Supergirl’s fifth episode (“Crossfire”) is full of character development, and that’s what I want to focus on. There’s good, bad, and blah. Let’s talk about the good first.
First and foremost, Maggie (Floriana Lima) and Alex. I’ve been shipping these two since they first crossed paths and argued. While this relationship dynamic could’ve rung false, it didn’t. Maggie spends most of the episode in a post-breakup haze (although, she did flirtily call Alex a nerd at one point, which YES), fueled by booze and a decided lack of her (already trademark) snark. Alex, it’s clear to see, spends a heap of time checking up on her—when she isn’t grinning at nothing and mooning around like a giddy teenager. (Adorable, y’all. I mean, who hasn’t been there?)
Maggie isn’t just a vehicle or plot device for Alex to figure out her sexuality. She’s well drawn, and even in this short time period, I found myself caring about her character. While I loved Chyler Leigh’s chemistry with Peter Facinelli (aka Maxwell Lord), these two ladies have an interesting attraction all their own. Like most awakenings, Maggie isn’t the agent of change—but she is the impetus for Alex’s introspection and questioning. And I have to fangirl a minute over Leigh. She’s consistently a stunning, heartfelt actress. There’s no wrong facial expression or misplace vocal inflection. I find myself rooting for Alex on the regular, whether she’s questioning her sexuality or kicking some ass.
Now, let’s discuss frat boy lothario, Mon-El (Chris Wood)—aka Mike, at least for a hot minute. I was downright delighted and amused that Kara dressed him for his CatCo internship in what might be called Jimmy Olsen (the original) attire. It was adorable, even though it absolutely didn’t suit him. Despite his completely goofy personality, it turns out Mon-El’s a fairly good dancer, even if he paid for his new suit with Eve Teschmacher’s credit card. I am enjoying his relationship with Kara, mostly for the somehow adorable personality clashes. While I think Wood is a total Betty, I have not yet decided if I fully ship these two together. But I do like the interplay here, with opposites attracting.
Speaking of opposites, Winn and Lena Luthor had the best nerd moment, while her party was under attack from a gang of bank robbing, alien-weapons-armed criminals. Those two figured out how to fix Lena’s weapon that would neutralize the criminals weaponry, and it was ridiculous cute. Winn’s been consistently awesome this season, and I really loved almost everything they’ve allowed Jeremy Jordan to do. Geek Winn is my favorite Winn.
Lena is possibly my new favorite character of the season. The way she invited Kara to her party—and the brash way in which she confidently confronted the robbers (“Oh, you picked the wrong party to crash.”)—both endeared her to me. If she turns out to be all Dark Side and no cookies, I’m going to be displeased. She’s too full of possibility to simply turn out to be like Lex.
But we need to talk about Jimmy. Because sweet fancy moses, NO. Jimmy, darling, sweetheart. No. NOPE. The character is a photo journalist. That’s his thing. Now, he wants to wear a hoodie (slight shoutout to Luke Cage?) and punch bad guys? And he even ropes Winn into making him a suit. I am having a tough time swallowing his pinballing desires. First, we’re supposed to believe he wants to be Cat. Now, we’re supposed to be he has a black belt and needs to fight crime. While I appreciate the ending scene between him and Winn (those two are reallllly great together), Jimmy has rung hollow for me this season. Don’t get me wrong: Mehcad Brooks is excellent. He’s doing a great job with what he’s been given, but the audience isn’t getting enough consistency, plot-wise. (For those playing along at home, this was the aforementioned blah.)
And now, the bad: Lena’s mom is the Cadmus scientist. Because of course she is. And I hope this is all setup for an epic showdown between the two, where Lena uses her magic and—wait, sorry, this isn’t Merlin. Seriously, though: I want there to be a huge confrontation, and I want Lena to turn out to be everything good that Kara sees in her. I (friend)ship those two like WHOA. It would be nice to see Kara have a female friend other than Alex, because we lost that female friendship component when Cat went walkabout. (God, I miss Cat. A lot.) I feel like these two are well on their way to sharing some potstickers are talking about their life goals. They’ll certainly pass the Bechdel test with flying colors.
Until next week, darlings. XOXO
PS Go vote, y’all.
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