TV Review: SUPERGIRL: Season 2, Episode 4: Survivors [The CW]

Supergirl: Survivors Review

The CW’s Supergirl Season 2, Episode 4: ‘Survivors’ made better use throughout the episode giving viewers a better understanding of the newest characters this season. It’s something that the show has done right this season. Viewers got to go deep into the origins of both Mon-El (Chris Wood) and M’gann M’orzz (Sharon Leal). However, the only struggle that Supergirl continues to deal with is bringing in these poorly written villains, like this episode.

The episode was entertaining when they played around with Dichen Lachman’s character Roulette, especially since the actress has played a villain before on another superhero series. The problem was that her debut on the show felt more of a sidepiece rather than a compelling villain. We can certainly hope that we get to see more of Roulette this season as a recurring player. The only interesting thing we got to learn from her in the end is that she is working with a mysterious partner. We have some theories on who that may be, but for now, Roulette remained one of the episode’s weakest links.

Roulette’s underground alien fight club did give us some decent action scenes to look at. The fights did take the show to another level as we see aliens fighting to the death for the pleasure of some adrenaline-prone humans. The actual plot revolving on ‘Survivor’ wasn’t executed well. The only thing that the episode had going for it is the character dynamics that we got to see. With Mon-El getting out of his coma and in the confines of the DEO, we got to see a bit of chemistry between him and Kara (Melissa Benoist). It seems like things are going pretty smoothly between them two. Chris Woods brings a great deal of charisma and appeal to Mon-El. His take on the character plays much like the jocks in school, but we can sense the makings of a hero with him. It was incredibly well done seeing Kara’s chat with Mon-El, where she said that training him would make up for not being there for Clark when he first came to Earth.

Mon-El also had some great interactions with Winn (Jeremy Jordan) during this week’s episode. It was great to see that the show is giving Winn more to do after leaving CatCo for the DEO. He doesn’t just serve as the technical wizard on the show as he brings so much comedy into the show. It seems like both Winn and Mon-El are forming more of a bromance, which should make things fun with their dynamic on the show.

Another great dynamic we got to see was with Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima). These two seem to love being partnered up after solving some cases together. With Maggie becoming more of a vehicle to the actual plot at tines, the chemistry between Floriana Lima and Chyler Leigh have become a great addition to the story. Seeing Alex’s love life unfold is something that was never truly explored last season as most of it was dealing with Kara’s own personal troubles. So, it is nice that the writers are giving Alex someone to pine for instead of focusing so much on Kara getting her guy.

We also can’t forget the relationship that forms between M’gann and J’onn (David Harewood). It kind of felt a little rushed having these two connect after having them meet during last week’s episode. There was never that much time to fully explore their connection to each other. J’onn also seemed to want to speed things up a bit when he suggested that he and M’gann start to merge their minds for them to get to know one another a little better. J’onn has been living alone being the last of his kind, so it was understandable where he’s coming from. When one learns they are not the last of their kind, it can make anyone curious.

It will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out after we learn a shocking truth about M’gann. It turns out that she is actually a White Martian who has a guilty conscience. It would explain why she refused to do the ritual with J’onn. Leaving the past behind and looking forward to the future appears to be a key theme for this season. It plays rather well with the characters like Kara and Mon-El moving past their species’ enmity, Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) trying to get out of her brother Lex’s shadow, or J’onn learning to forgive M’gann for what her kind did to his people.

One relationship that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere is with Kara and Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez). It seems like Kara’s work life at CatCo isn’t getting any better. All the more reason that the show should just abandon this part of Kara’s life and leave it at that. It’s pretty much the same routine with these two when Kara gives Carr a story, he criticizes it, and Kara ends up proving herself on the field. We hope to see Carr in more of an important role than just another angry boss.

Some of Supergirl’s drive into the second season has lost some steam with this week’s episode. Not even bringing in a new villain and the alien fight club subplot did anything to spark some interest. The only good thing that the show still has running for it is the great dynamics we got to see with all these characters. Kara’s newfound friendship with Mon-El, Alex and Maggie’s partnership, and J’onn’s attempts to bond with M’gann were strong points to be made in ‘Survivor’. It would be excellent to see how the show builds up on these relationships moving forward.

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