Verdict: Supergirl digs into its themes of heroism with alternately frustrating and fascinating results for an episode that skates between the best and worst of this show.

Review:                                                             

It goes without saying that heroism, as a theme, is the bedrock of a huge amount of modern fiction. What it means to a hero is a question that every person will answer differently, so it lends itself perfectly to the kind of multi-perspective narratives that modern TV needs to offer up in which the question can be endlessly debated. And, of course, it’s one that the modern outcropping of superhero shows has been fascinated by, because it’s a question that can be repeated with different characters and different situations time and time again with reliably interesting results.

With so many heroes running around Supergirl at the moment, all motivated by drastically different things from purity of heart to self-interest, it would seem to lend itself perfectly to this timeless debate, and it’s unsurprising that We Can Be Heroes tries to dive deep into this question. And it does so wholeheartedly, with an evident ambition in interrogating each and every costumed hero’s reason for protecting the people in ways that freely expose the selfish or shortsighted sides of our protagonists that lurk beneath the high-minded rhetoric about the need to do good. It’s keen to challenge the simplistic roles that dominate superhero fiction such as the age-old arch-nemesis concept as Livewire is revealed to be far more capable of goodness than her gleefully evil persona indicates, and, in a subplot that’s admittedly distant from the rest of the story, potently continues the earlier themes of prejudice with a surprising sensitivity. But like last week, Supergirl’s ambition is one thing, and the execution is another, and a lot of potentially impressive moments are lost in the wash of rushed pacing or fumbled characterisation that illustrate the ways in which this show can’t help but struggle with balancing so many viewpoints in one place.

The three heroes in question are Supergirl, Mon-El and Guardian, and We Can Be Heroes’ best achievement is to tackle the ugly truths that lurk behind their altruism, whether it’s the extreme consequences of their actions or the self-deception that hides their truer motives. Frustratingly, it’s Kara who gets the rawest deal here. Season two has done so much to progress and explore her character, but the last couple of episodes have stumbled when a point of contrast is drawn to less experienced heroes like Mon-El, as it requires her character to be drawn in a way that isn’t wholly consistent. We Can Be Heroes treats Kara like a rugged veteran; someone who is an unquestionable authority on heroics to which others have to defer, and that perhaps seems a little early for a character who has been shown throughout this season to still be critically flawed in some aspects and far from incomplete in her journey. The idea of Kara as someone who perhaps looks down on others unjustifiably due to her comparative experience is an interesting one as a further exploration of how far she has to go until she truly becomes the experienced hero she purports to be, but We Can Be Heroes doesn’t really challenge her character in this way, sticking firmly to that conception of her as an expert whose views of heroism are now entirely fixed. Unsympathetic characterisation is one thing, and forced characterisation is another, and Kara’s arc this episode unfortunately fits into the second, even if it still includes some stirring moments such as her final interaction with Livewire that underscore the elements of her character that work best. It’s perhaps due to the fact that Kara is only a bit-part character here which allows less time for her perspective to be fully explained, so here’s hoping the focus falls back onto her in a fuller sense in the coming weeks.

Better is Mon-El’s story, which is far more consistent and coherent in its journey from A to B that seamlessly picks up from his sincere desire to sign up to Superhero Kindergarten (the CW has room for more DC shows, evidently, so why not this one?) and proceeds to cast doubt on the seeming selflessness of that act. As I talked about last week, Mon-El may have good intentions, but he’s the definition of a problematic hero, fuelled by some kind of self-interest in virtually all of his actions, even if they contribute to the greater good. Most importantly, though, We Can Be Heroes takes pains to break down Mon-El’s wall of self-deception and to expose the flaws of such a selfless approach in life or death situations. His act of saving Kara in the police station is a neat way of encapsulating this complicated form of heroism and its ambiguous results – something that saves lives, but doesn’t save every life. This is as close as this somewhat overburdened episode comes to a definitive answer on heroism – that it requires the simple but genuine action of discarding self-interest and assigning the same value to every life regardless of personal importance, so it’s with Mon-El’s story, and the clear arc it takes, that We Can Be Heroes feels closest to accomplishing its lofty ambitions. His last scene with Kara is a particularly enlightening one for the character that runs an impressive gamut of emotions from unusual sincerity in his confession to Kara to his typical joviality that’s covering an evident but repressed sadness at her reaction, and Chris Wood and Melissa Benoist manage to bring nuance to all of these rapid shifts in emotion.

And then there’s James as Guardian, a story that I haven’t been particularly kind to in these reviews. On the bright side, there’s a move towards shifting the story from a dynamic of whispered secrecy that was getting old, fast, with the swift revelation of James’ identity to Kara and her ensuing reaction. And there’s actually a lot of substantial insight into James’ actions as he explains his feelings of comfort and surety within his life of heroism. Never for a minute is there a sense that he could abandon his mantle, and that clarity of motivation does help, at the very least, entrench how important Guardian now is to him, as an aspect of his life that he couldn’t even fathom putting away. The problem is that, like with Kara, We Can Be Heroes is toothless in really interrogating the flaws of James’ approach to heroism. We get the usual criticisms from Kara about his vulnerability and the bull-headedness of his actions, but James never experiences any substantial consequences for these actions as he’s bailed out from his mistakes twice by Kara, and his big monologues only contain a hint of the self-destructive extent to which he actions can go. Supergirl has never really moved past the problematic idea that Guardian, as an outlet of heroism that James needed, is an example of a character resorting to violent, conventional forms of heroism that diminishes the idea that there are multiple types of heroism beyond beating bad guys up, and that failure to acknowledge the reductive nature of this is continuously hampering the attempts to justify James’ actions.

Surprisingly enough, it’s Livewire who turns out to be a substantial part of this episode’s themes. I wasn’t particularly anticipating her return after her relatively standard first two appearances, but We Can Be Heroes engineers a genuinely surprising switcheroo with the reveal that she’s the victim and not the perpetrator here, which takes her story in a far more interesting direction than the initial revenge plot that’s set up. While the villains exploiting Livewire are more or less useless, the idea of Livewire as the victim of a domineering figure who exploits her name for personal gain puts her in an intriguingly sympathetic position that challenges the simplistic categorisation of her as a nemesis. We Can Be Heroes doesn’t go as far to say that Livewire can be a hero if the circumstances are right – she remains selfish and homicidal in every action she takes. It does, however, poke holes in the idea that any villain is irredeemable, making the intriguing and compassionate point that the potential for good is enough to trust someone to make the right decision. Kara’s choice to let Livewire go is a stirring statement of the faith this show places in the better natures of its characters, and it allows an initially simplistic villain to progress into a far more interesting and complex place for an inevitable return appearance at some future point.

Meanwhile, a few miles away from the main plotline of Livewire, We Can Be Heroes restarts the Martian story with a subplot that hits every right note. Whether J’onn and M’gann’s psychic link fits into the wider episode is up for debate: the scene of their mind meld takes up a lot of screen-time as the episode heads into the third act, which can’t help but slow the episode’s momentum elsewhere. On its own merits, though, it’s a winner of a plotline. After the disappointing execution of J’onn’s transformation into a White Martian, Supergirl refocuses on what works for his character here by incisively exploring his reflexive hatred for White Martians and diving into the deeply personal reasons that lie beyond his gut reaction, as his prejudice is revealed to be a projection of his own guilt onto a scapegoat figure. If J’onn’s hatred of M’gann in previous episodes made him look a little too unsympathetic, then this was an empathic move in the right direction as his prejudice is exposed to be willingly inaccurate. It’s accidentally, yet potently topical to present this black and white worldview as an easy and convenient way to live that has to be moved past. Fear and hatred of ‘the other’ can easily become a basis for a life, setting up an ‘us and them’ dynamic so comforting that to acknowledge the grey areas, and the truth of the humanity that even our enemies possess, can be a terrifying leap into the dark for some. As J’onn puts it, hate can become a reason to live. But as his plotline so powerfully shows, all it takes is a hand out to the other side and a willingness to extend respect for their own struggles to destroy this prejudice and open up new bridges, with J’onn and M’gann now recognising that they’re simply two people in pain who are uniquely placed to help one another. It’s an incredibly dense story that indicates a topical sharpness and clarity of intent that this episode so often lacks, reminding us that even weaker episodes of Supergirl have a bit of greatness in them.

Supergirl is perhaps a little too overloaded right now. Its ambitions are wider-ranging than ever and its themes are broadening out with every episode, and it’s true to say that this ambition sometimes translates – the J’onn story is a potent example, but moments of fulfilled ambition are evident throughout the episode. This is a show that quite clearly wants to keep evolving and expanding, and that’s absolutely a great sign – resting on its laurels and sticking to a set formula would be a disappointing step back given the strides forward this season has already made. Yet Supergirl has to be careful to keep sight of the uncomplicated emotion and unique perspective on which it was founded, as there’s a sense of dislocation that’s setting in at the moment as the show takes on stories, like Guardian’s, or even Kara’s here, that seem ill-fitting for the kind of show this is, which suggests an uncertainty of just what tone and thematic focus should be struck. Supergirl is moving forward, but it sometimes needs to remember to look back every now and then at how it began, or risk losing the strengths that defined it in the first place.

Odds & Ends

• Is Mon-El wearing his costume, or is the DEO gear and strange glasses simply leading up to it? I’m hoping the latter, because coloured sunglasses are definitely not superhero material.
• CatCo is a bit quiet at the moment, as the show is spending less and less time in there. Maybe they’re still recovering from the brief visit of the two costumed people who entered from thin air, fought a bit and exited as if they’d never been there. They left a real mess.
• Alex and Maggie are now the kind of couple who make bets over vegan ice cream. They have great chemistry as an official couple, but I’m more concerned about the vegan ice cream. Is that a thing, American readers?
• Not a great week for Winn, who misquotes Ozymandias and almost gets fired for insubordination. On the bright side, he got a compliment from J’onn, so it somewhat balances out.
• Next episode: The Martian Chronicles! It’s that classic sci-fi trope of a locked base and a shapeshifting enemy who could be anyone, except with a handful of killer Martians instead. I’m praying for the CGI budget after this one.

What did you think? Come talk about “We Can Be Heroes” on our Supergirl forum!