James R | On 16, Feb 2017

This is a spoiler-free review. Read on at the bottom for additional, spoilery thoughts.

Supergirl turns its hand to the classic bottle episode for Episode 11 of Season 2. You know, the episodes that all sci-fi and fantasy shows tend to throw in every now and then to keep their budgets down. Except Supergirl doesn’t do that. This is a bottle episode, with all the claustrophobia, intimate conflict and silly suspense you’d expect, but with all the usual monster effects still thrown in.

The basic set-up is, naturally, very simple – and picks up from the cliffhanger of Episode 10. With the White Martians now tracking M’gann’s location, her former mate, Armek, arrives to bring her back home. But as we know, White Martians can shape-shift, which leads us to territory previously occupied by The Thing – territory that, many years and imitations later, has lost none of its fun.

Chameleonic body horrors rely, to some degree, on their cast, and as we all know by now, Supergirl has one heck of a cast. And so they all stand around looking suspiciously at each other, overplaying their characteristics to make everything seem unnatural. When his turn comes, Jeremy Jordan clearly has a heck of a time playing evil, and it’s infectious: it’s a treat just to see a different side to his normally upbeat persona. Best of all is the way that the show crafts a heartfelt one-to-one between Kara and Armek in disguise as another character, which makes both the reveal of Armek’s disguise, and the emotional impact of the chat doubly effective.

What’s bothering Kara this week? It’s the fact that it’s now been 13 years since she touched down on our planet. It’s her 13th Earth Birthday. And, while normally she celebrates this with Alex, her sister’s ditched to go to a concern with Maggie instead. Kara not being supportive of her sister’s newfound romance may not ring true, but that’s because the real reason for her sadness is more to do with Mon-El. Yes, the ramifications of last episode’s almost-but-not-quite-confession-of-feelings are still playing out.

We’ve written before about how much we like Chris Wood, and how good Chris and Melissa are together, but it’s starting to get a bit tedious that Supergirl can’t just let Kara have a relationship and be done with it. After Winn and James in Season 1, the repetitive nature of the subplot is only more evident when it plays out alongside the jarringly different lockdown sequences. But the chemistry between them – and the chemistry between the rest of the ensemble – is, as always, what lets Supergirl get away with so many slips in its structure, pacing and plotting. A bottle episode with added CGI? That’s smart. Hanging an entire episode on the bond between J’onn and M’gann? Thats even smarter.

 
Supergirl Season 1 and 2 are available on Sky Box Sets and NOW. Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it on NOW, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription – with a 7-day free trial.

 

Where can I buy or rent Supergirl Season 2 online in the UK?

 

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