leader, known simply as “The Doctor” (for now), as we get to learn a little bit more about her reasoning. Although her use of the criminal thugs seems a little short-sighted given how many innocent civilians were probably hurt by them. But the fact that she’s now being given some actual back-story, and her family has been revealed it seems like she could be a better character than we’ve previously seen.

The Good:

• Alex’s acceptance of her sexuality, and the development of her potential romance with Maggie.
• Kara and Mon-El have a great dynamic, seeing Kara dress him up as a male version of herself was amusing. It’ll be interesting to see where Mon-El decides to go next, though.
• Cadmus leader “The Doctor” seems to be being fleshed-out a little by the writers, and the reveal of who her family is will likely provide even more development.
• “There’s a difference; she can fly you’re just tall.”
• “I mean, she wasn’t into either of us; there’s no way she’s into this guy, right?”
• “Hey, sorry I ran out of bribery coffee.”
• Eve: “Do you have protection?” 
Mon-El: “Do you mean like a sword?”

The Bad:

• Why does James think it’s a good idea to become a vigilante and use a bat to defeat criminals? He hasn’t got superpowers, and he hasn’t trained for years like Batman or the Punisher, so he could have got seriously hurt.

And the Random:

• James’s future superhero name, Guardian, is a reference to the Manhattan Guardian, if Winn’s suit design is anything to go by.

Review by Roxy Simons

• Read our other Supergirl reviews