Supergirl’s 18th episode (“Shelter from the Storm”) raised a few questions for me, but it was very compelling tv. First and foremost, I don’t like the turn Kara has taken into a fearful, controlling cotton-headed ninny muggins. It’s one thing for her to be concerned about Kryptonite. It’s another thing entirely for her to go maniacal control freak about it. The tamest line was this, “Even if I did trust you, … this substance is so lethal to me, that I can’t risk encountering it by mistake.”
This felt like a deviation from Kara’s core personality, her innate goodness, her ability to see the best in everyone. Panic spirals are not really her forte. Knowing Lena both as Supergirl and Kara, there should already be a level of trust between them. To fly off the handle is patently absurd. Additionally, I don’t care for all of Lena’s sneakiness and snark toward Supergirl (not Kara—whoa boy, we’ll get to that in a minute). The righteous indignation, the bullheadedness is not appealing, and it’s hard to reason away. (Side-note: I did love that she stashed Ruby at the Luthor mansion. That was a fun touch. It also was a great backdrop for the fight scene.)
One other thing I have to call bullshit on is how long Lena and Jimmy have been dating. In this episode, she says that it’s been months, but based on the rest of the season and the previous time frames we’ve been given…that’s not true. So, someone borked the timeline, and it wasn’t Barry Allen. FOR ONCE. While they were ridiculously cute together in their morning after haze, their relationship skipped a couple of steps to get to this point. It’s difficult to swallow, and I feel like it’s currently hard to root for either of them. Jimmy lied to his friends. Lena is judgmental as hell. I want more girlpower and less unnecessary drama llama, please and thank you.
Speaking of, Patricia dying was bloody awful (long live Betty Buckley!). But it was nice to see Sam’s mom dole out some wisdom: “when we bury things, they come at you even harder.” That’s a very true statement. And so many things became unburied in this episode. Ruby discovered her mom is monster, that Alex lied to her. Kara found out that Jimmy lied to her and that Lena dislikes Supergirl. And M’yrnn’s memory troubles have really begun to surface. (Side-note: I love the care that J’onn is showing, the patience. Amid the sadness, there’s so much affect and respect. I think that sets a beautiful example of compassion in the face of something so hard.)
I really love how they handled the Mon-El, Imra, Kara triangle. No one is a good guy or a bad guy. Mon-El genuinely has grown as a character, and his sense of right and good is heartwarming. The grace and wisdom Imra shows was also a helluva something: “And you need to go back so you can figure out what’s been weighing on your heart.” She wants someone who loves her with his whole heart, and she knows that—through no fault—that’s not currently Mon-El.
Lastly, I loved that Kara followed through on M’yrnn’s advice and flipped the script on Reign: “I don’t have to. You have a code. A purpose. … But this girl has not sinned. You can’t kill her. You won’t.” Ruby wasn’t saved through brute force or Alex’s fancy (and awesome) gun. That appeal was enough to spark an internal conflict that allowed Reign to be captured. That’s no small thing. I’m curious to see how Lena fixes her. Or if Alex does. I need more girlpower, stat. Less snark and more heart. Lord, I never thought I’d ask for less snark, but here we are.
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