Most of what I absolutely loved about the episode boiled down to one key ingredient. I’ve gushed many times over in these recaps about how much I loved Sterling Gates’s and Jamal Igle’s run on Supergirl (it’s my second favorite run on a Supergirl book overall, and favorite modern era Supergirl run by about a million miles). And while the show has certainly looked to that run on the book for inspiration, over and over and over again; never before has it so fully felt like it had just completely pulled from the pages of those comics than it did in this episode. The look of the episode was so very close to Jamal’s art that it was uncanny, and the writing was pitch perfect in line with Sterling’s amazing work.
From the very beginning of the episode the parallels were obvious to me. Supergirl going somewhere quiet and peaceful to relax was the first thing that struck a cord to me. One of my all time favorite scenes in a comic is a moment in issue 37 of that run, which opens with Supergirl taking a moment to herself to bask in the peacefulness and light of the sun.
Like all the previous episodes, there was a theme of the week, and this week’s was how to deal with your anger and make it work for you, rather than against you. This was also a big theme of Gates’s run on the comic, as the Supergirl of the time had often been written as brash and quick tempered. But Gates’s Supergirl never let that anger control her. And neither does the show’s. When she loses her temper with the road raged drivers, she looks absolutely appalled that she lost control even for a second when she breaks the man’s arm.
On the subject of the Lane’s? Never before have I seen them so absolutely perfect. While not Lucy and Sam anyway. Sam especially was the General Lane of the comics, complete with his utter contempt for Kryptonians and lack of respect for anyone who has the gall to date one of his daughters. This is the man I can see almost refusing to go to his daughter’s wedding because Pulitzer prize winning reporter Clark Kent “wasn’t good enough for (his) Lois.” In this episode he says exactly the same thing about Pulitzer prize winning James and Lucy.
Lucy herself is another of those things that is absolutely pulled from the Gates/Igle run. Gates provided a direction that the character had never had before, a purpose and motivation. She’d always just kinda been there to be a love interest for Jimmy Olsen and nothing really more than that. Gates gave her the motivation of having had to play second fiddle to Lois for all those years before finally joining the army to make her daddy proud of her. The show Lucy has this same career, I’m betting for the same reasons. And again, look at how ridiculously close to the comic this is:
Winn’s daddy issues get me extremely excited for the episode where we get to see his dad (Funnily enough, the son of the Toyman was in the Gates/Igle run on Supergirl too, only his name was Anton not Winslow Jr. Maybe Winn has a brother?). Also, he is embarrassingly bad at Taboo. Good lord man.
It seems like it was the week of awful parents, what with Sam Lane and Cat’s mom. That lady has absolutely no soul. When she said that she had to, “Use the ladies'” I almost said, “Too bad you aren’t one.”
The fight scenes with Red Tornado were outstanding again, just what we’ve come to expect from this show’s SFX. The climatic fight and how it switched between Kara and Alex showing the similar situations they were in was fantastic. And can we talk about the fact that James used his watch to call Kara?! Be still my heart.
Emotional impact of this show remains unbelievable. I said last week that my streak was broken in terms of episodes making me cry. This week’s reignited that streak with a vengeance. I cried twice this episode, the first time during the scene in which James beats up a punching bag while Kara brutalizes a poor defenseless car. When she breaks down about wanting a normal life, I lose it.
The second time was the one that got just about everybody. I’m of course talking about the heat vision scene juxtaposed with the loss of her world. That scene was everything. And again, very, very similar to things that happened in the Gates/Igle run.
The cliffhanger really shocked me, and in a good way. I’m really excited for next week’s episode.
This show is completely hitting its groove now, and at a perfect time, as CBS has picked it up for an additional seven episodes. Next step is hopefully a second season! I want this show in my life for years to come. Until next week, stay super!
Corinne McCreery has been a fan of comic books for over twenty years, and a fan of Supergirl in particular for just about that long. Other comic characters near and dear to her heart are the members of the New Teen Titans (Especially Nightwing), Kitty Pryde and Roy Harper. Other non-comic related interests include water skiing and tattoos, of which she has five, three of which are comic related. One of the best days of her life came when she met Dean Cain, and was able to recreate the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths cover with the Man of Steel that she grew up with. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA; a transplant from South Dakota. You can find her online on tumblr at effyeahsupergirl or Twitter at @corimarie21, where you will likely find her live-tweeting the west coast airing of Supergirl every week.
