‘Supergirl’ Review [2×10] “We Can Be Heroes”

Supergirl is given a much needed electro shock to the season with a episode of reveals, rifts and rivalries.

Mon-el (Chris Wood) has finally begun his super training with the help of Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). Despite being physically able it’s clear that he is still not mentally ready for the hero title. Mon-el continues to act on his own selfish behalf instead of the interest of others. Kara has neither the time or temperament to deal with him as nemesis Livewire (Brit Morgan) escapes from prison.

James (Mechad Brooks) is revved up now that he’s Guardian and throwing himself in more dangerous situations by the day. When a mistake by Mon-el reveals his identity to Kara the two found themselves at odds with one another over whether James can be a hero or not.

Back at the DEO J’onn (David Harewood) was forced to confront his hatred for White Martians when M’gann (Sharon Leal) falls into a coma and her fate rests in his hands. A arc that surprisingly was the most heart wrenching of the episode.

A lot of oh my god moments happened, so let’s get into them!

Bro’s before…Superheroes?

We’ll be honest. We’re still not sure what to feel about James, Kara and the Guardian story line. Their relationship took quite a hard turn from season 1. What started as a friendship, with mutual romantic undertones has become strained and forced. Jame’s and his sudden unhappiness with his position as friend, sidekick has seemingly come out of thin air.

Despite our reservations with the pace of the story it did give us one of our episode’s best scenes. When Kara asks why James is doing this he responds that he lives for the feeling, Kara immediately shuts him down. Now we feel both sides made valid points. Is Kara wrong to say that without her and Mon-el’s invulnerability James is setting himself up for fail? Or is James correct in saying that the will and passion to protect others above all else beats how hard you can hit?

The scene was reminded us of the wonderful chemistry between Melissa Benoist and Mechad Brooks that has been scarce this season. Especially since it seems James problems with Mon-el border closer to jealousy then just cause.

James: “Who are you to decide who’s a hero”

We were a little bit surprised by how quickly Winn sided with James, and we’re definitely looking forward to how that affects his relationship with Kara.

Martian Madness.

J’onn has lost his entire family to genocide by White Martians. Wounds like that don’t heal quickly, if ever. Add in J’onn trying to preserve his family’s memories from the very person whose people slaughtered them, made this arc by far the most heartbreaking of the episode.

J’onn; “If she dies, she dies. She deserves it a thousand times over, let her drown in her own sins!”

In a stunning performance from David Harewood we get to see the extent of J’onns repressed rage toward White Martians. Later when Alex confronts him, reminding him that M’gann risked her identity and their friendship to save him he breaks. Harewood’s ability to go from cold and enraged to broken and concerned was magnificent to watch.

J’onn: “Hate becomes your reason for living, when you’ve lost everything you love.”

We’ll credit the writing of this entire arc for touching on some powerful themes of hatred, depression and forgiveness. Having M’Gann’s mental imprisonment be the camp site of J’onn and his family’s internment really brought home, his personal struggle with the bond. We were glad to see him push past the events of the past and accept M’gann as his friend.

He loves me. He loves me not.

Oh Mon-El, we’re struggling here. Here’s the thing, we want to love Mon-el he’s a fun character and certainly easy on the eyes but otherwise he adds nothing to the story. Strange considering questions of who he is and his relationship with Kara seem to be the season’s focus. So what’s missing?

We’ve had plenty of episodes to see his growth, and it feels like we’re constantly asking him to do better with less than stellar results. We’re hopeful once all his secrets are revealed Mon-el can be a character we both love and root for.

Speaking of secrets a big one finally came to light:. Mon-el finally telling Kara about the not so forgotten kiss was a big sigh of relief for us. We’d been struggling to hop on the Karamel (as they’ve been dubbed) train. Melissa and Chris have chemistry no doubt but something about it plays more to brother and sister than star crossed lovers. Now that it’s all out in the open, we’re interested in seeing if our feelings change.

Final Verdict: Despite its shortcomings we were still buzzing all over this episode.

The return of villainess Livewire was the super showdown the episode needed. Amidst all the mystery and relationship folly’s it’s nice to see Kara do what she does best and that’s save the day as Supergirl. The episode twist of Livewire being held hostage and tortured was a nice surprise. Supergirl’s decision to save Livewire and call a truce in order to fight a common enemy made us excited for when Livewire returns next. It might just come in handy during our inevitable Cadmus showdown.

David Harewood absolutely was our MVP of the episode. We felt what he was feeling and by the end had us rooting for J’onn and M’Gann more than ever. It’ll be great to watch that relationship develop now that we know the white martians are hunting her!

We were definitely impressed with this week’s fight choreography and cinematography, one thing we love is seeing that the heroes of National City can kick ass. The slow motion scenes of Supergirl and Mon-el and later Mon-el and James were excellent and made the fights much more entertaining.

QUESTION, COMMENTS AND CONCERNS

• Brit Morgan was a complete scene stealer. Her one liners made gave us laugh out loud moments all through the episode.
  • “Look All-American Barbie”
  • “Your cosplay sucks”
  • “This is copyright infringement! First I’m going to sue you, then I’m going to murder you.”
• Another fun moment of the episode was Alex and Maggie betting on how long Kara could keep her composure. A bad deal for Alex in the end. Vegan Ice Cream for two?
• We love that Winn is the designated superhero costume shop, here’s to hoping he makes supersuits for the rest of the CW supers.
• We have a feeling Mon-el may be the True Prince of Daxam, what do you think?
• Where is Lena Luthor these days?
• Are we the only ones desperately missing Lucy Lane and Cat Grant?
• With Lillian Luthor behind bars, we have to wonder how Cadmus is growing in the shadows?
• Who are the mysterious Aliens after Mon-el?

You can catch episodes of Supergirl on Monday’s, 8/7c. Channel: The CW