Supergirl 1.13 “For the Girl Who Has Everything”

This week’s Supergirl ripped another story straight from the pages of comics with “For the Girl Who Has Everything.”  This episode proved that the creators and writers of this show have done their homework and not just Googled “Supergirl Villians.”

First published in Superman Annual #11 (1985) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, “For the Man Who Has Everything” centers on Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman visiting the Fortress of Solitude on Superman’s birthday and discovering Superman in a catatonic state with an alien plant, Black Mercy, wrapped around his body.  Black Mercy feeds on his bio-aura while feeding him images and delusions of his heart’s desires.  Superman experiences a realistic dream in which Krypton has never been destroyed and he is married with children, having not been to Earth.  Moore and Gibbons, both best known for their collaboration on Watchmen, create a history rich in detail and references to the history of Krypton based on decades worth of Superman comics.

Supergirl managed to combine the entertaining a thought-provoking synopsis with elements of its own storyline seamlessly.  Once again, Krypton has never been destroyed and Kara and Kal-El have never been sent to Earth.  Kara enjoys an idyllic life with her parents full of past memories courtesy of Non, Astra’s right-hand man…eh…alien who wanted Kara out of the way, but had promised not to kill her.

Continuing with the theme of family and sisterhood, Alex is able to reach Kara in her fake Krypton dream thanks to technology developed by Maxwell Lord.  It is hard, but Alex is able to remind Kara of the life on Earth that had been haunting her and slowly fading away as she spent more time immersed in the catatonic state.

Although the scenes on Krypton and with Winn, James, and Alex trying to save Kara could have been much more emotional and dramatic, this episode was still one of the best yet!  J’onn provides some much needed and natural feeling comic relief as he transforms into Kara and tries, quite unsuccessfully, to fill in her high heeled shoes at CatCo.  The entire episode was worth the stiff delivery and temptation to tell off Cat Grant.  It also provided a good moment for Benoist to showcase her range as a talented actress.

When Alex does manage to help Kara pull herself from the dreamlike state, Kara is enraged at Non who has made her lose her family and planet all over again, however, Kara does not seem that angry.  So far, the series has not really made us believe that Kara is struggling even though she seemed to be at an all-time low in the previous episode.  Even though she is a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed 20-something, Kara does have some drama in her life.  We need to feel the struggle along with her to forge a connection with her.  Until the series can successfully evoke that emotional response, viewers will continue to straddle the fence with this show.

That struggle may in fact become real to viewers in the next few episodes.  While Kara was battling Non, Alex went toe to toe against Astra.  It was neat to see Kara’s Earth family pitted against her Kryptonian family.  Alex reveals that Astra could have killed her multiple times, but has not.  This speaks a lot for Astra’s feelings of honor and duty, even if she does want to destroy the entire Earth which would inherently destroy Alex.  Even though she points this out and seems to respect Astra as a warrior, Alex slices her with a sword made of green Kryptonite.  Knowing that Kara still needs her “big sister” to be her personal hero, Hank Henshaw takes the blame for killing Astra, but Alex is already feeling guilty and wants to confess.

Will Alex confess to Kara or will Maxwell Lord somehow find out the truth and use it to destroy Kara?  If he cannot kill her physically, perhaps he will attack her spirit and emotions.  This plotline could be a turning point for the series and really determine its staying power and establish its fanbase.